Nursery World - A Unique Child: Inclusion

One children's centre delights in providing challenge for a child with Down Syndrome.

Kodi's steps in development are going to be quite small, but for him they are huge and we have seen him develop so much since he started coming here,' says Vikki Wynn, manager of Community Childcare within Wingate Children's Centre in Durham.

Kodi Crick has Down Syndrome and has been attending the centre since September 2010 when he was two years old. He has global developmental delay and sleep apnoea.

'His mum was worried when he started that he wouldn't interact with children or they would find it difficult to communicate with him, but he has a great group of friends. He really likes being part of a group and his face lights up when he walks into the nursery,' says Ms Wynn.

STARTING NURSERY

Kodi is a very caring, trusting little boy and so it was easy for Ms Wynn, who was also his key person, to establish a good relationship with him.

'He settled in really quickly. When a child starts at Wingate, we do a home visit. If the child has additional needs, I do a few home visits depending on the needs of the child so I can see them in their home environment and see what they like to do and how their mum or dad soothes them, as we very much value the parents as educators,' says Ms Wynn.

'He is a very capable and loving little boy. His mum has always had a very positive outlook, which really helps. She attends a support group for parents of children with Down Syndrome and the group has given her training in Makaton,' she adds.

Kodi moved from the Community Childcare part of the children's centre to Wingate's Community Nursery School in October last year, following his third birthday.

'We went through a thorough, sensitive transition with him, but because we work closely together in the same building, sharing the same garden and the same dining room, a lot of it was very familiar to him. He spent transitional periods of time in the nursery with his mum, Hollie, his childcare key person, Vikki, and Joanne, his new key person,' says the nursery head teacher, Paddy Beels.

LIAISING WITH PARENTS AND PROFESSIONALS

Various professionals come to Wingate to support the staff in caring for Kodi. 'A speech and language therapist attends regularly and she created a chart with targets for us to work towards and gave us a lot of advice on how to communicate with Kodi,' explains Ms Wynn. 'We had Teacher Talk (Hanen) training on how to build up his vocabulary and communicate more effectively. The educational psychologist also came into the setting and observed him while working with him. A physiotherapist advised us to straighten his legs when he was sitting down as he wasn't walking when he first started childcare. We were also in regular contact with the health visitor. We had meetings on a regular basis with all the professionals so we could discuss his progress and the support he was getting.'

A range of professionals still support the staff in their work with Kodi, now he has moved to the nursery.

NEEDS AND ABILITIES

Staff at Wingate are very open with the children when discussing Kodi's needs and abilities.

'When Kodi first started he was crawling and the children would ask why he didn't walk. I would explain he isn't walking yet but maybe if you help him, he may be able to walk one day. So, the children would hold his hand and walk around the nursery with him. They were so excited when he started walking by himself and shouted, "look, he is walking".'

Joanne McKinnon, Kodi's current key person, says, 'The other children totally accept him and if they ask why I am helping Kodi more with something I tell them he learns at a different rate from them.'

TRAINING AND FUNDING

When Kodi started at Wingate, he received inclusion funding from Durham Council entitling him to 15 hours of childcare, and all of the staff received some basic Makaton training, so that they could communicate with Kodi more effectively.

'I did the Makaton training along with everyone else when Kodi started. I also became the SENCO of the Childcare so I accessed SENCO training which was very useful. When we used Makaton signs with him, we always said the word at the same time. He used single words when he was with us and I know the nursery is working to support his development and to gradually use two words together,' says Ms Wynn.

The staff training reflects Wingate's commitment to inclusive practice and working with parents.

Ms Beels says, 'We are committed to including all children with additional needs so we do have very experienced, specialised staff, but every time we have a new child at the nursery with additional needs we consider the skills the staff have and whether they need any additional professional development.' When Kodi started, staff attended a refresher course for Makaton, along with Kodi's mum. Ms McKinnon also did some additional training giving her more of an insight into Down Syndrome. 'The closeness we have with the parents is at the heart of what we do,' she says.

LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT

Wingate Children's Centre provides support to many children with additional needs so employs a variety of specialised staff as well as links with outreach workers.

Ms Beels explains, 'Kodi is included in everything we do. He spends some time each day with a small group of children, focusing particularly on his communication and language. He also has a short spell of quality, one-to-one time with his key person every day. In addition to Makaton, Kodi uses photos of activities and areas of the nursery as prompts to help him to make choices. The additional funding received from Durham local authority pays for 60 per cent of his time with Joanne.'

She uses photos of the different areas in the nursery to help Kodi tell her where he wants to play that day.

'All the children wear wooden name tags and it took him a little while but he now recognises his tag which is great. That was a big step for him,' continues Ms Beels.

'We also use the photos to get him to say the names of the other children. He has never said his own name and so we are working on that with the photos at the moment. I have also taught all the children some Makaton so they can also sign to Kodi.

'We encourage Kodi to challenge himself so, for example, he always wanted help getting into the sandpit but we have encouraged him to get in himself and now he can do that.'

'He loves to splash in water,' Ms Beels adds. 'It was a lovely day yesterday so we put water in the sandpit. That created a puddle and he loved it. He went home on a real high. He also loves to dress up and do role play.

'He is learning and developing so much. When we sang songs, he used to sign instead of sing but now he is singing along with everyone else. He loves going on the computer and he is very good with the iPad.

'The woman who runs the support group for parents with children with Down Syndrome has come to talk to us about the condition. She has also written an app for the iPad for children with Down Syndrome and we have been using it here with Kodi. He is a lovely boy. It is a pleasure to work with him.'

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