MonkeyMoos are Ofsted registered childcare provider, offering places to children from the age of 18 months up to five years. MonkeyMoos Nursery and Preschool opened in September 2018. We are open 51 weeks of the year (closed all bank holidays and the week between Christmas and New year). Our core hours are 07:30-18:30 with the option of opening 07:00-19:00 We provide a safe and high standard of care in a quality setting which allows your little ‘MonkeyMoo’ to flourish emotionally, socially, physically and academically. We offer government funded hours for 2, 3 and 4 year olds and have a variety of sessions available. However, we do have a waiting list in place for some spaces. Please call or email for further information. 

Updated -JUNE 23 

Parents/carers are asked to fill out a starting point form before the child starts their settling in sessions which will highlight any area the child may need any extra support. The parents/carers will have an All About Me meeting with the child's key worker which is where the parent has time to talk about their child with the key worker and express any concerns they may already have.

If parents have any ongoing concerns, meetings can be held with the nursery SENCO and the child’s key person. All concerns are taken very seriously and advice can be sought from outside agencies if needed.

If we identify a possible SEN we would immediately arrange meeting with the SENCO and parents to discuss our concerns and help to direct them to the correct advice service.

We use the Early Years Foundation Stage to guide our staff in the children’s milestones. We complete a two year check in line with the health visitors check to look at overall development. Every time the child attends the nursery they are observed closely by either a spontaneous observation or a planned observation which is taken from their next steps with what the key person feels they need to achieve next along with their interests. The key person records all observations in their individual learning journals which the parents can access on their child’s family account. Children’s progress is recorded and tracked using their next steps, observations and reports. 

The nursery arrange parents evenings throughout the year, normally around the time children's reports are sent out. These are for all parents who wish to come along- currently being held virtually due to Covid. Regular meetings held between the parents, the nursery SENCO and the child’s key person when a specific need has been identified. Parents are always asked to be involved in the child’s learning and we would develop an IPP with the parents to ensure that we are working together. The SENCO would oversee this plan, keeping the child’s key person and other team members informed of the needs and the targets which have been set.

The IPP would be in place for as long as the child’s needs remain that way and we would make alterations as and when necessary. The IPP’s are reviewed according to the individual child’s needs. 

We ask the parents for information on the child’s needs during an All About Me meeting and settling in process. We would look at what stage the child is at developmentally so we could adapt the Early Years Foundation Stage to suit the individual child. We would put enough support in place for the each child and would seek further advice from other professionals when required.

The SENCO would support the staff with planning particular activities to meet the needs of children with SEN. Each key person plans for the needs of each individual child in our setting.

Parents are actively encouraged to be involved in their child’s day by looking at the planning, looking through their learning journeys and we invite parents in regularly to stay and play sessions where they can get involved and also look at the sorts of activities we have planned for their children. We also hold Parent’s evening twice a year to discuss their child’s development in more depth. 

We understand that every child is an individual and will learn in their own and at their own pace. We use visual timetables and prompts throughout the setting to help children with learning difficulties, additional needs as well as English as an additional language. We adapt activities to include all children. Group time is carried out in smaller groups and our age appropriate to help all children concentrate. The nursery can also offer one to one support to help children manage all of our day to day activities.

We may need specialist equipment and we would speak with outside agencies if necessary.

The IPP’s are put in place with parent’s knowledge of the child and we seek further advice from other professionals into the setting and encourage the staff to observe the teaching methods shown by them. Staff at MonkeyMoos are encouraged to go on a variety of training courses to improve their support to all children and would come back to nursery and express to other staff members what they have learnt and what to do going forward, so all staff members would be teaching the children in the same way. 

The setting supports each child by making sure that the learning environment is suitable for their individual needs. We make sure that children can access all areas so there is an opportunity for all

We would always encourage other professionals and organisations to come and spend time at the nursery. We regularly meet with the families to discuss any needs and progress of the individual child outcomes and give help and support. Individual children may have varying needs and therefore we welcome support and advice from everyone. At all times we meet OFSTED requirements for ratios. 

The process of monitoring a child’s progress is described in all of the previous questions. The nursery understands and recognises the importance of the parents role and we would always ask for parents involvement when planning for their child and ask them for specific targets to help their child to progress whilst they attend the nursery.

We assess individual children's progress by using the Early Years Outcomes, two year old progress checks. Each child has a learning journal on their famly account. All observations will be linked to the Early Years Foundation Stage. Through each observation we can see where a child may need extra help or support. Each child will daily observations and one of those observations will be a planned observation using the child's next steps and current interests. The next steps are created by the child's key person.

The SENCO is there to liaise with the parents/carers of children with additional needs/disabilities and comminiacte with them and others such as staff or outside agencies.

In cases where the child attends another setting as well as ours, we would share development summaries to gain overall knowledge of the child we would regularly communicate with other settings and we would visit the child at their other setting to see how they get on there and what they get up too. 

When we are introducing a new child to the nursery we find out all about them from the parents. We are then able to plan for each individual child and, when necessary, risk assessment would be carried out to ensure the practicality and safety of the adaptations we would need to make activities and when taking them on outings.

We would ask for valuable advice from the parents on how to organise and prepare the child for the outing. The nursery would look at the relevant support and equipment needed when arranging the details of the outing. 

MonkeyMoos nursery and preschool's building is accessible for wheelchairs as the building is on one level with no steps. Our toilets are low level children toilets. We try and provide for all children with disabilities.

The room has a visual timetable displayed and this can be adapted to individual children’s needs 

Before any child attends our setting they must have an all about me settling in session with the child’s key worker to discuss the child’s likes/dislikes as well as any individual needs. Once this has been done all of the staff team involved in the child’s care would be briefed on the child’s needs. The child would be invited to come and play for a number of settling in sessions and this will depend on the child with how many they attend and how long these are. These are to help both parents and children to develop their confidence and relationships with their new carers and the other children.

Where children have more specific needs and need specialist equipment we would ask for parent support in accessing the equipment that we need. We would need to contact name and numbers for every professional involved with the child so we communicate with them on a regular basis about the child’s needs.

When a child is starting at a new setting or school we would ensure that all transitions documents are sent in plenty of notice, we would send them the child IPP with parental consent and could also share their learning journal. The child’s key person would arrange a meeting with the nursery/school’s SENCO and the child’s new key worker/teacher and also the parents so discussions can be held with the parent to ensure that everyone can be involved in decisions made about the transition.

 Where a child has a statement of education needs we would call a meeting with all the professionals involved with the child so that the nursery/school is fully prepared for the child’s needs and know what has been being worked on. Parents are welcome to speak to the staff about the transition at any time and can ask to speak with the SENCO or Manager of the nursery.

The nursery self evaluates its practice, through staff supervisions and observations. We have a number of evaluating tools to assess and evaluate the provision of the children, which focus on safeguarding and welfare requirements, staff supervisions and play equipment, and also the needs of new resources. Especially in the case of a child with additional needs coming into the setting.

Shanice Wells - Nursery Manager

0118 334 3000 or 07748878141

swells@monkeymoos.co.uk

Our complaints policy can be given on request and you are more than welcome to come and visit the setting to see a member of staff who will be able to talk in detail about all of our policies procedures.