What we offer for Children and families with Special Educational Needs and or Disabilities. Little Learners Pre-school recognises that all children have a right to be protected from harm and abuse. At Little Learners Pre-school we take this responsibility very seriously and will do our very best to protect and safeguard the welfare of all children in our care. Little Learners Pre-school values the abilities and achievements of individual children and is committed to providing for each child the best possible environment for learning and development. 1. How do the early years setting know if children need extra help and what should I do if I think my child may have special educational needs or disabilities? At Little Learners, we do ongoing observational assessments of all the children in our care. The observations and assessments we do are linked with the development matters ages and stages, that along with our own knowledge of child development helps us to identify children's individual needs and developmental next steps. Our observations of the children are shared with the child's parents, key worker and our SENCO/Inco Claire Simpson or Hannah Arnell. We use the key worker system in our setting, this role is for the child and the parents. Staff form trusting, sensitive relationships with families to enable respectful sharing of information for the positive progress of your child. If you as a parent have any concerns regarding your child’s development you can speak to your child's key worker. If a specific need has been noted from assessments to have an additional need then staff will arrange a meeting with the parents in confidence and a plan will be devised together to take steps to support your child's learning and development. The SENCO/Inco will work with key workers to offer advice and support. We will liaise with other professionals to seek advice and support in identifying individual needs if necessary. Support is offered from the Early Help Team, Health Visitors and Speech and Language Department. 2. How will early years setting staff support my child We are committed to training in our setting to constantly achieve the best we can for the children in our care. Regular courses are attended to keep developing our knowledge of the early year’s foundation stage. The SENCO/Inco will support parents and families and will guide the staff's next steps by planning these carefully with the child and the parents. Key workers where possible and the SENCO/Inco will attend meetings with outside agencies that may be used to support your child. We will adapt resources and activities around children's individual needs. Evaluations will be made throughout the process to ensure we are meeting the needs of the child and their families. 3. How will the curriculum be matched to my child’s needs? We follow the Early Years Foundation Stage guidelines set out by the Government. We plan for each child's individual needs and preferred learning styles, developing, and moving on activities so that children progress and enjoy the activities provided. Children are encouraged to self-select resources and equipment they would like to learn with. Children are encouraged to lead their own learning through play and experimenting we will observe this behaviour and document this for our daily planning and children's next steps. 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? Because we work very hard to build strong trusting relationships with all our parents we will have plenty of opportunities to have formal and informal meetings to discuss any concerns and progress your child is making. We will ask for comments on a regular basis to be entered in your child's journal. We also send home individual planning forms just before your child comes into focus at pre-school for their next set of learning steps. We would be willing to use a communication diary to ease communication pathways if we were unable to speak regularly face to face with you.  At Little Learners, we will do our best to offer you any advice we may have on your child's need or help you look for ways to further improve your own training and knowledge. 5. What support will there be for my child's overall well being? When you first start Little Learners, we gather information from you regarding any special dietary requirements, additional needs, health care and developmental needs your child may have. These are put into your child's journal and all staff are aware of the needs your child may have so we can ensure your child is cared for in the best possible way. We have 5 members of staff that are first aid trained, all staff have had Child Protection training and all staff have an enhanced disclosure CRB. Medicine can be administered if required by the manager and a medical care plan can be provided should this be necessary. The pre-school room and outdoor play area have a daily visual risk assessment carried out to check equipment and immediate environment is safe. We weekly record our risk assessment of our outdoor play and learning area. The pre-school has a positive behaviour policy and all staff follow this policy when dealing with situations in the setting. We have ' Golden Rules’ in the setting which the staff and children contribute too, these allow an understanding of what is acceptable behaviour.  6. What specialist services and expertise are available at or accessed by the early years setting? At Little Learners, we use the expertise of the Early Help Department with parental permission we would first have a telephone conversation with the team regarding your child. If we needed further assistance a member of the team would come out to see us and make some assessments on your child's learning and interactions. We would also liaise with the SALSS Support Service team-Speech and Language therapists, Social workers and Health Visitors as needed. Parents are also encouraged to use the local family centre and attend the Speech and Language drop-in sessions. Claire Simpson the settings SENCO/Inco has had some experience of working with a multi-agency team and has had core speech and language training, Claire used to assess and deliver speech and language programs in her previous setting. Claire is also a trained Learning Mentor and Parental Support adviser so will be able to help families in signposting on to the relevant agencies that may help your child. 7. What training has the staff got supporting the children with SEND? The settings SENCO/Inco Claire Simpson and Hannah Arnell have completed training and both regularly attend up to date courses to keep them informed on any changes in practice. We then feedback to the rest of the team. Training would be the sort to support staff as and when needed in accordance with the specific need of a child that may join the setting. 8. How will my child be included in activities outside the early years setting including trips? All activities will be planned around all children's individual needs and abilities. Risk assessments are carried out beforehand to ensure it is accessible for all children to access. Equipment would be sort if needed to assist a child with mobility issues. Policies, risk assessments would be shared with parents to reassure them of our inclusive approach to our learning in our setting. Our setting is all on one level, we have double doors in all areas of the hall, and these can open to make manoeuvrability easier for frames or wheelchairs. The main hall has a ramp up the side of the building up to the entrance doors.  We have children's toilets, adult’s toilets, and a disabled toilet. Our setting garden is enclosed and attached to the hall. The setting has lots of experience with families who have English as an additional language. To support your child, with EAL we have dual posters, books, a communication book and staff learn key phrases in your mother tongue. Staff have also had training on how best to support you and we have literature in lots of different languages. We work closely with the local family centre who can offer support groups, translations and many courses and play opportunities for you to attend. We would obviously work closely with the parents to ensure we have a longer settling period until we had formed a trusting, positive relationship with that family. 10. How will the early years setting prepare and support my child to join the early years setting, transfer to a new setting/school? At Little Learners Pre-School, we feel the best way to get a good picture of your child's needs would be to come and have a meeting with you in your home. This is an informal way to get to know your child and your family. We then recommend you come into the setting for several settling in sessions. Your child will have a key worker who will spend time with you and your child listening and playing with you both. Your child's key worker will work through the 'All about me' section from the online learning journal we use to help us build up a picture of your child. After these initial meetings, we will then be able to put any changes, and requirements into place before your child starts the setting. Should any training be needed, meetings with previous settings or information needed from Health Care Professionals we will be able to get these things in place during this settling in time. When your child transfers to a new setting or to school, we will have built up a journal of information to show to the next setting. This will be detailed observations of your child, next steps in learning and development, photographs of learning and achievements. Transitions to school will start with a meeting with us at the setting and your child's new teacher. Your child would be introduced to their new teaching team and with your permission, this is a time where we can share information regarding your child in an informal way. Should meetings or handover meetings need arranging then these will be organised with the relevant teams. Parents and key workers should always agree on a consistent approach to ensure continuity of care from home to the setting. 11. How are the early years settings resources allocated and matched to children's special educational needs? Inclusion funding and two-year-old funding can be applied to support the child being included in the setting. A delegated budget will be used to provide additional resources or to adapt existing resources should this be required. 12. How is the decision made about what type and how much support my child will receive? Decisions made about how much support a child will receive is monitored through observations made by your child's key worker and setting manager. The observations and development of your child will be reviewed and discussed to ensure continued progress. These observations will be linked to the EYFS and with child development knowledge, assessments will be made on the level of support needed. Extra support will be put into place if necessary with the aim of enabling the child to become independent within our environment. Outside agencies will be invited in if necessary, where assessments may be made and care plans written and followed.  Parent partnership working with the setting is essential to ensure the correct level of care is provided for your child. We will liaise with West Sussex County Council Children's Information Team as and when needed. 13. How are parents involved in the early years setting? How can I be involved? Parents are involved daily in their children's learning and development. Parents are invited into the setting every morning to settle their child, where conversations with key workers can take place if necessary regarding your child's immediate needs. We use online Learning journals which parents can access all the time and are encouraged to comment on their child’s learning. We encourage you to add observations from home to build a holistic picture of your child. We have an event every half term where parents are invited into the setting to do something with the children.  Parents are asked if they have a specific skill that they would like to teach the children we would be delighted if they could come in and share that with us. Little Learners often send questionnaires home for parents to contribute to, this helps us improve our setting by understanding ways in which we can offer more to our families. Planning and policies are available for parents to view if they wish. We also have a memory book on display for parents to view, this gives a visual narrative of the children's learning, what activities and outdoor learning we have participated in the last few weeks. This gives parents a key talking point with their child at the end of the pre-school session helping you to have a conversation about your child's daily learning. 14. Who can I contact for further information? Please contact Claire Simpson to discuss how we can help you as a family get the most out of your pre-school care. If you would like to visit us to discuss your needs please use one of the methods below to contact us. Please email me on -  infolittlelearnerspreschool@gmail.com or call the pre-school phone on 07955-333791 website-littlelearnerschichester.co.uk Please look on the West Sussex County Council www/westsussex.local-offer.org/ or Family  Information website for more information to help you make your decision. January 2022