Nearly 4 year old sent home from nursery early because of behaviour

[MrsLJH]

I just feel like crying.

My nearly 4 year old has some behavioural issues -mainly focusing around hurting other children/staff when frustrated, throwing things etc. He also hums which we believe is a stim. We are in the long process of getting him referred with the help of nursery, GP and healthvistors.

In the last couple of weeks it just seems to have ramped up - culminating in us being asked to collect him early yesterday because there were too many incidents.

I feel awful - both for him, the people he is hurting. I also feel worried about what other parents think of him - most of the time he is a loving, ridiculously smart boy. He isn't an angel but he isn't a nasty child.

He starts school in September and this has just added to my worst fear of him being excluded from school 😭

What SEN support is the nursery providing?

Has an EHCNA been requested?

What type of nursery is it?

It is a private day nursery near my place of work.

The nursery has a SENCO lead and had been devising behavioural plan - outlining things they are going to work on with him. They know he is difficult when he is in the 1 to 8 ratio (he is joy in the 1 to 3 ratio) but cannot always provide extra staff.

They are in the process of doing the referral - which I thought had been submitted weeks ago but they asked me at the end of last week for some more details.

I have asked them for their exclusion criteria (both formal and informal) and have also asked if it happens again for us to be given in writing the reasons why.

I am also involving the health visitors and GP.

If the nursery need more funding to provide additional support they can apply for early years inclusion funding. They can also ask the Area SENCO for advice. You should request an EHCNA. On their website IPSEA have a model letter you can use.

Unfortunately the nursery isn’t subject to the statutory exclusion guidance.

Hi @MrsLJH i know this is a few months old now, but I’m in the same position. How is it going for you?

Since the above, DS is now in school. I'll be honest our relationship with his nursery broke down an awful lot in the end as they would exclude and reduce his hours rather than support and I was glad to leave! Although they had a senco they were not set up for children with additional needs.

His school has been much better in terms of support for his needs - he basically has all the support of an EHCP without actually having one in place. We did have a suspension but it was done in a very sensitive way. They are able to separate him from his sensory/neurodiversity behaviours.