Parent partnership

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

• exchanging knowledge about their children's needs, activities, interests and progress with the staff;
• helping at sessions of the setting;
• sharing their own special interests with the children;
• helping to provide, make and look after the equipment and materials used in the children's play activities;
• being part of the management of the setting;
• 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
The 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 the 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.

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

Learning opportunities for adults
As well as gaining qualifications in early years care and education, the setting staff take part in further training to help them to keep up-to-date with thinking about early years care and education. The setting also keeps itself up-to-date with best practice in early years care and education, as a member of the Pre-school Learning Alliance, through the Under 5 magazine and publications produced by the Alliance. From time to time the setting holds learning events for parents. These usually look at how adults can help children to learn and develop in their early years.