Playmates Pre-School

Children with additional needs or SEND are identified initially through discussion with parents/carers as these are the people who know their child best.  We also use a range of observation techniques and development assessments to identify each individual child's needs and how we can best support them.  

We work in partnership with parents/carers and all support given to children is first discussed with you and you will be involved on an ongoing basis throughout your child's time with us.  We will consult with you before seeking advice and support from other professionals.

We see every child as an indvidual and we will adapt the EYFS curriculum to meet individual needs on a child by child basis.  This may be through providing equipment necessary for children to access activities, providing one to one support or delivering activities in a varied way in order for them to be both accessible and suitably challenging without being unachievable.  We fully understand that all children develop at different rates and plan our curriculum accordingly.

We use a range of different strategies depending on the need of each individual child, and these would be discussed with parents/carers during initial settling in procedures, after observing children, and through consultation with other professionals as and when is appropriate.

Due to our high ratios we are often available to offer one to one support for children within our setting.  We are able to offer good working relationships with other professionals and we will work with you and them to support your child to reach their full potential.  

The progress of all children within the setting is monitored as an ongoing process and you will be involved in this throughout their time at pre-school.  We offer an open door policy regarding parents/carers coming in and discussing their child's progress, and invite all parents/carers to come in on at least a termly basis to discuss their child'd development.  For children with additional needs or SEND we will work with you to develop an Early Years Support and Achievement Play Plan (SAAP) which will focus on the areas they need support with and look at how we can all work together to achieve this.

We ensure that all trips and activities can be accessed by all children, and all will be planned due to the individual needs of all children attending.  If necessary, we will employ additional staff to support children on trips.

We have ramp access to the main pre-school building.  Children with mobility difficulties may need support to access the pre-school garden or it may be necessary for us to install a ramp to the garden depending on the needs of children attending the pre-school.

We will work closely with you and with the new setting.  In the past we have attended meetings, made photograph books to build on visits to the school/setting where children can see for example where to hang their coat, a picture of their teacher and what the toilets look like.  We will also dicuss whether your child needs additional visits to the school/setting and if necessary and appropriate accompany them on visits to make this as smooth a transition as possible.

We assess our effectiveness through consultation with parents/carers and other professionals and through our self evaluation form which is a document used for reflection on practice.  Parents/carers are invited to give feedback and this is recorded within the self evaluation form.  Also questionnaires are given to parents/carers twice a year to invite feedback on our practice.

Liz Curtis (Pre-school manager)

We have an open door policy and invite regular feedback.  We have a complaints procedure and also have details of the Ofsted complaints procedure if parents/carers feel this is a more appropriate route.  The afore mentioned questionnares invite both compliments and complaints and all comments are dealt with on an individual basis.  We also send out a yearly questionnaire inviting feedback on the pre-school.