At YMCA Day Nursery we support a number of SEND children and their families to access the right support and services to ensure their child receives the best start in life. We have worked with other professionals preparing families for the transitions which will take place in September, ensuring EHCP are started or completed to ensure the right setting is highlighted to cater for the child’s individual needs.
Post COVID-19 we have seen a significant rise in children under 5 presenting with a variety of additional needs. Kirsty, our deputy manager, as the SENCO has worked alongside our practitioners to ensure we assess the individual needs of each child placed in our care. We refer to this as building the picture of the child’s emerging needs which forms part of the graduated approach ensuring all information is gathered to support the needs of the child. It is important that when we carry out initial assessments of a child we do this working alongside the parents as the primary caregiver. We also ensure where possible that the voice of the child is included in all that we do.
Through the work of our SENCO and staff in the rooms we have been able to engage positively with other professionals to support children and families. Recently we have worked with the Dean Communication Centre (DCC) . This began with a specialist coming to our nursery to observe the child in the nursery environment, then followed by a meeting with Emma, our pre-school room lead, to listen to recommendations to further support the child’s speech and language development. We have recently evaluated the space in our pre school room and moved the nursery office to the first floor which has enabled office space to become a dedicated art space for preschool. We have already seen how beneficial this has been in such a short period of time.
Over the last 12 months, we have supported 10 children who have presented with various developmental needs.