SEND Local Offer

At The Little Bears Nursery we have a nursery SENCO. Every child in the setting is allocated a key worker. The key workers work closely with every child and their family. They complete regular observations which are used to inform planning around a child’s individual needs and interests. Partnership with parents is central to our ethos at Little Bears, we value parent communication highly. A child’s key worker will work alongside parents to ensure every child’s learning is supported. When a child initially starts, we provide settling in sessions where the key person familiarises themselves with the child’s individual needs, interests and abilities. We also send home an ‘all about me’ document for parents to complete. This is the initial opportunity for the parents to identify any needs with us so that these can be catered for without delay. We encourage parents/carers to keep us informed of activities/ experiences they have at home through our online learning journey. This means working collaboratively together, meaning we can share these home observations with the child at nursery and vice versa. It also means we can keep up to date with their interests and plan their learning around this. Our families are also invited to termly meetings to discuss their child’s progress and development.

If a member of staff is concerned about a child’s development, they will liaise with our nursery SENCO. When a child has been identified as needing additional support our SENCO works closely with the family so they are involved throughout every step of the SEND process, ensuring best outcomes for the child. We have regular meetings with families to discuss and review targets and outcomes set for a child through their individualised support plan. We have policies and procedures in place in relation to SEND and use documents such as the SEND Code of Practice, Every Child Matters and the Children and Families Act 2014 and other relevant documentation to inform our practice. Our nursery SENCO would liaise with other professionals (with the parents’ consent) such as Early Years Inclusion Officers, Speech and Language Therapists and Health Visitors to gain further advise in supporting each individual child.

We are a fully inclusive setting and strive to provide a high quality environment where children can feel safe, happy and achieve their full potential.