Parent consultations are held termly at each of our day nurseries and are a valuable way in which we share information between a child’s parent/carer and their key person.
So many little steps and moments happen in each child’s day at nursery that parents would love to hear about, we know that it’s not always plausible to thoroughly update a parent on their child’s whole day in the short drop off and pick up times that you have together; especially if you’re one of the many parents who has a busy schedule to work around. Our parent consultations gives parents one-to-one time you need to be fully informed of your child’s development, well-being, growing fascinations and emerging friendships.
At Tops Day Nurseries, we understand that it’s paramount to how a key person builds a close relationship with a child to have the parent’s input, as their first educator, into the equation. These meetings can really help you to convey details of your child’s persona that can help us be the best we can be at supporting your child’s needs. There may be personality traits, habits or personal preferences your child shows at home that we have never seen whilst they’re in daycare that could really help us bond with them and make them feel at home.
We also feel it is important to support effective communication at times of transition; for example, moving through the nursery units or the transition through to school for our pre-school children. Transitions at home are equally important; such as moving house, going through mourning or gaining a brother or sister. As adults, we tend to take these sorts of lifestyle changes in our stride but for a young child constantly learning about these stepping stones in life, they can be very confusing. This confusion or unbalance can make them upset or they may become distracted in nursery. A Key Person would be none the wiser if they didn’t know about this transition period going on in their life. For example, once we know that your two year old is about to have a baby sister this is when we can start having group discussions specifically about families in our circle times and read them books about families gaining babies and how important they are as a big sibling with a baby to help look after.
As parents you could be anywhere on the spectrum of knowledge of our nursery curriculum and the Early Years Foundation Stages that we work around. This meeting with your key person gives you the time to find out what stage your child is at in the development brackets we work around. We can talk about what age group targets your child has achieved, whether their excelling beyond their years in some areas or struggling in others. This is the perfect time to compare what your child does at home with what they do at nursery. For example, your key worker could express worries that your child is great when running and negotiating space, making lots of social interactions but isn’t showing any interest in using pencils or stationary to mark-make or draw pictures but you, as a parent could assure them that your child loves drawing at home and put both your minds at ease. This is also when you could express any worries you have at home for your child so that your key person could put specific focus onto whatever area of development you’re concerned about. From here we can come to a conclusive overview of the term’s development and look forward 
to extending their learning opportunities for next term.
These meeting are also important to build a good relationship between you and the key person. Of course it is imperative that your child feels comfortable with their key person but it’s also essential that you do. We want you to feel happy to leave your child with us knowing that we are up to date and fully informed with whatever is necessary to best nourish them on a day-to-day basis.
For more information on Parent Consultations please ask at the nursery. We look forward to welcoming you to next terms consultations and sharing your child’s interests, explorations and achievements.
