ESCH - SEND

Jigsaw - ESCH 

SEND Offer

SEN and Disability Information

Nursery Managers: Charlotte Heselden & Kim Sanders

Address: Jigsaw Day Nursery, East Sussex College Hastings, Station Approach, Hastings East-Sussex, TN34 1BA

1. How does the nursery know if children need extra help and what
should I do if I think my child may have special educational needs?

Partnership with parents:
When registering your child at Jigsaw Day Nursery you will be invited into our setting with your child for a ‘settling in period’. This consists of a minimum of 3 x 1 hour sessions. During this time your child will be appointed a key person with whom you will have the opportunity to share information about your child and their particular needs. If at this point you have any concerns about your child’s development or feel they need any extra help, this would be an ideal opportunity for you to discuss this with your child’s key person. All information will be gathered both verbally and as a written record for the start of your child’s ‘Learning Journey’.

Monitoring your child’s development:
The role of your child’s key person is to observe your child, track their development through ‘summative assessment’ and the ‘27 month Integrated Progress Review', and plan for their individual needs and learning. This may highlight that your child has a developmental delay or needs some extra help to achieve their full potential. We have trained Special Education Needs Coordinators (SENCO’s) who will advise you and your child’s key person on what to do next. You will be fully involved throughout this process. Our lead SENCO, Charlotte Heselden, is also available for you to talk to if you have any concerns about your child’s development or if you think they may have a special educational need or disability (SEND).

Policies and procedures:
You will receive a copy of our policies and procedures when your child starts attending our nursery. These include the ‘Supporting Children with Special Educational Needs/Inclusion’ policy which fully details our SEND procedures.

2. How will staff support my child?

If, as a partnership (parents/key person/SENCO) we agree that your child needs some extra support, we will plan an setting based support plan (SBSP) setting achievable targets to help your child to develop. The targets will firstly be set out by our SENCO alongside your child’s key person, and shared with you. These targets will involve activities that cater to your child’s individual likes, interests and needs, and will be supported by your child’s key person. The targets will be regularly reviewed to ensure that your child is making progress. You will have frequent opportunities to meet with our SENCO and your child’s key person, both of whom will explain how Jigsaw Day Nursery is supporting your child.
We may need to seek expert advice/support from outside services such as speech and language therapists or early years advisors. Again, we will involve you at all times.

As a setting, we review how effective our provision is for children with SEND through continuous evaluation (are the children making progress?).

Evaluation consists of multi-agency meetings (which involve parents/carers, SENCO, key person and other professionals), and/or through monitoring your child’s SBSP and development.

3. How will the curriculum be matched to my child’s needs?

Jigsaw Day Nursery acknowledges that every child is unique and develops at a different rate.
We work alongside the ‘Early Years Foundation Stage’ curriculum (EYFS) and plan for each individual child regardless of whether or not they have a special need. 

Through continuous assessment we will identify the age and stage of development that your child is working towards and plan learning experiences to help them to progress.
Individual planning is important for your child’s development as their learning experiences are tailored towards their individual likes and needs, and the targets that we set for them are appropriate and achievable. Your child may receive additional support if needed.

4. How will both you and I know how my child is doing and how will
you help me to support my child’s learning?

In addition to our termly ‘parent consultation evenings’, where we discuss your child’s summative assessment, 27month Integrated Progress Review and learning journey, and daily communication/sharing of information, you will also have the opportunity to discuss your child’s progress through 6-8 weekly meetings with your child’s key person and/or our SENCO, in which we will review your child’s SBSP together as a partnership.

We will discuss the progress your child has been making towards their targets, and their general development, looking at the ages and stages they are working towards and how we would like to move forward, setting new targets.

There may also be the opportunity for you to communicate with us on a daily basis, and for us to share information with you, in the form of a home - nursery communication book. The above communication opportunities will include discussions about how we are planning activities to meet your child’s individual needs. You will be able to make a contribution to this planning by sharing information about your child’s likes and interests, and we will also be able to share activity ideas for you to try at home (home learning). 

Through our links with outside services, we will provide you with any parent training information on offer in our local community. This will also help you to support your child’s learning at home.

5. What support will there be for my child’s overall wellbeing?

We have several policies and procedures in place to ensure that our staff are supporting your child’s overall wellbeing. These include:
 
Nappy changing and intimate care: in our nursery your child will be treated with dignity and respect. Your child will not be excluded from participating in our nursery if they are not toilet trained and are wearing a nappy, or equivalent. Privacy will be given to your child whilst toileting and nappy changing. We have separate toilets for your child to use, with doors, and nappies are changed in our bathroom on a designated changing table, which is enclosed to give your child privacy. Your child will be supported by their key person or cokey person whilst toileting or nappy changing.
Administering medicines: we will ensure that where medicines are necessary to maintain the health of your child, they will be given correctly and in accordance with legal requirements. This information will be gathered from you prior to the medicine being administered. If your child has a complex medical need, a risk assessment and care plan will be written by our Manager, alongside you, your child’s key person and through written guidance from health professionals involved. For some medical conditions, key staff will be given training in a basic understanding of the condition, as well as how the medication is to be administered correctly.
Promoting positive behaviour: your child’s behaviour will be supported by their key person and our SENCO. Any unwanted behaviour will always be communicated with you. In the event of continuous unwanted behaviour we follow our ‘Promoting Positive Behaviour’ Policy which involves working in partnership with you through behaviour strategy meetings to discuss possible reasons for the behaviour and agree next steps.

You can find fully detailed information on all of the above policies in our policies and procedures file which you will receive your own copy of on registration.

6. What specialist services and expertise are available at or
accessed by the setting?

As a company, Jigsaw Day Nurseries have built strong working relationships with a wide range of other professionals/services such as speech and language therapists, the health visiting team, educational psychologists, Early Years Emotional and Behavioural Intervention Service (EBIS), specialist early years advisors, occupational therapists, and we also have links with our local Children’s
Centre – Hastings Town Children’s Centre.

These professionals visit our setting to advise our staff and share their specialist knowledge and experiences. They will also work directly with you and your child, both at home and whilst they are with us.

7. What training have the staff supporting children with SEND had,
or are having?

We currently have three qualified SENCO’s. The SENCO’s attend refresher training every 3 years to enable them to keep updated in any changes in legislation. These staff are able to write and implement IEP’s and work alongside the other staff to help and advise them. SENCO’s attend Inclusion Support groups once per year, although if we felt we needed any extra support we have the opportunity to attend once per term.

Through working with specialist early years advisors and speech and language therapists, staff have received basic training on how to use Makaton symbols in nursery.

8. How will my child be included in activities outside the classroom
including school trips?

On registration you are given the option to sign a consent form to allow us to take your child on local outings. You will also receive a copy of our ‘Supervision on Outings and Visits’ policy.

We plan local trips and outings that are appropriate for all of the children in our care such as trips to the park, the beach, the woods, the local children’s library, and many more!

For each venue we carry out a detailed risk assessment, prior to the outing. These will take into consideration your child’s individual needs. Our staff ratio on outings is very high, usually one adult to two children. You are always welcome to join us on outings to support your child or alternatively you will be asked to share any information about your child’s additional requirements when away
from the nursery.

9. How accessible is the nursery environment?

Jigsaw Day Nursery is situated on the ground floor of East Sussex College Hastings. We can be easily accessed by wheel chair users having wide doors and no steps. We have disabled toilet facilities with hand rails, a large changing unit and low levelled sinks. 

We have car parking facilities directly to the side of our setting, on the same level, for easy access. Our environment is rich with visual aids and Makaton symbols to help your child to communicate with us, if they have a communication and language delay, hearing difficulties or speak English as an additional language. They will also be used to help your child understand our routines and what they will be doing during the day. 

We are fully inclusive in meeting the needs of your child. We recognise that children and their families come from diverse backgrounds. All families have needs and values that arise from individual, social, economic, ethnic, cultural or religious backgrounds and situations. Our setting is open and accessible to all members of the community.

Our policies provide information regarding ‘valuing diversity and promoting equality’. If you speak English as an additional language we will develop means to encourage your full inclusion. If your child speaks English as an additional language, your key person will ask you for a list of key words in your home language, and the pronunciation of these words, to help them during the settling in period and whilst they are learning to speak in English. 

We provide opportunities for staff to receive training in supporting English as an additional language, making all staff feel comfortable and familiar with hearing and using languages other than English.
We can seek further information, guidance and support from the Traveller and English as an Additional Language Service.

10. How will you prepare and support my child to join the nursery,
transfer to a new school or the next stage of education and life?

Prior to registration, we encourage you to visit us with your child to assess our facilities and suitability of provision for your child’s individual needs. After registering you will be offered a series of settling in sessions where you will spend time in our nursery with your child to help prepare them for their transition from home to nursery. The settling in period is individual for each child depending on their needs and how quickly they settle. Your child will not be left without you until both you and your key person feel they are ready (little steps).

At this point we may be in contact with any other professionals involved in order to prepare our nursery for your child. This may involve a ‘team around the child’ (TAC) meeting.

To enable you to help prepare your child for their transition from home to our nursery, you will be given a set of photographs that include pictures of our setting, your child’s key person and other staff members. This will help you to familiarise your child with the nursery and our team.

If your child is joining us from another setting, you will be asked to share their summative assessment and learning journey. 

When your child leaves us to go to school or a new setting, we (parents/carers, key person, SENCO and other professionals working with your child) will be involved in multi-agency transition meetings in order to share information about your child’s individual needs, including any care plans and risk assessments, and their development and progress (summative assessment, all SBSP’s including the most recent one, learning journey and communication and language monitoring tools).

We have links with our local primary schools and on the lead up to transition to school the Reception teachers will often visit the children in the nursery environment.

We always prepare the children for transition to school through themed activities and discussions.

11. How are the nursery's resources allocated and matched to
children’s special educational needs?

By the time the child starts attending our nursery we will have built up a picture of what your child likes to do, and if they have any specific interests. We will have begun to get to know you as your child’s parent, and will have spoken at length with you regarding their current likes and dislikes, and what you are currently encouraging your child to do at home. We would also be aware of any
difficulties your child experiences as a result of his/her additional needs and together decided on a plan of action to both settle your child in successfully and assist with the next steps in their learning.

This information will guide us in our choice of resources that should be available in our nursery for your child. We are a very well resourced nursery, and as such we should be able to successfully plan the environment and activities to suit. If we felt we could not do so with the resources currently offered here, we would be willing to either purchase, or in the case of any expensive resources
that we felt were essential to your child’s well being/development whilst here, apply for funding from East Sussex County Council for any special item required.

12. How is the decision made about what type and how much
support my child will receive?

The decision about what type and how much support your child will receive will be made in partnership with yourself, the nursery and any other services that you are currently engaging with. It will take into consideration the child’s needs and wishes as far as possible, and also will depend on whether your child will need support from an additional adult in the setting to promote his/her safety, well being and education . Because SBSP’s will regularly be set in partnership with you we will be able to monitor the success of these. We will regularly meet with you and also complete monitoring forms for East Sussex County Council to show how your child has benefited from attending our nursery.

13. How are parents involved in Jigsaw Day Nursery? How can I be involved?

Our aim is to support you as your child’s first and most important educator by involving you in your child’s education and in the full life of the nursery.
There are a number of ways in which you will be involved in making decisions for your child. These include:

• initial discussions/decisions about your child’s routines, toileting preferences, sleeping routines, eating routines and medical/health plans; this discussion will take place during your child’s settling in period:-
• parent’s consultations and SBSP review meetings in which you will be involved in making decisions about your child’s learning and education, and setting their SBSP targets:-
• parent’s voice forms in which you will have an involvement in planning for your child’s likes and interests:-
• stay and play sessions, special events and outings: these will involve you spending time with your child in our setting.

14. Who can I contact for further information?

If you would like to discuss your child, their care and education, or if you have a concern, you should contact your child’s key person or our Nursery Managers – Charlotte Heselden or Kim Sanders. Kim Sanders is or our lead SENCO. In the event of your child’s key person being absent you can also discuss day to day information with your co-key person.

You can also speak to our Nursery Manager if you are considering joining our setting or would like any further information, or to arrange a visit. She can also point you in the right direction for information and advice from other support services.

For information about local services please visit – www.eastsussex.gov.uk/localoffer

This offer is accurate now, but services are regularly reviewed and could change. All information will be updated as soon as possible to reflect any new service offer.

Date of publication: April 2014
Reviewed July 2019

If you would like to comment on the content of the offer or make suggestions to improve the information, please email charlotte@jigsawnurseries.co.uk

Find out more about support for children and young people with special needs and disabilities: www.eastsussex.gov.uk/localoffer
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