Parental Partnerships

Par­ents have a right to be involved in all aspects of their children’s learn­ing. The cen­tre works closely with par­ents to build a shared under­stand­ing about the roles and respon­si­bil­i­ties in nur­tur­ing young chil­dren and their learn­ing. Research has shown that when fam­i­lies are actively involved in their child’s learn­ing, they demon­strate higher lev­els of achieve­ment. At Green­fields we value par­ents as the first edu­ca­tors of their chil­dren and so seek to work in part­ner­ship with them. This strong rela­tion­ship begins in the process of home vis­its and devel­ops when the child starts the nursery. There are a num­ber of ways par­ents can become involved in the nurs­ery including:

• Read­ing sto­ries to small groups of chil­dren in home languages
• Sup­port­ing chil­dren on the computers
• Mak­ing resources for use in the classroom
• Cut­ting fruit and veg­eta­bles for the children
• Accom­pa­ny­ing chil­dren and staff on local visits
• Help­ing with cook­ing activities

Cur­ricu­lum days are a good oppor­tu­nity for par­ents to come in to the nurs­ery and see what the chil­dren do in the nurs­ery and how they are learn­ing through a range of play experiences.

There are termly open evenings which give an oppor­tu­nity for par­ents to dis­cuss their child’s progress with a mem­ber of staff and set tar­gets for them to work towards in the fol­low­ing term.

The Cen­tre has an open door pol­icy where par­ents always have the daily oppor­tu­nity to com­mu­ni­cate with the Head of Cen­tre and staff if they have any con­cerns about their child.