SEND Policy

Statement

Birmingham Day Nurseries are committed to the inclusion of all children. All children have the right to be cared for and educated to develop to their full potential through positive experiences that enable them to share opportunities, develop and learn from each other. We provide a positive and welcoming environment where children are supported according to their individual needs. We take great care to treat each individual as a person in their own right with equal rights and responsibilities, whether they are an adult or a child. The nurseries are committed to providing equality of opportunity and anti-discriminatory practice for all children and families according to their individual needs.

The nurseries are committed to working alongside parents to meet children’s individual needs, so that they are able to thrive in later education and achieve their full potential. Our settings seek to remove barriers that prevent children from participating and learning, making reasonable adjustments to enable every child to access the nurseries facilities fully. 

Admission and Induction arrangements

Our admission policy is that all children are welcome and we will do what we can to make our nurseries accessible to all. As a group of settings, we will endeavour to meet the individual needs of all children and their families. We will seek to make reasonable adjustments, where appropriate to ensure that all families are made to feel welcome and included.  Where our buildings, space or staffing do not meet the needs of a child, we will be open and honest with parents, and where reasonable adjustments are not possible, we will work with parents to guide them in getting the support that they need to find an alternative provision that meets their needs.

Admission arrangements will be discussed with each individual family when completing paperwork prior to entry, and then an individual induction meeting with all parents of new starters is arranged; one on the first visit with the senior practitioner / key person in the room, and then on a subsequent visit on with a member of the management team. This allows the opportunity for detailed information to be shared by the parents about their child’s individual needs. Confidentiality is respected and information shared is used to best support a child’s special educational needs (SEN) and/or Disability.

All children will be given a full settling in period when joining one of the nurseries according to their individual needs. Induction and settling in arrangements are flexible to meet the child/family’s needs, and to ensure that the settings; both the environment, and the practitioners in terms of training, are fully prepared to safely and successfully include the child.

We feel it is paramount to find out as much as possible about a particular child’s condition and the way that may affect his/her early learning or care needs by:

• Liaising with the child’s parents
• Liaising with a previous childcare provider
• Liaising with any professional agencies involved
• Reading any reports that have been prepared

There may be an early learning or care need that is identified once a child is already in attendance of the setting.

Once a child attends one of our settings we continue to be committed:

• Regularly monitoring and reviewing all children’s development as individuals through the EYFS by completing a baseline assessment, tracker documents, transfer documents and two year old development check meetings
• Regularly monitoring and reviewing any specific targets that have been set on either a Record of Increased Differentiation (RID) or SEN Support Plan in accordance with a child’s parents, key person and other professionals
• Attending/ hosting any review meetings with the local authority/professionals
• Completing any relevant referral documentation for the involvement of other professionals in consultation with a child’s parents and key person 

Currently the majority of the information provided by our settings are written in English. If any families require information to be printed in an additional language, we will endeavour to provide this as soon as possible.

Aims

We will: 

• Ensure that our practitioners have the knowledge and skills to be able to identify emerging needs, or when a child may benefit from some additional support. 
• Recognise each child’s individual needs and ensure all practitioners are aware of, and have regard for, the *Special Educational Needs Code of Practice 2014 on identification and assessment 
• Include all children and their families in our provision. Ensuring all staff fulfil their duty to not treat disabled children ‘less favourably’ and to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ in line with the Equality Act 2010
• Provide well-informed and suitably trained practitioners to help support parents and children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities
• We will take steps to ensure that children with medical conditions get the support required to meet their needs (as set out in the EYFS Framework, 2025) 
• Develop and maintain a core team of practitioners who are experienced in the care of children with additional needs with designated Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Co-Ordinator (SENDCO) who are experienced in the care and assessment of children with additional needs. These designated practitioners will be provided with specific training relating to Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) and the SEND Code of Practice in order to support the wider team
• Identify the specific needs of children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and meet those needs through a range of strategies
• Ensure that children who learn quicker, e.g. gifted and talented children are also supported 
• Work in partnership with parents and other agencies to meet individual children's needs, including the health and education authorities, and seek advice, support and training where required
• Monitor and review our practice and provision and, if necessary, make adjustments, and seek specialist equipment and services if needed
• Ensure that all children are treated as equals and are encouraged to take part in every aspect of the nursery day according to their individual needs and abilities 
• Promote positive images and role models during play experiences of those with additional needs wherever possible
• Celebrate diversity in all aspects of play and learning
• Practitioners will look carefully at all aspects of a child’s learning and an additional language or if it arises from SEND. Difficulties relating solely to learning English as an additional language (EAL) are not necessarily SEND related. The settling in process, paperwork and parent partnership will help key persons and setting SENDCOs to establish whether any delay is related to EAL alone.

The Early Years SENDCO for The Elms, Oaks and Maples is Kelly Bailey.

Our SENDCO works closely with all practitioners to make sure there are systems in place to plan, implement, monitor, review and evaluate the special educational needs policy of the nursery, always making sure plans and records are shared with parents. They have regular meetings to ensure that there is an opportunity for any new concerns regarding a child’s development to be raised, and strategies put into place to meet any identified needs. SEND meetings also provide the opportunity to allow the monitoring of development needs that have previously been identified.

Concerns may be raised by a child’s key person, practitioners or the child’s parents. A designated person’s poster is displayed within the entrance areas for The Oaks and The Maples and at the top of the staircase at The Elms. These posters identify who the settings SENDCO is so that parents are able to recognise who to approach with a query. Alternatively, all practitioners are aware of their designated person and are able to consult with or arrange a meeting with the SENDCO on a parent’s behalf. 

Each setting also has support from the Area SENDCO Team and has an area named SENDCO as their main point of contact. They are able to provide support and guidance to the nurseries through varying methods of consultation to ensure that individual children’s needs are met. The Area SENDCO teams provide information about any relevant external support that can be sought, as well as any training requirements for the setting SENDCO or wider team to meet an individual child’s needs and share with parents.

At Birmingham Day Nurseries, we are dedicated to the principles of Co-Production as set out in the 'Birmingham Send Co-Production Framework and Charter', embracing a collaborative approach where children, families, and professionals work together as equal partners. This commitment ensures that the voices of those with lived experiences are heard and valued, contributing to the development of the commissioning, design, delivery and evaluation of SEND policies and practices. We believe that through Co-Production, we can create more responsive and effective services that truly meet the needs of every child.

Special Educational Needs Code of Practice

It is the duty of the nursery to carry out our statutory duties to identify and support children with SEND and to promote equality of opportunity for children in our care. The Code of Practice states that in addition to the formal checks, early years practitioners working with children should monitor and review the progress and development of all children throughout the early years. Practitioners should use their knowledge of children development and of individual children to identify whether a child is developing as expected. Additional assessment tools are available to use if deemed appropriate.

Where we have concerns about a child’s development, we will implement the Graduated Approach.

Graduated Approach

A graduated approach is to ensure that staff respond to the needs, behaviours, and development of children in a consistent, supportive, and developmentally appropriate way. This approach emphasises early identification, timely intervention, and escalating support only when required, and is based on the following principles:

• Child-centred practice: Decisions are guided by the child’s best interests and developmental stage.
• Early intervention: Support is offered as soon as concerns arise to prevent escalation. 
• Proportionate response: Actions increase gradually and only when earlier steps have not been effective.
• Collaboration: Staff work closely with parents, carers, and relevant professionals.
• Consistency: All staff follow the same staged process to ensure fairness and clarity.
• Documentation: Observations, actions, and outcomes are recorded to support continuity and accountability.

Stages  

1. Observation and Initial Identification Staff observe children’s learning, behaviour, and wellbeing as part of everyday practice. Any emerging concerns are noted, discussed with the SENDCO, and shared sensitively with parents or carers.
2. Early, Informal Support Staff provide low-level, nurturing interventions such as:
   • Adjusting routines or the environment
   • Offering additional reassurance or modelling
   • Using positive reinforcement and clear expectations
   • Providing targeted play opportunities
   This stage aims to support the child within their familiar environment.
3. Targeted Support If concerns persist, staff implement more structured strategies, which may include:
   • Individual SEN support plans
   • Record of Increased Differentiation Plan
   • Small-group interventions
   • Regular meetings with parents or carers
   Progress is monitored and reviewed termly.
4. Specialist or Formal Intervention Where earlier steps have not led to improvement, the setting may involve external professionals such as:
   • Health visitors
   • Speech and language therapists
   • Educational psychologists
   • Early Help or other support services
   Formal plans may be developed in partnership with families and professionals.

Outcome

The graduated approach ensures that children and families receive timely, appropriate, and compassionate support. It enables staff to respond effectively to individual needs while maintaining a consistent, high-quality standard of care and education across the setting.

The graduated approach will be led and coordinated by the setting SENDCO working with a child’s key person informed research, SEND and Early Support resources, and advice and guidance from other relevant professionals.

Where a child has an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan, the local authority must review that plan a minimum of every six months. As part of this review, LA’s can request us to convene and hold the review on its behalf. Key members of the Nursery team will contribute the reviews accordingly.

Gifted and Talented

Every practitioner has a responsibility to be alert to the unique strengths, interests and capacities of children in their care, predominantly those in their key groups. Their role is then to address barriers to development, provide access to an environment that will engage the children, and provide opportunities to extend their learning. In the early years, gifts and talents are more likely to be revealed when practitioners and parents work in close partnership, sharing observations and information about the children at home and at their setting. Practitioners will communicate on a daily basis about all children’s achievements and experiences and seek to gain information from their home life by encouraging contributions to online Learning Journeys and building good parent partnerships.

All children are entitled to provision that reflects their unique characteristics, fascinations and enthusiasms. It is important to identify all children’s strengths and interests at every stage in their development to ensure that this entitlement is met. Where key person ‘planning’ is not meeting the development needs of a child, a RID will be introduced alongside this to record the additional support and intervention.

Transition

Where a child’s needs have been identified there will be a detailed plan in preparation for their transition to school which will involve close participation with the child’s key person, parents, school and for some children, any professionals involved.

The transition of children with SEND is enhanced and coordinated by the SENDCO, and includes the sharing and passing on of records with parental consent.  

The University has three nurseries: The Maples and The Elms in Edgbaston, and The Oaks in Selly Oak, for ages 6 weeks to 4 years. They're open to all, whether you have a connection to the University or not. Contact us today to ask about availability.