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High quality early years education is rooted in the premise of inclusive provision for all children. At New River Green Children’s Centre, we noticed a high number of children coming through with additional needs. In fact, in our current cohort over 30% of our children currently have either a referral or a diagnosis of SEND (mainly Autistic Spectrum Condition). We have spent a long time thinking about how we can support the children and families better to achieve good outcomes and make progress in all aspects of development. Subsequently, we reconfigured our environment, which allowed us to create a dedicated space to support the wide range of needs. This space is now known as the Learning Pod. We also looked at staff training to highlight any gaps in knowledge, beginning with a staff questionnaire to identify any training needs or professional development. We see our SEND practice as responsive, and in each room we have identified some staff whose main role is supporting the SEN provision and children.
The Learning Pod
- A space to provide intense support in small groups
- A quiet area for individualised learning around children’s short term plan targets (STP’s)
- A place to meet with parents
- A place to work with professionals - with a two way mirror and speaker
- A calm environment to support self regulation
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We use objects of reference to help the child understand what is happening now and to also support making choices using objects rather than pictures. We understand that not all children are at a stage in their development that pictures and words have meaning.
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We have SEND support boards in all rooms to provide staff with a quick visual reference on how to support individual children.
Visuals are replicated throughout the nursery and are easily accessible for children. The visuals allow the children to begin to communicate their wants and needs. All staff in the setting wear lanyards that hold a set of daily routine visuals which are used to support transitions and routines for children throughout the day. The daily routine visuals are also clearly displayed around the nursery environment which allows staff to quickly access a visual when needed in a hurry.
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We have found workstations to be a useful way of working with and supporting our older children who have Autistic Spectrum Condition (ASC). Workstations clearly set out what needs to be done and separates out tasks into ‘to do’ and ‘done’ sections. This organisation makes it clear to the child what the expectations are and what the schedule involves which in turn helps to prevent anxiety around unexpected changes.
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Sensory Circuits - The primary aim of the sensory circuits program is to facilitate sensory processing and effective sensory integration, allowing children to be in the optimum state of alertness, ready for learning. There are many other longer-term benefits including:
- improvement in self esteem
- development of physical skills
- enhanced differences in focus and attention
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Next Steps
We were thrilled to be awarded a place on the Register of Good Practice earlier this year for our inclusive practices supporting children with SEND, in particular autism. But we are never standing still and there is always more we can strive to do. Our plan going forward is to:
- Continue to signpost parents and staff to the SEND local offer where they can obtain information for support.
- Continue to work in partnership with other professionals to draw on their experiences and expertise such as the Social Communication Team and the Educational Psychologist.
- We will support staff by directing them to the appropriate training to expand their knowledge
- We will regularly update our SEND provision board informing staff on how to support each child.
- We will support parents by inviting them to our SEND afternoon parent sessions, where they will have opportunities to discuss concerns, contribute to short term plans (STPs) and participate in questionnaires.
- We will continue to use the four-step graduated approach: assess, plan, do, review to further support each child.
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