SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS POLICY & PROCEDURES

We provide an environment in which all children, including those with Special Educational Needs or
Disabilities are supported to reach their full potential.

POLICY
 We have regard for the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) reforms under the
Children and Families Act 2014 and the Equality Act 2010.
 We ensure our Pre-school is inclusive to all children with Special Educational Needs (SEN).
 We support the parents of children with Special Educational Needs (SEN).
 We identify the specific needs of children with SEN and meet those needs through a range of SEN
strategies.
 Our system of observation and record keeping, which operates in conjunction with parents,
enables us to monitor children’s needs and progress on an individual basis.
 We work in partnership with parents and other agencies in meeting with individual children’s
needs.
 We monitor and review our policy, practice and provision and, if necessary, make adjustments.

PROCEDURE
 Our Special Education Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO) is Anne Mardon.
 We ensure that all staff are responsible for appropriately providing for children with SEN.
 We ensure that, through our inclusive admissions practice, all children have equal access and
opportunity.
 We work closely with the parents of all the children within the group to ensure that:
- The group draws upon the knowledge and expertise of the parents in planning provision
for their child.
- The child’s progress and achievements are shared and discussed with parents on a
regular basis.
- Parents know the identity of the group’s special educational needs co-ordinator.
 We are able to provide parents with information on sources of independent advice and support.
 We work in liaison with relevant professionals and are alert to the potential need for early help
from local agencies.
 We work in liaison with local schools to assist with the transfer and settling in of children with
special needs when they start school.
 We provide a broad, balanced and differentiated curriculum for all children with SEN.
 We provide additional resources (both human and equipment) to support children’s additional
needs whenever financially possible.
 Our SENCO attends termly support groups lead by the Inclusion Setting Support Officers for
Fareham and Gosport.

SEN support
Where there is a concern:
 If a concern is initially expressed at the Pre-School, the child’s Keyperson or the SENCO will discuss
the concern with the child’s parents.
 When a parent expresses a concern about the development of their child it will be taken seriously.
 Following the initial concern the child’s Keyperson will make systematic observations and keep
records showing the child’s strengths as well as areas of need/weakness. These initial observations
and records will usually track a child’s progress over a minimum period of one term.

Triggers for intervention could be where a child:

Scout Hall Preschool Ltd Policy & Procedures – reviewed 21/07/2022
 Makes little or no progress.
 Continues to perform at levels significantly below those expected of children of similar age in some
or all areas of learning.
 Continues to present with social and emotional difficulties despite the strategies normally employed
in the Pre-School.
 Has physical and/or sensory problems and although provided with specialist aids and equipment
continues to make little of no progress.
 Has communication and/or interaction difficulties and requires specific individual programmes to be
able to access learning.

Personal Plans
Where the setting, in consultation with the child’s parents, concludes that a child may need additional
support to help him/her progress, the child’s Keyperson will:
 Keep a dated record of concern on the child’s personal plan.
 Provide advice and support to all other staff that have regular routine contact with the child.
 Keep an ongoing record of the additional or different support and strategies to be used.
 Record the additional support and strategies which should be provided “at home.”
 Keep a record of the child’s progress, noting the effectiveness of additional or different support.
 Review the child’s personal plan at least termly and share this with the child’s parents.
 Where a child also attends another setting our SENCO or the Keyperson will liaise with that setting to
ensure a consistent and shared approach to the child’s education.

Additional Support
Specialist help can be sought from support services such as: Educational Psychology, Speech and
Language Therapy, Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy. Such intervention may be invited if,
despite receiving an individual programme and/or concentrated support, the child:
 Continues to make little or no progress in specific areas of learning over a long period
 Continues to work at an early years curriculum significantly below that expected of children of
similar age.
 Has emotional or behavioural difficulties which considerably and always interfere with the child’s
own learning or that of other children within the setting, despite the fact that an individual
behaviour management plan has been used with him/her.
 Has physical or sensory needs which require the use of specialist equipment and/or regular visits or
direct intervention or advice by practitioners from a specialist service.
 Has ongoing communication or interaction difficulties that hinder the development of social
relationships and cause significant barriers to learning.
When external intervention is sought the support services will need to know what special educational
provision has already been made in order to determine what needs to be done. This is why it is
important that appropriate records are kept.
Additional interventions and support will be agreed with parents and professionals concerned and
implemented. Records will include the expected impact on progress and the child’s response to the
action taken.

Reviews
External specialists will be invited, as well as parents and the child’s Keyperson to review meetings. If
progress is satisfactory the child may continue to receive support and progress made will continue to be
recorded in the child’s personal plan.
The SENCO in our setting is able to access general support and advice from our SENCO cluster group
meetings and from an Inclusion Setting Support Officer.

Scout Hall Preschool Ltd Policy & Procedures – reviewed 21/07/2022