A poster prepared by parents, detailing their child's needs and interests, can ease the settling-in process for both parents and child, and give practitioners an invaluable insight into the newcomer to their setting.
The poster can name the child's favourite things, list what is important to them and provide useful information on eating and care routines.
Helen Sanderson, psychologist and co-author of Celebrating Families, says, 'If nurseries encouraged parents to create individual documents for their own children, the whole settling-in process could become less traumatic for everyone involved.
'Even though many nurseries ask parents to complete forms about their child on enrolment, these are often very standardised in format and fail to capture what makes each child an individual.'
A poster, she says, can give insights that really introduce a child to a new caregiver as an individual personality, with their own specific needs.
Case study
The idea for the poster stemmed from Sarah and Adam's concerns about their son Josh, who'd suffered considerable ill-health from birth and cried a lot. As Sarah approached the end of her maternity leave, she became increasingly worried about how a nursery would cope with looking after her son. She turned to a friend for advice.
While chatting together, the friend recorded in detail what anyone who was looking after Josh would need to know - all about his routines and how to look after him. The friend then created a 'Josh' poster explaining what matters to him, and the help he needs to be well.
'It is the best two hours I have ever spent,' says Sarah. 'The poster looked fantastic and really captured who Josh was. It is now on his nursery wall and has also been a great way to introduce new babysitters to him. My brother babysat last week for the first time and I used the poster to explain how to settle Josh into his cot when he wakes at night. But one of the nicest and most unexpected aspects of what we've done is looking back at our first poster and seeing how much he has changed in six months.'
Adam was pleased, too. 'I cannot believe how quickly we captured who Josh was and came up with solutions to problems we had been struggling with. It resulted in us being able to say what mattered to Josh and from there we worked out a plan and a way forward.'
Nursery staff say, 'The poster was a great way to find out about Josh when he first came to us. We have kept a copy at nursery, as it helps new staff.'
Top tips
If you would like the parents in your setting to create a poster about their child, suggest that they:
- Write enough detail so that if, in an emergency, their neighbour suddenly had to look after their child and they had no time to tell them anything, the neighbour would have all the information they needed.
- Include pictures or photographs if they want.
- Describe the what, where, who, when and how of caring for their child.
- Be specific. Rather than 'favourite toy' say which one it is; instead of 'friends', list them.
- Use bullet points.
- Cluster subjects under headings to make it easier to follow, but don't try to group everything; there will be items that stand alone.
More information:
Celebrating Families - Simple Ways to Enhance Family Life by Helen Sanderson and Maye Taylor (HSA Press) is available from selected booksellers, Amazon.com and at www.celebratingfamilies.co.uk
LINKS TO EYFS GUIDANCE
- UC 1.1 Child Development
- PR 2.2 Parents as Partners.