Local Offer
The Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Reforms will place a statutory requirement on settings from September 2014 to make information available to parents about how the setting supports children with SEND. The information you make available will form the main basis of your setting's Local Offer.
This Local Offer template is designed to help you to pull together information so that parents of children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) or disabilities know what support they can expect if their child attends your setting. Your setting's Local Offer must be published on your website. Your website must include the name and contact details of your SENCO and the following link to the Local Authority’s Local Offer:
http://www.lancschildcare.co.uk/pdf/lmp-sen-disability.pdf.
The questions in the template are intended as prompts and reflect key issues that parents have told us they would like to know about when deciding which setting could best meet their child’s needs. You may also wish to consult with your own parents about what to include in your Local Offer.
In developing your Local Offer you should be mindful that there is a requirement for a feedback facility to be available and for responses to be given to feedback received.
When you have added your Local Offer onto your website, please complete the following details and return the sheet by email to IDSS.SENDReforms@lancashire.gov.uk
When saving your local offer please use the following format:
LO-Crawshawbooth Pre-School
Setting Name and Address
Crawshawbooth Pre-School
The Village Centre
Adelaide St
Crawshawbooth
Rossendale
Lancashire
BB4 8PW
Telephone Number
01706 507169
Website Address
www.crawshawboothpreschool.co.uk
Name and contact details of your setting SENCO
Mrs Kirsty Jones or Joanne Reynolds in Kirsty’s absence
Contact telephone number
01706507169
kirsty@crawshawboothpreschool.co.uk or Joanne@crawshawboothpreschool.co.uk
The setting provides sessional day care for children aged between 2 and 4 years. The setting is open Monday – Friday 7.30am – 6pm. We are registered for 22 children per session.
The Pre-School is based in one room with direct access to an outdoor play area. The setting employs Five members of staff 1 member of staff level 5 leadership and management in children and young people, 3 hold a level 3 NVQ qualification and 1 member of staff is qualified to an NVQ level 2. The setting has a Manager and a Deputy Manager and practitioners with additional responsibilities, these include; A SENCO (Special Educational Needs Officer), a named person with responsibility for supporting behaviour, nominated safeguarding officers, first aiders, ENCO (Educational Needs Officer) a PICO (Parental Involvement Co-Ordinator) and a named person for supporting Looked After children.
Each child within the setting is allocated a key person who monitors individual needs and development, and also plans for each child’s progress through interests and ideas. Children’s individual progress is documented in a learning journey file by the key person, these developmental records are also overseen by the management team and shared with parents.
Accessibility and Inclusion
The building
The Pre-School is situated in the basement room of the Community Centre in Crawshawbooth. We operate from one large room and have direct access to a secure outdoor play area. The Pre-School is wheelchair accessible from all entrances/exits via wide doors. There is accessible parking to the front and back of the building. Access to the Pre-School room is a keypad lock system.
The Pre-School Room
There are two children’s toilets in the Pre-School room, a disabled/staff toilet is situated in the meeting room/office area which is accessed via the outdoor area and staff toilets are also situated on the first floor of the building.
The room and waiting area is lit by strip lights and natural light. Displays used are natural as possible to help set the rooms atmosphere. The Pre-School room is painted cream with vinyl wood effect flooring.
The room has a small kitchen area which is accessed through a bolted gate, this comprises of base units, sink and worktop with a cooker and fridge to store food and a wall mounted water geyser. We also have a small handwasher sink in the room.
The room is planned to effectively promote all of our continuous provision areas and this provision is regularly monitored to ensure it meets all of the needs of the children whom attend the setting. The resources and storage units are labelled using photographs and printed labels. Toys and resources are age appropriate.
We have different sizes of tables and chairs and two matted areas. We also have a childrens comfy sofa for reading and sharing books.
Each child has their own tray housed within a large unit. There are parent information and display boards in the waiting area. The Pre-School operates an open-door policy. If parents require information in different formats the setting would seek to acquire this.
The Outdoor Area
The outdoor area is a small secure fenced soft floored area, with a gradual slope. We have a small planting and growing area, a role play construction area, an outdoor story shed, a mud kitchen, water tray, sand pit, small world provision is housed in tuff spot trays.
Resources are taken outside on a daily basis and are chosen and adapted to suit the needs of the children attending the setting.
Identification and Early Intervention
The staff team are welcoming to the parent/carer’s and children who visit our setting when looking for suitable provision for the family. Parent/carers would be encouraged to talk about their child and what sort of setting they were looking for to meet their child’s individual needs and during this initial visit staff would take the opportunity to observe and spend time with the child.
A detailed registration form is provided in the Welcome Pack for parents to highlight children’s needs. An All About Me Book and initial child profile is also included to promote a starting point in the child’s progress and development file whilst offering background information about the child and their family.
The setting offers accompanied visits for new starters as an initial induction into Pre-School, this is another opportunity for staff to observe children and talk to parent/carers about any concerns they may have, if any concerns arise staff would offer support and advice, talking them through the processes we would follow to support the child and family, including outside agencies.
Children’s progress is closely monitored in our setting each child has their own learning journey, which comprises of their observations and tracking information about their progress across the areas of learning and development within the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), including parent/carer comment sheets and wow moments.
Children’s learning journeys are available for the children to look at with the key person during session times and parents to look at any time on request. Although a child’s key person is available to chat to parent’s at drop off and pick up times we will make arrangements for the key person to meet with parent’s each term to share their learning journey and discuss progress and any concerns. Additional appointments can be made outside of these times to discuss any issues in more detail, these can be held in a private office in order to maintain confidentiality.
In addition to the child’s learning journey file we also undertake the 2year progress check. This is a requirement of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and is carried out for all children in this age range. The EYFS requires us to report to parents on their child’s 2year progress check; discussing and identifying strengths as well as concerns. Where the progress check suggests that a child may be experiencing some difficulties or delay in their development, information is shared with parents and appropriate next steps are discussed.
- For some children the next steps may involve the key person or SENCO targeting a specific area of development and planning opportunities to support the area of learning and development identified. This enhancement and targeting links to the wave two interventions identified within our settings provision mapping. This would then be reviewed to see how the child has progressed and whether or not additional steps need to be taken to support the child’s progress and development.
- For other children the next step may also include developing a targeted learning plan where specific aims are developed with parents to support the child’s development. We may also discuss with parents whether it would be appropriate to refer their child to other services such as speech and language therapy as this would require parental consent.
Another next step may be to ask our local Inclusion Teacher to visit the child in the setting to provide some additional advice and guidance to practitioners to support them in meeting the needs of the child. This visit is called a “Request for Guidance” and can only be undertaken with parental consent.
Teaching and Learning Part 1 – Practitioners and Practice
The setting works within the framework for the EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage). The room is resourced according to the age and needs of the children. Practitioners use the Development Matters and the Statutory Guidance for the EYFS to plan provision and activities for children in their care.
The EYFS identifies 3 Prime areas and four specific areas of learning and development: Personal, Social and Emotional Development, Physical Development, Communication and Language – Literacy, Mathematical Development, Understanding the World and Expressive Arts and Design.
Activities and provision are adapted to suit the needs of all children in the 2-4 age range. Practitioners differentiate the activities they develop to meet the needs of all the children. Some children require a greater level of differentiation because they have additional or Special Educational needs.
The setting has a SENCO whose role is to support children with special education/additional needs. Her duties include liaising with key persons, parent/carers and outside agencies. The SENCO follows a provision mapping system which supports the identification of provision to support children with additional/special educational needs. This helps to identify exactly what we offer all children including those with additional/special educational needs that are above and beyond what is ordinarily provided for in differentiated provision.
All children have a key person. The role of the key person is to liaise with the child’s parent/carer regarding their time in Pre-School, whilst helping parent/carers to develop ways in which they can support their child’s learning at home. Parent information boards display information about elements of early learning development and how this can be supported at home. There are also leaflets available to identify local groups and resources available to parents of young children in the area. Parents are able to speak to their child’s key person or the management team at any time.
Children are encouraged to express their views about their own learning through their learning journey. Children are able to share their learning journey at Pre-School with their key person and parent/carers are given the opportunity each term to share these either in Pre-School or at home. In our setting the children have access to digital cameras to take pictures of the things they have done in Pre-School and these can then be included in the child’s learning journey.
The resources provided are developmentally appropriate for each age range within our setting. We ensure there are resources available that overlap the age phase below and above so that children who are developing more slowly or quickly can access resources appropriate to their developmental stage. We use our provision mapping to help us identify some of the resources and activities available to support children’s needs.
Where children need resources that are not usually available in our setting we endeavour to access these from loans facilities, support services or purchasing. We liaise with parents and outside professionals to ensure resources are appropriate for the needs of the child.
All practitioners are encouraged to work with outside professionals who visit children in the setting. The practitioners are supported by the SENCO and the Manager. For some children it may be the case that at specific times of the day they require additional support. As a setting we endeavour to make reasonable adjustments to provide this. We provide additional support flexibly using supernumerary staff
Transitions
Before children start attending Pre-School we encourage parents to bring them for visits. Initially this may be for the child to have a look around the setting with their parents. We have a settling in policy which is shared with parents when they register their child with us. The staff team will talk to parents about their child’s preferences for a settling period and we aim to meet those needs as and best we can.
We have a transition plan which we follow when children are ready to move on, either to a new setting or primary school. The transition plan includes additional factors that may need to be considered when supporting the transition of children with additional or special educational needs, to ensure this is as smooth as possible.
We have an open door policy and parents are able to drop into the setting at any time. They are also able to contact us by phone if they would like to check in on their child.
Staff Training
ALL practitioners are qualified minimum of level 3.
We have a regular programme of supervisions and appraisals for all practitioners. We value opportunities to support their further professional development and they are encouraged to
seek, and are provided with opportunities for this.
As a setting we also seek to support practitioners to further develop their knowledge and understanding of a range of additional and special educational needs. Practitioners have access to a range of resources and books. These are available for parents to borrow. We also have a library within our building.
We also make use of the local authorities Children First website to access information and e-learning modules such as CAF training and Prevent training.
Further Information
As a setting we are required to have a procedure for dealing with complaints. This is available to parents within the Pre-School