PARENTS

Parent Partnership

You are regarded as members of our setting who have full participatory rights. These include a right to be:

▪ valued and respected;

▪ kept informed;

▪ consulted;

▪ involved; and

▪ included at all levels.

Working Together for Your Children

We maintain the ratio of adults to children in the setting that is set by the Safeguarding and Welfare Requirements. We also have volunteer parent helpers, where possible, to complement these ratios. This helps us to:

▪ give time and attention to each child;

▪ talk with the children about their interests and activities;

▪ help children to experience and benefit from the activities we provide; and

▪ allow the children to explore and be adventurous in safe

How Parents Take Part in the Setting

Our setting recognises parents as the first and most important educators of their children. All of our staff see themselves as partners with parents in providing care and education for their children. There are many ways in which parents take part in making our setting a welcoming and stimulating place for children and parents, such as:

▪ exchanging knowledge about their children's needs, activities, interests and progress with our staff;

▪ contributing to the progress check at age two;

▪ helping at sessions of the setting;

▪ sharing their own special interests with the children;

▪ helping to provide and look after the equipment and materials used in the children's play activities;

▪ being part of the management of the setting where appropriate;

▪ taking part in events and informal discussions about the activities and curriculum provided by the setting;

▪ joining in community activities, in which the setting takes part; and

▪ building friendships with other parents in the setting.

The Parents' Rota

Our setting has a dated rota which parents can sign if they would like to help at a particular session or sessions of the setting. Helping at the session enables parents to see what the day-to-day life of our setting is like and to join in helping the children to get the best out of their activities.

Joining In

Joining the rota is not the only means of taking part in the life of the setting. Parents can offer to take part in a session by sharing their own interests and skills with the children. Parents have visited the setting to play the clarinet for the children, show pictures of the local carnival held in their neighbourhood, and show the children their collection of shells.

We welcome parents to drop into the setting to see it at work or to speak with the staff/manager.