We must meet requirements of the Equalities Act 2010. In addition, there are requirements regarding equal opportunities and inclusion in the EYFS:
3.67 of the Statutory Guidance for the Early Years Foundation Stage states,
“Providers must have arrangements in place to support children with SEN or disabilities…providers who are funded by the local authority to deliver early education places must have regard to the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice”.
We value the individuality of all children, and we are committed to giving all of the children in our care every opportunity to achieve. We do this by taking account of the child’s varied life experiences and needs. We offer a broad and balanced mix of activities and learning experiences, we value each and every child’s achievements, attitude and well-being. This policy explains our aim to promote the individuality of all our children, irrespective of ethnicity, attainment, age, disability, gender or background.
We aim to be an inclusive setting and will actively seek to remove the barriers to learning and participation that can hinder or exclude individual children, or groups of children and their families. We make this reality through the attention we pay to the individual, and groups of children and their families:
We recognise that there may be a diversity of special needs including learning, health, behavioural, emotional and physical.
We give all children in our care the opportunity to reach their full potential.
Sometimes this means adapting an activity to the child’s ability and stage of development, providing additional resources, or giving one child more attention and support during a particular activity or routine than others.
We hold a discussion with parents/carers before their child starts at the setting, to establish their child’s specific emotional, medical, cultural or religious needs. We continue to have on-going discussions with the parents/carers of the child and plan how best to meet the needs of the child. We will seek written permission of the parent/carer to seek advice/involve other outside agencies e.g., childcare support worker, health visitor or early years advisor in order that we may provide the best possible support for the child.
All children in our care are given the opportunity to play with all the provided equipment (subject to health and safety). No equipment is just for girls or just for boys. We try to ensure our toys reflect positive images of children and people from different cultures and with different abilities. We have toys and resources that challenge stereotypical ideas on what careers are open to men and women.
No child in my care will be discriminated against in anyway, whether for their skin colour, culture, gender, ability or religion. We will challenge any remarks or behaviour that we feel are inappropriate according to the circumstances.
We encourage the children in our care to learn more about their own culture and to find out about the culture and religions of other children. We do in this in a fun way through sharing books, activities, cooking and eating food from around the world and celebrating special festivals.
We encourage the children to develop a healthy respect of each other’s differences and to value everyone as an individual. We encourage parents/carers to share with us any festivals, special occasions, or artefacts, which may enhance the children’s learning and understanding.
We regularly review our provision to ensure that we continue to provide a high standard to each child.
We have regard to the Department for Education’s Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice: 0 to 25 years (www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-code-of-practice-0-to-25).
We have a appointed Special Educational Needs Coordinating Officer /SENCO and, when appropriate and with your permission, they may be supported in this with advice from the early years support officer.
The role of SENCO involves:
We will ensure parents/carers are closely involved all matters relating to their child and will use their insights to inform action taken. We will ensure we keep parents/carers informed and update them on their child’s development regularly. If you have any concerns, we will be happy to meet and discuss them with you.
