Equality of Opportunity

Inclusion Policy

What is inclusion:

All children and adults have the rights and entitlements.

Children and adults should be treated fairly regardless of race, religion or abilities. This applies no matter :

what they think or say; what type of family they come from;

what language(s) they speak; what their parents do;

whether they are girls or boys; whether they have a disability

whether they are rich or poor.

All children, parents/carers have an equal right to be listened to and valued in a setting.

Mission statement:

We provide an environment in which all children, including those with special educational needs, are supported to reach their full potential.

· We have regard for the DfES Special Educational Needs Code of Practice (2001).

· We provide a warm, welcoming and caring environment, providing appropriate learning opportunities for all children, through a broad and balanced curriculum.

· We support parents and children with special educational needs (SEN).

· We strive to provide an inclusive environment.

· We work in partnership with parents and other agencies in meeting individual children's needs.

· We monitor and review our policy, practice and provision and, if necessary, make adjustments.

EYFS key themes and commitments

1.1 Child development 1.2 Inclusive practice 1.4 Health and well-being

2.1 Respecting each other 2.2 Parents as partners 2.3 Supporting learning 2.4 Key person

3.2 Supporting every child 3.3 The learning environment 3.4 The wider context

4.1 Play and exploration 4.2 Active learning 4.3 Creativity and critical thinking

How we do this:

· At Kiln Hill Pre-School we appoint an 'Inclusion Co-ordinator'. Our Inclusion Co-ordinator is Lisa Johnston.

· The role of the Inclusion Co-ordinator has evolved from the role of the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO).

· She is the designated member of staff who will act as a link with parents and outside agencies i.e. Early Years Inclusion Co-ordinator, Health visitors, Portage, Speech and Language Therapy.

· She is responsible for our setting having an Inclusion policy that is reviewed and updated as necessary (at least once a year).

· She will oversee the day-to-day running of the policy, ensuring that all the necessary equipment or measures are taken for all children regardless of their needs to be fully included within the setting.

· She will ensure that all staff are kept up to date on current legislation and will pass on all information and training that is accessed by her.

· She will be in charge of collecting any information, observations and advice from outside professionals regarding all children.

· She will ensure the key worker keeps her up to date with children's progress and is involved with parents in the writing of Inclusion wheels where necessary and reviewing regularly alongside parents and other agencies.

Early Years Inclusion Toolkit:

· At Kiln Hill Pre-School we have a co-ordinated approach to the use of the toolkit, which is implemented by all of the staff team.

The main aim of the Inclusion toolkit is to support practitioners in further developing the progress of observation, assessment and planning for all children's individual needs and in particular those which may provide a barrier to improved outcomes.

The toolkit aims to meet the diverse needs of children by aiding practitioners to:

· Become reflective about their practice and how best to meet the needs of all children.

· work in close partnership with parents and other professionals to help achieve the best outcomes for all.

· Develop a systematic approach to identifying learning, care and development needs and responding quickly by adjusting practice.

(NEYIT Toolkit briefing paper. Liz Hilsdon 2009)

Implementation:

· We ensure that our Inclusive admissions practice ensures equality of access and opportunity.

· Within our setting we ensure that all children's progress is monitored through observation, assessment and planning in line with the EYFS.

· We work closely with parents of children with special educational needs to create and maintain a positive partnership.

· We ensure that parents are informed at all stages of the assessment, planning, provision and review of their children's education.

· We provide parents with information on sources of independent advice and support.

· We welcome other professionals into our setting to work with us and support all children and their families, including transfer arrangements to other settings and schools.

· At Kiln Hill Pre-school we provide a broad, balanced and differentiated curriculum for all children.

· If specialist help, resources or equipment are required to aid the inclusion of a child, a meeting will be arranged prior to the child starting to discuss with parents/carers and relevant professionals what will be required and relevant arrangements where possible are made.

· We use a system for keeping records of the assessment, planning, provision and review for children with special educational needs.

· We ensure the effectiveness of our Inclusive provision by collecting information from a range of sources e.g. inclusion wheel, CAF, staff and management meetings, parental and external agency's views, inspections and complaints. This information is collated, evaluated and reviewed annually.

· We provide a complaints procedure.

· We monitor and review our policy annually or more frequently if training, revisions or government policy requires it.

· Our staff attended CAF training in February 2009

· Our staff attended the revised Inclusion Toolkit Training on 21 October 2010

Useful Pre-school Learning Alliance publications:

Special Educational Needs Code of Practice for Early Education Settings (2004)