Inclusion

Hertfordshire's Outcome Bees framework aims to ensure a shared vision for all children and young people and their parent/carers.

Inclusive Practice & Individualised Support

At Apple Daycare, inclusion is at the heart of everything we do. We are committed to ensuring that every child feels valued, supported and able to thrive, regardless of their individual needs or starting point. Guided by the principles of the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Code of Practice (0–25 years) (2015) and Hertfordshire’s “Ordinarily Available Provision”(2025), we provide a nurturing environment where high-quality, inclusive teaching is the foundation for all children’s learning.

We believe that good teaching for children with SEND is simply good teaching for every child. Our approach focuses on adapting experiences, environments and teaching strategies to meet individual needs, while maintaining high expectations for all. This includes a specialised curriculum that is inclusive for all, the learning environment and daily routines, ensuring that every child can access, engage in and enjoy their learning.

Our provision follows Hertfordshire’s “graduated approach,” which ensures that children receive the right level of support at the right time. This begins with high-quality universal provision for all children, starting with a baseline assessment at 4 weeks, which can lead to early identifications for emerging needs. This then leads to the necessary targeted or specialist support. Each child is recognised as a unique learner, and we take time to understand their strengths, interests and areas where they may need additional support.

We work in close partnership with parents and carers, recognising that they know their children best. Open communication and collaboration are central to our approach, and we actively involve families in decision-making and in supporting learning at home. Where appropriate, we also work with external professionals, including the local authority inclusion specialists, health and education specialists, to provide additional expertise and guidance. For some children, more specialised support may be required through an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP). In these cases, we work closely with the local authority and other professionals to ensure that every child receives the coordinated support they need to achieve the best possible outcomes for the next stage of life.

We are also committed to meeting our responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010 by making reasonable adjustments and planning ahead to ensure our setting is accessible and inclusive for all. This includes adapting our environment, resources and teaching approaches so that no child is at a disadvantage.

At Apple Daycare, we celebrate individuality and believe that every child deserves the opportunity to succeed. By creating an inclusive, supportive and responsive environment, we ensure that all children—regardless of need or disability —can develop confidence, independence and a lifelong love of learning, readying them for their next chapter of life.

Our Graduated Approach to Support

As a child enters our setting, we do a baseline assessment at 4 weeks, from this we can see if there are any developmental gaps or areas that need support. The child's key worker will then flag the gap to the setting SENCO, who will then start the Graduated Approach. You will receive an email to explain the Graduated Approach in more detail, ask you some questions, and request a meeting to be booked.

We use a clear cycle of Assess, Plan, Do, Review to support children with SEND:

Assess – Our key workers, alongside our SENCO and in partnership with parents, carefully observe and assess each child’s development to identify any additional needs. We have a range to tools to do this:

The Early Years Development Journal (EYDJ)

The EYDJ is a broad assessment that can help us understand which area/s may be weakest and strongest. The assessment uses age ranges as a clear guideline for expectation.

Every Child A Talker (ECAT)

The ECAT tool will be used after the EYDJ if there is a specific weakness in speech or social communication, as it further breaks these areas of development down.

Once the EYDJ and ECAT have been completed, your SENCO will start an Emerging Needs Consult report.

The report will then be completed at the meeting with parent, SENCO, and key worker to get the most well-rounded aspirations and wishes set to support the child. We work closely with families to agree clear outcomes, tailored support strategies and next steps, always considering the child’s voice.

Plan – Using the Emerging Needs report, the Setting SENCO will then create a learning plan, which will be sent to you for comments, tweaks, and sign off.

The Learning Plan is the termly aspirations, wishes and wants of the child, parents, and SENCO. We then break these larger goals into more manageable and achievable weekly outcomes with clear strategies listed and display these via a planning sheet on the EY app.

This allows all staff to be engaged in these activities, making the practice inclusive and effective.

Each week, whoever has supported the strategies is responsible for evaluating them with the Key Worker and Setting SENCO overseeing this.

Do – Daily support is delivered by our experienced practitioners, with guidance from our SENCO to ensure the above strategies are implemented effectively.

Review – Progress is reviewed with parents at the end of each term to evaluate the impact of support and make any necessary adjustments. This ongoing cycle allows us to respond quickly and effectively, ensuring that support remains relevant and impactful.

We follow Hertfordshire's guidance on how to support Emerging Needs, if you would like more information about Hertfordshire Ordinarily Available Provision, please read the below document...

Hertfordshire's Local Offer has fantastic resources for parents and professionals, and we will often signpost you here for training or support. If you would like to know more about Hertfordshire's Local Offer, please click the link below to jump onto their website...

Hertfordshire Local Offer