Special Educational Needs and Disabilities
Our Early Years Practitioners and SENCO work closely with families, carers and children to build a complete and accurate picture of childrens' needs. We have close, working relationships with other professionals, such as speech therapists, behaviour support workers and educational psychologists.
All children are assessed, through observation, when they start at our Pre-School to find out what they ‘can do’. It's not unusual, from time to time, for a child to need a little extra support in a particular area or a more comprehensive plan to help more general development. If this is the case, we work with families and, if necessary, external agencies to carefully plan our provision to meet the needs of an individual child. The setting works closely with parents to set children targets or next steps and if necessary this might take the form of an Individual Education Plan (IEP). Regular meetings with parents or carers helps us work as a team in supporting children. Where children receive care and education in more than one setting, practitioners ensure continuity and coherence by sharing relevant information with each other and with parents.
We have close links to many other agencies some of these are:
- Early Years Inclusion Team
- Early Years Support Team
- Speech and Language Therapy
- Health Visitors
- Family Support Workers
- Educational Psychologists
- Other Pre-School settings to share good practice.
Goonhavern Pre-School is a one level building. An accessibility plan, which is reviewed annually, ensures that we remain an inclusive environment. Disabled pupils are monitored and can be accompanied to ensure safe access to rooms and resources as required. Quiet spaces are available to children to reduce sensory overload or allow for rest periods due to tiredness or the need for privacy when medical treatment is necessary. Individual fire plans are put in place for children as required.
Each child receives support matched to their own level of Special Educational Need. This will vary across each day and throughout their time in our school, as the level of support is directly related to their needs and circumstances. Support is allocated in relation to the child’s individual needs and on the advice of external professionals. Support is monitored closely and adapted as and when necessary. As a fully inclusive pre-school, all children participate in whole school, curriculum and off site activities. The extent to which each child participates and the levels of support received will vary between children and across time, but we differentiate the activities and expectations to enable all children to take part.