We support a wide range of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in the following ways:

The role of the SENCO involves:

• Ensuring all practitioners in the setting understand their responsibilities to children with SEND and the setting’s approach to identifying and meeting SEND;
• Advising and supporting colleagues;
• Ensuring parents are closely involved throughout and that their insights inform action by the setting; and
• Liaising with professionals or agencies beyond the setting.
• Providing targeted interventions.
• Staff to undertake beneficial training regarding SEND.
• Recognise each child’s individual needs and ensure all staff are aware of, and have regard for, the Special Education Needs Code of Practice on the identification and assessment of any needs not being met by the universal service provided by the nursery.
• Include all children and their families in out provision.
• Provide well informed and suitably trained practitioners to help support parents and children with special education difficulties and/or disabilities.
• Name a Special Educational Needs and Disabilities co-ordinator (SENDCo) who is experienced in the care and assessment of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and meet those needs through a range of strategies.
• Ensure that children who learn quicker, e.g. gifted and talented children are also supported.
• Share any statutory and other assessments made by the nursery with parents and support parents in seeking any help they or the child may need.
• Work in partnership with parents and other agencies in order to meet individual children’s needs, including the education, health and care authorities, and seek advice, support and training where required.
• Monitor and review our practice and provision and, if necessary, make adjustments, and seek specialist equipment and services if needed.
• Ensure that all children are treated as individuals/equals and are encouraged to take part in every aspect of the nursery day according to their individual needs and abilities. We take on a graduated approach to personalise their curriculum and identify areas of need and provide opportunities to succeed.
• Encourage children to value and respect others.
• Challenge inappropriate attitudes and practices.
• Promote positive images and role models during play experiences of those with additional needs wherever possible.
• Celebrate diversity in all aspects of play and learning.
• Affirm their identity and cultivate their divergent pathways.
• Intervention or therapeutic approaches are child-led which honour and affirm differences.
• Self-advocacy and autonomy are prioritised.
• Clearly established Ethics of care, including consent, right to say no and choice.
• Sensitive goals/targets e.g. valuing uninterrupted play & sensitive scaffolding.
• A community support team comprised of individuals trained in a number of specialisms including a therapeutic play specialist and staff trained in supporting children who have experienced emotional trauma.
• Staff who have additional training in areas including supporting speech and language development and autistic spectrum condition and who work closely with health professionals including physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists and educational psychologists.
• A room in our main daycare building (an “Early Inclusion Space”) to support dedicated tailored interventions in a distraction free environment.
• The opportunity for parents to attend informal support and social groups, parenting workshops and family trips during the holidays.
• An augmented staff to child ratio in our day care provision where additional support in the form of enhanced ratio to access individualised needs of all children.

You can contact our SENDCO on: SENCO@everyfamily.org.uk.