The EYFS prompted me to completely rethink the role of key workers. At our training day I led a discussion on key workers and we decided that first of all it would be better to describe the relationship in terms of a 'key person', reflecting that the role should be about the people and less about the work involved.
I felt we had been tokenistic in our approach to key workers and sometimes it was more about what was convenient to staff than what was best for the children. We did a comparison between what the role was and how we would really like it to work. I asked staff to look at many things from nappy changing to meal times to parental communication, and identified several ways we could improve the outcomes for the children by changing our approach, making the relationship between the children and their key person at the centre of all we do.
One aspect I felt strongly about was using each child's key person in the planning cycle. If we were building these strong relationships, then it was important to use this to plan activities and opportunities around that child. All the staff have developed an understanding of good observations of the children and how these must be the focus of planning.
Having each child's key person involved in both planning activities and providing the continuous provision for the children has meant that our planning responds to and reflects the children's individual needs. The relationship and bond grows stronger and the key person can engage with the child's family with increasing confidence in their understanding of that child and reassure the family that their child is being well cared for.
We now have a culture where the key person has ultimate responsibility for ensuring their key children's needs are met. Even if they are not at nursery they must 'hand over' that responsibility to someone else and be accountable for it. I believe we have a staff focused on the outcomes for the children, who put the children at the centre of what we do.
