SEND Immersion Day: An Inclusive Curriculum and Communication with Parents (20th January 2027)

Stronger Practice Hub Event

This immersion day offers practitioners the opportunity to explore how a communication-rich, inclusive curriculum can support all children to participate, learn and thrive within a mainstream nursery setting. Visitors will see how strong partnerships with parents and carers enable us to identify children’s strengths and needs early, develop shared understanding, and implement timely support that is aligned with everyday learning. Our approach is rooted in the belief that every child should experience a genuine sense of belonging and be supported to participate successfully within their classroom community.

Practitioners will observe how communication support, visual strategies and curriculum-led interventions are embedded across the nursery. They will see how staff adapt provision through approaches such as visual supports, Makaton, core boards, scaffolding, backwards chaining and hand-over-hand guidance to enable children to access learning alongside their peers. Visitors will also have the opportunity to explore how sensory environments and interventions support communication, regulation, engagement and participation.

Learning Aims/Intended Outcomes

Participants will:

• Understand how an inclusive curriculum can be adapted to support children with a wide range of needs within a mainstream nursery setting.
• Explore strategies for building strong, collaborative relationships with parents and carers that support early identification and intervention.
• Observe how communication-supportive approaches, including visuals, core boards and Makaton, can be embedded across the nursery day.
• Develop understanding of how interventions can be aligned with curriculum outcomes to support communication, engagement, regulation and participation.
• Explore practical strategies that enable children to participate alongside their peers and experience a strong sense of belonging.
• Reflect on how sensory environments can be used purposefully to enhance communication, regulation and engagement.

About Our Setting

Ilminster Avenue Nursery School is a fully inclusive mainstream nursery school serving the South Bristol community. More than 37% of our children are identified as having Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), and we are committed to ensuring that every child is known, understood and supported to participate, learn and thrive.

Strong relationships with parents and carers are central to our approach. We work closely with families to identify strengths, needs and interests, enabling us to put timely support in place and remove barriers to learning as early as possible. This collaborative approach helps us develop a shared understanding of each child’s needs and ensures support is meaningful and responsive.

As a mainstream setting, we have developed a range of inclusive approaches and environments that support children with diverse needs. Children have access to a sensory room, soft play provision and a large hall used for sensory circuits, all of which are used purposefully to support communication, regulation and participation.

Our SEND interventions are carefully aligned to our curriculum and include approaches such as sensory singing, sensory stories, bucket time, sensory circuits and TacPac. These interventions are designed to complement high-quality universal provision rather than replace it, supporting children to transfer skills into everyday classroom learning.

Throughout the nursery, practitioners use communication-supportive strategies including visuals, core boards and Makaton, adapting teaching and group experiences so that children can engage at their own level while remaining part of the wider nursery community. Our aim is simple: every child belongs.