8.2 Admissions of a Child with Additional Needs or Disability |
SCOPE OF THIS CHAPTER
This Chapter relates to the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act for all providers to make 'reasonable adjustments' for children with disabilities.
RELEVANT CHAPTERS
Policy
All providers are required to make 'reasonable adjustments' for children with disabilities under The DDA. This should be anticipatory - we must think ahead to consider what we can do before any problems arise.
This would ideally have been tackled through the admissions, settling in and inclusion policy provision. Key points for Neighbourhood Nurseries are that we will:
- Operate a settling in period to encourage the child to feel happy and settled over a period of time and to feel a sense of belonging within the setting.
- Work alongside parents / carers within the setting to help us to make an assessment of their child's specific needs whilst at nursery with an aim to support and develop them to their full potential.
Every child would be encouraged to make a series of visits where individual needs are discussed an addressed appropriately with parent / carer and / or other appropriate people. The child would then need to appear settled at nursery before any periods of attendance would take place without a carer present.
Part of the proposed support could be to have a 1-1 worker at all times whilst at nursery should this be necessary. This should in effect ensure continuity of care and provision.
Other support required may well include specialist equipment or resources to support the child or staff within the setting.
Without this support we may feel that we would not be able to meet the needs of the child sufficiently or effectively. Funding will be required in order for us to provide this. Without funding we may not be able to offer reasonable adjustments for some children.
Some solutions may include support from Sure Start and / or Social services on different levels who may have referred or are willing to support with the cost of the childcare place.
There may also be opportunities to access / loan equipment via toy / equipment library or to link with external- agencies and support groups. We would also encourage / welcome families to bring in any equipment they may use at home to support us in nursery.
All parties involved with supporting the child and family should be working together effectively. School, Sure Start, Social Services, Health and Nursery etc.
There can be inconsistency between children attending education sessions and day care facilities. A child with a statement attending school may access a 1-1 worker or equipment funded. This however, would not be the case for day care providers.
Providers who can claim nursery education for a child with special needs are automatically able to access the full grant entitlement even if the child attends only part of their entitlement. This may help support costs.
It is also important factor to support our staff, children and parents through this process. More specialist advice, information and support would be necessary to support the Nursery staff with some situations.
This could undoubtedly raise questions on a business basis around health and safety of staff, children and parents to the nursery. Some day care providers may not feel it to be a reasonable adjustment for a small business due to associated costs.
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