SEND offer

We have developed our own curriculum, utilising Birth to Five Matters, Development Matters and our reflections on our current cohort of children to ensure that we have a thorough understanding of the benchmarks that children reach throughout their development. Where it is recognised that a child may not be progressing through these stages, we provide alternative and tailored learning opportunities to ensure that this child is able to reach their full potential. Ongoing difficulties may indicate that the child requires additional support, outside of the standard practice that occurs within a setting.

Every child has their own, personalised learning journey where regular assessments are completed and compared to our curriculum to understand where they sit within their development. Each child is also allocated to a key worker who liaises with their parents to ensure that a well-rounded and holistic picture of the child is available. These assessments and discussions allow us to develop a thorough understanding of each child’s strengths and subsequently potential areas of concern can be highlighted. If an area of concern is identified then the key worker will liaise with the setting’s Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) and the child’s parents. Focused observations are then completed to enable us to recognise where additional support or alterations to provision may support the child’s development.

Additionally, where applicable, the 2 year check is used to recognise where early intervention may be necessary. These reports are shared with parents, other settings the child attends, and the professionals who work with the child.

In Baker Street Nursery, every child is seen as a strong, competent and unique individual. Each child’s personalised learning style is developed through detailed planning and carefully considered next steps; particular attention is given to their age, stage, interests and capabilities. Every child is considered throughout the provision that is offered to them on a daily basis. All learning is discussed with parents or carers to ensure that development is blended between home and nursery or pre-school. Our aim is to develop children to their next steps by tapping into their individual interests.

When your child first starts at Baker Street Nursery they will be allocated to a key worker who is responsible for planning, observing and assessing your child. Your child’s key worker should always be your first point of contact with any questions or concerns you may have for your child. All learning and development is overseen by the Room Leaders and also the Nursery Manager.

Every child is allocated to a key worker when they first enrol with Baker Street Nursery. However, we believe that it is very important for children to build strong and stable bonds with all staff throughout the nursery. Your child’s key worker will be responsible for your child’s development, but all staff working in your child’s room will care for and support them. We also have our nursery manager and SENCO who may work with your child at different stages.

Upon enrolling with Baker Street Nursery, you will be informed of your child’s key worker. Wherever possible, your child’s key worker will lead the first settling in session and will introduce you to the other staff members within the room and wider nursery. The nursery manager and SENCO have an open door policy where they are available to discuss any queries or questions you may have at any stage.

Within Baker Street Nursery, every child is seen as an individual and children are planned for individually through personalised assessments and aspirations. Your child’s key worker and the staff within their room are responsible for planning and executing appropriate activities for your child’s needs. Where concerns are raised for an individual child’s development, careful discussions are conducted between the key worker, manager, SENCO and parents to ensure a tailored approach to supporting your child is implemented.

Where additional support may be required, individualised support targets are put in place and are evidenced to track progress. Throughout this progress, we hold regular review meetings with parents, typically every 6-8 weeks, and targets are continued, altered or stopped. These decisions are made alongside the parent and their views. Where further support is needed, we will liaise with external professionals (e.g. Educational Psychologists, Speech and Language Therapists or Health Visitors) to ensure your child receives the highest quality support for their individual needs. Where applicable, we will work with the child and their parents to complete the necessary processes to get your child the further support they are entitled to such as the Education, Health and Care Plan. If your child goes through this process, every stage will be explicitly explained in detail to parents and, where possible, to the children.

Additionally, children who are in receipt of the 3 and 4 year old funded hours and who claim Disability Living Allowance (DLA) are entitled to Disability Access Funding (DAF). This funding is a payment of £615 which is paid directly to the nursery to ensure your child has the necessary resources to access the whole curriculum within the nursery. Discussions take place between the parents, manager, SENCO and key worker before the funds are spent to ensure it is used in the most suitable manner for your child.

As a parent, you have continuous access to your child’s learning journey which is available online through the Tapestry application. We heavily encourage parents to contribute to these assessments and frequently have themes in which we ask parents to capture their child’s explorations at home. Through the application, you are able to look at the observations that have been conducted of your child and see what activities and learning he/she takes part in during their time at nursery. These observations are carefully linked to the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) which are guidelines for children, setting out the key milestones they should reach by set ages. These links are available to support parents’ and staffs’ understanding of your child’s achievements, in line with their peers.

Twice a year, we complete summary reviews for your child where we offer an overview of their development and the general next steps we hope to achieve. Parents are invited in to discuss these reviews in person with their child’s key worker and to share their views on their child’s development. In addition to these formal meetings, parents are welcome to speak with any member of staff at any point should they want to discuss their child’s development. If your child is part of a support plan then this will be formally reviewed at regular intervals.

You have access to your child’s learning journal at all times through the Tapestry application. This will inform you of what your child has been engaging with at nursery and the developmental points that have been noted. From these observations, you are able to replicate the learning experiences at home to offer your child an opportunity to solidify the learning. We encourage all parents to upload the activities their child has completed at home so that they can be celebrated in the nursery.

In addition to this, we use the Famly application where room themes are uploaded and shared with parents so that you are able to see what general themes or topics are covered within the room. We will endeavour to upload regular photographs of activities within the nursery to ensure parents are informed of what is taking place. The Famly application allows the parents and nursery to have direct contact with each other, enabling communications and celebrations to occur.

Within the room, we have our planning boards clearly visible at all times. These boards offer an overview of the topics that are covered within the room and the key observations that have taken place. Parents are welcomed to view this board at any point, enabling them to share ideas or make further contributions. We welcome all feedback and always ensure parents and children’s voices are heard and listened to.

Where possible, we create home learning tools including books to take home, small bakery kits or maths activities. These tools are openly shared with parents, allowing them to take these resources home to complete with their child. We only ask that these are returned as complete sets to ensure other children are able to benefit from these tools.

We offer termly parents’ evenings where parents are welcome into the nursery to speak to their child’s key worker directly to discuss their child’s development and how learning can be supported at home. During these parents’ meetings, key workers will share with parents their assessments on their child and their aspirations moving forward. Parents will have the opportunity to share their views and discuss ways in which this can be incorporated into the child’s learning. Additionally, within the assessments completed in the child’s learning journeys, suggestions of home learning activities and opportunities will be highlighted so that the child’s learning can continued at home.

We encourage parents to discuss with a member of staff any ways in which we could further support their understanding of ways to develop their child. Parents are invited to speak with their child’s key worker or manager should they require any additional support.

At Baker Street Nursery, we work closely with the child, their parents and any other professionals involved to develop a tailored learning experience for each child. Where additional social support is needed, the manager and SENCO will liaise with all of those involved to ensure your child is effectively and fully supported throughout their whole time in the nursery. As a nursery, we value each individual child and so make any reasonable adjustments possible to support their development.

Where necessary, staff are trained on any required medication. We will discuss with external agencies to ensure that the training is completed quickly and to a high standard. We have a strict medication administration policy in place which will be discussed with parents where needed and is available at all times for parents to read.

Personal, social and emotional development is a prime area of the EYFS and therefore an area which is heavily focussed upon within Baker Street Nursery. Children are supported to develop their independence through staff encouraging them to take part in self-care routines such as getting dressed, washing their hands and blowing their noses. Staff will support children where needed, however children are encouraged to carry out these tasks independently. Additionally, staff ensure that children recognise that they are strong, competent and independent learners by developing their personal images of self.

Staff are ambassadors for showing compassion and kindness to others. Staff model the appropriate ways of how to interact with others and support children to do this with their peers. We use small group activities where children have the opportunity to develop skills such as turn taking or sharing. Where necessary, 1 to 1 support is offered to children to ensure they are able to replicate these skills independently.

Children and staff work closely together to support children’s understandings of their emotions. These skills include being able to verbally communicate how they feel and discussing how others feel. We conduct group activities surrounding emotions and ensure children are provided with the opportunities to explore different emotions and what this means.

The company director and manager has obtained a degree in Early Childhood Studies, an Early Years Professional Status, a Masters in Early Years Education and is currently completing a Professional Doctorate in Early Years Education. The deputy manager has completed a degree in Early Childhood Studies and gained an Early Years Teachers’ Status. At least 50% of the staff within the nursery are trained to a minimum of Level 2 or Level 3 and all unqualified staff or apprentices received ongoing and thorough support.

Baker Street Nursery’s SENCO has been in this role for over 6 years and has completed a wide range of relevant qualifications to ensure children’s needs are fully supported. All staff within the setting are offered in-house and external support and training wherever needed and children’s needs are carefully and appropriately matched to their key worker.

It is Baker Street Nursery’s top priority to ensure that every child has equal access to the curriculum offered by the setting. Children are supported in every way possible to ensure that they are provided with the same opportunities as their peers. Where necessary, reasonable adjustments are made to the provision which ensures that every child has full access to all of the resources and learning opportunities. Full discussions are conducted with the parents and where possible the children to ensure these alterations are appropriate and supportive.

There are steps leading into the main corridor of the setting, but reasonable adjustments, such as ramps, will be considered where necessary. The Toddlers and Pre-school are all on the ground floor and both adults’ and children’s toilets are accessible on this level. The Babies room is situated upstairs, so parents will be supported in moving all relevant children’s resources between floors. Where parents or adults require access to the first floor without the use of stairs, we will work closely with them to find alternatives to ensure this does not hinder their experiences. Both gardens are accessed through the use of a step which will be reasonably reconsidered through the use of ramps where needed.

We work hard to ensure that every parent is included within the Baker Street Nursery community. Visual prompts or signage is used where needed to ensure that parents are given a clear image, without the use of verbal communication. Wherever possible, written documents are translated in the parent’s first language to aid their understanding of the information that is being shared.

With permission from the child’s parent or carer, we will liaise directly with the child’s new setting or school. Copies of the child’s learning journey will be provided for the new provision to ensure an understanding of where the child sits developmentally. In addition, telephone conversations can be arranged to ensure that information regarding the child can be shared verbally. All information is discussed with the parent or carer, before it is shared with the new setting.

A specially formulated ‘School Readiness’ programme has been designed in-line with local teachers and Doctors of Education. This programme allows children to begin understanding the skills required for this exciting transition and ensures that they understand the expectation that will be in place from the time they go to school. In addition to this, transition meetings are held with the local teachers so children can be personally handed over. Hand over forms are completed as a reference for the teacher once the child has moved to school.

You are invited to discuss enrolment with the management team. They can be contacted on [email protected] or 0117359709.

We offer parents two settling in sessions, one with the parent and present and one without. However, these are subject to the individual child. Discussions take place with each parent to highlight the most effective way to settle your child in nursery. We are very happy and willing to work with the individual child and their family to ensure that the transition to nursery is as smooth as possible.

When starting with us, parents are requested to complete an ‘All about me’ form where particular interests, likes, dislikes and routine preferences can be noted. Where possible, these requests are followed within the nursery to ensure that we are working in a way that your child understands and feels comfortable with. Children and their parents are welcome to meet their key worker, manager and the SENCO. Parents are also invited to contribute to planning, assessments and ongoing observations to ensure that the provision continues to be the most appropriate for each child.

We have a vigorous and thorough ‘Transition Policy’ which outlines the importance of fully supporting children at this time, and details how we will ensure a smooth move onto the next room. Children are allowed time to visit their next room, developing their understanding of the routine and expectations of this environment. Where possible, the child’s key worker will support these visits to the new room. Parents are welcomed to visit the room that child is transitioning to and meet their new key worker which allows discussions at home about this exciting period. Where additional support is required with transitions, the SENCO will support these transitions and liaise with the parents on how to keep this smooth.

The manager, SENCO and your child’s key worker has an open door policy where parents are actively welcomed to discuss any questions or concerns. We continually monitor children’s development and this is frequently fed back to parents. Parents are able to discuss anything about their child’s development and are respected as holding invaluable knowledge regarding their child. Regular review meetings are held to ensure that your knowledge is up to date and relevant on your child’s progress.