Victoria Road Pre-School was originally established in a residential dwelling in the 1960's, and then transferred to our current home in 1970, which is Tilehurst Village Hall in Victoria Road, Tilehurst, Reading, Berkshire, RG31 5AB.

We are a voluntary, non-profit making organisation and a registered charity (No.1020175). The conditions of our registration under the Children's Act (1989) means that we are regularly inspected by Ofsted in order to ensure that the quality of care and education we provide meets the standards required by Ofsted.

We have a large main hall measuring 13m by 9m which also has a stage. We have a side room for extra class space and an outside garden with safety tarmac, wooden decking with a UV protected roof covering.

The building has full disabled access. Ramps are located at the front and rear of the building.

We have an open door policy, whereby you can communicate with a member of staff about any questions or concerns during any session.

We also send out newsletters every half term, to keep families up-to-date with what is happening in our pre-school.  Parents have access to Tapestry journal for weekly observations, updates and memos.

Local Offer Updated - May 2022

On induction to our pre-school our SENCo - (Special Education Needs Co-ordinator) Alison Clements and parents/carers share information about the strengths and needs of the child to create a positive partnership. Families will be supported for as long as it takes for your child to settle.We want your child to feel happy and safe with us.

Each child has a key person who will work closely with the child, complete regular observations and update files and records of their progress. If a child shows signs of needing additional support the correct procedures are put into place.

Every child will have a progress check during their 2nd year of age, which supplies parents/carers with a short written summary of their child's development. It also links in to the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) ages and stages of development and in some cases, identifies additional individual needs.

Reports from health care professionals such as health visitors and speech and language therapists, identify your child's individual needs. We welcome parents and professionals sharing these reports in order to plan appropriately to meet these needs. 

These observations will be discussed with the SENCo (Alison Clements) and your child's Key Person.

Our SENCo - Alison Clements, will offer support and advice to your child's key person and other staff in our setting. The SENCo will also liaise with other professionals to seek advice and support in identifying individual needs if necessary.

The Key Person or SENCo, will contact the main carer in person to arranage a meeting to discuss extra support that they may need and how the setting will support both child and carer/parent, to help meet the child's developmental targets.

We will build a positive relationship with parents/carers in order to work effectively with them and their children.

All documentation is kept in the child's file in a locked box, in a locked cupboard to ensure confidentiality.

Our SENCo has completed specific SENCo training and also attends network meetings to keep up-to-date.

The plans are set out each week and can be adapted to ensure every child has the best possible developmental progress outcome.

We have flash cards to show what we will be doing that day, as well as our notice board, which lists our activities.

Depending on each individual child with additional needs, the teaching will be different and it may mean that the child will work in a smaller group or use different equipment. However, they will follow the same planned activities as the rest of the children.

Teachers will ensure that each child feels included, secure and valued. We have picture cards and a flip photo book to help support with Communication and Language, this shows what activities we will be doing that day. A Now and Then board to support their understanding. We use the Bucket Activity, this has been very effective in achieving a child's goal by them staying focused.

The SENCo/Key Person supports a child through play, e.g. Talking tables - this helps build confidence, speech, social skills.

.

Our staff are welcoming and friendly, providing an inclusive, sensitive and positive approach for your child to feel welcome in our pre-school.

We can signpost local information and outside support that the child and family will benefit from. We have links with the children's centre and other support in our area.

Our SENCo attends termly network meetings to keep up-to-date with the latest information and news.

We can apply for one to one support in our pre-school setting to support children that are in need of specific assistance.

Regular observations of the child will be made and achievement targets will be established.

These will be discussed with the parents/carers in order to gain the best possible outcome for the child.

You are involved in identifying needs, information sharing, identifying targets and next steps to focus on at home and in our setting and reviewing progress towards these targets at IEP (Individual Educational Plan) review meetings.

All children will follow the same planned activity and we can easily adapt the activity so that all children can be included. They may use different equipment in order to achieve success in understanding of the activity.

We would carry out a risk assessment linked to the visit and the needs of all the children, including parent and supporter prior to our trip.

We would also take along any aides or medication your child may need. All visits or trips would be planned in order to include all of our children.

The building has full disabled access. Ramps are located at the front and rear of the building. All doorway entrances are of suitable width.

We have a disabled toilet with hand rail support bar and a low level basin.

Normally a member of staff from the new setting will come and visit whilst the child is in a session. We can pass on information of all observations, assessments and records of support given/referrals made.

Every child will have a transitions report completed and sent onto their new setting. This will include a report of their progress in all EYFS areas and a summary of their personality.

The new setting will make arrangements with you to invite your child for a visit.

We use information received from the following –

• Feedback from parents including individual discussions, questionnaires and parents meetings.
• Visits and feedback from Brighter Futures for Children Early Years Advisors and support services and Ofsted.
• Our self-evaluation process

This information is used to identify areas of development within the setting which forms part of our inclusion training and development plan.

Parents or carers may register their child with Victoria Road Pre-School by telephoning 07989 261637, during session times and requesting an application form, or by emailing us at victoria.road@live.co.uk

Whichever method you choose, you will be contacted as soon as possible to arrange a visit to the pre-school.  Our prospectus and all our policies and procedures can be found at www.victoriaroadpreschool.co.uk

Your child's Key Person is your first point of contact if you would like to discuss your child's needs, although the staff summary photo board (displayed in the entrance) shows all staff members and details their roles and qualifications.

We have a compliment and complaint box available each session, which is accessible for parents/carers to view and add any comments.

In addition to our 'open door' communication policy we request feedback, via a questionnaire, each year. The responses from parents/carers are may be posted in our mail box anonymously, if required.

We collate all feedback, both positive and negative and produce a detailed response with all questionnaire responses shown, along with any contributions/suggestions for improving our setting. We respond and explain reasons for change or explain why not if the suggestion is not feasible under the circumstances.

This method of requesting feedback has been extremely popular with parents/carers as it gives them a voice; we have previously implemented several new procedures in our pre-school as a result of valuable new ideas and feedback from these questionnaires.