Social, Emotional and Mental Health Resource Base   

Blossom Group

The Early Years SEMH base at The Sue Hedley Nursery School offers a small, nurturing setting which focuses on supporting children with their social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) difficulties. It aims to provide children with strategies for coping with their emotions and constantly model positive interactions with peers and adults. We provide a 15 hour provision to Nursery and Reception aged children and have small groups of children with a high ratio of staff to support with conflict resolution, developing social interactions and self-regulation.

Children can be referred to our SEMH base by their mainstream setting where the school has identified the child needs further support with their personal, social and emotional development. The referral will be discussed at the Early Years Panel alongside Ashley Child Development Centre (ACDC) to identify which route is most appropriate for the child.

The base has two qualified teachers who job share the role as well as two Early Years Practitioners, each member of staff in the base has extensive knowledge and experience of working with children with SEMH needs.

We follow elements of the High Scope philosophy, for example, following a structured daily routine, using ‘Plan Do Review’, supporting adult-child interactions and providing opportunities for active learning.

For both Nursery and Reception aged children we follow the Supersonic Phonic Friends framework to teach early Literacy skills. For the Reception aged children we use the White Rose Maths scheme, identifying gaps through baseline assessments.

Our setting works closely alongside the child’s mainstream setting to provide strategies and support in the areas the child finds most difficult. We create tailored support plans which we share with the school, parents and carers, these plans detail the strategies which best work for the child. When the child is ready to progress back into their mainstream setting, we provide support to their teacher to assist them with smooth transition and strategies if they are facing any difficulties.

The SEMH base facilitates a multi-agency approach by working closely with all outside professionals regularly, including Educational Psychologists, health care professionals and the SALT team to provide a holistic approach in supporting the child and family. In addition to this, we ensure we build strong relationships with parents and schools, sharing behaviour support plans, strategies and termly meetings to discuss progress and next steps.

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