August 2019 Special Educational Needs Policy Purpose The purpose of this policy is to set out the schools approach to children with special educational needs and to explain the approach taken by the school. A child is considered to have special educational need s if they have significant learning difficulties in comparison to their peers. This means they need extra special attention, or if a child has a disability that hinders or prevents the child from using educational facilities and taking part in activities generally provided for the same age group. Spring Pre - S chool's policy in relation to children who experience difficulties in learning or in adapting to physical, social or behavioural demands of the nursery environment is described below: Spring Pre - S chool recognises the right of each individual child, including those with special needs, to an appropriate quality experience, which combines care learning through play and education. The Pre - S chool is sensitive to the needs and feelings of children wit h special needs and their families and will ensure individual needs are recognised and addressed. Parents/carers will be asked to actively be involved at every stage and in plans that are made to meet a child's individual special needs. Equality of opp ortunity for all children is essential and it is important that children with special needs to have the opportunity of learning alongside their peers. For this reason, the special development and educational needs of children will normally be met in norma l day to day activities at the Pre - school. August 2019 If your child has special needs of any kind, we will discuss: How the child and parent/career can be helped? How Pre - S chool staff can be developed so they are able to work effectively with children with specia l needs and help in their development? What advice and practical help can the Pre - S chool get from outside agencies? What practical approaches can be adopted to help the child? What training can the Pre - S chool staff undertake? How can the Pre - S chool support and help the parent/career? Develop a behavioural and educational plan tailored to each individual child with special needs. Discuss and review any special plans with parent/careers before the child starts at the Pre - S chool. Meet regularly with parents/ca reers of children with special needs to discus a nd review the child's progress. Meet regularly with staff to discus and review the progress of children with special needs. Develop new plans if necessary following reviews with parents/careers and staff. Th e Pre - S chool has an E arly Years Special Needs Advisor who is available for consultation and advice. Our SENCO is Nickie Bullock