Acorns Family Hub - Stowmarket

Experience of including people with special educational needs and disabilities

How do Stowmarket Family Hub services cater for children and families with special educational needs and/or disability?

Children's Family Hubs are for families with children under five. Health and Children’s Centre services can be accessed through the Family Hub and are places where families with young children under 5 can go to access a range of activities and support services, in a location that is handy for them. The Health and Children's Centre service teams are made up of Health Visitors, Staff Nurses, Healthy Child Practitioners and Health and Children Centre advisors. 

The Stowmarket Family Hub service is committed to promoting and providing high quality learning and play opportunities. We believe in valuing and respecting each individual in a welcoming, accessible and inclusive environment. The service has an equal opportunity policy which is reviewed annually. We offer a range of universal and targeted support and services which are designed to meet the needs of all users.

When our groups are running, all of our activities are planned to meet individual children’s needs. We work within the Early Years Foundation Stage framework, and will aim to capture evidence of your child’s progress as she/he attends the centre. Play sessions will offer activities which can be adapted to meet individual’s needs. All of our toys are suitable for children aged 0 to 5 years and we have a range of specialist resources, including sensory equipment.

We offer a range of parenting courses and groups to help support parents in managing their children’s needs and possible challenging behaviours. For more information, please do not hesitate to contact us.

How will staff support my child's needs?

Staff are available during our activities and can offer help and support as required. One-to-one support is available for families in the home and we will work in partnership with you and other agencies in helping you to meet your child’s and your family’s needs. Your child is at the heart of our service, and should you require additional help, we will work with you to help identify any areas of concern, ensuring your child’s wishes and feelings are at the centre of the support.

We are trained to use the Common Assessment Framework to ensure that we are able to undertake a thorough assessment of your child’s needs, recognising and building on his / her strengths.

Information, advice and guidance is available and we can help to signpost you to other relevant local services and support as required. These can include:

The Special Educational Needs and Disability Information, Advice and Support Service (SENDIASS) which provides information, advice and support to young people and children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) or disabilities aged 0-25 and their parents, about education, health and social care.

Suffolk Early Learning Together Service

Speech and Language Therapists

Behavioural Support Services

Specialist Services

When it is time for your child to start attending nursery or school, we can support you in the transition period as we know that this can be both a challenging and an emotional time.

What arrangements are in place to ensure that the Stowmarket Children’s Centre service is accessible for children and families with special educational needs and/or disability

Our Family Hub's are fully accessible from all entrances and exits.

Our outdoor play areas have ramped access and consist of some concreted areas, softer outdoor flooring and grass. Within the centres we have accessible toilets with baby change facilities. All of the rooms have a mixture of vinyl non slip flooring and / or carpeted areas.

The furniture within both centres is entirely moveable and adaptable allowing us the flexibility of creating and moving spaces if required. All resources and equipment are displayed at child-height, and are fully accessible, allowing children to make independent choices about their play.

What training or experience do the staff supporting children and young people with SEND have?

Family Hub's are inclusive settings with staff who are experienced and trained in early years care and education.

Staff training includes:

Infant feeding support 

Henry 

ECAT – Every Child a Talker

Autism Awareness and supporting families

WellComm – staff are trained to undertake WellComm (Speech & Language) assessments and support parents in helping their child’s language development

Elklan – training to support staff working with children with speech, language and communication needs

Makaton

Relationships build brains

EYFS

Build and maintain relationships

Characteristics of effective learning

Children, trauma and violence

Boundaries

Helping parents who misuse substances

Solihull

Incredible years 0-5

Incredible Babies

Triple P

Infant Massage

Ages and Stages assessments

Schedule of Growing Skills Assessments

Staff can also refer to community paediatricians, speech and language therapists, audiologists, physiotherapists and the early years team.

 

Contact

Acorns – Debbie Frost

Telephone

Acorns - 01449 745185

Email

acorns@suffolk.gov.uk

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