Parent info evening
Hello, I’m Jennifer and I am the SENCO (Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator).
There is a variety of early interventions which we can support your child with. All children develop at different rates, and some may need a little bit more support than others in some of the following areas: –
- Speech
- Behaviour
- Understanding of the world around them and of other people
- Understanding of language
- Sensory needs
- Physical needs
- Fine motor skills development
- Co-ordination
- Emotions
- Medical needs
All of the above could be joined together, so we are necessarily just working on one aspect. Children may display traits and characteristics of ‘named’ additional needs e.g. ADHD, delayed speech, dyspraxia etc. Early interventions imperative and will give a child the best chance to reach their full potential. Every child is different and will need different levels of support for different amounts of time.
Approaches that are important amounts of time.
- Use open ended questions – not questions that are answered yes or no, or one-word answers. Such as what colour is this?
- Talk to your child, comment on the things you are doing, what you can see. This extends their knowledge and vocabulary. Use words such as I wonder……………, oh look………….., I can see…………………
- When we identify a child who may need a SEN support, we carry out observations, get to know that child, chat with you the parents, use assessment tools (ECAT, speech wheel, EYFS, TBK, sensory needs) we have available or speak to the professionals (area SENCO inclusion team) for advice (this will need a referral form.
- If we and as parents agree that your child would benefit from a little extra help. What we would do is set up a SEN support document which we put targets on that we believe would help your child. The targets are reviewed every 6-8 weeks. This means we will sit down with you as parents and go through the progress that the child has made. We then come up with another target depending on how much progress has been made and the needs of the child. Parents input is highly valued and extremely important.
- There is no minimum/maximum amount of time that a child has SEN support; this all depends on the needs of the child and the family.
- If we need to ask outside agencies for advice (and the area SENCO inclusion team agrees). We will need to fill out a referral form for an Early Help assessment (EHA). This then means we sit down with you and ask questions regarding al aspects of your life and this will help the panel on the pathway advise us of what will be the right help to access. They need to know as much information as possible, so they can support us and you in the right way, financial help, housing, health and education etc. The panel consists of array of professionals such as paediatricians, health visitors, children services, head teachers, SENCO inclusion team and lots more. We may also be invited to panel.
- The idea around the pathway is that all professional come together, and you only tell your story once, as it will be recorded on a EHA record. If your child is accepted onto the pathway, you will receive a family pack, and this can contain all your info in various appointments they ask you to take it to all appointments.
- During each session at preschool, we are constantly supporting and expanding each child’s knowledge, understanding and language. No matter if they are SEN or not each child deserves the same experiences and attention.
- We are here to help your child achieve the best they can to the best of their ability and prepare them for the next chapter of their life, going to school and the future.
- It is important that what we do in preschool is supported at home and vice versa. The child’s early years education lays down the foundations for the rest of their life. All their experiences contribute to their development and will lead to a happy, safe and successful path in life.