Active Angels, a nursery in Solihull, West Midlands, explains how they listen to the voices of babies and young children, the importance of getting transitions right and of developing strong relationships with parent/carers right from the start.
(This is also included as a case study for QIP 2)
Staff form close, nurturing, and supportive relationships with children and their families. This enables staff to build on children’s learning and experiences at home.
Ofsted Inspection, 2024
A ‘Home from Home Approach, Where Families Matter’ is the setting motto and this is clearly demonstrated in the approach taken when settling in children who may be new starters or transitioning between rooms.
Leaders describe how they meet with parents, ask and share key information and build a personalised settling in program around the child. This helps ensure that individual needs are met and children get off to a great start, building a relationship between the child, family, and key person.
Setting practice involves new starters being contacted three weeks prior to starting to initiate settling in visits; during this process parents/carers also receive the “All about me” book to complete before their initial visit. This provides the setting with key information about the child and family before they start.
This is then discussed during the first visit and additional questions asked if needed. Alongside this, parents are asked to send in photos of their children and family which can be displayed at a low level for the children to see and share with staff.
Parents/carers are welcomed in with their child, to aid the settling in process, and spend time in the room allowing the child and parent to form connections with staff. They are also given details of what to expect from the setting.
Practitioners then have this information to support practice, using it as a working document to maintain consistency between home and nursery routines. Around six weeks after starting at nursery, this is reviewed with parents and the setting to ensure information is accurate before a child overview is created to support other practitioners who may be working with the child.
This process enables staff to be knowledgeable about the children in the room, knowing their interests and understanding the importance of incorporating their individual needs into daily routines to support transitions and practice.
Practitioners provide a calm and nurturing environment, where they are led by the child’s needs; explaining what they were doing and why, not only to support new starters but all children within the setting.
During the session this was demonstrated when a baby became unsettled when an unfamiliar adult entered the room. The key person attended to the baby – cuddling and using the musical instruments that had been purposefully chosen as part of this child’s interests and to support interactions/singing.
During discussion, the key person explained this child was a new starter and had English as an additional language (EAL) and his interests were musical instruments and singing. This was information gathered from the parents during the settling in process. The child responded very well and settled quickly; the key person positioned the child so they could continue playing and interacting with the instruments while remaining close.
The setting recognises that parents/carers may only ‘focus’ in on the ‘baby room’ when viewing the setting, overlooking what the next room transition looks like.
So they take great care to remind the parents/carers and repeat the process again alongside ‘listening’ to the child’s response to the transition opportunities and process to ensure it is right for everyone.
November 2024