Questions You Might Like to Ask
[WO1]
LOCAL OFFER
About Us
Our playgroup is based in a purpose built building, adjacent to St Margarets Primary School in Angmering. When designing our building and outdoor in 2007 we very much had an inclusive design in mind and made certain that as much of our indoor and outdoor space would be accessible to all children. The playgroup has a team of around 8-12 well trained, dedicated, mature staff. We are registered and inspected by OFSTED and in 2011 we were awarded an “outstanding” rating.
We welcome pre-school children from around 2 years to age to 5 years of age and offer morning sessions from 8.50am to 11.50am for our younger children and 12 to 3pm for children mainly in the year before starting reception.
Our aim is to provide a warm, caring and safe environment where learning is FUN for any child and family that wish to join us and all our children have positive outcomes. We suggest you contact and arrange a visit to find out more about us and decide whether we can meet your child’s needs.
Questions you might like to ask:-
“How does the early years setting know if children need extra help and what should I do if I think my child may have special educational needs or disabilities?”
The first thing we would suggest you do is ring or email and make an appointment to come and visit our setting. You may feel you need to discuss your child’s needs briefly before hand but usually we find the best way is to come and see our facilities and talk to us about your child’s specific needs and hopefully we will be able to reassure you that we can meet them or talk about strategies we will need to put in place before your child starts. It may be that your child has already started with us and early observations prompt us to discuss with you the possibilities that they may benefit from some extra support. Our aim will always be to work with our families to obtain the best possible outcomes from their children.
“How will early years setting staff support my child?
When you visit us we will explain that your child will be allocated a ‘keyworker’ for their time with us and they will be overall responsible alongside the Manager and perhaps our SENCO (Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator) for caring and planning for their educational progress. Before starting you will have spent time with your child’s keyworker discussing their specific needs and implementing any plans that may need to be put in place before your child’s start. Many of our staff have training and experience in Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, have been with us for several years and are also mothers and carers themselves. We will do our best to match your child up with the most suitable member of staff. Although each child has a keyworker, our staff look after and care for all of the children so you can be sure there are plenty of knowledgeable, supportive adults around at all times.
All our children are planned for individually by their keyworkers and this is a process you will be invited to share. Depending on your child’s specific needs it may be that we share information from other professionals involved with your child e.g. Occupational/ Physio Therapists/ Speech and Language etc. and involve them in our plans. Again, this will be done with your agreement and involvement.
“How will the curriculum be matched to my child’s needs?”
Before starting we will show and explain to you our individual ‘Learning Journals’ and the statutory two year old progress check we have to undertake if your child is between two and three years of age, the individual plans we will use and how we will track your child’s progress. These procedures give us information and alongside the information we will gain from you we can be sure that we are providing the best possible environment for your child in their time with us and making progress no matter what size the steps are.
“How will both you and I know my child is doing and how will you help me support my child’s learning?”
Your keyworker will arrange regular meetings with you to look through their journals and share their planning. These should be at a mutually satisfactory time for all. You can request a meeting at any time, surplus to these and they can be with the keyworker, Manager or both. Sometimes due to the children’s specific requirements it may be difficult or impossible for us to see or hear certain aspects of your child’s development. This is where your knowledge, direct observation of your child can be invaluable to us and the sharing of information. Due to commitments it may be difficult for you to meet with us during the school day, if this so then discuss with your keyworker and the Manager and we will find a solution to this.
“What support will there be for my child’s overall well being?”
This will depend on your child’s need but examples may include:
If your child has a pre-existing medical condition, we will have an Individual Healthcare Plan for them which we will set up before they start. This will give us detailed information of their needs and working alongside you it will set up how we will care for your child and how and when medicines will be stored or given, who will be giving them and how they have been trained for this if it is required.
Other concerns may be how you feel your child will socialize and connect to other children or adults in the setting. All of our policies are available online at and you may find it helpful to look at these.
Ones of particular interest may be:
Children’s Rights and Entitlements1.1
Safeguarding Children1.2
First Aid3.2
The Role of the Keyperson/Settling In4.1
Staffing5.1
Administering medicine6.1
Managing children who are sick,infectious or with allergies6.2
Recording and reporting of accidents and incidents6.3
Nappy Changing6.4
Achieving Positive Behaviour7.1
Maintaining Children’s Safety and Security on Premises8.3
Fire Safety and Emergency Evacuation8.5
Valuing diversity and promoting equality9.1
Supporting children with Special Educational Needs9.2
Parental Involvement10.3
Working in Partnership with other Agencies10.9
“What specialist services and expertise are available at or accessed by the Early Years Setting?”
Many of our staff are experienced and have accessed training on Promoting Positive Behaviour. All of our staff are trained of a 3 year cycle in Paediatric First Aid. We have a staff member who has done some training in signing and have many posters in this to support us. Some staff have had specific training due to the requirements of past children in care e.g. tube feeding. Our staff are committed to undertake specialist training when needed to support the children we look after. Where this is not possible we work with other agencies that may already be working with your child or will seek out the support needed as identified.
Agencies and services we have worked with in the recent past include: the sensory team, occupational health, physiotherapists, speech and language, outreach workers and F.I.R.S.T. (West Sussex Support Service). F.I.R.S.T stands for F, facilitating, I-Inclusion, R-Reflection, S-Support and T-Training.
“How will my child be included in activities outside the early years setting including trips?”
Our policies state that we will be as inclusive as possible. There is no reason why any child in our setting should not be able to access activities outside of our setting such as trips but we do rely on parental/carer help when we travel as we have a 1 adult-2 children ratio for trips. This would be a 1-1 for a child that may be in wheelchair or need additional support.
Due to parental work commitments we try and have more visitors come to us when possible for example, Zoolab, Hawking About, Sea Life World, other playgroups in the area and our local schools.
When planning trips, or visitors, we would liaise with you as how best to make sure your child is equally included.
“How accessible is the early years setting environment?”
Our building was designed for wheelchair access with double opening doors on both sides. The surfaces on the floor are flat and covered with lino or rugs. Although we have 3 child size toilets we also have an adult sized disabled toilet which offers more space. Outdoors we have different areas, some are soft wet pour, others are grass. We aim to be as accessible as possible but we challenge the children and there is some climbing, balancing equipment that your child may not be able to use but we have a huge range and your child should be able to access these skills at a more appropriate level using different resources.
Indoors is a bright and light with colourful signs around. It can be a bustling noisy environment at times but we aim to provide free flowe play for as much as the session as possible and this greatly reduces noise levels once the children can go outdoors.
Children and parents with English as an Additional Language will have had discussions before their child starts and strategies worked out as to how best meet their needs.
“How will the early years setting prepare and support my child to join, transfer to a new setting/school?”
Once you have visited us if you would like to join we will give you a registration pack to fill in and return. We will then do our best to allocate your child a keyworker before you start and offer you more chances to visit if you wish before the start date. At these visits you can get to know the keyworker and give them more information about your child’s need. The keyworker and child can spend time together which is helpful to all. This is when we will sort out a Healthcare Plan with you if needed and gather information of other agencies involved with your child and gain your permission to work with them.
When your child begins you are welcome to start for as many/few of their sessions as required to settle them.
We have transition plans to support some children when they change settings or are about to move on to school. We will discuss with you a term or two before your child is due to move on the plan. Transition plan involve one or more meetings to include representatives from us, their new settings and yourselves. We will use information, observations on your child to help ensure a smooth transition to the next.
“How are the early year setting’s resources allocated and matched to children’s special educational needs?”
Most of our resources are inclusive for all children. With regards to funding, if after discussions with you, we feel your child may need a higher level of support than can be met by our usual ratios then we can apply to West Sussex County Council for Inclusion Funding to help us meet your child’s needs.
“How is the decision made about what type and how much support my child will receive?”
The discussions with yourselves as parents with the Managers and SENCOs if needed will help to formulate the initial level of support. This will be under constant review and we will be using observations and the child’s individual plans to help us. We may also use outside agencies such as FIRST. You will be regularly consulted and involved in your child’s planning and care.
“How are parents involved in the early years setting? How can I be involved?”
You will be involved by visiting and talking to us. When your child starts you will regularly consulted. You can request a meeting with your keyworker and the Manager at any time and this will be arranged for a mutually satisfactory time.
We welcome any offers of parental help. Once your child is settled you may wish to come out and help occasionally. If you wish to do this more regularly we would carry out a D.B.S check (formally C.R.B) check for you.
We have social committee. Any parent can be a member of this. As a charity they help us organise events during the year to help raise money to support us with resources, trips etc.. They may also help out with trips or come in to assist with special events such as Pirate Day. You can look our Parental Involvement Policy (10.3) online at our website (
“Who can I contact for further information?”
For any further information on us then please contact the Manager, Sue Droy, on either our phone number 01903 771025 or by email or through our website. We currently have two INCO/SENCOs, Rachel Ryan and Deb Savage and you may meet them if you visit us. For more specialist information you can contact the Family Information Service on 01243 777807 or familyinfo.service@ westsussex.gov.uk
[WO1]