Reina is 4 years old. She has recently started at Burrumbah Early Learning Centre, in your room three days a week. You have noticed she isn't participating in the daily routine and play experiences. Specifically, you have noticed Reina needs support to join in with the routines of the day such as mealtimes. She hasn't made any friends yet, and often plays alone. Sometimes, if other children come too close to her when she is playing, she will cry and tell them to go away. You decide to talk with the lead educator about what you have observed. The plan has been implemented for one week. You have been observing how the strategies are being implemented. You have noticed that at mealtimes, you are the only educator who sits at Reina's table and facilitates conversation. If you aren't available to be with Reina at lunch time, for example on Wednesdays when your lunch break is at 12pm, Reina is by herself. When Reina becomes dysregulated around other children, you notice some educators seem frustrated and tell Reina to use her words. Sometimes they ignore Reina and just focus on the other child. Each morning, yourself or your colleague Min have been asking Reina what she would like to set up for herself or the other children. This has occurred every day, however sometimes it is rushed because there have been a number of new children starting in the room. Therefore, the start of the day has been busier than usual, as yourself and Min are trying to balance meeting the needs of all children and the new children while simultaneously implementing the strategies to support Reina. Sometimes Reina is excited to help set up, but sometimes there has been too many interruptions such as noise and talking and she seems less interested.

Child's Name: Reina W Age: 4 years Room: Preschool room Identify any additional needs, learning barriers or cultural considerations that need to be included in the plan: Single parent family, Reina lives with her Dad Reina's dad was born in Macedonia. Reina's Dad speaks Macedonian as well as English. Reina's first language is English, but she does speak some Macedonian. Long term goal to support the child to meaningfully engage in the curriculum: For Reina to be able to participate in routines and play experiences with others For Reina to be able to verbally express her needs to other children Short-term goals that will contribute to meeting the longterm goal Identify 1-2 strategies for EACH short term goal to support the child e.g., During group times I will ....... This will support the child to...... Intentional teaching strategies or resources that will be used to support the child Person/s Responsible for Implementing the strategies Short term goal to support the development of managing prosocial skills independently: During mealtimes I will facilitate conversations between Reina and other children. This will support Reina to join in when she feels comfortable during routine. Supporting Reina to connect with other children during routine times may put less pressure on her than if I was to do so during play experiences. If I am not available, another educator will do this instead. Facilitating: of interaction and conversation between Reina and another child during mealtime, e.g., "Reina, I can see you are having some spaghetti today. Sarah had spaghetti last week, what is on your spaghetti today Reina?" Positioning resources and equipment: giving Reina first choice of where to sit at lunch by inviting her to help set the table Myself and other educators if I am absent from meal times For Reina to engage in routine experience with another child Short term goal to support the development of self-regulation: Twice a day I will let Reina know she can come to me at any time if she Role modelling and labelling emotions: Narrating what emotions Reina might Myself and other educators if I absent.

For Reina to seek support from an educator when she is upset needs help. When she does become upset, and we have co-regulated, I will remind her again she can always come and get me or another educator to help. I will also label emotions throughout the day, my own, Reina's and other children's where appropriate. be feeling throughout the day, e.g., when she excitedly tells and educator about her Lego, "you must be feeling so proud", and when she is upset when another child gets too close, "You seem frustrated because you want some space". Consistent, relationship-focused responses to Reina's big emotions: ensuring all educators respond consistently when Reina becomes upset, including staying close to her but allowing time and space for her to calm down, labelling emotions (see strategy above) problem-solving with her, suggesting a solution where necessary, role modelling communication and empathy with the other child involved Short term goal to support the child to access and participate in the program in an authentic way (inclusion): Each day I will involve Reina in the curriculum decision making, asking her what she would like to have available for herself and all the children and encouraging her to help set it up. Collaborating with Reina: Supporting Reina to be involved in the daily set up, by seeking her input into what she would like available. Involving her in the whole process, including finding the resources, setting them up in an inviting way. Open ended questions: Prompting Reina with questions to get her thinking about how other children may engage in the experiences she chooses. e.g., "Where can we put the Lego so there is enough space for other children to play too?" Myself and other educators if I am absent For Reina to willingly choose to participate in a small group experience. Barriers to implementation: What are the barriers that you have, or you may encounter while implanting the plan? How will you respond to these barriers? Reina only attends the centre 3 times a week, so we need to adjust the strategies based on the times she goes to the centre. On the days she attends different educators are working in the room so implementing the strategies consistently may be difficult. We will create a communication book to ensure all educators are informed of the plan and the identified strategies and can report progress/challenges/ask questions etc. Describe any changes that were required to the environment or the routine to ensure the child was supported and included as part of implementing the plan: We allowed more time to be allocated to setting up environments and time to encourage conversations at mealtimes. This supported the children taking time, being able to set up experiences and resources for themselves and reduce frustration. Evaluate how effective you think your strategies were. (e.g., Describe the child's verbal and non-verbal responses to the strategies. What changes in behaviour, pro-social and self regulation skills did you notice? Were the goals achieved or were improvements made?) We have only been able to implement the strategies some of the time. When I have been able to implement the strategies during mealtimes, Reina has joined in conversation with one- or two-word responses. This is an improvement. When I have been able to use the strategies when she is upset when a child is close to her, she has not really responded verbally to me, but she does seem to calm down faster. Are there are any on-going issues of concern regarding the child's pro-social skills, self-regulation skills or their ability to have meaningful access and participation in all aspects of the curriculum? There are ongoing concerns due to the strategies not being very effective so far. Although it has only been a week, the strategies are not being implemented consistently which means they haven't been very effective. Based on the child's progress, is there a need to contact a professional and/or a specialist for consultation and referral? Explain your answers There is no urgent need to contact a professional. We will continue to implement the strategies and observe Reina's behaviour. But we can do a monthly meeting with a professional to check for updates with regards to the improvement of the child's behaviour. In the future, what adjustments or modifications need to be made to the plan to continue to support the child's- Pro-social skills Self-regulation skills Access and participation (e.g., what are the changes, why do they need to be modified, where should this be documented, who will you need to consult/communicate with about the changes?) For the strategies to be effective, we may need to implement the following changes: Pro-social skills - facilitate conversation during other mealtimes too, not just mealtimes. Ensure educators understand this strategy. Self-regulation skills - add more resources and space, have a separate table for Lego etc so Reina doesn't have to move/pack away her creation for mealtimes. Ensure all educators understand and can implement the intentional teaching strategies. Access and participation - instead of it being for the start of the day, we can ask Reina to help set up at a different time of the day when it is less noisy and busy.

Question- You have decided to discuss this with the director and the other educators in the room. You all agree that professional input into the plan would really help the team to better support Reina.

The director has asked you to write a letter to Reina's family seeking permission to engage with an external professional to provide further support with developing and implementing the support plan.

A letter to Reina's dad, Manny Rodriguez.

The letter must:

• Clearly outline what the purpose of the letter is,
• Clearly identify an appropriate professional specialist to consult with
• Why you are seeking additional professional input,
• Steps for maintaining communication with the family about the plan, and
• Include where the family can give their permission.

Use the template provided on eLearn to support you in writing a professional letter.

Dear...

As you are aware we have been working together with you to develop a support plan for Reina.

At this stage we have determined it would be beneficial to consult with a.......

I am writing to you today to............................................................

Once we have established the plan with all relevant parties, we will follow the communication protocols below to ensure everyone remains informed and up to date with the progress of the plan, any changes that are required and any other additional information.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any further questions or would like to discuss any aspect of this letter further in person.

Please complete the section below to confirm you have read and understood this letter, and that you give your consent for us to contact ..............................and share details and ....................................

Kind Regards,

__________________________________

I (insert parent's full name), parentof (child's full name), do hereby give my consent for Burrumbah

Early Learning Centre to (student to identify what they are seeking permission for)

.................................................................................................................................................................................

Parent's signature_____________________________________

Date