Keyperson
What Ofsted say about us…
“Children demonstrate significantly enhanced emotional attachments with their key persons. Staff provide the important resources of time, positive interaction and real warmth for all children in their care. Consequently, children settle in quickly, manage their own behaviour exceptionally well and develop strong friendships with others around them.”
In conjunction with statutory requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage (2021) we practice a statutory keyperson system for each child.
Here at Caterpillars a ‘close family approach’ is very much at the heart of our staff. We operate from a beautiful two story converted barn, and our dedicated team of staff provide equal care, attention and established relationships with all of our children. As such, nurturing, meaningful and established bonds are formed within our close knit ‘Caterpillars family’. This in turn has a positive impact on both our children and staff as trusting relationships are formed and make our children feel safe, secure and valued. Most importantly, every staff member knows every child equally and in turn, children are able to build trusting and secure bonds with all of our staff. The role of the keyperson beyond building trustful, meaningful and empathetic relationships is to develop equally trusting and sensitive relationships with parents and carers so that together as educators we can help children achieve to their full potential. If any concerns or issues arise about a child’s development, we are here to support you and your child and if necessary, involve the help of external agencies such as speech therapists, child physiotherapists, health visitors and so forth to offer additional support.
Early Identification of Special Educational Needs & Disabilities
What Ofsted say about us…
“Partnerships with other providers and professionals are dynamic. There is a strong emphasis on working closely with the on-site and other local schools’ Reception class teachers. This helps to make sure there are high levels of consistency and continuity in children’s care and learning. Consequently, their readiness for school is exceptionally well supported”.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-code-of-practice-0-to-25
Here at Caterpillars we ensure our Special Education needs and Disabilities (SEND) policy is up to date. We have a designated lead SENco and a SENco. Angela Wright (Manager and Teacher) is a qualified SENco (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Co-ordinator) and will be on hand to offer advice and support to families, children and staff. In addition, the SENco will liaise with external professionals (with parent/carer consent) to seek advice and support in helping to address and identify individual needs. Meetings and visits from such professionals will be arranged in a collaborative manner which will enable us to support ‘next stage strategies and support’.
Statutory Check at Age 2
We carry out statutory ‘two year old’ checks in collaboration with the parents/carers and their health visitor to highlight any developmental concerns and issues. We work closely to implement any strategies and support that may be needed in order to support our children to make progress and narrow any developmental gaps that have been highlighted. We monitor this closely to ensure our children reach their full potential.