Abacus Day Nursery

At all our settings children are identified as having Special Educational Needs and Disabilities through a variety of ways including the following:

• Observations from the whole team but specifically the child’s key person
• Progress reports / 2 year old checks / development matters reporting
• Baseline information with parents / parent partnership / parents concerns
• Reviews of the planning cycle and evaluations of next steps
• Health diagnosis from external practitioner i.e. health visitor, GP etc.

Having a child with SEN can be daunting, there is so much jargon and sometimes diagnosed conditions that some parents have to learn about quickly. At CCL we involve parents as much as possible in all processes and will endeavour to help as much as possible. Once the child’s referral has been received back a letter will be sent to parents to ensure they know what will happen next. There may be a number of documents your child can involved with and ways in which information is communicated back and forth. They can include:

• Regular parent/ practitioner reviews
• Team around the Child meetings (TAC)
• Education, Health and Care Plans
• Common Assessment Framework (CAF)
• Communication books
• Telephone calls
• Open door policies

All planned activities are planned at an appropriate level so that all children are able to access according to their specific needs. There are other methods also that we may use:

• Small groups to help concentration, confidence and communication
• Visual timetables to ensure the child knows what will happen next
• Observations – more specific to areas that need more development
• Adapting the environment where required
• Staff training and gaining knowledge
• Seeking extra support if needed
• Always using small achievable realistic targets

• Visual timetables 
• small groups 
• timers for turn taking 
• specific resources 
• visual clue cards 
• signing or other augmentative forms of communication 
• child’s interests being followed 
• one-to-one time 
• specific targeted support

Hazebrouck Day Nursery, Happitots Day Nursery, Abacus Day Nursery and Bramley Wood Day Nursery are able to use Makaton signed language to enhance communication in their settings.

Every child is unique and all children’s individual needs are respected and valued. We would discuss the strategies for developing the child with the parents beforehand on every occasion.

In certain circumstances we can provide additional support / resources for children with SEND. The local authority in each council will have set criteria for each case and if the needs meet the criteria funding and extra resources may be made available. If training is made available to enable us to care for a child with additional or SEND we would also invite parents along to join in too. In all our settings we work closely with each of our borough’s Early Years Inclusion Teachers, they are very helpful for advice and ideas. Each setting also has a high number of qualified Paediatric first aiders on site at all times.

What is important to remember is that each child’s case may be different so there will never be a definitive answer. However, what is important to remember is that your child’s care and development is paramount to us a child care professionals and we will always include parents in decision making and progress. We can do this in a number of ways:

• Baseline information given from parents when we first meet the child
• Observations of children’s learning at our setting and from home
• Development matters document can be shared monthly/ quarterly if necessary
• Regular parent progress meetings can be arranged
• Parents evenings
• TAC meetings
• Home diaries / communication books for both parent sand practitioners to use
• 2 year old progress report
• Education, health and care plan review meetings where targets are set and reviewed by all agencies involved in your child’s care – parents are always invited and encouraged to attend.
• E-mails

We would use thorough risk assessments and ensure we have correct ratio's.

As mentioned above we are a group of ten settings so here is the nursery breakdown:

• Abacus Day Nursery – Converted domestic property with childcare over two floors with the upstairs unit usually caring for children up to 24 months old. Consisting of a series of connecting rooms that are accessed through doorways and entrances that are less than 775mm wide and with floors at varying levels. The garden is accessible and there is on-site parking.
• Bramley Wood Day Nursery- Converted domestic listed property with childcare over two floors with the upstairs unit usually caring for children up to 30 months old. Consisting of a series of connecting rooms that are accessed through a variety of doorways and entrances that are less than and greater than 775mm wide and with floors at varying of levels. The garden is accessible and there is on-site parking.
• Happitots Day Nursery – Converted domestic property with childcare over two floors with the upstairs unit usually caring for children up to 14 months old. Consisting of a series of connecting rooms that are accessed through a variety of doorways and entrances that are less than 775mm wide and with floors at varying of levels. The garden is accessible and there is on-site parking.
• Hazebrouck Day Nursery- Purpose built property with childcare over one consisting of a series of connecting rooms that are accessed through a variety of doorways and entrances that are greater than and greater than 775mm wide and with floors at the same level. The garden is accessible and there is on-site parking.
• Kingsclere Day Nursery – Converted domestic property with childcare over two floors with the upstairs unit usually caring for children up to 24 months old. Consisting of a series of connecting rooms that are accessed through a variety of doorways and entrances that are less than than 775mm wide with floors at the same level. The garden is not accessible and there is on-site parking.
• Merrydale Day Nursery- Converted domestic property with childcare over two floors with the upstairs unit usually caring for children up to 24 months old. Consisting of a series of connecting rooms that are accessed through a variety of doorways and entrances that are less than than 775mm wide with floors at the same level. The garden is not accessible and there is on-site parking.
• Northumberland Day Nursery- Converted domestic property with childcare over two floors with the upstairs unit usually caring for children up to 24 months old. Consisting of a series of connecting rooms that are accessed through a variety of doorways and entrances that are less than than 775mm wide with floors at varying levels. The garden is accessible and there is no on-site parking.
• Smart Tots Day Nursery – Converted domestic property with childcare over two floors with the upstairs unit usually caring for children up to 24 months old. Consisting of a series of connecting rooms that are accessed through a variety of doorways and entrances that are less than than 775mm wide with floors at varying levels. The garden is not accessible and there is no on-site parking.
• Stepping Stones Day Nursery- Converted domestic property with childcare over one floor consisting of a series of connecting rooms that are accessed through a variety of doorways and entrances that are less than than 775mm wide with floors at the varying levels. The garden is accessible and there is on-site parking. 
• The Bee’s Knees Nursery – Converted domestic property with childcare over two floors with the upstairs unit usually caring for children up to 24 months old. Consisting of a series of connecting rooms that are accessed through a variety of doorways and entrances that are less than than 775mm wide with floors at the varying levels. The garden is accessible and there is no on-site parking.

*Complete Childcare operate a small maintenance team who would be able to undertake minor alterations to make a setting suitable.

Transition concerns the change a child encounters from one place to another and is something that here at Complete Childcare Ltd we take very seriously. As children develop from birth throughout childhood they move, or make a transition from one learning environment or setting to a new one. Often, these transitions involve a process of change that requires them to adapt their thoughts, feelings and behaviours to meet new expectations.

Transition form home to nursery

• Flexible settling in visits
• ‘All about me’ forms and information sharing
• The introduction of a key carer
• Encourage comforters from home 
• Possibility of home visits

Transition between different age groups within the nursery

• Phase in visits
• Information sharing
• Key carer and learning journey handover
• Photo books

Transition form nursery to school

• Discussions and activities about school
• Learning journey handover to school and any other relevant documents
• Nursery staff to partake in any transition events the schools may put on
• Encourage school teachers to visit the nursery
• Accompany the children on visits to their new school
• TAC meetings

• Parent feedback on a daily basis and with comments forms
• regular e-mail contact with information on how to get in touch with each manager
• the childrens development matters document is accissible at all times and parents are asked regualar to contribute

For each nursery setting in our group contact the manager or deputy who would willingly discuss how the setting could meet your child’s needs:

• Abacus Day Nursery ' 01635 550134
• Bramley Wood Day Nursery ' 01344 300677
• Happitots Day Nursery ' 01189 770811
• Hazebrouck Day Nursery ' 01189 762054
• Kingsclere Day Nursery ' 01344 420546
• Merrydale Day Nursery ' 01344 412132
• Northumberland Day Nursery ' 01189 875943
• Smart Tots Day Nursery ' 01295 259393
• Stepping Stones Day Nursery ' 01189 328117
• The Bee’s Knees Nursery ' 01189 590364

• Complaints procedures
• Suggestion boxes
• Questionnaires
• Parent forums
• Open door policy for discussions with the settings manager