We are always trying to think of new ways to involve parents, because it can be tricky,’ says Sarah Whyatt, nursery manager at The Village Nursery and Pre-School – Gee Cross.
This parent-focused approach starts from the very beginning of a family’s relationship with the setting. Staff provide parents with separate prospectuses for the nursery and pre-school to give tailored guidance on the service offered.
Ms Whyatt adds, ‘As soon as children and parents arrive on day one, we know we need to make a big fuss of them. I really cannot stress enough how important that relationship is from the very start.
‘We want to make them feel comfortable, find out what they want and tell them what we offer. Communication is key right from this moment. They need to feel at ease as soon as they arrive.’
COMMUNICATION
The nursery offers three parent consultation appointments per year, in line with assessments and tracking.
Parents are invited in to meet their child’s key person and go through their termly assessment and targets and next steps both in nursery and at home. The consultations are held outside nursery hours to allow for working parents’ busy schedules.
There is also a ‘question of the month’ at the front desk. A yes or no question is attached to a pot with different coloured lollipop sticks inside which parents can use to give their answer.
Ms Whyatt explains, ‘Recently we had a big staff change-around and lots of children were moving up, so we wanted to make sure parents knew what was happening. We asked them whether they knew who their child’s key person was, and hoped the answer was yes, which thankfully for the majority it was.
‘We’ve also asked whether parents are happy with our new menus, or other opinions about recent changes or developments at nursery. This helps us to know what we are doing right and what we still need to do, encourages communication and allows every parent to have their say.’
EDUCATION
‘We are keen to educate parents whenever possible,’ says Ms Whyatt.
To help parents stay clued up about their child’s learning and development, the nursery holds termly workshops on a variety of topics based on feedback from both parents and staff.
Ms Whyatt explains, ‘Recently we have held voluntary reading and phonics workshops for our pre-school parents, which have touched on school readiness, what that term means and what is expected of children at that stage. We go through what we can do and what parents can do at home, and we produce a parent pack to help them with ideas for activities.
‘Our nursery cook has also offered a food workshop after parents asked about the recipes she used. They made some of the food we make here and then were able to take the recipes and some of the food home with them afterwards.’
These sessions are usually well attended, with a large proportion of parents taking time to come along and find out more.
The setting also sends home learning packs to parents in order to help them to support their child’s learning. The packs cover the prime areas of learning, and the specific areas for older children.
Ms Whyatt explains, ‘Each pack has resources inside and an explanation of what is needed to meet that area of learning, the direct link it has to the EYFS, and what a parent can do to help. Staff go through it all with parents before they take it home, then there are cards inside which explain it all again for them.
‘We try to encourage families whose child might be struggling in certain areas to take them, but they are available to everyone. Families can take the pack home and keep it for a week or so, then bring it back and show evidence of having practised the skills included. This encourages language development and really draws a link between nursery and home.’
The nursery’s monthly newsletter features tips of the month which are often based on topics staff have been researching, such as a recent section covering the impact of dummies on speech and language development.
‘Providing parents with that information then helped us to introduce initiatives at nursery such as the dummy fairy,’ says Ms Whyatt. ‘The information in the newsletter helps us all get on the same page.’
INTERACTION
Parents can also get more involved with nursery life at regular stay-and-play sessions.
‘Sessions are usually themed around celebrations, so this year we held them around Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and at Easter,’ Ms Whyatt says. ‘We have also invited grandparents in. We try to hold sessions on Friday afternoons so it’s easier for parents to attend around work, give lots of notice and hold a number of sessions a year, so even when parents are very busy they can hopefully come to at least one.
‘Children love having their parents in nursery because it is such a novelty, while parents can see what we get up to and what the nursery routine involves. They are sometimes quite shocked at how well-behaved their children are, too!’
The ethos of working with parents runs through the nursery thanks to the Village Charter, a written document on the values and priorities of the setting.
‘The charter reminds staff why they are here and what we do this for,’ says Ms Whyatt. ‘Parents have always been a huge part of that.’
nursery overview
Name The Village Nursery and Pre-School – Gee Cross
Number of settings 1
Established 2014
Location Hyde, Cheshire
Nursery owner Ruth Morrison