Special Educational Needs

Chestnut Nursery School is a maintained nursery with 90 pupils on roll. There are 9 children currently receiving SEND support (October 2022). At Chestnut Nursery School we are committed to offering an inclusive curriculum to ensure the best possible progress for all of our pupils whatever their needs or abilities.

Chestnut Nursery School accepts pupils from ages 2 to 4.

The Nursery Plus provision, which supports Early Years pupils who are delayed in their development, is based at Chestnut Nursery. It also provides outreach to local settings. In respect of the Code of Practice (CoP) for SEND, the local authority has a duty to publish arrangements for SEND support in schools. This is called the Local Offer and includes information about the provision that can be expected for children and young people 0-25 with SEND across education, health and social care. Use the link below to find out about the Devon local Offer.

https://new.devon.gov.uk/send

No child applying to Chestnut Nursery School will be treated unfavourably due to disability as defined by The Equality Act 2010

https://www.gov.uk/definition

We support a wide spectrum of special educational needs and disabilities which include high numbers of pupils with Speech, Language and Communication needs (SLCN) and Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs and fewer numbers of pupils experiencing cognition and learning difficulties and physical and sensory needs.

The progress of all pupils with SEND support is closely monitored termly by Katharine Pringle who is a qualified SENDCO accredited Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO). This is achieved through meetings with the Lead Teachers individually and reviewing the SEN support to ensure it meets individual pupils' needs.

Parents can talk to the SENDCO or the Lead Teachers about their concerns for their child. The SENDCO or Lead Teachers consults with parents, children and teachers to establish the main needs of a pupil and assesses whether these needs can be met through support within the nursery and differentiation of activities.

The Lead Teachers are responsible for identifying pupils who need SEND support. Information is gathered through processes in place to raise concerns in a number of ways which include;

• Lack of progress in the EYFS children
  
• Concern following 2 year progress check reports from Health Visitors
  
• Parental concerns
  
• Concerns following 'Let s talk more' speech and language screening
  
• Following up on concerns raised by teacher and learning support assistants regarding individual children
  
• Information gathering through observations, assessments, transition meetings and nursery plus reports
  
• Reports from outside agencies including medical letters, occupational therapy reports, health visitors reports and speech and language reports
  

Assessments used to identify learning difficulties include:

• Teacher assessment
  
• Regular assessments and observations on children
  
• Statement of growth schedules from Health visitors
  
• Assessment by Educational Psychologist
  
• Speech and Language assessment
  
• Occupational therapy assessment
  
• Assessment of social and emotional needs through the Thrive assessments
  

We will also refer to the community nurses team for hearing checks when parents or teachers are concerned about this.

We use a number of outside agencies to advise us on meeting children's needs including;

• Educational Psychology Service
  
• Speech and Language Therapy
  
• Occupational Therapy
  
• Health Visitors team
  
• Communication and Interaction Team
  
• Deaf and Hearing Impairment Team
  
• Honeylands Assessment Centre
  

If you believe your child needs extra help and would like to discuss this with nursery you can speak to your child's Nursery teacher in the first instance. Teachers are happy to speak to parents at the beginning or the end of the day but you may want to arrange a longer meeting after school. You may wish to discuss your concerns with Nursery Lead Teacher, Cathryn Boxall, who can be contacted on 01392 690418 or by email cboxall@chestnutnursery.co.uk and would be happy to discuss your child's needs and suggest next steps.

If your child has SEN support, his/her progress will be reviewed with the SENCO or Lead Teacher through progress dialogue meetings every term. Parents can access their child's progress through their tapestry log-in or with their child's teacher at any time.

Parents can also contact the SENDCO if they are concerned about their child's progress and arrange a meeting if appropriate.

If your child's needs are more complex and a multiagency approach is needed, the school may start a DAF process (Devon Assessment Framework) for your child with your full involvement from the beginning. Desired outcomes are agreed and recorded on a DAF2a- My Plan and progress towards agreed outcomes will then be reviewed through Team Around the Child (TAC) meetings at least three times a year.

Those children with statements of special educational needs or Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCP) will also have their child's progress reviewed through a statutory review meeting every year. During the meeting plans are made and targets set to meet the needs of individuals for the next 12 months.

All staff at Chestnut Nursery support children with SEND but the following may be particularly involved in supporting your child;

Lead Teacher: Cathryn Boxall

Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENDCO): Katharine Pringle

Head: Sarah Baker

Speech and Language: Paula Treen

Governor with responsibility for SEND: Marina Asvachin

Educational psychologist: Lata Ramoutar/ Catherine Dunnett

Speech and Language Therapist: Emma Black

Area SENDCO

Nursery Plus Team

The SENDCO, Katharine Pringle is a qualified teacher and has many years of experience working with children and young adults with SEND in a variety of settings.

SENDCO's contact details;

Katharine Pringle Katharine.pringle@devon.gov.uk or phone on 01392 690418

Lead Teacher: Cathryn Boxall cboxall@chestnutnursery.co.uk or phone on 01392 690418

Chestnut Nursery School is housed within the Children's Centre and situated on a large and green site. Security and safety is ensured through secure key access through the main entrance nursery doors. The Children's Centre is fully wheelchair accessible with disabled toilets and changing facilities. The Nursery is accessed through a wide secure door and is on one level. There are 2 sets of children's toilet and changing facilities on site. The Nursery has extensive outside area which is both paved and includes a large area of garden with fruit trees. The outside area has with a wide path all the way around.

At Chestnut Nursery School we recognise the importance of listening to parental concerns and aim to understand and listen to your concerns about your child and to act on any concerns regarding progress and development effectively. Nursery teachers are available to deal with these concerns however the SENDCO or Lead Teachers are also available. Small specialist items of SEND equipment are often purchased to support individual's needs.

Parents are warmly invited to their child's learning, events and other performances.

Devon Information Advice and Support (DIAS) www.parentpartnershipdevon.org.ukprovide general advice and support on many aspects of education of children with SEND and disabilities and can be of particular help at times of transition from primary to secondary school.

The support provided by Devon Local Authority for children with SEND and disabilities can be found in https://new.devon.gov.uk/send

Teachers and the SENDCO can direct parents to other organisations and services that can provide additional support for SEND.

At Chestnut Nursery School we are committed to working with parents to meet each child's SEND needs fully. There are however times when we don't get it right and we need to know about it. You are encouraged to contact the lead teachers or the SENDCO in the first instance to discuss any worries or concerns. You can also contact the Head Sarah Baker to arrange a time to discuss your concern. If you still feel concerned you can contact the Governor responsible for SEND, by letter.

Devon Information Advice and Support (DIAS) https://www.devonias.org.uk  can advise parents on how to proceed if they feel their concerns are not being adequately addressed by the school or the Local Authority.

Click here for the Devon SEND Local Offer

Click here for our SEND Policy

Click here for our SEND information report