Special Educational
Needs & Disabilities

At Mulberry Bush Pre-school we treat every child as an individual. Your child will be allocated a key person who is responsible for your child’s development. We use observations and planning for their next steps and we are able to identify any concerns which we will share with you, and with your consent, we will contact other professionals if needed. If you have any concerns about your child you should speak to your child’s key person who will be able to advise you further.

Your child’s key person will work in partnership with you and your child. This relationship will ensure that we can share knowledge concerning your child and their development. Through continual observations we can plan for your child’s individual needs including assessing whether additional support from other professionals is needed. With your permission we will contact them for advice and guidance and put strategies in place as appropriate.

Every child is unique therefore we plan for your child’s development based on observations of your child and evidence gained for their learning journal. The environment your child plays in will be appropriate for their needs and additional support and resources will be supplied as appropriate.

A strong relationship between Mulberry Bush and parents is important to us. You will have access to your child’s Learning Journal, which includes photos and snippets of their play experiences at any time, and a Home Link book to relay any information you would like to share. Your child’s key person will meet with you regularly to discuss your child’s development and their next steps. Our SENDCo, Julie Crouch, will also meet with you to discuss and implement any strategies or plans put in place. We will also provide Home Learning Packs containing activities for you to take home and share with your child.

We offer ‘settling in’ sessions which will familiarise your child with the pre-school and their key person and will also enable support for your child to be discussed before they start. Care routines will be discussed including nappy changing. We are able to administer prescribed medicines once the appropriate form has been completed. If additional training is required to administer medicines we will undertake this as necessary.

Promoting positive behaviour is important to us. We will always discuss any behavioural concerns we may have with you in order to maintain a consistent approach between home and the setting.

The safety of all our children is paramount. We will not release a child to anyone other than a parent without your written authority.

We undertake risk assessments on the pre-school building every day before the children arrive. We also regularly risk assess all of our toys and equipment and review appropriately. Risk assessments are always undertaken for outings and short walks around the community and any events that we hold such as sports day.

All staff at Mulberry Bush Pre-school are Paediatric First Aid trained and have undertaken appropriate safeguarding training.

The SENDCo has undertaken SEND training and regularly attends workshops and meetings to keep up to date with policies. She also meets regularly with the Area SENDCo and other professionals to gain advice and guidance on SEND issues.

All staff are regularly kept updated on all SEND policy and are given advice and guidance and are sent on training regularly as and when needs are identified etc. We continually reflect on our practice and all training is refreshed regularly.

Our setting has access to advice and guidance from our Area SENDCo, Health Visitors, Speech and Language Therapists, Behavioural Support, Children’s Centres and Specialist Teachers.

All children are included on trips out in the local community. Parents are asked for their consent for their children to take part and any needs are identified and planned for. Risk assessments are completed for all trips. Adult to child ratios are high, and the Pre-school mobile phone and first aid kit is always taken with us.

We will work closely with parents to access any specialist equipment that may be required. The pre-school is currently looking into the addition of a ramp to gain easier access to the building. Our outside area has a ramp allowing ease of access.

Visuals are used to assist children with the daily routine and language books are shared with setting and families with English as an additional language to aide communication.

Before your child joins the pre-school we encourage you to visit the setting several times so that you can become acquainted with the environment. We work closely with each family to develop a settling-in routine to match your child’s needs.

If a child attends more than one setting or is moving to a different setting we share the child’s developmental records with that setting.

We work closely with local schools to arrange visits of both the children to the schools and the teachers come in to visit the pre-school and meet the children to aid their transition onto school.

We already have a good selection of recourses, but we are also able to apply for funding from Havering Council to support individual children as required. We also ensure that our staff receive any specific training.

The Manager and SENDCo will work closely with you and other professionals to determine your child’s needs. We have regular staff meetings to involve all practitioners in any support required. In addition the key person will be able to identify any additional support through the observation procedure required by the Early Years Foundation Stage and Individual Education Plans will be made as necessary.

Strong relationships with parents is important to the pre-school. We operate an open door policy and share a home/school link book with parents. We send out monthly newsletters.

As a new pre-school, there are still lots of things we wish to implement, including a parent helper rota.

More detailed information is available in our policies, specifically promoting positive behaviour, inclusion, administration of mediation, supporting children with additional needs and working in partnership with other agencies. These are available on request.

To register your child with the preschool or discuss your child prior to starting please contact the Manager, Dawn or the SENDCo, Julie on 07599 290454. You can email us at dawn@mulberrybushpreschool.co.uk or arrange to pop in to see us during our session times.