Puddleducks @ Rising Bridge

Local Offer

Please feel free to find information on Lancashire County Council's Website 

https://www.lancashire.gov.uk/children-education-families/special-educational-needs-and-disabilities/

Puddleducks@ Rising Bridge’s Local Offer this is information about what we, as a nursery, offer to the children who come to us for care and information a if you are thinking about coming to us.

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The Settings

What our setting provides:

We are situated within a rural area 2.5 miles from Haslingden and 2 miles from Accrington town centres. The setting is a spacious single storey building offering a main hall which is separated into two play rooms for the Preschool children. There is a separate cosy baby room and a kitchen where all our homecooked food is made by our nursery cook. The toddlers are situated in a separate building which is connected via an enclosed ramped area.

The building is an old Methodist Church which has been converted into a nice spacious nursery offering lots of provision. We have carefully considered the interior design of the building to make the best use of the large hall for children to play and learn within a spacious and pleasant bright environment.

Access to the nursery is via our private car park from the road along a gated pathway.

Within the nursery is a large outdoor play area, the play area is on a gentle accessible slope with a grassed area and a tarmac area, with a separate decking area for babies. Access to the outdoor area is via an enclosed ramped area from the toddler room and via a ramp from the main building.

Our Management team consists of the Nursery Proprietor, a Nursery Manager and 2 Deputy Managers. The Deputies and all other staff act as Key Workers who are responsible for the monitoring of individual children’s care and development each Key Worker is responsible for their key groups. We have a designated PICO (Parental Involvement Co-ordinator) an ENCO (Equal Opportunities Co-ordinator) and a Behaviour Monitor for the Nursery.  The proprietor, Nursery Manager and  nursery deputies are both trained and skilled in meeting the needs of children with additional needs and share the roles of SENCO and Designated Lead Professionals for Safeguarding children. 

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Accessibility and Inclusion 

What our setting provides:

Our Nursery is set out to maximise the provision and service we can provide the users of our nursery.

Accessibility

• The main entrance can be accessed via two access points. 

• The car park offers fully accessible parking spaces which leads to the entrance on level ground. 

• The side entrance has ramp access making both access points wheelchair user friendly. 

• For access in and out of the building, a temporary ramp may be required and will be provided for users of electric wheelchairs etc. 

• The main play room can be accessed through a wide doorway however access to the adult bathroom may be restricted for people with mobility difficulties. 

• Children will be able to access all indoor and outdoor areas and where necessary, staff will be trained in moving and handling to be able to transport children safely if requiring support. 

• The Nursery environment has been designed to let in natural lighting and adaptions have been made to manage noise, i.e. carpeted areas and cushioned wall displays have been incorporated into the large play room. 

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Information

• Parent’s information boards in entrance area including information on funding, school admissions and much more.

• Signposting to outside agencies, i.e. local children’s centre, parenting classes and local sessions are also displayed.

• Parent partnership displays with nursery activity planning suggestions of how to support learning at home.

• All nursery policies and procedures accessible to parents/carers, these are in the entrance for parents to look at. 

• Newsletters are generally sent out once per term.

• Parent’s evenings held twice per year for Parents to come in and speak with their child’s key worker.

• Email contact and consultation appointments arranged on request.

• Most nursery policies and procedures and other information is available in large font on request.

• We are continually developing our communication with families with EAL and will look to translate information as far as possible.

• Class dojo is used within the nursey to keep parents up to date with children's learning and any events/news happening    within the nursery 

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The Rooms

• The rooms are arranged to create space for children to move around and explore their environment safely in continuous provision.

• Wooden dividers and furniture are used to define areas such as the home corner, messy play and all other areas of continuous provision are available within each room.

• Quiet, cosy areas are defined to enable children to rest, sleep and engage in quiet activities if they please (Children can also make use of sleep mats).

• Within the Preschool room there is a platform which encourages the children to walk up the steps, using the hand rails and there is a nice cosy area at the top where the children can sit and watch the cars or have a lovely story. This platform also gives a panoramic view of the rest of the room, which the children can see through the plastic. 

• Some display boards are at children’s height and are brightly coloured to stimulate children’s interests, this is where we display all the children’s work. 

• All toys and resource boxes are clearly labelled with text and images to promote self-choice and independence skills.

• Children with SEND will be supported through the use of visual time tables, communication books and prompt cards and auditory materials.

• All furniture is free standing so can be moved and rearranged to make space for specialist equipment or to ensure the room is accessible for children using walkers or wheelchairs.

• All toys, equipment and furniture are developmentally appropriate for the age and stages of all the different children who access our provision. 

• Tuff trays are used to bring activities to floor level, or these can be put on tables to children’s level. 

• Treasure baskets are used with babies to support play and encourage exploration and sensory play. 

• All resources can be shared between the rooms to suit the development needs of individual children.

• Cause and effect toys and toys that light up, vibrate or make sounds are available to the children.

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The Outdoors

• The outdoor consists of a large grassed area, tarmac area for riding tricycles etc., and for the babies a grassed  decking area.

• A large canopy provides shelter from the sun.

• Storage units accessible to the children promotes independence and free choice of activity.

• A shed has been built to allow storage of all nursery prams and a covered area where children can sleep, in view of the baby decking area and baby room window.

• Children also have access to a mud kitchen and a planting and digging area to be able to explore the natural environment. 

• A beautiful hidden story corner allows for outdoor stories and reading and provides a communication, friendly space for children to talk together.

• For physical development there is a large wooden climbing frame and slide which helps the children develop their gross and fine motor skills. 

• Resources are taken out on a daily basis and are chosen and adapted to suit the needs and interests of the children attending the nursery.

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Identification and Early Intervention 

What our setting provides:

All children within our nursery are assigned a Key Worker who will work closely with each child, their parents and other staff to ensure all children are supported in their learning and development. 

• Keyworkers are responsible for monitoring the development of their children and ensures that no child is missed through the development milestones. 

• We track children’s progress to identify strengths and any areas in need of development

• Two-year-old progress checks are completed in collaboration with parents and shared with health care professionals where appropriate.

• Good practice of working together with parents and the observation and monitoring of children’s individual progress helps us to identify any child with Special Educational Needs.

• The Nursery will sign-post parents to other services such as Speech and Language drop in sessions where required.

• Our Nursery has identified members of staff as SENCO’S who will work alongside parents to assess the child’s strengths and plan for future support. Our SENCO’s are experienced in the care and assessment of children with additional needs.

• A SEN and Inclusion policy and procedure is in place within our setting and is followed by all members of staff at all times. 

• Provision mapping identifies what we provide for all children (Wave One), for children who require a little bit of extra input in a specific area (Wave Two) and children who require more specialised or intensive intervention (Wave Three). 

• The nursery manager carries out a termly cohort from which staff can identify the different groups of children and identify the children who may need support within their learning or development. 

• Parents can raise any concerns they have with their child’s Key Worker or the nursery SENCO and/or the Nursery Manager. 

• The Nursery will work in partnership with parents and outside agencies in order to meet individual children’s needs. We will seek advice, support and training where necessary.

• Following requests for guidance and an identification of an additional support need we will continue to liaise with other agencies such as Speech and Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists and will request involvement of an Educational Physiologist as and when required. The nursery will make a request for additional inclusion support to the Early Years panel if required, to enable us to meet the support needs of individual children. All decisions relating to a child will be made in consultation and agreement of parents and all other agencies involved.

• The Nursery, parents and agencies involved will decide if there is a need to request assessment for an EHC Plan. We will support the child and parents through the process of developing the EHC Plan and with decision making processes. 

• Through differentiated learning programmes we ensure that provision meets the individual needs of the children.

• All Nursery planning is displayed for parent’s information and suggestions of how learning can be supported at home is offered. Any differentiated learning programmes for individual children are drawn up in collaboration with parents/carers and provides clear strategies to support learning.

• We will sign post parents to any support agencies, training or learning events known to us as deemed relevant.

Children’s views

• Children’s views are sought on a regular basis. Children are able to use cameras to capture their favourite activities and experiences and are encouraged to share their views and thoughts during activities such as circle time. Older children take part in regular questionnaires.

• Ongoing observations and assessments ensures that we can ‘tune in’ to children’s thinking and understanding to be able to plan meaningful experiences to promote development.

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Teaching and Learning Part 1 – Practitioners and Practice

What our setting provides:

Our Nursery works within the Framework of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). The Statutory Framework is mandatory for all Early Years settings and places a duty on us to promote the learning and development of all children. Within the requirements of the EYFS there are SEN Requirements settings must meet. We must consider whether a child has a special educational need or disability which requires specialist support. We are required to use ongoing assessment to understand the child’s level of achievement, interests and learning styles and to shape learning experiences for each child reflecting those observations. Assessments help parents, carers and practitioners to recognise children’s progress and to plan meaningful and relevant activities and support. Our Nursery delivers educational programmes to promote the seven areas of learning. There are three Prime areas (Personal, Social and Emotional development, Physical development and Communication and language) and four specific areas of learning (Literacy, Mathematics, Understanding the world and Expressive arts and design). For our youngest children, we focus strongly on the prime areas before increasing the focus on the specific areas of learning as the child ages, develops and progresses. 

Organisation of the nursery

• The rooms within the nursery are resourced according to the age, stage and needs of the children within them.

• The areas of provision are arranged to promote learning across all areas of learning and development.

• Activities, enhancements and resources reflect children’s interests and development stage as identified through ongoing observation and assessment by practitioners.

 

Assessment and monitoring

• All children will be assigned a keyworker who will ensure the effective assessment and monitoring of their children’s development and to support all the children within our setting. 

• The Keyworker will share their child’s learning journey with parents/carers twice per year during parent’s evenings or at any time at the parent’s request. 

• The Manager/Deputy Manager will be available at either end of the day for parents to speak to for advice or information in relation to their child and their development or anything else relating to Nursery. 

• Each child will have a pre-baseline assessment done when on their settling in visits which is done in conjunction with the child’s parents, this will enable staff to plan for their personal needs and learning needs on their first day at nursery. A baseline assessment will then be completed within five weeks of them starting at nursery. This will be shared with parents and their views sought to ensure we have parents input and all know where the child is up to in their development. 

• We track children’s progress and share a monthly Learning Summary which is sent home to parents, with a page of photos of activities the children have been doing. 

• All children will undergo a two-year-old progress check between their second and third birthday. These assessments will be drawn up in collaboration with parents and shared with health care professionals where appropriate.

• Activities and provision are differentiated to suit the interests and needs of individual children. For children requiring additional differentiation, the Nursery will refer to the setting provision map to assess the best level of support for the child.

Provision and practice for children with SEND

• The Nursery SENCO will support the child’s keyworker in identifying and implementing targeted support for a child. The child’s keyworker will be supported to deliver targeted support and will liaise with the child’s parents/carers, the settings SENCO and other professionals to report on the child’s progress.

• The SENCO will work with the child’s keyworker, parents/carers and outside agencies to draw up Targeted Learning Plans, review progress against set targets and will prepare the relevant paperwork for review and transition meetings. 

• The Nursery has a Provision map which helps us to identify the level of support needed to meet the needs of children on wave 1, 2 or 3. Targeted Learning plans will be used to support children on wave 2 or 3 of the provision map.

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Teaching and Learning Part 2 – Provision & Resources 

What our setting provides:

• The Nursery is well-resourced and an effective auditing system is in place to ensure that equipment and toys are relevant, stimulating, age appropriate and organised for the children using them.

• Any additional funding allocated to the Nursery and will be used for additional staffing needs and to purchase toys and equipment to meet children’s special educational needs. 

• The Nursery will work with other agencies in identifying any specialist equipment needs and will accommodate provision for the storage of and safe use of the equipment within the nursery as far as possible.

• The Nursery will liaise with the Inclusion Disability Support Service (IDSS) to ensure best practice in supporting children with Special Educational Needs. The Nursery SENCO will access services such as Health, Therapy and Social Care services when needed and will ensure that time is allocated to effectively liaise and meet with the relevant people and the child within the nursery.

• Access action plans identify any barriers to inclusion for individual children. The nursery will always endeavour to remove any barriers faced to ensure full inclusion of all nursery activities and experiences.

• Staffing ratios, the safety of all children, the support needs of any children with special educational needs and parental consent will determine the planning of trips and outings.

• The setting has use of a mini bus which is shared between our sister nurseries and trips out are frequently arranged for fun and life experiences based on topic, themes and children’s interests. By sharing children’s home experiences through Class dojo we aim to visit and share access to the wider community – including parks, play spaces, museums, visitor centres such as Airport, Life boat station, Castles, ice cream parlours and monuments. The mini bus can have the facility for a wheel chair access. Car seats are provided for the older children.

• Parents are always involved planning and ideas for different trips out, and we work with parents of children with special educational needs or additional needs to ensure these children get the opportunity to access different trips out. 

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Reviews

What our setting provides:

Staff speak to all the parents on a daily business these includes discussions about how their child is doing within nursery and at home, staff discuss with parents if there is anything we can do at nursery to support the child within their development and what they have been doing at home. 

We regularly review children’s progress and have a range of strategies to share information with parents. These include:

• Parent’s evenings/learning journey reviews 

• SEN Review and TAF meetings

• Termly assessment reviews

• Baseline assessments

• Two-year-old progress checks

  In addition, parents/carers will receive information regarding their child’s day as we ensure that our keyworkers are available to speak to at either the start or end of the day. Younger children will be provided with daily sheets to share information between the home and Nursery. Also from a request from parents, parents have use of parent partnership book which can be completed both at home and within nursery as communication between parents and nursery. 

  We have an open-door policy and parents are welcome into the Nursery at any time to discuss their child’s development and well-being. We ask for parents/carers to contribute to nursery planning by sharing their child’s current interests or special events with the nursery team. We request that parents contribute to the baseline and termly assessments completed by the staff team by agreeing the set targets and providing us with a comment to enable us to support the children the best we can. We encourage parents/carers from diverse backgrounds and different occupations into the nursery to talk to the children about culture, festivals, hobbies and work etc.

 

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Transitions

What our setting provides:

As a nursery, we understand that transitions can be a difficult time for both children and parents, our Nursery is experienced in managing children’s transitions to make them as smooth as possible. We will:

• Operate a pre-visit system which allows parents and children to get to know the nursery and staff prior to the child starting with us.

• Allocate children with a keyworker who will be responsible for settling the child in to our nursery.

• Ask parents and children to complete ‘All about me’ booklets to enable us to get to know the children better.

• Share home-made books to show to children to strengthen the communication and relationships between the home and nursery setting.

• Complete transition reviews to share information with colleagues, parents and other settings as a child moves from room to room or onto a new setting/school.

• Liaise with the child’s new setting and visits can be arranged for staff from other settings to come and see the child in our nursery.

• Arrange TAF meetings, prepare transition paperwork and provide new settings with access to targeted learning plans and access action plans for individual children with Special Educational Needs.

 

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Staff Training

What our setting provides:

The Owner/Proprietor has a Level 6 qualification in BA (Hons) in Childcare Studies. The Nursery Manager has a Level 3 in childcare and introduction to management and supervisory skills. The Deputy Managers have BA Hons in Early Childhood Studies. All Management have CAF and CON (Common Assessment Framework and the Continuum of Need)/Early Years Paediatric First Aid/Level 1 Safeguarding/ Level 2 Designated Lead for Safe-guarding training. Our Room Leaders are all Level 3 qualified. All  of our staff team are qualified to Level 3 or above or are working towards their qualification. 

• Some staff have completed short courses on Planning and Assessing, Valuing Diversity and Behaviour Management and are continuing their professional development by accessing any courses which are available to them. 

• All staff are trained in Safeguarding Level 1 with senior staff trained in Level 2 Safeguarding, all our staff team hold First Aid Certificates. All mandatory training is updated as and when any legislation changes or within 3 years (before the previous certificate runs out).

• All staff have had CAF/CON training via our online Local Authority website and have regular access to these for updated information or courses which are available through this website. 

• The manager ensures all new and relevant information is available to staff at all times. 

• We have a range of experiences from our staff having on the job experiences with working with a range of children with additional needs in previous settings. 

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Further Information 

What our setting provides:

The Nursery Manager or Deputy will be available to speak to parents throughout the day if parents/carers have any concerns or alternatively appointments can be arranged to suit both parent’s and nursery’s needs. Key-workers will be free to talk to parents at either end of the day with anything regarding children’s development. 

Staff ensure parents pass on any relevant messages as to how children been overnight or since they were last in nursery, this is to ensure the staff can provide the relevant care to all the children. Staff always ensure they transfer any information about each child’s day to parents at the end of each session in nursery. 

If parents request a meeting with either the Manager, Deputy Manager or their child’s Key Worker this can be arranged at a suitable time to suit both parents and staff. 

If you require any further information, please get in touch by:

• Telephoning the nursery on 01706 240070

• By email – rbmanager2012@outlook.com

• By using our open-door policy and coming to visit us at any time the nursery is open or we can arrange a time which best suits you.

• Contact with the nursery Manager or Proprietor can also be arranged at any time, this can be done by contacting the number or email above.