Equal Opportunities and Admissions Policy

including Special Education Needs (SEN)

I believe all children should feel safe, loved and have their needs catered to as well as be given opportunities to learn and develop. I like to think that I am genuinely accessible to children and families from all sections of my local community. I welcome mothers, fathers, grandparents, carers, aunts, uncles, foster parents etc. from all cultural, ethnic, religious and social groups both with or without additional needs. I will do my utmost to accommodate children with additional needs by undertaking training and possibly acquiring specialist equipment to be able to provide the best possible care. I am prepared to make reasonable adjustments to accommodate children. I am flexible about attendance patterns and payment methods to accommodate the needs of individual children and their families. I will fit around your family to the best of my ability.

Procedure

I provide a range of challenging and enjoyable opportunities for each child to learn and develop to their full potential, taking into account age and stage of development, gender, ethnicity, religion, home language, and ability. I may adapt these activities to allow all of the children to take part.

I value and acknowledge children’s individuality, helping them to feel good about themselves and encourage them to value and respect each other. I encourage children to use their home language here and label my resources accordingly offering books and stimulation in their home language.  I encourage children to be as independent as possible and provide assistance when required.

I gather as much information from parents/carers to be able to provide the highest quality of care for each individual child taking into account any likes, dislikes, routines, dietary needs, special educational needs, health issues, cultures and religious beliefs.

I communicate with parents/carers in a variety of ways including my Facebook page, written documents, the daily diary, photographs, email, newsletters, by talking to them face to face and by being open and accessible to other organisations that the parents/carers are using.  Signed permission is given from parents/carers.

Each child has their own Learning Journey file showing their progress.  These files are shared with parents/carers termly and I discuss positive outcomes and possible concerns.  Parents/carers are welcome to look at their child’s ELJ at any mutually convenient time.

I work with health visitors to draw up each child’s two year check.  We use this check to document progress and to highlight possible concerns or areas where extra development may be needed.

I consistently provide, and make sure that all children have access to, a range of books, toys and other resources which reflect positive images and examples of the diversity of life in our society, in accordance with the inclusive practice in the early years, making sure that every child makes good progress.

I support transitions to other settings by providing summative assessments and progress checks for parents/carers to share with other settings.  I visit the new setting and liaise with the key person or teacher.  I take the children to the new setting to drop other children off or to visit the play area so that they can get used to the surroundings.  I provide resources at home to show new settings in a positive light such as uniforms, book bags, books, etc.

I promote British values namely, democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.  We learn about these values by trying new foods, dressing up, having good manners and respect for each other, following the law in Great Britain and by talking about various topics as and when they come up.  I challenge racist and other discriminatory remarks, attitudes and behaviour from all children and adults with whom I have contact.

The new Children’s and Families Act and the SEND code of practice was updated in 2020.  This Local Offer gives parents and carers important information about services that they can reasonably expect from their local area.  It’s also an important resource for professionals in understanding the range of services and provision within the local area.  14 questions have been developed in line with this new legislation and I have answered them in the attachment to this policy.

I am aware of all legislation and existing codes of practice produced by the Disability and Equality Act 2010 and the Disability Equality Duty in the Disability Discrimination Act.

I meet the safeguarding and welfare requirements outlined by the EYFS to keep children safe and promote their welfare.

I meet the requirements of the Code of Practice for the identification and assessment of special educational needs in offering the Early Years Free Entitlement.

I liaise with parents/carers before taking on a child with special educational needs to find out what provision is required for that child and assess whether I think I can provide that. Parents/carers will have the most in depth knowledge of their own children so I try to learn as much from them as possible.  We share information at the start of our contract and share progress and possible concerns throughout.  I learn about the children’s routines, allergies, intimate care routines, medical needs, likes and dislikes from parents/carers which is an ongoing process and I deal sensitively with these.

I work with outside agencies such as Social Services, Health Visitors, Portage, Speech and Language Therapists, etc to appropriately support children with additional needs.

I provide information in various forms including written (available in large print and different languages), verbal, pictures etc.

I work with Kim Hope who is my Special Educational Needs and Disability Coordinator from Surrey County Council and we adhere to the SEND Code of Practice.

I constantly review, monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of my own practice by speaking to parents/carers, by speaking to the children, by advertising my services to the wider community, by undertaking training and by following articles in local news and other professional publications.

Information about children is kept confidential, please see my confidentiality policy.

Policy Written by: Ilana Hill Date: 17 January 2011 

Updated and reviewed:            Annually or as required