Special educational needs

Lake Street Nursery is committed to helping all children play, learn, develop, and thrive and include all children as fully as they can to enjoy their time at Nursery.

Please talk to us if your child has any particular challenges that are impacting learning or development. This could be a sight, hearing, or physical impairment; or a pattern of thinking and understanding that is different to other children; this could include trouble communicating or mixing with others; or perhaps difficult circumstances affecting their mood or wellness at the moment.

We work in partnership with all our families to provide the best opportunities for each child to learn and try new things in the ways that suit them best, and at a pace that suits them best.

If we notice your child is finding something challenging we will sensitively discuss this with you to assess whether your child could benefit from any additional support and support you and your child if your child may need to be referred for a diagnosis. We have supporting many parents over the years going through this process.

Catherine Morey, Lake Street Manager, is our Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) officer, often referred to as the SENCO. She can meet with you to think together about your child’s unique interests, preferences, strengths, and challenges, and work with you to design just the right support to help your child enjoy nursery to its fullest, and help them reach their learning goals.

We work with a range of other professionals to support children with specific needs including Speech and Language services, the Hearing Support Service, Physical Disabilities Team, Occupational and Physiotherapy Team and Vision Support Teams. We work closely with the Oxfordshire SEND team with professionals who can support your child by giving advice and training at our setting and who can visit you and your child at home if necessary. We have regular parent meetings to ensure that parents are fully involved in their child’s journey. We are able to refer children, make funding applications so your child can receive additional support at the setting and support with applications for Educational and Health Care Plans (EHCP) as well as ensuring these, and any SEND Support Plans for your child, are reviewed regularly.

Find out more about services and activities available in Oxfordshire for children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.