Inclusion and Equality

Inclusion- Supporting all children

St Giles Nursery always values to the wonder and uniqueness of the child and their family.

The nursery takes great care to treat each individual as a person in their own right, with equal rights and responsibilities to any other individual, whether they are an adult or a child. Discrimination on the grounds of gender, age, race, religion or belief, marriage or civil partnership, disability, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, pregnancy or maternity, ethnic or national origin, or political belief has no place within this nursery.

Every child matters and to that end we need to recognise the social, economic, cultural diversity of our society and to ensure that no-one feels excluded when they attend the nursery on whatever grounds. Consequently, we must strive to:

• Treat each child as an individual and respect their religions and cultures.
• Offer all activities and toys to all children regardless of gender and developmental needs.
• Encourage positive role models, displayed through toys, imaginary play, books and posters that promote non- stereotyped images. All children will be encouraged to join in all activities i.e. dressing up, role play corner, dolls, climbing on large equipment, bikes etc.
• Celebrate festivals throughout the nursery, ensuring that we include those events that are relevant to the children attending the nursery.
• Welcome any parent/carer who would like to be involved with widening our education about their cultural or religious beliefs.
• Provide assistance as requested by our parents/carers that use English as an additional language. We work alongside an organisation called EMTET who help us to support these parents and carers, as well as our staff. 

We also recognise that as we are all unique, we all have strengths and weaknesses, capabilities and difficulties which we can improve and/or overcome with the support of trusted and knowledgeable family and professionals.

When young children’s learning and development is not making progress, it is crucial that early identification of the difficulties and needs of the child are identified so that families and professionals can provide support to ensure the child is included and that they continue to reach their potential. Within the Early Years Foundation Stage framework, Early Years Practitioners must plan for each child’s care and learning requirements, with a focus on removing or helping to counter underachievement and overcoming barriers for children where these exist.

The majority of children with additional or special educational needs will not require special resources or enhanced staffing to be successfully included in settings; indeed most settings meet the additional needs of their children very well. However some children with complex needs may benefit from an enhanced staffing ratio for a time limited period or from the provision of additional resources or equipment.

Children have special educational needs if they have a learning difficulty, which calls for special educational provision to be made for them. Children have a learning difficulty if they:

• Have a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children of the same age,
• Have a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of educational facilities of a kind generally provided for children of the same age in schools within the area of the local education authority

Not all pupils with difficulties or disabilities have Special Educational Needs. Many learn alongside their peers with little need for additional resourcing beyond the aids they need as part of their daily life, such as a wheelchair or a hearing aid. It is also true that a child for whom English is an additional language does not on that basis have special educational needs. All children regardless of their strengths and weaknesses are valued members of our nursery. They should feel secure and supported, have opportunities to experience success and know that expectations of them are high. All children are entitled to a broad and balanced curriculum which stimulates their interest in a wide range of cultural, aesthetic, physical and environmental learning.

Effective early intervention with the greatest degree of co-production between children, parents, St Giles Nursery,  school, the Local Authority and other agencies will enable the child’s needs to be met with success and supports the child to make individualised progress. We share a whole nursery responsibility to ensure all children are given the opportunity to achieve their full potential.

The Inclusion Lead within the nursery is: Emma Bostock

The nursery has a named and trained Inclusion Leader in response to the requirement of the SEN&D Code of Practice (2014). The SENDCo will provide a specialist overview of processes and support alongside other team members who understand the uniqueness of their key children. We recognise the Special Educational Needs (SEND) Code of Practice: for 0 to 25 years (2014) in response to the Children and Families Act (2014) and the emerging implications of the local offer.