Kiddikare Day Nursery

Education Offer

Overview

Our Philosophy and Aims are to ensure that every child is supported and allowed to fulfil their potential. A child’s early years are their most formative and we use this time to provide them with secure foundations for future learning.

To provide highest quality childcare and education in an environment that is safe and stimulating, a place where learning takes place through play and everyone is treated as an individual.

We strive to nurture each child’s unique qualities and potential as well as to support families through strong partnership.

At Kiddikare Nursery  we aim:

• To provide and environment that is safe, secure and welcoming, where learning takes place through play.
• To help all children make a smooth transition from home to nursery
• To promote understanding, kindness and tolerance of others.
• To provide a rich play environment, where children can explore and experiment without fear of failure.
• To provide an environment where equal opportunities for all takes place regardless of gender, race, culture or religion.
• To ensure that the curriculum meets the needs of every child, socially, 
  intellectually, emotionally and physically.
• To provide continuity of care through liaising with parents and carers.

We at Kiddikare believe in giving support to children with special educational needs so they have full access to the curriculum. All children must be included in all activities alongside their peers, giving access to all activities and resources within setting, modifying where suitable. Our setting encourages parents/carers through parent partnership to enable them to play an active part in their child’s

Kiddikare Day Nursery opened in September 2013. It operates from three rooms in a double fronted house. The two rooms downstairs are adjoined by a corridor, which has been developed to accommodate a free-flow system. We have a driveway making it easier for parents to drop off and pick up their children with ease. We also have a ramp in front of entrance door to help parents who have children still in pushchairs or may be bound to a wheelchair. We have two large plastic sheds on the driveway for parents to store pushchairs.

We access the sensory room at local Children’s Centre. Furniture is arranged to accommodate children with mobility difficulties and passageways are kept clear at all times to follow safety regulations and facilitate their mobility.

The garden area has soft safety paving. All rooms have separate nappy changing areas.

Steps are marked with yellow and white strips.

The Butterfly Room can accommodate 16 children from 2yrs to 5yrs and has its own bathroom with nappy changing facilities as well as two child sized toilets and two sinks for hand washing.

The Caterpillar Room can accommodate 16 children aged 2yrs to 5yrs, this room also has a separate bathroom with three child sized toilets and sinks for hand washing as well as a messy play room. In the messy room the children have access to a variety of equipment which is rotated on a regular basis.

The preschool children have an area in the main corridor where they are all allocated a peg for their bags and coats.

Both of these rooms are situated on the ground floor of the building and are interconnected.

The Bumblebee Room can accommodate 16 children from 2yrs to 5yrs, this is divided into a carpeted area and an area with laminated flooring, and is set up with specific areas in mind, the children have access to the toys which are stored in plastic boxes with the lids removed and are labelled with a photograph and the name of what’s inside on them. We have a changing area in this room and all the children have their own boxes for storage of nappies and wipes which is labelled with their name, each child also has a labelled peg for their coats and bags. This room is situated on the first floor.

We have recently signed up to Redbridge mobile library service, once a month the children are able to climb aboard the library bus and pick a few books to bring back into the nursery.

We have a secure enclosed outdoor play area which is accessible through the Butterfly and Caterpillar rooms;

We are based in a residential area in Ilford; nearby we have local schools and children centres and a large park. Just a short walk away we have a few local shops. We arrange outings to the park and local shops allowing children to explore their natural environment.

The nursery is open weekdays from 7.30am to 6.30pm for 51 weeks of the year. There are currently  76 Children on role in the early year age range. The maximum number of places available on any one session per day is 44. The nursery gets funding for the provision of free early education to children aged two, three and four. We operate on a session basis for the children offering full day sessions as well as morning or afternoon sessions.

There are 11 members of staff in total at present with 1 Staff holding BA Degree Childhood studies, and  4 members of staff  holding NVQ level 3 and 1 member of staff holding  level 2 in Childcare, learning and Development, 5 Apprentices  currently working towards level 3 and 2.

Staff access a wide range of training which enhance knowledge and understanding of the EYFS. We also do regular training quizzes and updates during our monthly staff meetings.

We have recently attended the following courses 

• Supporting children with EAL,
• First Aid,
• Display training,
• Planning and Safeguarding.

We are currently working on the quality assurance scheme QuILT

Identifying children's needs

At Kiddikare we strive to identify, monitor and record any difficulties and plan appropriate interventions to support children’s progress, learning and development. It is our primary aim to keep parents/carers involved and informed at all times through regular meetings/discussions. Colleagues are kept informed by observations, routine health screening and discussion.

We base all our assessments on play related activities and follow the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Curriculum milestones.

We may contact outside agencies (with parent/carer consent), when a child doesn’t progress at the expected rate despite additional individual panning to support the area of need.

We have access to a number of agencies, which provide vital support, providing suitable strategies to support children who have additional needs in a particular area of development. These agencies will be involved in children's transition to other settings and eventually school. All records will be passed onto other settings and schools with parents/carers' consent.

These agencies are:

Local Authority inclusion/SEN Advisor or SEN Co-ordinator; SEN Early Years Panel (SEYP); Educational Psychologists; Speech and Language Therapists; Occupational Therapist; Physio Therapist; CAF Team and others.

Some children are provided 1:1 support through SEN/inclusion funding. One member of staff is allocated to support the child during daily activities. The aim of the support is to help the child to develop the relevant independence skills and may be withdrawn once the child reaches the expected progress.

We can identify a condition through observations and monitoring. Once this is recognised, relevant information is sought from parents/carers on admission and kept in child’s file, these are securely stored. The setting follows the relevant guidelines for data protection and confidentiality.

All records will be passed onto other settings and schools at the transition stage to school etc. Only with parent/carer consent.

Dedicated contacts

Neelum Naqvi is the settings SENCo officer and is the overall ‘responsible person’ for SEN in the setting. She is responsible for ensuring that legislation is met. The Special Education Needs Co-ordinator(SENCO) has the responsibility for the day-to-day management of the SEN procedure.

Neelum Naqvi

Holds a certificate in SEN Modular

The SENCO has the responsibility to:

• Liaise with parents/carers
• Liaise with outside professionals in regards to children’s individual needs
• Advise and support other practitioners in the settings
• Ensure that appropriate learning and outcome plans are in place
• Ensure that background information is collected, recorded and updated
• Take the lead in monitoring and reviewing any action taken to support the child
• Ensure that appropriate records are kept for all children with SEND who requires outside agencies and support

All children are assigned a key person, who is responsible for liaising with parent/carers, observing, planning and assessing children’s progress.

Involving children and their families

• Planning and review meetings
• Advice on how to support learning at home 
• Parenting advice
• Regular contact between parents/carers and the setting

Range of support available

• EYFS Curriculum planning differentiation
• Specific teaching interventions
• Support for behaviour
• Support for health needs
• Partnership working with other professionals
• Additional support strategies
• Support for communication needs

We make use of augmentative communication ( e.g. Makaton signing, PECS, Visual timetables, objects of reference and visual aids) to support children’s speech and language and social communication development.

Children are encouraged to provide feedback on the learning activities provided.

Measuring children's progress

Planning for children with SEN is done using an Individual Outcomes Plan (IOP). The IOP identifies agreed outcomes for individual children and targeted small steps. The IOP is reviewed termly with parents/carers and outside professionals when relevant

All activities are differentiated to meet children’s needs and allow full access to the learning curriculum.

A report is given to the parents at the end of every term with details of the child’s progress across the EYFS. An additional assessment, the Two Year Progress Check, is also compiled when the child is two years old. This assessment covers the child’s attainment and progress in the prime areas of the EYFS (e.g. Personal, Social and Emotional development; Communication and Language; Physical development).

The Steps to Outcomes tracker for children with SEN is also used to monitor progress. This is based on the EYFS Prime Areas of learning and development and the Early Support Early Developmental Journals.

Support and training for school staff

Our training plan is closely linked to the setting’s improvement plan.

Accessibility of the school

All resources are located at children’s level in clear, labelled boxes.

Makaton signing is used by all staff and taught to children during circle time and general routines.

Children’s toilets are fully accessible and provided with stools and easy to reach washing facilities.

Changing areas are discretely located within each room.

The garden area is fully accessible to wheelchair users and to people with gross motor skills difficulties.

Inclusion

A risk assessment is completed daily and for outings to ensure health and safety is maintained at all times.

One-to-one support is provided for those children who may require intensive support to access learning activities.

All activities are differentiated according to children’s level of development.

Transition arrangements

Children undergo a gradual transition from room to room and from key person to key person. The transition process starts the term before the child is due to move to a new room.

School visits and transition meetings with the receiving school are organised at the beginning of the summer term to get the child accustomed to the new environment. We recognise that these visits need to be flexible and multiple in order for the child to have the most benefit.

The setting will pass all relevant transition records onto the next setting/school (with parent’s/carer’s permission).

Support and training for parents and carers

We value parent and carers’ expertise and deep knowledge of their own children. Parent and carers’ comments are included in assessment and review. The setting has an ‘open door’ policy, offering informal chats as necessary and formal discussion by appointment. Information is shared with parents and carers through the use of home – setting books and open days.

We involve parents and carers in provision through planning, implementation of strategies and identifying learning and development outcomes for their own children. An interpreting service is available in most community languages and for parents and carers who require British sign language. We organise parent workshops at the end of each term on matters relating to child development, play and learning. We work in conjunction with other agencies to provide parenting support programmes such as Parent Gym and Healthy Eating  

• Parent workshops
• Coffee mornings with parents
• Parent consultation
• SENCo
• Home visits
• Links with Children’s Centres