Care Plan/play Plan-sen

[Guest]

Hi all,

 

I had a child start nursery this week with severe SEN. We have just received a pile of reports, but no advice/help/guidance. I have never had a child with such global delay in all areas, hence feel a little unsettled - He can't speak, vocalises through noises/screams, can't walk - is crawling, still in nappies and he explores everything through his mouth, then throws objects across the room. He is spoon fed blended food and needs support to drink. He has been encouraged by the EY's SEN team to attend mainstream, which I personally find hard to believe with the developmental stage he is at.

 

He has been allocated 1.5 hours of funding per session, desperate him needing 100% 1:1 support to move around safely and to keep the other 38 children in the setting safe. I have spoke to the powers that be after feeling appalleded by the fact my provision can not meet this child's needs, who said its the settings responsibility to provide care plans, play plans and risk assessments for the child and the people who work with him and to contact the relevant professionals myself.

 

Would anyone be kind enough to share any of these documents (play plans, care plans and individual risk assessments) to give me a starting point. I feel totally useless and that I am failing this poor child and the other children in the setting.

 

many thanks....a very distressed nursery teacher.

[finleysmaid]

OMG are you really telling me you are in a mainstream school and have not had any support for this child? what is your headteacher doing about the funding (the first 15 hours should be covered by the school but a child with these needs should have full funding...maybe i have got the wrong end of the stick how old is this child and what professionals have you got on board already...what do the parents say and have you had a team around the child meeting yet???

[Guest]

He started a maintained nursery class on Monday and is 3. hence haven't had much chance to go anything yet. He has been through the funding stream and the authority have only allocated him 1.5 hours per day and say we will have to manage. The early years team, occupational, physio etc are all involved this child, but non of which have given any support or been in touch - they haven't even visited our setting to see if it is apropriate for this child. Knowing he was starting, I wanted a TAC meeting with the professionals prior to him starting, but tried to arrange with the EY's SEN team, we told under the race and discrimination act we have to have him in now and could not wait until a meeting had be arranged - can establish thing!!!

[SazzJ]

He started a maintained nursery class on Monday and is 3. hence haven't had much chance to go anything yet. He has been through the funding stream and the authority have only allocated him 1.5 hours per day and say we will have to manage. The early years team, occupational, physio etc are all involved this child, but non of which have given any support or been in touch - they haven't even visited our setting to see if it is apropriate for this child. Knowing he was starting, I wanted a TAC meeting with the professionals prior to him starting, but tried to arrange with the EY's SEN team, we told under the race and discrimination act we have to have him in now and could not wait until a meeting had be arranged - can establish thing!!!

 

You need to push for a review meeting hun. Get all the professionals together, including yourself and parents and agree strategies together. Push until you get one and don't back down.

 

Don't have individual risk assessment however do have a play plan which I can upload when I return home as need to go to work now.

[Rea]

I'd start with your risk assessment. One for when his support is there and one without the support. You can then show everyone involved what risks the school can address and what risks need outside help.

I understand the point of inclusion, but I dont see how it can fit all children. The able bodied lose out and so does the child with the disability.

I think your EY SEN team are passing the buck by insisting he start with you now and citing Race and discrimination laws. You're not saying you wont have him, just that you and the child need to be properly supported.

[Guest]

Much appreciated. Many thanks. Not done these thing before, so just need to know what it looks like and what to include.

[Guest]

Hi Erica g

 

We had a similar situation in our nursery last January..... a child came to us that we knew had extra needs but Mum had advised us that the area senco was involved via his previous setting.

 

However the senco was useless not to put too fine a point on things and denied she knew about him and that she should have been in touch with us or started the ball rolling re help for this child............

 

VERY long story short we had this child for a whole term without any support.

It really had a knock on effect with the nursery as he needed 1:1 and in the maintained setting there were only two of us.

So he had one person and the other 23 children got one person.

 

We asked and asked for help but no one helped us at all and we were told at one point there was no money left in the Spring term for support for him.

 

I actually wrote to the Head person at county re my worries about this childs safety and that of the other children as I wanted it in writing that we were very concerened about the situation we found ourselves in.

Our Head felt we COULD NOT say we wouldn't have him and to be honest we were at our wits end.

 

In the summer term we got funding for support 1:1 3 mornings a week and he got a specialist placement for assessment 2 mornings a week.

 

It was a truly awful time that wore us into the ground.

 

In the autumn term this child began a split placement 2 mornings with us and 3 at a nursery plus.

This has continued and the child would be due to move to school in september.

 

I believe in inclusion but this child is getting nothing from our setting. He does not engage with us, the children , the resources.............. but at least he is only with us 2 days week.

Many professionals have said that main stream is not a suitable envornment but Mum will not listen.

 

So following on from this long windy story (sorry!) I wuld say keep on hounding folks for help.

Put your worries/ fears in writing so your back is covered, because rest assured if something does happen no one will admit that you asked them or told them you needed more help!!!!!!!!!!

 

Good luck x

[finleysmaid]

personally (in my lea of course rules may be different) i would raise a caf to identify needs and if needs not being met go to the early years intervention panel and raise your concerns there. Not fair on anyone especially the child

[Gezabel]

I can empathise. Last September we agreed to take a child who was unable to walk believing that the only 'issue' was a physical disability. Nothing could have been further from the truth. The child was 2yrs 9mths when she arrived with us and could do nothing. Able to sit unaided when 'put' somewhere but no mobility, no language whatsoever. I felt totally and utterly out of my depth, six months on the progress made makes me want to weep with joy. The child now crawls, can move from a sitting postiion and crawl to wherever she wants to go. THe child's medical details slowly came to light and are many and complex and we now have a huge team of professionals supporting this child.

It has been a HUGE learning curve for all staff and children at our setting. The other children simply adore the child and sometimes our only problem is the amount of 'mothering' some of the older ones want to do.

The child is included fully into all we do and mrs OFSTED made very positive comments in this regard. I spent three months or more feeling it was the wrong place for the child, we couldn't provide what they needed etc and had an overwhelming sense of having failed the child.

As for an IEP we were recommended to use 'Early Years Support' instead for this child as development in all areas is so delayed.

As for 1;1 support yes we do have it full time but only because the manager is in a position to employ someone. Funding from the SEN 'funding pot' is very very difficult if not impossible for children under three in my area but the child has just turned three so we are applying and hopefully will be successful, we have huge documentary support from paediatricians, health visitors, speech therapist, physio, occupational therapist and the list goes on!

 

One of the first things we did was a specific risk assessment and this has just been updated as she has been given specialist equipment to aid mobility, Our risk assessment is laminated and on the wall with areas of risk, potential risk, strategies in place to reduce risk, and the risk is rated from 1-5 according the 'level' of risk.

 

Please believe me you are not failing this child and I totally understand how your feel. It is only very recently that I have realised whilst I have an innate desire to 'do more' 'do better' for this child and feel unqualified/inexperienced to deal with such complex needs, what we are actually doing is having a very positive impact on her overall development. It took me attending a few TAC meetings and hearing other professionals comment on progress since she has been with us, to read reports saying the same thing and the proof is there. I still have days when I think I have failed the child but she is happy, smiling and in a warm, caring environment where she gets to explore and investigate using all her senses. The development is slow but the excitement when she managed to hold her cup, crawled unaided, laughed, clapped her hands is indescribable. She is very much a valued member of our preschool community but I admit that seemed an impossibility in the early days.

sorry if this is waffling on!!

[Cait]

I have an allergy care plan - is this any use as a starting point for you?

allergy_intolerance_care_plan_for_forum.doc

[Guest]

Just to say a massive thank-you for all your responses. Its much appreciated. I do feel totally unprepared for this child and at the moment not very positive about the situation. Hopefully I can get the ball rolling asap and give this child the support he needs and deserves. Thanks again xx

[Guest]

I work at an SEN school and I got a new child from mainstream last year. His mainstream school had no funding for 1:1. Due to his behaviour, they insisted that he could only attend if a family member was with him at all times. This responsibility fell on grandma because mum was at work and she used to run round after him with his baby brother in a sling on her back. The family very quickly decided that maybe mainstream wasn't the right place for him after all and started the process that ended in him coming to us.

Now I'm not saying I necessarily agree with this tactic and I'm not sure what the legal stance is on making this kind of stipulation... all I'm saying is it worked!

 

Also this boy is now a model pupil and is almost unrecognisable from the child I went to observe in his mainstream setting. His only verbal communication was to repeat single words. He had no understanding of questions, refused to sit down at all and would be violent towards others... You can now have quite complex conversations with him, he can concentrate for long periods, wouldn't dream of not doing as he is told or of hurting anyone and is an absolute pleasure to be around. All this in under a year of being in the appropriate setting.

 

It's often very hard for parents to accept that their child may not be 'normal' and they have to go through a grieving process for the child they thought they were going to have but they do come round eventually. I know this doesn't help you with your situation at the moment but I just thought I'd share. Maybe if they visited your local SEN school they might be able to see how children similar to theirs are progressing and this might help them to make the right decision...