Inclusive practice - Success Stories

Reaching the outcomes of Every Child Matters

Real Success Stories from Sandwell

Michelle - Improving Communication with Young Children

Here makaton cards are used when signalling tidy-up time / snack time etc, and are also used to make nursery rhyme boards. This greatly helped language development and facilitated the inclusion of children of different nationalities.

Improving Parental Involvement in Private Day Care Nursery

A week was set aside for parental activities, some parents took time off work in order to be involved. (Every Child Matters - government does not bring up children, parents do, so government needs to do more to back parents and families;)

Tina -Links with Special School

The setting has Inclusion Links with other settings. There is a regular exchange programme with a local Special School where groups of children and staff spend time in each other’s settings. The children meet and mix with no problems, and raise awareness with parents, who were previously unaware of the existence of the special school. Staff gain new ideas for their inclusive practice and for new activities. (Every Child Matters- children and young people need to enjoy their childhood as well as grow up prepared for adult life;)

Kerri - Links with Special School

The holiday club regularly have shared outings with the local special school to go bowling and for pizza. The children were able to mix and all got on well. The impact of this will be long-term, but we can hazard a guess at the profound changes it will bring in our communities. The relationships that these links create will no doubt enable a world where our present discrimination is not tolerated. (Every Child Matters - it is always better to prevent failure than tackle a crisis later.)

Pauline - Celebrating Diversity

In a multilingual setting, parents were involved in translating labels to go around the setting in a variety of languages, they also were asked to suggest different menus. The children and parents experienced food from a wider variety of cultures and were surprised by how much they enjoyed it. The parents continued to be more involved in the setting and awareness and appreciation of other cultures was improved for both children and parents. (Every Child Matters - services need to be shaped by and responsive to children, young people and families, not designed around professional boundaries)

Sharon - Addressing Language Barriers

Through her post Sharon has completed a basic makaton course, 1hour per week over 10 weeks. She found the course very enjoyable and easy to learn. Sharon uses this learning with children who are very young and who speak a variety of languages other than English. The children have learned the makaton very easily and can now use it to communicate with her and each other. Sharon is keen to extend her learning in makaton.

Michelle - Diversity in Staffing

Michelle explained that the recruitment policy at her setting has changed to emphasise the need for an increase in diversity amongst the staff, and that this is now reflected in their interview procedures.

Involving Male Carers

The Setting runs DUG’s days (Dads, Uncles, Grandads). These specific days are to promote the involvement of men in the setting. (Every Child Matters- children and young people need to enjoy their childhood as well as grow up prepared for adult life;)

Kerri - Improving Feedback from all Service Users

Tree leaves were given to all service users, on which comments could be written for improvements/suggestions. The leaves could be returned confidentially, staff met to look at the comments and to discuss ways that they could better meet the needs of all. This increased parent and carer participation in the Children’s Centre. (Every Child Matters - services need to be shaped by and responsive to children, young people and families, not designed around professional boundaries)

Michelle - Meeting the Needs of the Community

This setting has parent representatives for the community who are present at planning meetings. Their role is to address the needs of the community, to make suggestions for improvements, and their agreement is sought on all decisions. New practice is delivered in agreement with the representatives. (Every Child Matters - government does not bring up children, parents do, so government needs to do more to back parents and families;)

All staff are trained in Makaton and are able to use a variety of communication systems, signing, cards, etc, to ask children what they need. The key workers involve parents and have training specific for the needs of their child. This fine example of community leadership, by enabling users to decide on direction, the setting is able to raise engagement, aspiration and future success. (Every Child Matters- children and young people need to enjoy their childhood as well as grow up prepared for adult life;)

Claire - Reducing Segregation

This setting removed an internal wall partition in order to allow all age groups within the nursery to mix. This was done following consultation with parents via questionnaire. Benefits were seen for all age groups. Younger children showed improvements in behaviour and language acquisition, older children played more and showed their caring sides. The development of acceptations is at the very heart of inclusive practice, this action has a direct effect on the way young children are received as they move up the school. The caring attitudes of older peers will no doubt translate into a culture of belonging in years to come. (Every Child Matters - it is always better to prevent failure than tackle a crisis later.)

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