Local Offer
Our ‘Local Offer’ in line with the revised SEND Code of Practice (2014)
The Beehive Day Nursery is a family business, led by a qualified teacher, which strives to be fully inclusive, welcoming all children to play, learn and to develop. The Beehive operates from a one-storey building ensuring easy access to all. Our qualified and experienced staff support children’s learning by using the Early Years Curriculum (EYFS 2012). When a child joins the nursery, they are allocated a Key Person, a first point of contact for parents who will strive to build a strong relationship with both the child and their families ensuring all learning opportunities suit the interests and needs of the child. The Key Person is responsible for observing and planning for each child providing challenges and support as needed. All children have a Learning Pathway which details developmental milestones linked top the EYFS. From these observations, all children are allocated a small number of termly targets to work towards. These are shared with parents to ensure a collaborative approach and to enable families to continue the learning process at home.
We understand that children may need some additional support during their time at nursery. Some may require internal support and may only be required for a small period of time, others may involve longer-term action with the need for involvement from external agencies. Where a child is showing difficulty within a particular area of learning, we would discuss this with parents, welcoming feedback and observations regarding their behaviour at home and would develop a plan to identify their next steps. This may be in the form of some targeted support at nursery or perhaps a referral to a specialist agency. Any actions would always be discussed with parents.
The Beehive employs a member of staff, dedicated to Special Educational Needs (SENCo) who oversees the additional support provided to children and supports the Key Person to identify any concerns both where children already receive additional support and where there has not yet been any recognised need. The SENCo works alongside the Key Person and parents to manage any child’s difficulties by regularly sharing information with parents and showing specific observations and evidence linked to their learning and development.
To fully support a child with additional need(s), it may be appropriate to develop more targeted support such as an SEND Support Plan, this may lead to a more specialist service being contacted to ensure the child’s needs are being met. In accordance with our SEND Policy, in line with the SEND Code of Practice, we will work in partnership with children and their families along with any other relevant agencies involved and will endeavour to support the inclusion of all children, and as far as possible, adapt the nursery to meet their needs and provide a high-quality of childcare provision.
There are many opportunities for parents to discuss their child’s progress; daily feedback (both verbal and written) from the Key Person, an ‘open-door’ policy with management, termly parent’s evenings and additional meetings as necessary to discuss feedback from other agencies who may have been working with the child or at the request of parents. We also welcome parents to share with us any correspondence or feedback from meetings with any other agencies involved with their child to ensure that we continue to adapt the provision to suit their changing needs. Parents are invited to contribute their ideas to our weekly planning and display our monthly theme in the reception area to keep parents informed of the topics we will be covering. We also ask the children about their interests, in addition to those observed through their play and include these ideas in our provision. All staff are trained to use Somerset Total Communication (signing) which provides all children with a voice, enabling non-verbal children to communicate their wishes. All children are encouraged to use this, particularly at mealtimes and during activities.