Mary Seacole Day Nursery & Family Support Unit is located in Central Reading. The setting offers a warm and inviting atmosphere, where all staff members truly care for the children and their families. The team is a mix of mature, and youthful practitioners, who are qualified at Level 3 and above. In addition, the setting takes pride in the additional support it offers children and their families when life becomes challenging, as we believe that a happy family is intrinsically linked to a happy child.

The setting consists of three separate rooms, one for infants and two spacious rooms for older children. All the rooms lead out into a large garden with a sandpit and climbing frames. The layout of the setting and garden are specifically designed to take into consideration the physical abilities of all children, as we strongly believe that all children have the ability and must be given the opportunity to achieve their full potential.

The nursery endeavours to provide a safe, caring, and stimulating learning environment, where children are able to develop physically, intellectually and emotionally.  We aim to deliver a supportive, engaging, and inspiring program for all children of varying abilities and needs, based on The Early Years Foundation Stage. This means all staff members operate under a policy that is fully inclusive of all children, regardless of social background, ethnicity or special education needs/disabilities. This includes catering to the individual strengths and needs of each child and removing barriers to learning and development. The nursery takes measures to ensure that all aspects of nursery policies and procedures are kept under review and adhered to in a non-discriminatory manner.  The management also ensures that all staff, parents/guardians, students, and volunteers are aware of the policies.

Updated May 2021

Mary Seacole Day Nursery is committed to identifying, at the earliest opportunity, any developmental delays that might weaken your child's continual learning and development.  We believe it is important that we meet with parents regularly to discuss observations and any concerns they may have and to give parents the opportunity to inform the planning around their child's needs.

Your child's Key Carer will carry out written observations on your child's learning and development. These will help to identify and inform any developmental concerns.

The Key Carer and SEN team will use the observations in line with the Early Years Foundation Stage assessment tool to assess your child's progress and development.

We will liaise with parents regarding any concerns, and encourage contributions towards the observations and assessment process.

We will plan activities to support your child's learning and development, taking into account each child's unique way of learning, likes, and dislikes.

We will ensure all staff has the appropriate training to meet their child's needs.

We will also continue to monitor and record your child's development process while working closely with you and any other agency.

1. Your child's Key Carer will liaise with you on a daily basis and will be your main contact; he/she will work closely with you and your child to ensure your child's needs are met.
2. You will have access to all written reports on your child, kept in their Learning Journal.
3. We encourage parents/carers to be involved in all aspects of planning to support your child's learning, primarily through your child's Key Carer.
4. We also encourage parents to share any information that you have received from other agencies as well as your knowledge regarding your child, for example strategies that have worked well with your child. Your input is highly valuable.
5. Any recommendations, interventions, or targets from external professional agencies sent to the nursery will be shared with parents/ guardians.

1. All our activities are planned to meet the needs of each individual child, with the focus being your child's needs and interests.
2. With support from yourselves, as parents/carers, and in consultation with other professionals, we will plan for your child's learning and development.

The teaching strategies for children with additional needs or learning difficulties are always informed on the guidance of professionals that are involved with your child. We endeavour to train all staff on a variety of strategies in managing children with additional needs and learning difficulties.

Strategies used are as follows:

Praise

Visual timetables

Behaviour focus plans

Motivational stickers

Distraction (where appropriate)

Early Years Inclusion Funding (where appropriate)

Mary Seacole Day Nursery understands the importance of working closely in partnership with parents and outside agencies to benefit each child. Details of additional support that can be accessed are as follows:

• Support of parents by Key Carer or Manager at an external meeting
• Provide external counseling sessions for parents
• Support parents to ensure that they receive all the benefits they are entitled to
• Support parents in gaining additional resources (where appropriate)
• Early Years Inclusion Funding application (where appropriate)
• Organise Team Around the Child (TAC) meetings (where appropriate)

Your child’s Key Carer will monitor your child's progress through:

1. Recording observations on your child
2. Completing written assessments
3. Liaising with parents/carers when planning activities
4. Setting targets together with parents/carers
5. Parents are encouraged to carry out activities that are completed at nursery, at home (where possible) to reinforce learning

All planned activities are adapted to the needs of the individual child.

All trips are risk assessed and adjustments are made where possible. We strongly encourage parents with SEN children to attend all trips. 

As additional support your child’s Key Carer/SENCO will give parents additional support on trips, to ensure your child is supported to access the same activities as others.  

The nursery is located on the ground floor and there are no steps or inclines that could hinder SEND mobility. The garden area has no inclines or rough ground and while there are a number of structures for children to play on, there is also plenty of flat ground which those with limited mobility can easily manoeuvre around. Inside the building, there is a sizeable bathroom located between the rooms for the older children. The baby room has a small changing area attached to the main room, while in the corridor is a bathroom specially designed for individuals with mobility difficulties.

Transitions can be a difficult and challenging time, however at Mary Seacole Day Nursery we aim to make these transitions as smooth as possible.  There are several strategies we use to ensure this, including:

• Transition reports written by your child's Key Carer that will be passed onto new schools and or settings.
• Transition support resources for child, for example a  “My New School Book” with photographs and information.
• Invitation for SENCO and new Key Carer/Teacher to meet, observe and play with your child prior to transition.
• Transition meetings between Key Carer, SENCO, parents,/ guardians carers with designated school or setting, where successful strategies can be shared and discussed.
• Invitation for new setting to attend a Team around the Child (CIN) meeting, which is another opportunity for sharing and gathering information to aid the transition of your child.
• The Key Carer and SENCO will be available to offer a continuum of support to the new setting and parents after the move, if deemed appropriate.

We will endeavour to gain parental consent prior to the exchange of information, such as Individual Education Plans (IEPs) and Learning Profiles, and hope to ensure that you as parents are fully involved in this process.

Mary Seacole Day Nursery endeavors to continually adapt the environment to promote full access to learning opportunities for children with limited mobility and special educational needs.

Staff members observe all children in the setting daily in order to evaluate their progress and identify any concerns related to learning and development. Concerns are addressed immediately in order to enable the child to access the curriculum.

When planning activities, staff take the child's age, ability, and learning pace into consideration so that each child is able to take part. It is particularly important for nursery staff to encourage active participation from parents in developing provision that caters to their child's individual needs.

Additionally, parents are continually informed about their child's progress so that they can be actively involved in their child's education. Furthermore, parents are encouraged to provide feedback on the services either through direct communication with the Key Carer, Room Leader, the Manager or by responding using the regular response sheets.

Mary Seacole Day Nursery & Family Support Unit- Main Office: 0118 9168418

Email: administration@maryseacoledaynursery.org.uk

SENCO Team:  Esther, Iydunni, Tiffaney  on 0118 916419 (Nursery)

The setting complaint policy is located in the policy folder at the lobby. However, if there are any comments or concerns, we hope these would be first raised during parents’ daily communication with their child's Key Carer.

The setting has a number of other arrangements for feedback, including:

• OFSTED
• Feedback sheet 
• Parent Questionnaires
• Report incident via Ofsted
• Suggestions post Box (located at the nursery lobby)
• AGMs 
• Scheduled Parent and Manager meeting.
• Daily, face to face feedback with the Manager, Room Leaders, or Key Carer.
• Emails
• Complaints (more information can be found within the settings complaints policy)
• Feedback can be given via the Parent's review meeting.