How do you communicate with the parent / carer whose child has SEND?
To make an appointment for a visit to the setting:
Telephone the setting on: 07708 839918
Or email the setting at: jjellybeans04@gmail.com Or message via our website: https://www.jumpingjellybeanspre-school.com
Or message via our Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=jumping%20jellybeans%20pre-school
We work closely with parents to ensure a positive working partnership. There is verbal communication through informal chats or an arranged consultation meeting, or Individual Support Plan meeting with the Key Person or SENCO. Parents are encouraged to speak to us as soon as they have any concerns or worries about their child or wish to share information. We value and appreciate that parents know their child better than anyone else. Parents can request a private and confidential meeting with their Key Person, either in person, a telephone meeting, or a Teams/Zoom meeting, by asking at ‘drop off’ time or calling or emailing the setting. Staff will always make time to meet with parents to discuss their child.
We appreciate that it is not always easy for parents to have time to talk to staff at the beginning or end of sessions so we also use a Communication Book for the sharing of information between home, different settings such as childminders/after school clubs and the Pre-school.
The Key Person adds notes regarding the child’s ‘wow moments’, well-being, personal care and information about what the child has been learning and we welcome parents and other settings to add comments in the book. The Manager shares photographs and information of the children’s daily activity and leaning and sends private messages to the individual parent, via our online private SEE SAW site.
The child’s assessments, observations and achievements are documented in their ‘Journal’. This is used to identify the child’s strengths in their learning within the developmental age expectations of the ‘Birth to Five Matters’ (2021) and the Statutory Framework for Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). A Two Year Old Progress Check is completed, if age relevant, and shared with the parent and heath visitor team.
Observations of the child’s learning and progress are shared with the parent via Consultation Meetings and Individual Support Plan meetings/reviews. We use the SEND ‘graduated response four-part cycle’ (assess, plan, do, review), as documented in the statutory Code Of practice for Special Educational Needs and Disability (2014), to identify and support children to make good progress in their development at their own pace.
Once gaps in the expected learning development of a child are identified, the Key Person will suggest a ‘SMART ‘target’ (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time Bound), for the child to be supported to achieve their long term outcomes. An Individual Support Plan is created in collaboration with the SENCO and parent which will document suggestions and ideas for parents and the Key Person to consistently support the learning at home and in the setting. Outside agencies advice, assessment and support will be sought as relevant to the child’s needs following the graduated levels of intervention (Targeted support using Individual Support Plan, Specialist Advice and Support, and Education Health and Care Plan) (EHCP). Outside agencies and professionals may include Speech Therapists, Portage, Paediatricians, Educational Psychologists, Local Authority Area SENCO, Health Visitors, Occupational Therapists and Play Workers.
If there is to be a change in the setting routine or staffing, all practitioners will discuss the implications for the child at a staff meeting, and plan ways to best meet the needs of the child with as little disruption as possible to the child and their parents. Plans will be shared with the child and parent by the Key Person and SENCO. It is our aim that any changes will be gradually introduced, at an appropriate pace for the child’s individual needs, and the adults required for such a change are available and supportive of the child’s well-being.
How do you help children settle into your setting?
Parents and children will meet their Key Person and the Manager during the initial Home Visit/Pre-school Visit before starting ‘settling in sessions’ in the setting. We can provide as many settling in sessions as the child needs, increasing the time they attend until they are ready to stay for a full session.
Details of all the staff and their roles are documented in the setting prospectus and on our website. The Key Person will introduce the parent and child to other staff members during their first settling in session and explain who will be working directly with the child and in what role.
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The SENCO will share with parents, information of which outside professionals will be involved in the education of their child as the need arises and will introduce them to the parents.
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The SENCO will provide the parent with information relating to SEND such as the SEND information and advice service (SENDIASS), the SEND guide for Parents and carers, and the Poole Parent Carer Forum
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The setting SENCOs are: Debbie Southern and Hannah Maycock
What help and support does your setting offer to children with SEND as they move rooms or move on to school?
The Key Person or SENCO informs parents of all the steps and processes that will take place in preparation for the child’s move. The parent is involved in all decision making and plans for the move. The Key Person/SENCO will help the parents seek and obtain any information from the new setting that they may require. The Key Person or SENCO will visit prospective schools/settings with the parents to offer support if required.
Sharing of information, with parent consent, at a transition meeting with the forwarding school. Parents are invited to attend with the Key Person and are empowered to share information about their child and to ask questions relating to their child’s transition and plans for support in the new setting.
All learning development records such as targets, achievements, progress, how the child likes to learn and current strategies used etc. are shared with the new setting, so as to ensure the new setting has a clear knowledge of the child’s abilities, characteristics of learning, wishes and needs. Child visits the new setting with the parents and support from the Key Person.
Child is given a photo book of the new setting, and this is used to support the child to feel familiar with the new setting’s environment. The Key Person talks positively about the new setting with the child, and may use small world play, role play, drawings etc to gently encourage discussion and the sharing of thoughts and worries.
How do you find out how each child likes to learn?
The Key Person will have initial discussions with the parents to seek the parent’s knowledge of their child’s learning and play and to gain a deeper insight into the child’s strengths likes and dislikes and any struggles the child may have.
The Key Person will build up a caring and nurturing bond with the child and closely monitor the child’s well-being to ensure they have an enjoyable experience in the setting. Once the child feels safe and secure the Key Person will actively seek the child’s interests and characteristics of learning (Play and Exploration, Active Learning, Creativity and Critical Thinking), by closely observing the child’s play and activity and interaction with peers.
For non-verbal children, the Key Person will look closely at body gestures and behaviour presented in different situations to obtain the child’s view of their likes/dislikes and wishes etc. The Key Person is ready to offer comfort when required and the child will trust the Key Person to support them in taking risks to explore new experiences and test out social situations with peers. The Key Person will know the child well, and can foresee, identify and support the child’s individual learning and emotional needs.
Inclusive practice / SEND training and expertise within this organisation
The SENCO’s and Staff in the setting have over 15 years of experience working with children with...
Autism Speech and Language delay English as an Additional Language Dandy Walker Syndrome Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Global Anxiety Disorder Global Development Delay
SENCO holds the following SEND qualifications –
Cache accredited SENCO award, completed the Portage Workshop Training Diploma in Autism Sign-a-long course, Speech Therapy Course First Aid
Second SENCO holds the following SEND qualifications - SENCO Leadership course Sign-a-long course First Aid. All staff take part in regular trainings to enhance and further their knowledge of SEND, and extra training is sought to meet the needs of an individual child if required.
All children are able to take part in our Forest School Sessions and outings around our local community. Careful plans and Risk Assessments are made in advance for each child to be able to take part in an outing and activity, which could include extra staffing, methods of transport, required buggy’s, appropriate car seats, administration of medication etc.
Children are respected as individuals with their own fascinations and interests and are encouraged and supported to be as independent as possible in their self-care and hygiene, such as putting on own coats and shoes, wiping their own nose, using the toilet, tidying away their toys after use etc. The Key Persons are highly skilled at observing and identifying the child’s fascinations and will provide opportunities for the child to explore and develop this further. Using Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development theory, the Key Person will gently scaffold the individual child’s learning by offering further ideas and resources to the child’s fascination. Children are also encouraged to take part in an adult initiated ‘group time’ with peers.
For these group times the child’s individual needs are paramount so children are grouped accordingly and activities presented are appropriate to their developmental abilities and interests e.g., for children who are active and need to be moving, a story can read by using music and movement or for a child who likes their own space and dislikes interaction with peers, a turn taking game with a ball or a shared story with one other peer can be encouraged.
Some of the measures for Inclusive practice in the pre-school can also be as follows, but not limited to:
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‘Now and Next’ board to support understanding during transitions
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Objects of reference to support understanding • Staff use sign-a-long to support understanding of speech
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Smaller breakfast/lunch table with one or two other peers, a suitable distance away from the larger group so as to enable the child to be involved in the social meal time without the sensory overload of too many peers in close proximity
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Significant Space between tables to enable ease of access
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Low tables and mats on floor to enable play on the floor • Low lighting, sensory objects to explore and a mat for lying and rolling freely
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Various mark making tools, both in and outdoors to support and challenge all abilities
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Various toys and resources, both in and outdoors to support and challenge all abilities
The information in this SEND Local Offer was completed on 25/05/2021.