A Nursery Wide, Inclusive Approach

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Our inclusive approach ensures that all children including those with SEND are benefiting from our ambitious curriculum.  To embed our approach, practitioners receive ongoing support and advice from our highly skilled and experienced SENCO, along with bespoke Sensory and ASD training from OSSME (an Autism Initiative trust), to ensure that all children are accessing our curriculum. 

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Individual Support and Adaptations to the Curriculum

 

For children with SEND, our approach can include and support the use of:

• Makaton - a unique language programme that uses symbols, signs and speech to support all children to communicate 

• Visual timetables to support transitions between activities

• Name first approach to gain children’s attention easily and readily

• Daily sensory circuits (where required) to provide children with the sensory input required in order to be fully ready to engage in activities

• Using objects of reference when communicating with children with SEND

• Using a 3,2,1 visual to support small and large transitions throughout the day 

 

Every child is supported and encouraged to participate in the curriculum, through a range of large group activities, small group activities and 1-1 intensive interactions. Each child’s current knowledge, ideas, culture, abilities, and interests are taken into account when planning activities and the resources on offer. Carefully planned adaptations such as wobble cushions during carpet input, visual timetables and 3,2,1 visuals are made for children whose needs are different from or additional to the needs of their peers (which are also reflected in individual play plans). 

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Our SENCO 

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The nursery has a highly skilled and experienced SEND coordinator who works with external agencies such as: SALT, community paediatricians, health visitors, community nursery nurses and parents/guardians so that each child with special educational needs is meeting their highest potential. With a progressive and developmental curriculum in place, we focus on developing a love of reading , early language and vocabulary for all children to prepare children including those with SEND for their future lives and next stages of learning. In turn, this develops and embeds a culture of sharing, interacting, confidence building and holistic development.

 

Working with Parents

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Staff communicate daily with parents through informal chats and our online parent app. With suggestions for home or finding out about a child’s interests or fascinations, we implement bespoke play plans (with SMART targets) relevant to each child to ensure continuity between the home and nursery environments. All About Me’ forms, Stay and Plays, SEND coffee mornings all support practitioners’ understanding of each child’s learning and development both at home and nursery so that we can extend these over time.

For children with SEND, transition between rooms and to  schools is a key focus and we work on what we would like the children to know and be able to do before their transition and support them to achieve this. We strive to ensure school readiness, developing skills such as good listening, sharing, turn-taking, self-care skills such as toileting, getting dressed and washing hands independently. We attend the annual transition event which is hosted by School Improvement Liverpool to ensure a smooth transition for the children who are embarking on their school journey, and we have strong links with local schools in the area who are invited to visit the setting to meet the children and gather information before they join them. 

 

How our Learning Environments support with SEND? 

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All learning environments offer areas for retreat, rest and relaxation both indoors out. Rooms are carefully planned and designed to create smaller spaces and zones within our nursery rooms to support children’s listening, attention and engagement skills and build a sense of comfort , well being and inclusion. There are areas to sleep and rest in all rooms, as well as a reading shed in the large garden which provides an area for the children to relax whilst they explore the story books outside. 

 

Smaller areas of learning support small group and induvial work and ensure that opportunities for conversation are created in safe spaces which are calm, well organised and quiet to support potential learning opportunities.

 

Further Information

 

For links to Liverpool’s Local Offer, please visit the Liverpool Family Information and SEND Directory:

https://fisd.liverpool.gov.uk/kb5/liverpool/fsd/localoffer.page?localofferchannel=0

 

For links to Cressington Manor’s Local Offer, please visit the link below:

https://fisd.liverpool.gov.uk/kb5/liverpool/fsd/service.page?id=5ijOtOw3vZg