Special Educational Needs and Disability Policy

The EYEC welcomes the opportunity for both parents and children with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities to visit the setting prior to enrolling and discuss ways in which we can meet the child’s needs.  We will establish whether the setting is the most appropriate for the child and how we can support their learning to the full.

We will pay due regard to the views and wishes of both the parent and child equally with regard to their particular Special Educational Need and/or Disability and will include other professionals, if necessary, to establish the above.

Within the EYEC our staff understand a good working relationship with parents is paramount to the education and development of every child.  We will work closely with parents and listen to their views in order to build on the child’s previous experiences, understanding and skills.

We welcome parent’s guidance and knowledge and would like all parents to feel they are always welcome at the EYEC to discuss any concerns they might have. Arrangements can be made for meetings or discussions at mutually convenient times both in person or via Teams and in complete confidence.  No action will ever be taken without the parent having full understanding of what is being done to help their child and giving full consent.

At the EYEC each key person is responsible for observing the progress and development of their key children.  If at any time there is any cause for concern with a child’s development who may be showing little or no progress against their expected milestones, this will be brought to the attention of the EYEC Head of Centre and the SENco.  Depending on the child’s individual needs the SENco may ask for another meeting to be arranged with them and the child’s parents to discuss the child’s difficulties with their learning and together any support strategies can be discussed and be put into place.  The SENco may also suggest that the child has a SEN Support plan or IEP (Individual Educational plan).

Parents will be involved at every stage of any assessment process and their key person will report regularly to them, staff and any other professionals involved regarding the progress of the case.

When planning our activities we not only take into account the Early Years Foundation Stage and Birth to 5 matters, but we also consider each of the children’s own abilities to ensure that all of their individual needs are met and we are being ambitious for their learning and development.

At the EYEC our education provisions will match the needs of the four broad areas as defined in the SEND Code of Practice January 2015:

• Communication and interaction
• Cognition and learning
• Social, emotional and mental health
• Sensory and/or physical needs.

At the EYEC we use a 3 tiered approach to SEND and supporting a child’s learning:

Universal – Each child’s development at the EYEC is monitored by their key person who will observe the child’s developmental progress on a regular basis and if needed will keep evidence such as pictures, videos and written observations to support their findings.  At times there may be a need to include some minor adaptions to match your child’s learning needs.

Each child will receive a settling in report written by the child’s key person after six weeks of joining the EYEC and after moving to a new room, after this period each child will have a progress meeting approximately every six months.  When the child moves to their new room or leaves the setting you will have both a progress meeting with your child’s key person who will also complete a summary review of their development. 

Each child’s key person will also set them next steps every 3 months and these will be sent to the Parents.

Staff also complete a statutory 2-old year progress report for the children during their 2^nd birth year with us.

Staff plan on a weekly basis for each child’s individual developmental needs and interests and will set their next steps accordingly.

Targeted – It may be appropriate at times to consider making additional short term Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities provisions, additional to the child’s EYFS targets, to remove or reduce any obstacles to your child’s learning.

If a child needs additional provision to support their individual needs, with the Parent / Carer’s permission they will be placed on to a SEN Support Plan or IEP (Individual Educational plan). 

This will begin a graduated four-part approach of a) assessing your child’s needs, b) Planning the most effective and appropriate intervention, c), providing this intervention and d) reviewing the impact on your child’s progress towards individual learning outcomes. 

The decision about what should be included in SEN Support plans or IEPs will be made together with the Parent / Carer, the child (if appropriate), SENco and Key person and actions agreed.

The length and regularity of the cycle, depends on the needs of the child or family at the time.  This is called a graduated approach as set out in the SEND Code of Practice 0-25 (January 2015).

The child’s name is then entered into our Special Educational needs and/or Disabilities register held in the EYEC G:file.

 Specialist – On some occasions it may be necessary for us to seek specialist advice from professionals outside the EYEC and have regular long-term support from outside professionals in order for us to plan for the best possible learning outcomes for your child.  This may include Educational Psychologists, Speech and Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Sensory Advisory Teachers and the child development services. 

At the EYEC we have support from the Bi-borough SEND team and have our own Early Years Inclusion Advisor, who can also come into the setting to observe your child.  If the family lives within the borough we have access to Westminster’s Early Help Service, who can support us in ensuring that we take each child’s individual Special Educational Needs and/or Disability’s into consideration.

If the child lives outside the bi-borough their Health visitor and/or GP will be able to offer advice and support.  As a setting we can also refer children to outside agencies by looking for information on their council’s SEND local offer.

A small number of children who have access to these specialists may also have an EHCP (Educational Health Care Plan)

Each local council has to have a SEND Local Offer, which has a vast amount of information that can be accessed by both parents, SENco’s and Early Years professionals.

Where appropriate we can apply for additional funding (SENIF or DAF), with Parental permission, to help to support a child with a Special Educational need and/or disability.

At the EYEC we will make provisions to involve and liaise with any external professionals needed for each child in order to meet each child’s specific needs.

We also have our own Early Years Inclusion Advisor from the Bi-Borough who will be able to offer advice and with permission from the parents they can attend the setting to observe the child to offer us additional support and advice if needed.

If any parent or member of staff has any complaints about our provision for children with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities, they should report it to the EYEC Head of centre or the Deputy Head at the earliest stage.  Every effort will be made to resolve the complaint.

For parents who have a child with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities there is an Information Advice Support Service available to Parents through their own local council.  Westminster City Council also provides this service, which offers information, advice and support to Parents with SEN and/or Disabilities.

Link for Westminster Council’s Local Offer

The Local Offer is also a valuable resource for staff to assess information and training, there is also small bite sized training videos which everyone can access.

We are committed to training, which will improve the quality of care within the EYEC. When the opportunity arises our staff will also attend courses to broaden their knowledge of Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities.  We also have access to advisory professionals through the Bi-borough SEND team and the Early Years Team at Westminster.

Any information shared with staff or other outside professionals will be done so on a need to know basis and in order to best support the child’s learning.

All records and reports will be clear, accurate and factual and strictly confidential.