Our Local Offer

Local Offer for Children with Special Educational Needs and/ or Disabilities (SEND)
(accessible ONLY in England)

How does Little Cheeky Monkeys know if a child needs extra support?

Each child in the setting has their own learning journey which includes annotated observations of them in nursery, observations, and comments from the family and friends, tracking information about the child’s progress across the areas of learning and development within the EYFS and information, this is to ensure parents understand what they are and how they are used in nursery, what is in them and how they can contribute to them

Children’s learning journeys are available for the children to access themselves and also for parents to look at anytime they like. Although a child’s key person is available to chat to parents at drop off and pick up times, we make arrangements for the key person to meet with parents each term to look at the learning journey and discuss progress and any concerns. If a parent would like to arrange to meet with the child’s key person they can ask and the key person will liaise with the room leader to make arrangements to be able to be released from the group at a convenient time,

In addition to the child’s learning journey we also undertake the 2-3-year-old progress check, this is a  requirement of the EYFS and is done for all children in this age band, the EYFS requires us to report to the parent on the child’s 2 – 3 year progress check discussing and identifying strengths as well as concerns, where the progress check should that a child may experience some difficulties or delay in their development this is  shared with parents and appropriate next steps are discussed.

For some children the next steps may involve the key person targeting a specific area of development and planning additional opportunities for the child to have experiences designed to support the area of learning and development  identified, this enhancement and targeting links to the wave two interventions identified with in our settings provision mapping, this would then be reviewed to see how the child has progressed and whether or not additional steps need to be taken to support the child’s progress.

 For other children, the next steps may also include developing a targeted learning plan where specific aims are developed with parents to support the child’s development. We may also discuss with parents whether it would be appropriate to refer their child to other services such as speech and language therapy, this would require parental consent, Another next step may be to ask the local authority inclusion teacher to visit the child in the setting to provide some additional advice and guidance to practitioners to support them in meeting the needs of the child, this visit is called a request for guidance and can only be undertaken with parental consent,

 We have a SEN policy which is available upon request.

 In our setting, we use provision mapping to identify ways in which we support all children in the setting. Provision mapping identifies what we provide for all children which are called wave one for children who require a little bit of extra support which is called wave 2 and children who require more specialize or intensive intervention

 We use provision mapping to identify ways in which children can be supported.

 How will the staff support the child?

What the setting provides

All practitioners in our setting are qualified to level 3 or above, the deputy manager has a level 5 and the nursery manager has her level 4

 We have a regular program of supervision and appraisals for all practitioners. We value opportunities to support their further professional development and they are encouraged to seek and are provided with opportunities for this.

 Within our setting, we have staff who have completed the following training courses

 Elklan

Makaton signing

Behaviour management

 As a setting we also seek to support practitioners to further develop their knowledge and understanding of a range of additional and special educational needs, practitioners have access to a wide library of resources and books, these are also available for parents to borrow,

 We also make use of the local authorities children first website to access information and e-learning modules such as CAF training.

 How are parents/carers included in the child’s education and curriculum? 

Parent’s communication is valued and the key person will work together with the parents to ensure that every child’s learning is supported.
 
At the initial settling in sessions, the parent/ carers will work with the key person to settle the child into the nursery. Throughout this time the key person will complete the information sheet to understand the child’s individual routines, needs, interests, and abilities.
 
The parents are encouraged to work together with the key person completing observations and activities for home to keep them informed of new interests so that this can be incorporated in the activities that are planned for that child.
 
The parents will be invited to attend regular meetings to review the child’s progress.
Every child has their own learning journal that the parents can view at any time. The parents are encouraged to add their views and comments.  

How accessible is Cheeky Little Monkeys?

The building

The setting is housed in a two-story building .the building has wide low stairs and access for wheelchairs. The building has a buzzer system to enter the building, the setting has CCTV in all rooms.

There is one disabled toilet in the building which can be accessed by children if needed.

There is an outdoor shed where prams and car seats can be stored or other specialist equipment such as standing frames when not in use.

 The corridors are wide and carpeted, the walls are cream, we have a parents board which is situated in the porch to keep parents informed about information about the nursery including some of the policies. The information board also contains information about activities and events in the local area  such as the local children’s center, the information from other providers is only available in the format which is given to us , however, some nursery policies are available in large print , we are able to make copies of policies available electronically.

 The rooms

All the rooms are illuminated with strip lights, the walls are all painted a cream colour with display boards mounted at adult height. The display boards are backed in bright colours to stand out from the pale walls. The floors are a mixture of non-slip vinyl and carpet area for the cosy, quiet area. All rooms have a sink area, the 0 -1-year-old room has a self-contained kitchen where they can warm bottles up safely. All the furniture is free standing so can be moved and rearranged to make space for specialist equipment,

In the 0-2  year old room there are low wooden chairs and low wooden tables, the room is split  into a carpet area and a non-slip colourful flooring, cushions, fabric and lights are used to create a soft comfortable area, There is a sleeping room attached to the room with three cots and the older children sleep on wipeable mats. For meals, high chairs are available for the 0-1 and were required for the 1-2 Resources are suitable for the children under 2 and include toys that light up, vibrate and make sound, treasure baskets are used to encourage holistic play and exploration.

In the 2-3 room the furniture consists of a toddler-sized plastic chairs and tables, half of the flooring is non-slip vinyl and half carpeted for book and quiet areas ,toys are stored in child height units ,there are picture and labels on the front of the storage boxes to identify what is in them, sand and water is assessable in a height adjustable unit, resources are suitable for children from 2-3 years however toys and resources can be shared between rooms to meet the children’s needs,

 In the 3 years plus room there are plastic tables and chairs there are low tables for the computer. For the children’s storage units are used at the children’s height with pictures and labels to let the children identify them, the room is organised around the areas of provision. Toys and resources are appropriate for children aged 3 plus although resources can be used from other rooms to meet the children’s needs.

 The outdoor area.

 Each room has its own outside area which consists of two soft tarmac areas and an Astra turf  area, the areas are even and are suitable for children who use frames or wheelchairs, each area has a planting area to grow herbs and vegetables

The tarmac areas have a sand pit area and various bikes and wheeled objects the practitioners use resources from inside to help enhance the outdoor provision to meet the children’s needs and interest.

Helping with transitions

Before children start attending out setting we encourage parents to bring them for visits, though we appreciate that this is not always possible. Initially, this may just be for the child to have a look around the setting with their parents. We plan with the parents some opportunities for the child to visit the nursery and spend a short amount of time in the age phase room they will be joining, we allow the parent to decide how many sessions their child needs. We have a settling-in policy which is shared with parents when they register their child with us. The age phase leader or manager will talk to parents about their child and their child’s preferences for a settling period and endeavor to meet these needs as best we can.

We have a comprehensive transition policy and procedure which we follow when children are ready to move age phases, leave nursery to attend a different setting or move on to school. This is available to parents within our setting. The policy and procedure includes additional factors that may need to be considered when supporting the transition of children with additional or special educational needs, to ensure this is as smooth as possible.

We have an open door policy and parents are able to drop into the setting at any time. They are also able to contact us by phone if they would like to check in on their child!

For further information please contact the nursery manager.