We have been on a journey to tackle a one room setting, to be inclusive for all!
We have lots of little people with big emotions, that's OK as we know these emotions are OK but it's how we learn to deal with them is what makes a huge difference, we follow a control over our emotion process rather punishment, we learn to calm and make choices, we get to the root and work through it together,
with lovely play therapy sessions, wellbeing activities and yoga and breathing,
If it is English as a additional language, we have spent a lot of time on making our setting as communication friendly as we can! Communication lanyards for all children to access, communication boards, choice visual boards, visuals for snack choice, lots of singing, a sense of belonging around the setting, families and celebrations
If it is a speech support, we run speech sessions with group targets, indivual targets and a setting as a whole with lots of singing and stories to develop speech and language further
Offering all children opportunities to explore, discover and take risks in early years provision helps them to become competent, capable and resilient learners. This position also endorses the UNCRC article 28 that every child has a right to an education and article 29 which states that education should develop a child’s personalities, fascinations and abilities to the full.
In order to dispel issues of “ableism” all children need to grow up to recognise that they are not all the same and different tools or strategies might be needed to make sure they thrive.
It is vital that all children are encouraged to notice the many aspects of diversity and difference across society.
A positive approach to inclusion in our setting will support all children’s development and learning across their lifetime and will have an impact on society as a whole.
The statutory SEND Code of Practice explains the action early years providers should take to meet their duties in identifying and supporting all children with special educational needs (SEN) and disabilities, whether or not they have an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan. Identifying and assessing special education needs for young children whose first language is not English requires particular care.
We look carefully at all aspects of a child’s development and learning to establish whether any delay is related to learning English as an additional language or if it arises from SEN or disability.
Difficulties related solely to learning English as an additional language are not SEN.
Developing a sense of belonging is an important part of our inclusive practice. Feeling different or being marginalised can lead to feelings of social isolation. When children and their families are able to develop a sense of belonging to a wider community this can reduce these feelings and provide children with a more secure base from which they can learn, develop and flourish, we do this by working with parents in sending photos to display around the setting, if it's a celebration, a family announcement, a day out, achievement, picture of family,
At Shenley Church end pre school we prize our self's of children's feelings of belonging which are an important part of our inclusive practice.
We actively plan to help children develop positive peer relationships, for example having focused small group times, celebrating difference and diversity in all its guises and creating a culture of “we” rather than “us and them”.
We recently been working hard as a setting on how this looks to our 1 room setting and the children we support, we have spent lots of time making sure our curriculum is assessible to all children and we focus on the individual child and their own learning journey while enabling the environment to meet these needs.
We have started creating our calm zen zone where we can regulate our emotion ls our safe zone, our zone we can learn, relax and do group activities,
We feel having this foundation this will help us reach our goals, this is still a working process and we can't thank enough all the hard work parents, staff, children and the community on helping us reach these goals,
Inclusion is not bringing people into what already exists, it is making a new space, a better space for everyone."
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