Nursery World - Positive Relationships: All in a day's work

Supporting a child and parent who have Spanish as their first language was a new experience for Nicola Bushell and Hayley Cannell, joint managers of Oakey Dokeys Pre-School in Essex.

At the end of the summer holidays last year, a new family, recently arrived from Venezuela, found their way to our setting. This was an exciting time for us because it was one of our first opportunities to support a child with English as an Additional Language (EAL). Subsequently, during the holiday break, we began to look for guidance from practitioners on supporting such children and their families.

The first day of the new term came, and our administrator helped the mother with the necessary form filling, explaining all about the setting as the day progressed. The mother explained that the father was British and was fluent in Spanish, so that while Spanish was their home language, he would also speak English sometimes with Jake.

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