As part of Safeguarding and Welfare requirements in the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework, Toddington Childcare and Forest School operate a ‘Key Person’ approach. All children are allocated a Key Person from the start to help build positive and trusting relationships with their Key Children and families. Our Setting Manager/Lead SENDCo and a member of staff from the room your child is due to start in will meet with you and your family at a Home Visit prior to your child starting at Toddington Childcare and Forest School. This helps us to gain a shared understanding of each child’s individual needs, interests and health information. Your child’s Key Person will work in partnership with you to help your child settle in and make regular observations to help track your child’s progress in their learning and development against the Early Years Foundation Stage ‘Birth to Five Matters.’ This information also helps inform Statutory Assessments points, summarising Prime Areas of Learning and Development at the age of 2 to help identify if early intervention may be needed to support your child’s Learning and Development. If observations show that a child has a potential emerging gap in their Learning and Development, your child’s Key Person will discuss their findings with the setting’s SENDCo (Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator). At Toddington Childcare and Forest School, we have two qualified SENDCo’s, Rachel Turner and Marisa Perrini. Our SENDCo’s will then make contact with parents and carers to share these findings and arrange a private meeting to discuss and agree on next steps, which may include gaining consent to start a plan of support, known as an EY SEND Plan.  

If you have any concerns regarding your child's learning and development, please speak to your child's Key Person or one of our Settings SENDCo’s in the first instance, to make an appointment for a time to discuss this matter in private at a mutually convenient time.

All children are seen by Health Care professionals during their early years, who may identify or raise concerns regarding health and/or development. Examples of Health Care professionals you may see include: a GP, a Community Nursery Nurse, a Health Visitor. As a setting, we have regular termly meetings with our Community Nursery Nurse to identify any emerging learning and development needs of children at Pre-School and work collaboratively with other professionals to provide information to inform assessment where required. We welcome parents and carers and other professionals to share information and any reports in order to plan appropriate strategies to meet your child’s individual needs.

Toddington Childcare and Forest School’s SENDCo will offer support and advice to your child's Key Person and other staff in the setting. They will also liaise with other professionals to seek advice and support in identifying emerging needs where necessary. Toddington Childcare and Forest School will seek advice from the Early Years SEND Advisory Team with your consent to decide on the next steps and put targeted support strategies in place.

Before your child starts at Toddington Childcare and Forest School, our Business Administrator will ask you to complete a Registration Form with details of personal information including health, GP and dental information, emergency contact information, session preferences and general permission consents. Each family is offered a ‘Home Visit’ prior to their child’s start date to complete more detailed information about your child and family to help us gain a more in depth understanding of your child’s individual needs, interests, family background, languages spoken, health, including dietary needs, allergies and cultural preferences. Our Setting Manager and Lead SENDCo will accompany your child’s Key Person to gather this information, which also includes establishing starting points in partnership with parents for your child’s Learning and Development.

During each Home Visit we complete an ‘All About Me’ booklet to build a more personalised picture of your child and family. Children's individual needs are paramount to Toddington Childcare and Forest School and we will work closely with you to support your child together, ensuring that we listen to your views and desired outcomes for your child at all times, as well as listening to your child's views too. Our SENDCo's will plan in partnership with parents and carers and other professionals for any emerging needs, and information will be gathered and short-term targets agreed upon a SEND Support Plan, which will be reviewed regularly by all involved in the child's plan. This may involve telephone conversations, visits from other professionals to observe and provide advice, feedback meetings with parents and observational reports setting out support strategies. The plan will outline your child's needs and early intervention and targeted support strategies put in place to support your child's learning and development. The child's Key Person will continue to observe, assess, plan and review next steps for all observations carried out on your child, and these will contribute towards their SEND Support Plan, which will be reviewed regularly. Additional funding may be sought, should there be a need for additional 1:1 SEND support whilst your child attends Pre-School. 

Your child's Key Person will be in the sessions your child attends, and they will foster a caring relationship and an understanding of your child. If at times this is not possible, our SENDCo's will be present to ensure continuity. Our Setting Manager and Lead SENDCo, Rachel Turner, will maintain an overview of your child’s progress and will work with all staff to ensure we are providing relevant and appropriate support to ensure your child is able to reach their full potential and achieve their best outcomes.

Throughout your child’s time with Toddington Childcare and Forest School, your Key Person will observe your child regularly and plan next steps to support their learning and development and track this against ‘Birth to 5 Matters’ milestones. Observations will be uploaded onto our online Footsteps observation platform and uploaded to your parent app on Parenta. There will be opportunities for you to have simple conversations with staff and your child’s Key Person at drop off and pick up and we offer a minimum of two Parents’ Evenings each academic year to meet with your Child’s Key Person and share in their achievements and discuss progress. For children with SEND, we will provide a communication book which we will work in partnership with you on as a two-way communication tool for home and whilst at Pre-School. Depending on the age of your child when they start their journey with Toddington Childcare and Forest School, we will provide a summary report of progress as part of a Statutory Assessment point at the age of 2 years. This is written between the ages of 24 and 35 months. Once your child is settled and happy, we can assess their full potential. Every term, our Setting Manager and SENDCo meet with our local Community Nursery Nurse from our Local Authority Health Team at the setting to discuss any support needed for children and families who attend our setting. Both of these help Toddington Childcare and Forest School to identify any emerging needs and to plan early intervention strategies. We can then discuss making contact for support from other professionals and pathways for SEND support when needed. We will also provide support at times of transition to new Rooms and when your child’s time with us nears its end in preparation for transition to school. We will provide detailed transition information in the form of a Transition Report for your child’s new school alongside any supporting SEND support information, referrals and plans in place, and we will work closely with you and your child’s new school to support visits to ensure smooth transitions for you and your child.  

If your child has a SEND Support Plan, you will be invited to attend regular review meetings. This will give you the opportunity to see how your child is developing and for you to share your views and feedback. 

For children who have communication difficulties or are collected by others, we will provide a Pre-school to Home contact book, detailing your child's day at Pre-school. This book can be used by parents/carers to share information, special events, new interests or new skills. Toddington Childcare and Forest School will share regular updates of forthcoming events and information on our Toddington Childcare and Forest School Facebook page, website and/or be communicated to parents and carers by email. 

We encourage you to be involved from the start of your child’s journey with us, from your child’s Home Visit. During these visits, your child is able to meet their Key Person and begin building a trusting bond. We like to discuss your child's needs, interests, likes and dislikes, as this helps us to make the settling-in process go as smoothly as possible. Toddington Childcare and Forest School respect that parents/carers know their child better than anybody else and value your views about your child. Our Setting Manager/SENDCo will attend with your child’s Key Person. This gives us an opportunity to gather information, starting points and observe your child in their home environment, which supports smooth transitions.  

We work in partnership with our parents in identifying needs, information sharing, identifying targets and next steps to focus on at home and in Pre-School and review progress towards these targets at SEND Plan Review meetings. Your consent will always be sought before sharing information with other professionals.

Toddington Childcare and Forest School encourages all parents/carers to be involved and participate in visits away from our setting. We ensure all venues are fully inclusive and accessible to all.

Toddington Childcare and Forest School will carry out risk assessments linked to visits in the local community to mitigate risk factors so all of our children, staff and parents and carers are kept safe during experiences away from the setting. We have a large ‘bus’’ style push chair and smaller stroller style push chairs to help transport children safely on trips in the local community. We ensure our staff to child ratios are appropriate for children’s ages and individual needs. Examples of trips in the local community inclusive for all children include visits to our local Library, Community Garden, parks and designated village nature walks.

Toddington Childcare and Forest School ensure all relevant care plans and medication are included and taken on visits off site.  

Transitions for any child can be unsettling and even more so for a child with SEND. Toddington Childcare and Forest School will support your child with a programme of transition, starting with a Home Visit to meet their Key Person, and some settling in sessions in partnership with parents. As children move rooms, we arrange transitional visits in small groups with peers to meet new staff and their new environment, with some time to stay and play during pre-school sessions supported by a familiar adult in the last half term. As we prepare for children’s transitions to school, we will liaise with your child’s school and arrange visits from their new teachers to our setting and arrange visits to accompany them to their new school within their last half term. This may include taking photographs of their new environments and teachers and making a book for parents to use at home, and to help talk to their children and prepare them for transition during holiday periods. We will also prepare a detailed transition report for the school and include all SEND information that is forwarded in advance of your child moving onto school. 

Our SENDCo, your child's Key Person, parents/carers, other professionals and your child's new school or setting will be involved in your child's transition. There will be a meeting with all involved to provide the new setting/school with as much information as possible and to ensure strategies are in place for your child. 

Toddington Childcare and Forest School will ensure, with parents/carers' permission, that all information relating to their child is shared with the new school/setting. Toddington Childcare and Forest School will also offer the new school/setting the opportunity to contact them at any time with any possible questions they may have to ensure your child transitions well into their new school learning environment.

If you are a parent or carer who does not speak English as a first language, we will endeavour to introduce you to another family who may speak your home language and be able to interpret information for you in English. We can also help you find an external interpreter if required.

Toddington Childcare and Forest School has parent notice boards in all of our rooms for Panda, Zebra and Giraffe Room children's cloakrooms, where parents/carers drop off or collect their children for sessions. Any further information or questions can be discussed with our Business Administrator or Setting Manager in our main office, located in our Zebra Room cloakroom. 

At Toddington Childcare Forest School, we use visual timetables like ‘Now and Next’ charts to support our children’s understanding of routines in the session.

Accessible toilets and changing facilities are available.

Access to the building and outside play is via ramps, which are wheelchair accessible.

Multi-Sensory activities are part of our regular play and learning experiences.

All staff at Toddington Childcare Forest School have accessed Child Development training as part of their Early Years Educator qualifications, and Amy Husbands holds Level 2 Autism Awareness training. All staff have a significant number of years’ experience working within Early Years Education. Please view our Organisational Structure at Toddington Childcare and Forest School for details.  

Our Setting Manager/Lead SENDCo, Rachel Turner, holds a Level 4 Advanced Practitioner qualification and Level 4 SENDCo training. We have three members of staff who have accessed specific training in Speech and Language, and Marisa Perrini, our settings SENDCo, holds a Level 3 SENDCo qualification. 

Toddington Childcare and Forest School are proud to be able to deliver support to our children through our ‘Lift Off to Language’ programme for 2’s and 3-4’s. This is a language booster programme for 2-3-year-olds and for 3-4-year-olds, focusing on the building blocks of communication, which includes attention and listening skills, social interaction skills and communication, supporting understanding of language, building on vocabulary, expressive language skills and speech sounds. The small group sessions are run once a week by our Communication and LOTL Leads, Rachel Turner and Sue Hickmott, and each child follows an inclusive half-term programme. 

Progress is monitored via observation throughout the programme, and a written summary of progress is recorded for each child. Our Communication Leads at Toddington Childcare and Forest School are Rachel Turner and Sue Hickmott, who both hold ‘Lift Off to Language’ Accreditations and CACHE Level 3 Qualifications in Supporting Children and Young People’s Speech, Language and Communication (QCF).  

Rachel Turner also holds a CACHE Level 4 Qualification in Coordinating Special Educational Needs Provision. Toddington Childcare and Forest School encourage all staff to continually update their own knowledge, skills and continued professional development by attending in-house training, quizzes, network meetings and online and face-to-face training courses, as well as embarking on new qualifications.

Other programmes we offer, which are inclusive for all of our children, include our small group-focused Forest School Programme and, more recently, our Healthy Movers sessions for our 2 to 4-year-olds, which focus on developing our children’s physical literacy skills. 

We work in partnership with our local authority Health Team, with visits from our Community Nursery Nurse to our setting termly, and work in partnership with our local Children's Centres, so we are able to signpost parents for further small group support. For example, Communication Tots groups and parent SEND support groups are available to you and your child.

Your child's Key Person is your first point of contact if you would like to discuss your child's needs, although you can arrange to see one of our settings SENDCo's to discuss your child’s needs. Toddington Childcare and Forest School can provide you with information on wider services available and will support you in referrals for SEND. Our own Local Authority (Central Bedfordshire Council) have their own SEND 'Local Offer' which contains a wealth of information relating to Legislation, guidance and how to access SEND support and advice. 

Central Bedfordshire Council Local Offer details can be found at: www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/localoffer

If at any time you are unhappy with any aspect of our provision or practice, we would ask that you please come and discuss your concerns in the first instance with our Setting Manager to try and resolve these.  If you remain unhappy with the outcome, our Complaints Policy is available on our website www.toddingtonchildcare.org.uk

Toddington Childcare and Forest School's Parent Management Committee is responsible for enabling the Setting Manager to create a range of inclusive policies and procedures, enabling staff to attend relevant training, ensuring staff training meetings take place regularly and include updates on SEND and Inclusion, ensuring the environment remains inclusive for all children, parents and staff.

For any further information, please contact us in person, by telephone or email on office telephone number 01525 875400 or by emailing admin@toddingtonchildcare.org.uk.