In September new children arrive at our pre-school, so we instigated an idea called 'Special child of the week' to help them to settle in.
All you need is a wall, which can be used throughout the year, and a display table in front of it. We keep a list on the wall of the week when each child will be special.
On the Monday of each week one of the 24 children, aged four, brings in items that mean something to them, such as a favourite toy, a video or something they have achieved, for example, a swimming badge. They also bring in photographs of themselves and their families to display.
The parents and practitioners also get involved by writing a paragraph about why the child is special. Some of the reasons given have been because they are helpful, because they make people laugh and because they have a nice character.
Being special for the week has helped the children to feel proud and confident about themselves. Children may be very quiet and timid when they come to the pre-school, but this activity has helped them feel that they are really worth something. They love having a fuss made over them and like to know that the staff and parents care.
The activity is also used as a discussion point in our circle times, and it promotes name recognition. The special child is also the special helper for the week, involved with setting the table, getting things for different members of staff and helping with the counting at registration time.
On Friday we send the special objects home with the child along with a photocopy of what the practitioners have said about them. We photocopy the write-ups and take a picture of each display, which is then put into a folder. The children love looking back on the time that they were special, although they also know that they will always be special to us.
Debra Weedon and Sally Olivier talked to Mahrukh Choughtai