STARTING POINTS: Part 3 - Adriana, 14 months

By Julia Manning-Morton, an independent consultant, trainer and author (www.key-times.co.uk/profiles/). She specialises in practice and provision that meets the needs of children under three and is an expert on the personal, social and emotional well-being of children and practitioners. Her publications include Two-Year-Olds In Early Years Settings: Journeys Of Discovery (2015) and Exploring Well-being in the Early Years (2014)

ADRIANA, 14 MONTHS

Fourteen-month-old Adriana lives in a flat on a new estate on the outskirts of a Norfolk village, with her 20-year-old mother, Ashley. Adriana is white European; her mother is English and has grown up and lived in the area all her life. Her father, Miguel, is Spanish, lives between England and Spain, and sees Adriana occasionally.
Her grandparents, Christine and Martin, live in the neighbouring village, and Ashley and Adriana spend a lot of time at their house, where Adriana enjoys the company of her young uncle and aunt, Ryan and Jenna.
Ashley is completing her training in hospitality and tourism. When she is at college or on placement, Adriana is looked after by her grandmother, now a registered childminder. Christine was happy to support Ashley and Adriana because she could see that, as a young and inexperienced mother, Ashley was struggling at times with parenthood. However, Ashley was keen to complete her training so she could provide well for Adriana in the future.