SEND Individualised Plans

Working in Early Years is so special as you get to see children grow and develop their own character and way of learning.

Each child is unique and will have their own way of developing their skills, at Monkey Puzzle, we make sure to adapt activities and environments to allow children to do this confidently. We do this through observations and interactions with the children. When looking after and supporting children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), we use observation and interactions with the children, and facilitate meetings with their parents and professionals to create individual and detailed support plans. We know it can be quite daunting for families when going through the diagnosis stage and we are here to support them on the journey.

Our Early Years Quality Manager, Emma, has previously managed a nursery for children with complex medical needs, special educational needs, disabilities, an afterschool club for children aged 4-13 with complex needs as well as mainstream children. Therefore, Emma has seen the benefit of specialist support and an integrated approach. Whether a child is in a mainstream setting or specialist provision, they should have access to a wide range of resources and activities that can be adapted and differentiated to allow the child to experience them and support their development.

At Monkey Puzzle, we pride ourselves on being fully inclusive nursery settings where all children can access a fun, nurturing, learning environment. This enables the children to develop their own way of learning, whether that be playing and exploring a resource, sitting back and watching others engaging or actively using the resources available. All the children have individualised plans to a certain extent, as their keyperson will observe them and review their next steps.

Our Early Years Quality Manager, Emma, explains the process for a child who needs additional support, “Their plans are broken down into smaller steps. For example, a child may sit concentrating on an activity for 1 minute and then once the child is successful, the next step would be for another child to sit with the child and their key worker whilst sharing resources. Once the child succeeds this step, the next phase would be for the child share the resources off their own accord and then we would look at extending the duration of the activity. This supports the child’s concentration, social skills, relationships and self-regulation”.