What we have to Offer children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) at Top Place Pre-School.
- How does Top Place Pre-School know if children need extra help and what should I do if I think my child may have special educational need?
Each child is assigned a keyperson as soon as he/she is registered at Top Place Preschool. The keyperson spends time with the child and if they notice any evidence of special educational needs, we will discuss our findings with you and put a plan in place to support the child. If you think your child may have special educational needs, we advise that you speak to the manager who will is the SENCO officer. Once it has been identified that your child has special educational needs, we will do the IAELD to see where there are gaps and set up an individual education plan (IEP), working in partnership with you. This plan is unique to your child and identifies the areas of support your child needs, we will provide the support and monitor its effectiveness. Your child’s key person and SENCO will discuss the IEP with you and take your views into account.
2. How will Top Place support my child?
Top Place delivers high quality care for young children by providing unlimited opportunities to learn and develop through play-based activities. We observe children through our play-based activities to find out if there are gaps and if they need extra support. The result from the observations will be used to complete an IAELD (Individual Assessment of Early Learning Development) to identify specific area of need/s. We will seek parent/carer permission before completing the IAELD and explain what it entails. We will arrange a meeting with parent/carer after completing the IAELD to discuss our findings and the best way forward for the child.
3. How will I know how my child is doing?
We welcome three parents’ evenings a year and provide the learning journals of each child for parents to take home at the end of every term together with end of term report. Parents are welcome to talk about their concerns at drop off and pick up from the preschool each day. You are also welcomed to make appointments to see your child/ren keyperson at any point during the term.
4. How will the learning and development provision be matched to my child’s needs?
We allocate a keyperson to each child when they start at preschool. The keyperson uses the EYFS curriculum to do regular observations with photographic evidence on each of their key child to track their learning and development. This information forms our next steps which are used to plan future activities which the keyperson will adapt in challenging the child. We also work in partnership with the team around the child and put their advice, report etc into consideration if any while planning for the child’s next steps.
5. What support will there be for my child’s overall wellbeing?
At Top Place preschool, the wellbeing of our children and their families are paramount to us. We build good relationships with families so that children feel comfortable and secure in our environment. Our staff have a positive approach to all children’s individual learning and development and are sensitive to their needs. We welcome parent/carer volunteers at the setting and encourage their contribution to their child’s learning and development. We provide healthy snacks twice a day and will support you and your child with toileting training and issues regarding eating. Children have access to outdoor play area and other activities to keep them active.
6. What specialist services and expertise are available at or accessed by Top Place Preschool?
Top Place preschool has a good working relationship with many outside agencies. We work closely with the Children’s centre, Speech and Language Therapists, Health Visitors, Educational Psychologists, Social Care, Specialist Teachers for Autism etc. We also work closely with the SEN team to ensure children get the correct support when leaving Top Place Preschool.
7. What trainings and or experience do the staffs supporting children with SEND have?
Our SENCO designated person has Level 6 qualification in childcare with relevant SENCO trainings. She is assisted by another member of staff with level 5 qualification in childcare. The SENCo and her deputy attends SENCO cluster meetings regularly to update their knowledge of changes in the Early years. We are committed to the continuing professional development of all staff.
8. How will I be involved in discussions about and planning for my child’s learning and development?
We operate an open-door policy where parents can come in and discuss their concerns. The manager/deputy is always at the door every morning to receive the children and also in the afternoon to give feedback to parents on what their child had done each day. We work in partnership with parents and carers and would like you to feel involved in pre-school. We welcome parent volunteers into our sessions. We will also keep you informed of general pre-school news via our quarterly newsletters.
9. How accessible is the building environment?
Top Place preschool has a wheelchair facility. We advise that you make an appointment to see the space before deciding whether it would be appropriate to your child's needs and whether it could accommodate their equipment. There is a disabled toilet facility.
10. How will the setting prepare and support my child with transitions between home, setting and school?
When offered a place at Top Place preschool, you will be asked to bring your child for settling in. On your first settling in, you will be given a form which will give detailed information about your child and the family. We may carry out a home visit before your child starts the preschool if need. A health care plan may also be completed and signed off at the meeting if need be. We call a meeting between the parent and the keyperson after six sessions or at most three weeks of your child starting at the preschool to discuss the progress of the child and plan the next step with the parent.
11. How will the setting resources be used to support children’s special educational needs?
If your child requires one to one support, we will need to apply to the Local Authority for funding. If our application is successful, the funding will be used to meet the additional staffing costs. There are occasions when only part-funding is agreed and therefore we will discuss with you, how best to support your child.
12. How will the Early Years curriculum be matched to my child’s needs?
Within the Early Years curriculum, your child’s key person and the SENCO will identify any areas that need to be adjusted in order to meet your child’s needs. To do this we may use alternative resources and request advice from external services.
13. How will my child’s progress and learning be monitored?
We will review your child’s IEP with you half termly and look at what the next step need to be. We also have an open-door policy for parents and carers, so you will be able to speak to your child’s key person whenever the need arises. We will observe and assess your child’s development at regular intervals. Our observations and assessments will be available in the learning journal.
14. How will my child be included in activities outside the pre-school, including school trips?
We take the ratio of adult to children very seriously and always make sure every outside activity is risk assessed with inclusion as focus. In order to ensure no child is excluded therefore, we engage extra staff and involve parent volunteers on trips outside of the preschool premises.
Who can I contact for further information?
For further information about Top Place Pre-school please contact;
Rachael Igbaroola (Pre-School Manager)
Tel: 07842519294, 07944402240
Email: admin@topplace-preschool.co.uk
Website: www.topplace-preschool.co.uk
Address: Derby Road Baptist Church, Derby Road Watford. WD17 2LZ.
This offer is accurate at the time of this publication 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: February 2020
