Extra Support

How do we know if a child needs extra support?

We have an embedded system to ensure that a key person is allocated to every child. This key person regularly observes the child and this information is then used to plan around the child’s individual needs and interests. The key person completes assessments on every child to identify any support that may be required.

These termly assessments are then shared with the parents at the focus child meeting, which happens once a term.

When a child starts with us, we provide settling in sessions where the key person familiarises themselves with the child’s individual needs, interests and abilities. This is the initial opportunity for the parents to identify any needs with the key person so that these can be catered for.

How will staff support the child?

We have a pre-school SENCO (special educational Needs coordinator) that has been trained through the local authority to support the key person, child and families to ensure that the child’s individual needs are met.

The SENCO will work closely with the key person to ensure there are sufficient resources, experiences and activities to support the child.

The Pre-school SENCO will work with the key person to provide personal plans for each child based on their individual needs.

The SENCO will liaise with other professionals(with parents’ consent) such as Early years inclusion officers, speech and language therapists and health visitors to gain further advise in supporting each individual child.

If after speaking with the Early years SEN team we are advised that the child needs additional funding for their placement with us or we believe we need additional funding to support the child with a 1-1 or to update the environment or to send staff on additional training we will apply for high needs funding from the council.