Send Information Report
How we identify individual special educational learning needs
When pupils have an identified special educational need or disability before they join our pre-school we work very closely with the people who already know them including parents, previous settings and specialists and use the information already available to identify what possible barriers to learning may be and to help us plan appropriate support strategies.
If parents believe that their child has a special educational need we will discuss this with them and assess their child accordingly. Often these assessments will be carried out by Happy Days staff and SENCO but we sometimes request advice from more specialised services such as Speech Therapy or Bromley Advisory Team. We will always share the findings with parents and discuss the next steps to best support their child. Sometimes key workers feel that a child has a special educational need, this may be because they are not making the same progress as other children. At Happy Days we believe that early intervention and identification is best to help the children succeed. Staff/key workers will observe the child learning and use ongoing appropriate assessments to help us pin point the difficulty. If a child has been identified as requiring extra help the parents will be contacted by the SENCO (Jane Cannon). We will work in partnership to create a plan to best suit the child and review this every 6 - 8 weeks.
How we involve Children and their parents/carers in identifying special educational needs and planning to meet them
Happy Days are a child and family centred pre-school and believe that children and parents should be at the heart of all decision making about the child. When we assess Special educational needs , we will discuss with the parents if their child’s behaviour is the same at Preschool and home. We will work with parents so that there is consistency between the two places to enhance progress. We write ILP (individual learning plans) including targets and reviews and a copy will always be available to all parties involved. We will conduct regular meetings that allow the child, parents and staff to collaborate together and we also may include outside agencies if necessary. We have a open door policy at Happy Days, which means Parents can discuss concerns and success daily. Appointments can also be made with staff/key workers and Senco when more in-depth discussions are required.
Who are the best people to talk to if you are concerned about a special educational need or disability?
Child’s Key Worker - responsible for :
-
Checking on the child’s progress and identifying, planning and delivering any additional help (this could be targeted work and additional support) and Liaising with SENCO where necessary.
-
Writing Individual learning plans (ILP) sharing and reviewing these with parents between 6-8 weeks. Writing next steps and planning for next term.
-
Ensuring that all staff know how to support the child and know how to deliver the ILP.
-
Ensuring that the Happy Days Send Policy is followed
-
Attend any training that could help with their knowledge
The SENCO - responsible for:
-
Coordinating all the support for children requiring help with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) and developing the SEND policy and action plans to make sure children get consistent, high quality response to meeting their needs.
-
Ensuring the changes in the SEND code of practice 2014 are implemented in line with the Happy Days SEND development plan
-
Ensuring parents are: Involved in decision making, supporting their child‘s learning, reviewing ILP’s, kept well informed of any changes, updating Happy Days of concerns and levels of need.
-
Liaising with outside agencies where necessary and providing specialist equipment
-
Applying for extra funding where necessary for our most vulnerable children
-
Applying for EHC plan for necessary
-
Listening to the child’s voice
-
Organising relevant staff training where necessary
How we use other adults in pre-school to support children with special educational needs or disabilities
We have contact with a specialist speech and language therapist who can be privately employed to work with children needing extra support in this area and who can train staff accordingly. We have regular contact with various outside agencies to support staff and Children
How we use specialist resources to support children with special educational needs or disabilities
Happy Days staff make individual resources to suit the need of each child requiring support, these will reflect the learning targets. We have different types of technology to help support different types of learning. This include I pads and cause and effect toys. We use lots of visual prompts and count down timers for those children who may need it. We have changing facilities for those children who may need it. We can move the room furniture and areas around to help support the child and seek advice from external agencies as and when the need arises
How we modify teaching approaches for individual children
-
Happy Days support the inclusion of all children within our care by using and incorporating many different themes and topics throughout the year.
-
Children have a wide range of ways to record their progress through observation photos and videos
-
Parents are given the opportunity to join in with their child’s learning whenever they want to visit the preschool.
-
Our curriculum aims to bring learning and experiences to life allowing children to really get stuck in. We encourage educational visitors to visit the preschool and bring learning to life.
-
Happy Days is fully inclusive and teachers continually adapt their teaching style to incorporate the need of each individual child.
-
Where appropriate staff can facilitate small group or 1-2-1 work for additional learning
-
We use a visual daily timeline to help and support children know what is coming next
How we assess child progress towards the outcomes we have targeted for children. How we review this progress so that children stay on track to make at least good progress.
Staff and key workers assess the children after 6 weeks from their start date and this is could their baseline. After this time children are continually assessed however a formal track will completed every term. If there is a concern this information is shared and discussed with the setting SENCO so that strategies can be put in place as early intervention is key.
If we decide that the individual child does require further intervention a ILP (individual learning plan) will be written up and reviewed every 6- 8 weeks. A copy of the plan will be shared and discussed with the child’s parents and we will all work in partnership to support the child’s progress. The parents will be included in a meeting on the review date to discuss the child’s progress.
Children will be discussed confidently at staff meetings. Sharing information about children is beneficial throughout our staff team, this makes sure that everyone is working and using the same teaching styles and strategies. It also challenges that staff judgements are correct.
All targets that are set are SMART targets ( Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound) for each individual child.
What other activities are available for children with SEND in addition to the curriculum?
All SEND children are given the same opportunities at Happy Days as their peers with differentiation as required. On Tuesday we have Mini Athletics, Thursday Science club and Dance on Friday’s each week.
How we support pupils in their transition into our school and when they leave us
-
All Parents are invited for a full tour and visit of Happy Days before registration.
-
Every child will be invited to settling mornings to prepare for their start. We can accommodate soft starts if a child needs a little more time to settle by reducing sessions times.
-
Parents are reminded that they can telephone at any stage of the day to check upon their child.
-
Happy Days will never allow a child to become extremely upset.
-
In this case parents are ask to stay in a close vicinity just in case they have to be called back.
-
Upon leaving Happy Days to primary school we meet with reception school teachers and fully hand over all relevant information about the individual child including progress and strategies we have used
-
Meet with school SENCO
-
Prepare children for change by using photos and school visits etc and different vocabulary
-
Support Parents with the change
How additional funding works
Preschool can receive extra funding for children with SEN which is called SENIF, this helps the schools provide specialist equipment or training to benefit the individual child.
If a child is eligible and receives a EHCP plan this can identify something that is significant different to what usually is available, there will be additional funding allocated. Parents will have a say in how this funding is used.
Happy days will use the EYPP (early year pupil premium) where is best used within the setting.
Where pupils can get extra support
The child’s voice is very important to us at Happy Days. We listen to what the children are telling us what they like to learn. Children’s views and feelings are important to us and have an impact in our practices.
Staff communicate with the children and encourage them to speak about their likes and dislikes.
Happy Days invites parents to raise concerns and successes they may have with Happy Days staff
Mental Health Ambassadors
Happy Days have a wide focus with mental health. Staff have attended mental health training to help support children, each other and parents if needed.
Speech and Language
Happy Days have a strong focus on communication as a well-developed speech, language and communication form the basis of all learning and are fundamental for social and emotional wellbeing. Happy Days offer communication classes 4 times per week at Happy Days for children who have been identified as needing a little more support. We also offer ’Blast’ a Boosting Language Auditory Skills every day. These groups are small and interactive with excellent progress.
Children are introduced to Makaton signing.
Staff training and development
Staff are supported in their roles with specialist training if and when they feel they need to study to support the need of all children and those with SEN.
Where parents/carers can get extra support
Our setting SENCO can put you in contact with an array of help, support and guidance within the local area