Our Local Offer provides parents and carers of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities with information detailing the support accessible at Frinton Montessori.

Frinton Montessori is committed to inclusive practice. Our priority is always the welfare, health, safety and education of young children. We value every child as an individual and we assess our ability to support your child and meet their needs on an individual basis.

Parents are encouraged to share any special educational needs or disabilities with the nursery from the onset. We aim to gain as much information as possible from parents and other professionals involved with the child before their start date to ascertain the support needed. Before your child’s first day their Key Person will spend time with you and your child to help them settle into nursery. During your home visit and your child’s induction visits, the Key Person will seek key information to create an overall picture of your child. This information begins to shape your child’s development profile, giving a starting point for the Key Person and the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo) to plan tailored educational programmes for your child where necessary.

We recognise that every child is unique and that children learn at different rates and in different ways. We use a graduated approach to identify SEN and then plan appropriate support. The key person completes regular observations for each child, making informed judgments on progress using the Early Years Outcomes. If a child’s progress gives cause for concern the Key Person will present learning opportunities using alternative approaches before additional support is considered.

The Key Person will share observations and seek guidance from the SENCo. Observations are sensitively shared with parents and actions for moving forward agreed. If it is agreed additional support is needed a personalised plan and/or provision map will be put into place. Personalised plans and provision maps are monitored, reviewed and evaluated with you.

We recognise that children benefit when the nursery and parents work in partnership. Parents are invited to contribute to development records by sharing current achievements and replying to observations on Tapestry from home. Records are shared via Tapestry on a regular basis with suggestions for home learning through parent evenings, during daily handover and stay and play sessions so you are fully informed of your child’s progress and play a key part in celebrating their success. The Key Person and SENCo will strive to ensure that the views, wishes and feelings of you and your child are central to the support your child receives to achieve their full potential.

The nursery has a named Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo) who works closely with the Key Person and in partnership with you to ensure that your child’s needs are met. SENCo’s are qualified Early Years Teacher’s/Educators who have undergone specialist training on the Code of

Practice led by the SEN Team in Essex. The SENCO identifies and actions any particular training needs within the nursery to support early identification and intervention.

We also have an ENCO – Equality Named Coordinator. The ENCO leads the team in ensuring that every child’s right to be included, is at the heart of our practice. We take seriously our legal duty to actively promote equality and to try and ensure that all children have equal access to services, regardless of their own or their parents’ ethnicity, disability, religion, gender, age, gender identity, pregnancy or maternity or sexual orientation.

The SENCo will liaise with external agencies such as Speech and Language Therapists and the Area SENCo, tapping into their expertise to support your child at nursery. We welcome the sharing of reports to plan appropriately to meet needs, but parental permission will always be sought before seeking external support. The Area SENCo regularly visits the nursery to advise types of strategies, interventions and support. The nursery has links within the community such as the local Children’s Centre, schools and charities and promotes a multi-agency approach to meeting needs. The SENCo will be pleased to signpost you to specialist information and other services in the area as appropriate.

We strive to provide a happy, safe and secure environment for all children to flourish. We aim to provide a welcoming environment with appropriate learning opportunities for all children in our care. The Montessori environment is organised relevant to each child’s age and stage of development and resources are always accessible at child level.

We ensure a rigorous Health and Safety procedure and detailed Risk Assessments are completed where appropriate.

Please contact the nursery directly to discuss specific accessibility requirements.

We are an inclusive environment which successfully supports children and families with a range of special educational needs and disabilities. However the nursery is a group setting and in some cases will not be able to make the necessary adjustments to meet the needs of a child. The welfare, safety and development of children are our primary concerns and we will recognise if we are unable to meet these fundamental requirements. In these cases we will work with the Area SENCO and partner organisations to identify the right provision that can best meet the needs of your child and ensure they achieve their potential.