Special Educational Needs and/or Disability (SEND)
Unique Child
A part of our philosophy at Montessorians is the understand that every child is unique. They have their own personalities, likes, dislikes and strengths. It is our duty to observe and understand each child, to support their growth and development.
Early years SEND Partnership and SENCO
We constantly observe and assess our children in partnership with our parents. This allows us to follow the child’s development, highlighting areas they may need support in. Each nursery has a SENCO (Special Educational Needs Co-Ordinator) that has received specialist training from the local authority and Montessorians to ensure every child’s individual needs are met.
Should a child require additional support, the child’s key person and the settings SENCO will work together to assess the extent of the additional support required. A meeting with the child’s parents is arranged to discuss their overall development and create an action plan to provide additional support to the child. This action plan will include specific resources, experiences and activities to support the child, based on the child’s abilities and interest.
Support from Professionals
Should further support be required the SENCO in partnership with the parents will liaise with other professionals such as the Early Years SENCO, Early Years Inclusion Officers, Speech and Language Therapists and Health Visitors. These specialists will make their own assessments and add to/create a specialised action plan.
The SENCO, key person, professional and parent will work collaboratively to ensure that these targets and strategies are met. Meetings are arranged at regular intervals to assess how the action plan is helping to meet the child’s needs and track their development across the seven areas of learning.