The nursery recognises that parents are the child’s first carers and educators and therefore their views and knowledge of their children are paramount in ensuring that we are able to provide the best possible care.
Policy on Working in Partnership with Parents
The nursery operates a key person approach in order to provide the best possible working relationship for each child and their family and to ensure that individual needs are recognised and supported. For more information on how the nursery operates the key person approach please refer to the policy.
The nursery encourages the sharing of information both on a daily basis and through annual parents’ evenings when parents can book a time to discuss progress with their key person. Each key person will collect relevant and meaningful information on their key children’s development such as ‘wow’ moments which will be saved in their developmental profile along with evidence of whether they are meeting the expected milestones. We rely on parents to keep us updated on their child’s progress at home and concerning any changes to routine, diet and general health and well-being. We strongly believe that the more information shared between the nursery and parents regarding the child’s learning leads to improved outcomes for the children.
The nursery regularly provides parents with information regarding the nursery through newsletters, posters, profile meetings and information evenings.
We believe that a parent’s involvement in nursery life enriches a child’s experience and we therefore invite and encourage parents and carers to become actively involved from sharing particular talents, reading a story (particularly in a different home language) to simply joining us on our different fun days and events.
Mother’s are welcome to visit the nursery during the day to breastfeed their child and parents can observe their children from the upstairs windows if they wish to check on how they are settling into the nursery.
The nursery is committed to ensuring all families feel welcome and included in the setting and we have adopted certain practices to help support families with EAL. We also support children within the setting by using lots of visual aids, signing, props and puppets, labels and signs in home languages, multi-language books and tapes and finding out key words to help with communication to name but a few.
When initially settling a new child into the nursery, we work together with the parents to devise the best induction programme that will help both the child and their parents become confident with the nursery routines and familiar with the staff. Children due to start in the Discoverers’ room may be offered a home visit by the manager and nominated key person, prior to the child’s first nursery visit. Photos of the nursery and key person will be left with the child, hopefully easing the transition of settling-in to a new environment.
Before a child is due to move up from the Explorers’ to the Discoverers’ room their key person will take them on integration visits, slowly building up the amount of time they spend in the room. We also have two open evenings during the year to inform parents about the learning opportunities and routines of the Discoverers’ room.
We also prepare the older children for starting school by planning school visits and working on the topic of ‘Moving up to Big School’ during the summer.
The nursery operates an ‘open-door’ policy with regard to discussing any concerns with parents and we are committed to working together to resolve any problems or worries about a child or the care that they receive.
If a parent has a concern about their child they are encouraged to speak to their child’s key person. Any other issues regarding the nursery should be taken to the nursery manager who can organise a meeting, if appropriate, to discuss them. If the parent is unhappy with the outcome and feels it has not been successfully resolved, they should follow the nursery’s complaints procedure.