Atherstone Nursery School and Warwickshire Early Years Hub

We want to help you in teaching your child, so that they become confident, happy learners, ready for the challenges and excitement life and school brings them.         

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Some children need an extra helping hand to get them where they want to go. To do this we have a teacher assigned to help them in nursery. The job role is known as SENDCo. We also have staff who work with the SENDCo. Every school must have a SENDCo or Inclusion teacher and a Governor who looks at SEND. We also have an Inclusion Policy and SEND policy which says how we help every child to be the best they can.

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Your child may already get help, perhaps from their Health Visitor, from a Speech and Language Therapist, from Physio or Occupational Therapy, from a specialist nurse or an IDS Portage Child Development Advisor.

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When every child starts nursery we work with you, to see what they are doing already and what their next steps are.  It is incredibly common that children need a little bit extra for a while just to support their individual development. Sometimes help is needed for a bit longer and it is called a Special Educational Need, because Nursery do something extra for your child’s education. 

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If we think we need to help your child a little bit more we will talk to you first. We will ask your permission for your child to go on our SEND register, which makes sure everyone who works with your child knows we are providing them with extra support. This is called Targeted Support, because we are taking some extra Action. No one can see the SEND register apart from the adults who work with your child in school and Ofsted, who inspect us.

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If we want more advice about how to help your child we may ask your permission to refer them to someone else. This may be to Speech and Language Therapy, for a hearing test or maybe to physiotherapy. We can also refer them to IDS who have a team of specialist Early Years teachers and advisors who work. If we need to do this it is sometimes called Targeted Outside Support.

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All children receiving Targeted Support or Outside Targeted Support have what is called an Individual Education Plan or IEP. This shows the targets which we are concentrating on to support your child, there will be 6 weekly IEP meetings which you will be invited to, to review your child's progress and next steps. 

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The SENDCo/SENDCo Assistant will write the IEP with help from you and your child’s Family leader and other staff.  All the staff who work with your child will be aware of their targets so they are getting every possible opportunity to make progress.

 

The targets on the IEP will depend on what your child needs to work on most. Some children may have similar targets but each child will respond differently. You will be able to do some things at home if you would like to. All the work on the IEP will be FUN. Learning is fun and we make any IEP work part of the children’s usual day. 

 

For some children the help can stop as they enter school but for some children the help will need to continue. We will talk with you about sharing information with your child’s new school about your child, so they continue to get the support they need

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If you would like to ask questions or want to know anything extra you can speak Cheryl or your child's key person. Our SEND Governor is Jean Ferraro and if you would like to get in touch with her please contact admin1002@welearn365.com.

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What is an EHC plan?

If we feel your child may need more support than mainstream educational settings can normally provide through their existing special educational needs support process, we may suggest putting in an application for an Education, health and care (EHC) plan. These plans are for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

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An EHC plan (EHCP) is a legal document which describes a child or young person’s special educational, health and care needs. The EHCP must also describe the support required to meet those needs and the identified outcomes.

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An EHCP can only be issued after a full EHC needs assessment has been carried out. This is to find out what the needs are and what provision may be required to support these needs.

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EHCPs will be reviewed anually and updated at least at the end of each key stage - or every six months for EHCPs in early years settings - with new measurable targets and outcomes set to reflect progress and changes. These will be documented as amendments to the EHCP.

Planning for adulthood should be included in the EHCP from year 9, or age 14, onwards.

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 Glossary 

 

IDS – Integrated Disability Service

SEND- A Child has special educational needs if he, or she, has learning difficulties or a disability that makes it harder for them to learn than most other children of about the same age

Targeted Support - what the nursery do that is extra

Targeted Outside Support - what the nursery do extra with help from outside professionals, eg speech and language therapist and specialist teachers.

IEP- Individual Education Plan- targets to support your child's development

IEP Review- when we all meet together to look at your child’s progress and next steps

SENDCo- Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator- the teacher responsible for inclusion in the nursery and for reporting to the head and governors about Special Needs

Inclusion- making sure every one in nursery is welcomed, catered for and supported to be the best they can.

EHCP – Education Health Care Plan - An EHC plan (EHCP) is a legal document which describes a child or young person’s special educational, health and care needs. The EHCP must also describe the support required to meet those needs and the identified outcomes.