Our Local Offer
Yeovil Opportunity Group is a Special Educational Needs provision that runs from Monday to Friday 9.00am until 12.00pm. The children that attend the group have identified needs and are usually referred to us by professionals or by parents. We are an equal opportunities setting and welcome all children regardless of their needs.
How do we identify children with Special Educational Needs (SEN)?
The children who attend the group often have identified needs however there may be times when other additional needs become apparent. We follow the graduated response and monitor children’s progress closely with on going involvement from parents/carers. We refer to professionals where necessary with permission from the child’s parents/carers.
How do we support children with SEN and match the curriculum to their individual needs?
The Child Care Lead /SENCO (Special Educational Needs Coordinator) oversees planning and provision in the setting. Each child is assigned a Key Worker who will work with the child for specific activities, routines and to support their social and emotional needs each session. The Key Workers are responsible for continually monitoring individual children's progress and keeping records following The Early Years Foundation Stage through observations, progress trackers, developmental journals, ECAT (Every Childs a Talker) documents and Learning Outcomes. We also have volunteers who support the Childcare Lead and Keyworkers to fulfil their roles and enable children's learning.
All staff are involved in planning on a weekly basis. We use each individual child’s next steps and interests from the previous week to inform our planning and select activities accordingly. We also include targets from care plans drawn up by other professionals who advise us on activities.
How do we work collaboratively with parents to support the learning and overall wellbeing of children with SEN?
The induction process consists of an initial visit either at the setting or in the child’s home depending on parental preference. Parents are always invited in to attend the first session with their child. This gives them the opportunity to meet the Key Worker and provide the important information required to help settle and get to know their child. Parents can continue to attend the sessions until they feel sure that their child is settled. All staff support parents in this process.
We have an open door policy where staff can be available to talk to parents at any time should they have any concerns regarding their child. Parents are also invited in once a term to meet with their child’s key worker and look through their development records. They can also request to see these records at any time if they wish. We work with parents to identify learning outcomes every half term. Family Service Plans are also held every six months so that parents can meet with all the professionals involved with their child to discuss the current situation and next steps to achieve positive outcomes.
What Specialist Services and Expertise do we access to further support and enhance our provision for children with SEN?
There are a number of professionals who visit our setting on a regular basis including Speech Therapists, Physiotherapists, Portage workers, Area SENCOs and Occupational Therapists. Most of these professionals also see the children outside of the setting and they are best placed to offer advice on working with each individual child. They also draw up care plans for us to incorporate into our work with the children. We also have meetings every half term with the Community Nurse so we can share important information between our setting and health care professionals i.e. Health Visitors. Our Child Care Lead attends MAISEY (Multi Agency Intervention and Support in Early Years) meeting every half term. All professionals are invited to attend MAISEY meetings so that relevant information can be shared regarding individual children and if need be systems can be put in place to best support the child and family. No child is discussed at MAISEY without parental consent. The Childcare Lead attends regular SENCO cluster meetings where they discuss ways to improve provision and share ideas with other settings.
We have the benefit of a Music Therapist for one morning a week who works mainly on a one to one basis with some of the children and does a group music session before all the children go home. The children find this very enjoyable and he is able to advise staff on ways he can engage the individual children he works with through music.
What Special Educational Needs Training do we have at our setting?
The majority of our staff have many years’ experience working with SEN. All staff are trained in STC (Somerset Total Communication) and one member of staff is fully trained in PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System). We also receive regular training sessions from the Speech Therapist to help us support the children. Staff are trained to administer medicines for those children who have medical needs. We send staff on any relevant training courses that are required to support the children we work with. The Childcare lead feeds back to staff on any updates about working with SEN from cluster meetings. Collectively our Volunteers have had many years experience and they are all invited to attend our regular training sessions.
