Contact us below

Farmyard Friends Day Nursery

Local Offer

Managing Director:Caroline Basham

Setting Manager: Kristina Bamford

Setting SENCO: Kristina Bamford & Sarah Fells

Address: Hilltop Farm, Main Road, Mappleton, HU181XR

Telephone Number: 01964 534333

All our settings policies and procedures can be found in the parent’s policy file available in the nursery reception areas. Should parents or carers have a compliment, concern or complaint about Farmyard Friends please contact Mrs Kristina Bamford, Nursery Manager on 01964 534333 or via email at farmyardfriends@aol.com

Farmyard Friends offers a safe, secure and stimulating childcare environment to support all children in reaching their full potential. Our dedicated team of friendly professionals provide a fantastic range of activities which are differentiated to suit the needs and abilities of all children. Our fantastic facilities enable us to accommodate 18 babies, 24 toddlers and 24 pre-school at any one time.

Our setting is able to identify children with SEND through our robust keyworker system. Our highly qualified practitioners continuously carry out thorough observations, evaluations and assessments on each child. The quality of teaching learning and assessment at Farmyard Friends is outstanding, we use our termly update forms to ensure the activities we plan are based on individual children’s current interests and are supporting the child’s learning and development. Keyworkers plan accurate next steps to support each child’s individual learning journey.

If a practitioner identifies a child that requires additional support and/or adaptations they will work closely with the SENCO and family to create a support plan. The plan will include SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, timed) targets and will be reviewed often and adapted where necessary. We take pride in our very successful shared approach to children’s care and learning and ensure that families are kept very much informed and involved. Our most recent Ofsted report concludes ‘Children who have Special Educational Needs or disability make exceptional progress. Staff work closely with parents and professionals to ensure that their needs are quickly identified and met.’

If you think or already know your child has SEN, our setting SENCO is a useful person to talk to, it is a good idea to also speak to your child’s key worker as well as the SENCO about your child’s needs. We aim to respond quickly to emerging difficulties, by putting relevant support strategies in place.

All activities at Farmyard Friends are differentiated to suit the abilities of all children ensuring participation for all. We work closely in partnership with external agencies and professionals including Speech and Language Therapists, Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists, Health Visitors, Early Years Development Advisor, Educational Psychologist, Macmillan Nurse, Inclusion Coordinator and the EHC Plan Coordinators, we use their expertise to implement the best possible support and care for your child.

All practitioners at Farmyard Friends continuously update their professional development through a range of training methods and courses.Our regular supervisions and staff meetings are used as a tool to ensure all staff are aware of a child’s SEND. Our SENCO ensures that all practitioners understand their responsibilities to children with SEN and our settings approach to identifying and meeting SEN. Ofsted identified our practitioners as being ‘very skilled in planning for individual children.’

If a Keyworker identified a concern through the observation, assessment and planning cycle they would discuss the concern with parents/carers and SENCO and work together to develop an intervention to support the child’s progress. If the settings support and interventions has little impact on the child’s progress then, with parental consent, we would consider involving the appropriate specialists. If after trying the above, the child has not made expected progress we may consider a formal assessment of their needs in the form of an assessment for an EHC plan. We have a full understanding of this process.

Farmyard Friends has close links with the many local primary schools that we feed into. We invite all reception teachers in to our setting to meet children and discuss their learning and development. Our local primary schools usually invite children in several times throughout the summer term to help them with their transition to school. Our pre-school coordinator completes transition packs for each child leaving for school which contains information on learning, development and progress along with current information on the child’s interests. Children with SEND may have further visits from their teacher to help form relationships. We also carry out transition meetings with the child’s keyworker, SENCO, the school, parents and invite any other relevant professionals currently involved with the child. We find this useful for sharing all information about an individual child on the SEND register. It also ensures a smooth transition for both the child and their parents.

At Farmyard Friends, we have used various teaching methods to support children with SEND including small intervention groups, choice boards, pathology buttons, speech and language activity packs, physiotherapy exercises and other effective strategies that allow a child to make progress in their learning and development. We aim to promote independence by looking at the strengths and motivations of the individual child and use these as stepping stones for planning. We understand the importance of socialisation and friendship groups for children with or without SEND and plan activities to encourage these.

At Farmyard Friends, we understand that the SEND process can be difficult for all those involved, we are dedicated to ensuring that families receive the support and help they require.We will signpost our families to the relevant agencies such as the Children’s Centre and Family Information Support Hub and refer them, if they wish. Parents will be fully involved in making decisions about the help and support they would like to receive.

Our physical environment is fully accessible for all children including those who use wheelchairs or mobility aids. Our setting is on one level and has accessible ramps and doors. We have three accessible toilets and nappy changing areas. All our resources are on low shelving making them easily accessible to all children. Our outdoor area has safety tarmac and artificial grass on a flat surface which makes it suitable for all ages, stages and abilities. Our experienced practitioners will ensure that children will be placed in the rooms that are most suitable to their learning and developmental needs, and will support children with the transition between rooms in the nursery through regular supported visits until they are settled.

Our facilities enable us to be flexible to meet the various needs and routines of all children. We have beds and cosy areas if children wish to rest or sleep. With relevant training, practitioners have been able to administer certain medications.

For information regarding the 2,3 and 4 year funding, including the 30 hours extended entitlement please see the funding tab.