We talk to parents/carers if staff think their child has a special educational need and let them know what special help the school is giving.
Each child’s teacher will be finding ways to support them such as:
- Changing the way activities are planned and delivered
- Matching activities to the ability / need of each child (differentiation)
- Adapting learning materials such as equipment and activities to suit each child’s needs
- Other small group or 1:1 support to promote skills identified in the child’s SEN Support Plan
With the permission of parents we may seek additional advice from outside specialists such as health professionals, specialist teachers or educational psychologists who would:
- Carry out further assessment of the child’s needs
- Provide advice to schools on how to best support the child
- Suggest resources that would help the child make progress
Our teachers/teaching assistants work in partnership with parents and the SENCO to find ways to support each child with their needs, including giving parents ideas on how to help their child at home
Our nursery staff will set outcomes for SEND children which will be shared with parents, either during Parents’ Evening or a Review Meeting.
Interventions
Various interventions are ran by highly skilled teachers and teaching assistants throughout the nursery. These are usually delivered in small groups or on a 1:1 basis. Interventions are based on the needs of individual children and are evaluated and updated every term. Some of the interventions types we have currently at Oxclose nursery area:
- Gross and fine motor skills
- Speech and Language
- BLAST
- Maths
- Reading
- Play skills
- Memory skills
If your child has Special Educational Needs our SENCO will:
- Ensure the right support is put in place for each child
- Advise other teachers and teaching assistants on how to help each child and ensure they have up to date
- Support the key worker to write Short Notes and SEN Support Plans alongside parents to detail how their child’s needs will be met in school
- Arrange training for staff so they understand each child’s needs
- Work closely with parents on a regular basis to talk with them about their child’s needs and listen to any ideas or concerns they might have
- Work with other professionals (if necessary) who may be able to help individual children, e.g. speech and language therapist / medical professional/ educational psychologist
A Short Note/SEN Support Plan details what the nursery, the class teacher and the SENCO plan to do to help individual children learn. All staff are aware that children learn in different ways. Some need to work at a slower pace to ensure they fully understand one thing before they move onto something new. These will be written in termly meetings with parents so that outcomes can be agreed together.
A Short Note/SEN Support Plan will be written especially for any child with SEND. It should include:
- Short term targets (outcomes) for the child which are linked to their needs
- Details of any extra support the child will get
- Who will give the child help
- How often the child will get help
- How and when the nursery will look at the child’s progress again (usually at least twice a year)
If a child’s needs are very complex and/or severe we may ask the Local Authority to carry out an Education, Health and Care Assessment:
- This is a very detailed assessment of each child’s needs. Parents or carers, the nursery and a range of professionals will all be asked to provide written reports.
- At the end of the assessment phase the Local Authority will consider these reports to help decide whether or not to issue an Education, Health and Care Plan for the child.
- Parents/carers also have the right to ask the Local Authority to carry out this assessment although it is usually best if you can do this with the support of the nursery.
- Education, Health and Care Assessment is only appropriate for a small number of children. Your nursery SENCO or SENDIASS will be able to advise you about this.
If you would like to discuss your SEND requirements in detail please contact the nursery to arrange an appointment.
