St John's Pre-School

Every child is allocated a dedicated key-person when they start in our setting. The key-person establishes a positive relationship with the family as well as the child and will take any worries from the family into consideration when providing care for any child. Each key-person does their own observations and individual planning for each of their key-children as well as tracking their progress throughout each term. If they feel that a child is not progressing as they would expect, they will share this information with the SENCO of the setting in the way of a professional discussion, and the SENCO will then do some additional observations.

We would invite parents to join us for an open discussion so we can all share our observations. This will hopefully give us all a better picture of common behaviours we have noticed. We would then work together to find suitable ways of supporting the child. If we all agree that a child would benefit from some additional support, we would then set up an Early Years Support and Achievement Plan (SAPP). This is a beautiful document as it focusses on the positive and the child's strength as well as long-term goals. It sets out what we are hoping to achieve, how we will strive to achieve it and what each of us can do to support our common goals. We would also set a date to review this plan, enabling us to adjust support and care as required. Depending on how first support is working, we may also suggest parents or carers take children to be seen by other professionals, often their own GP or the open Speech and Language support clinic (CYPIT). The legal guardians of a child will be at all times informed and consulted and we will always work on joined strategies.

We believe that all children are individual and should be treated accordingly. Therefore, experiences and opportunities would be adapted appropriately to each child's abilities. We would support progression in their development at a level that is relevant to each child and gives them challenging yet achievable goals to work towards.

We have a variety of strategies in place, such as visual and sensory aids. To us, the most important strategy in place, however, is each child's key-person. This person will be working towards each child's achievements alongside them and will provide appropriately challenging and inspiring play opportunities for their key-children through their individual planning.

We have a higher staff ratio than required in our setting, which helps staff spend more time with the children in their care. We also run Hartbeeps music and sensory sessions and Rugby Tots sessions , each of which focus on sensory stimuli and implements some aspects of occupational therapy. Where required, we have applied for additional funding to support children on a one-to-one basis for a set amount of hours each week

We track each child's development and hold regular parents meetings to discuss each child's progress. If a child has additional support in place (such as a SAPP), we hold additional meetings with the legal guardians to discuss the progress that has been made and adjust our approach as and when necessary. Furthermore, we have daily communication opportunities at drop off and pick up times and are always happy to arrange for additional meetings. Progress can also be shared via the child's diary, which is the parents' direct communication link with their child's key-person. The diary is brought into preschool and returned home every day. Parents also have access to our online learning platform Tapestry and will be sent home their learning stories at least once every half-term so families are always aware of what their child is working towards, why and how. We also operate an open door policy - parents and carers are welcome and encouraged to sign join us anytime in session

We staff outings and other extra-curricular activities according to attendance, which means if a child needs more support, we will provide extra staff to do so or offer the parents/carers to come along (or both). As we plan for each child individually, each key-person would ensure that every child can be included in group activities and adjust these according to each child's ability.

Our setting is all on one level with ramps and no stairs. We have a disabled toilet and all doors in the setting are double doors, allowing extra room to pass through

Once schools have confirmed a child's place, we contact them to arrange for visits from staff of each school. Where possible, we also take children for visits to their new settings alongside their key-person. Additional school visits can be arranged for children who require a slower phased approach. We discuss the changes ahead through play (for example providing school uniforms for dressing up), group discussions ("what do we know about school?"), displays (allowing children to see photographs of their new schools, as well as which children from our setting will join them) and craft activities (for example making school bags and discussing what might go in them).

Each child's individual progress is discussed in meetings with parents. We encourage parents to share strategies they use at home to ensure a joint approach and similarly to feedback how any strategies we suggested or used at the setting have worked in their opinion. The overall effectiveness is being monitored through observations by staff, which are frequently discussed during staff meetings. In addition, we use a cohort tracker to reflect on all the children's progress and use continuous training to help us find new strategies to try.

The Pre-School Manager

We welcome feedback at all times. This can be given verbally or in writing. If a parent/carer wishes to stay anonymous, we have a feedback box in the hall where written feedback can be left.

In addition, we frequently send out 3 ticks and a wish forms to gather feedback. Furthermore daily diaries act as a tool for sharing information, feedback including compliments and complaints.

Any feedback given will be reviewed by the manager and discussed with staff. Where names are given, we will provide feedback directly. The outcome of general feedback forms and questionnaires will be given in our newsletters and acted on appropriately.