Working Together
Partnership With Parents
At Acorns, we recognise that parents are the primary educators of their children and understand their needs best. A strong partnership between parents and preschool is vital for a child’s well-being, development, and progress.
We keep parents informed about activities and events through regular newsletters and displays. Parents are encouraged to talk to staff and their child's key person daily and to inform them of significant learning or events at home. Once children have settled in, we invite parents to come and spend sessions with their children to share the experience and see what they get up to while they are with us.
As a community-based, not-for-profit organisation, parent involvement is also essential to our preschool’s success. Many parents participate in the committee or help out at events, contributing to the vibrant community we strive to create.
Key Person Approach
In Acorns every child has a key person, this team member is there to support their children in settling into Acorns, liaising with families, and ensuring that we offer a smooth transition. Throughout the year the children will build relationships with all members of staff. The key person is there when needed, ensuring their children receive the best care and opportunities to encourage and promote their well-being.
The key person will ensure that any targets that have been set for your child are carried through appropriately, promoting success at all times. They will also monitor targets closely, and liaise regularly with the team and with parents.
Working with Other Agencies and Settings
Keeping good communication with other agencies and settings working with children and families is vital for continuity and to give the best support.
When children start with us we will make contact with previous settings, say hello and find out how to best support children with transitions. Likewise, when children are moving on to other settings or schools we will invite teachers to come and meet the children. With your permission, we will share any relevant documentation with other settings such as summaries of learning and moving on documents.
At Acorns, we have strong links with other agencies in Bath and North East Somerset that offer a range of support and advice for children and families. This includes advice and support for:
Health and wellbeing
Additional needs (SEND)
Family support
Children’s centre support groups
We are able to request services and referrals on behalf of children and families. Please speak to our SENCO Hazel to find out more.
SEN Support and the Graduated Approach to Supporting Your Child
We believe that the more we work together, the better support we can give to your child and your family. Once an additional need has been identified through observation and assessment we work with you to follow a graduated approach to supporting your child.
This could include setting long-term outcomes and strategies for you and the staff team to use and setting short-term targets. This would enable us to set small, achievable outcomes for your child over a six-week period. To monitor the progress your child is making we may put together a non-statutory plan called a ‘MY PLAN’ which helps us all focus on your child’s interests and needs and the best way to support them.
We might request permission for a Local Authority Senco Advisory Teacher to come in and observe your child in the preschool setting. The Area Senco will advise and support us with further strategies, information about reasonable adjustments to our practice, and environment, and help us to identify further staff training and development.
We might request permission to complete an Early Help Assessment together; this enables you to collate all of your child’s history and needs in one place, and to tell your story. This can then be used when liaising with specialists or school staff to ensure that they have all the information to give appropriate support to your child. This could support a request to a specialist, such as an Occupational Therapist, an Educational Psychologist, a Speech and Language Therapist, or a Paediatrician.
We might need to request extra support and inclusion funding from the Local Authority and we will work with you to do this. The Early Help Assessment will be very useful in identifying and giving evidence of your child’s needs. To support an application regular ‘Team around the child’ meetings would be held to ensure that everyone works together to gain the best outcomes for your child. Please be reassured that we will work with you at all times, and no decisions will be made without input from all involved.
Safeguarding Children
We are committed to protecting the children in our care and will always query any significant and unexplained changes in a child’s behaviour or any injuries they arrive with. Normally parents/carers will be our first point of contact in these instances. However, this is a sensitive issue, and as the child’s welfare is paramount, it needs to be appreciated that if staff still have legitimate concerns they are required to report them to the Social Services Referral and Assessment Team. In exceptional circumstances, the Social Services Referral and Assessment team will be our first point of reference. Our full child protection policy is available in the Operational Plan which can be found on our website. Emma is our safeguarding lead, supported by Helen.
All our staff have DBS (disclosure and barring service) checks, and no volunteer or student working in the setting is allowed unsupervised access to the children at any time.
Resources and Links
OFSTED
Acorns underwent an Ofsted Inspection in December 2020 and passed with an “Outstanding” outcome, this is our fourth Outstanding in a row, which we are very proud of.
