Dear Parents,
Thank you very much to everyone who took the time to fill in our parent questionnaire and for the positive and helpful responses.
From the results of the questionnaire and after consultation with staff on how we can improve our current practice and the services we offer, we will be implementing the following changes in September or when possible.
- We are planning on changing the kitchen layout to include a cooker so children can be involved in more cooking activities and make their own lunches more often.
- Keep to the green and red keyperson teams so every child always has a keyperson on every session.
- New starters will continue to have several taster sessions, and one first session just for them to find pegs, drawers and to become familiar with the environment before the other children return.
- We will continue with staggered drop off and pick up times as this has worked well and most parents mentioned how well this works and that children settled very well, and they had more time to speak to keypersons.
Most parents praised the feedback and support they received from their keyperson team, however a couple of parents wished for more informal feedback on their children’s progress, one suggested Tapestry but this was looked into before and most parents preferred the hard copy of a learning journey. Please talk to your individual key persons if you would like more information or feedback of any kind, it should be a two way relationship, built up over time, as all parents are different and like different types of feedback, we need to get to know what each family requires. One parent expressed the need for more balanced feedback to reflect the positives, not just the negatives and that they did not know who to make a complaint to or raise a concern with. We do always try to do this, so are sorry in this instance it did not seem so. If you have any difficulties that you cannot bring up with your keyperson please contact the Pre-school Leader Kathryn. If you then still have concerns contact the Chair of the Pre-school, if your concerns are then not answered, contact Ofsted. All numbers are located on our website and parent notice board and in our policies on the website page.
Most parents praised the excellent partnership working between keypersons and with parents. Many parents were pleased with the information on the parent’s website and Facebook page, and would like to receive information by email, one parent would prefer that toast was not offered at snack times, but we sometimes do this when we know children have had an early breakfast or refused breakfast at home that day. The weekly snack is listed in the newsletters and on the face book page, and the parent’s notice board.
Somebody suggested having a Special Needs Coordinator. Sally has always been our coordinator or SENCO and Naomi is our Deputy SENCO. If a child has additional needs, they put together an individual plan for them and coordinate with outside agencies for additional support.
One parent suggested the use of themes to plan activities round. This is more for the national curriculum in primary schools, as it is adult led. Early Years should be child initiated activities, planned from our observations of the children’s interests the week before.
Most parents were very happy and positive about their children’s Early Years’ experience and we thank you for all your lovely comments. Lots of parents commented on the lovely atmosphere and the very clean well-presented environment, and excellent use of the space and facilities on offer.
Once again thank you for your support.
Kathryn Cosser
Pre-school Leader