Working with Parents

Ethos:

We are immensely proud of the relationships that we have established at Chingford House Nursery, particularly with the children, but also with their parents/ guardians too. We feel that the quality of our practice and provision have improved by working closely with the parents. We want to ensure that the parents have a voice, so we provide them with opportunities to make suggestions about any issues pertaining to their children and nursery. Parents are encouraged to complete annual parental surveys, which help to inform the nursery’s Quality Improvement Plan. Essentially, we want the parents to feel that they are true partners in their children’s learning and development.

 

The Early Years Foundation Stage (2021) states that we (providers) must: ‘work in partnership with parents and/or carers, to promote learning and development’; the significance for us, therefore, is working with the parents in the best interests of the children to ensure that they reach their true potential. At Chingford House Nursery, we recognise the importance of sharing information, opening effective dialogue, establishing trust and treating children and parents as individuals with individual needs.

 

Key Person:

In line with most issues relating to children and childcare, the significance of the Key Person is crucial in developing effective partnerships with parents. This relationship enables the Key Person to obtain information about the child, their home life, interests and life experiences which will enable them to plan accordingly to meet the child’s holistic needs.

 

As a setting, we want to develop various strategies that will ensure that all parents feel valued and welcomed into the nursery. Inclusion is an important element in ensuring that we are meeting the diverse needs of the families for which we cater. From the offset we want parents to feel that they are contributing to their child’s learning and development and we continually seek ways in which parents can share in our curriculum plans and assessments of the children

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Aims:

Whilst collating and analysing the data from our parental survey, we strive to improve across all areas of our provision, including improving how we collaborate with parents. We therefore aim to:

• Value parents as their child’s first and most enduring educators and to embrace their contribution to their child’s learning whilst at the nursery

• Inspire parents to share their opinions and assessments of their children’s disposition, wellbeing, development and abilities.

• Promote partnership working by providing time for parents to meet with their Key Person, other significant staff and/or management when needed

• Ensure that parents have access to records and information about their child’s progress and development, through daily verbal feedback, termly review meetings and end of year reports

• Highlight and promote the nursery’s policies so that parents understand our ethos, aims and objectives in safeguarding children, supporting their learning and development and preparing them for the next stage of their education

• Encourage and support parents in their ambition to develop their parental skills or to gain more knowledge about the EYFS and how it supports their child’s learning, by signposting them to appropriate services or websites

• Provide whole nursery meetings or room meetings; meetings create a forum in which parents can come together to discuss issues with the staff

• Highlight our complaints policy and procedure if parents are not happy with any aspect of our service.

 

It is our intention that all parents know that they can approach us at any time through emails, telephone calls or face-to-face to discuss their children. We understand the significance of children seeing how closely parents and staff work together; we recognise that a strong partnership supports the children’s wellbeing and provides them with a sense of security.

 

As stated, we are proud of the relationships that we have established with the parents and we will always have parent partnerships high up on our agenda in improving quality.

 

Policy created by Yolande Farrell Manager

Signed off by: Zarkar Akhtar Owner

Date: November 2022

Date of next review: November 2024