Parents as Partners

The pre-school aims to develop effective partnerships with parents in order to enhance the learning and development of all children in the setting. We believe that having reliable and trustworthy relationships is essential to ensure we provide the best quality of care for your child. We recognise that you, as your child’s main carer, will know them the best!

Please see our Parental Involvement Policy which highlights our responsibilities, and our expectations of this relationship.

Alongside us as practitioners, parents and other carers play a crucial part in building children’s self esteem and dispositions to learn. We will all bring different perspectives and expertise along the way, and it is vital that we share these with each other! Situation dependent, there are many ways in which we communicate with parents, including:

  • Brief feedback at the end of each session
  • Daily messages on the white board
  • Newsletters
  • Parent consultations
  • Contact books
  • Posters and invitations to events

Most recently, and most effectively, our best way of joint communication is through Tapestry, our online learning journal system!

Tapestry

Each child has their own private and confidential online learning journal, whereby we can upload photographs, videos and observations for you to see. It is a great way to ensure you are keeping track of your child’s learning and development at pre-school – and you can even contribute to it yourself! If your child has a ‘WOW’ moment at home, such as putting on their shoes for the first time, or having a lovely time at a special event or occasion – we would love to see it! It is accessible via a simple app on your mobile phone or tablet, or via a desktop/laptop computer.

We love to see your likes and comments on the children’s observations, photographs and videos – so please keep them coming!

Home Learning

Through Tapestry, your child’s key person will often recommend activities to try at home to support your child’s development. We also loan out resources for you to take home and use with your child that are specific to their individual learning needs. This may include threading or tweezer activities to support fine motor skills, or puppets and story bags for language development.

We encourage home learning with all children and families through these popular and enjoyable ways:

  • Curly the Caterpillar is our soft toy caterpillar that goes home with a different child each week. He has a diary that documents all of his exciting times with the children!
  • Ballerina Spider was our original pre-school hamster (NOT a spider) who went home with children during the weekends and school holidays! He has recently been replaced by Mrs Browni(don’t ask!), who also loves to visit the children at home!
  • Each child has a Book Bag and Reading Record. They love to choose a book to take home and read with you!
  • All children will also get the opportunity to take home a variety of Physical Activity Bags during the academic year. These activities range from stepping stones, a balance path, a peddle walker and more..
  • Seasonal Tasks are provided during school holidays. For example, during October half term, each child takes home a special bag to collect Autumnal things during their week away from pre-school. The children then bring them in to show us, which provokes lovely discussions about their time hunting for Autumn treasures in the park, woods or their garden!
  • Whenever we carryout Cooking Activities with the children, we will provide you with the recipe to try at home!