the nursery years but in school, says Working Mum.
We're now a term in to the new regime of 'big school' and I'm getting used to the rather anonymous routine of depositing and collecting my elder daughter at the classroom door. After being accustomed to the warm interactions of a day nursery, I admit the shock of school for me was that regular personal interaction with my child's carers has stopped.
It's a shame, but with the demands of 31 children in my daughter's class I have to accept that having regular chats with the teacher is not practical unless there is a particular issue. Letters in her book bag and a weekly newsletter have replaced direct communication, but I have gradually become reassured that the school does value my input into my child's education.
A couple of weeks after DD1 (Dear Daughter 1) started in Reception class, parents were invited to a 'Meet the Teacher' session where the teacher explained the routines of the day, talked about practicalities such as providing wellies and spare clothes and answered any questions. She also told us that her door was always open and that she's happy to return phone calls.
Unfortunately, a few weeks later I had to put this to the test when DD1 was admitted to hospital. I was impressed that her teacher responded quickly to my phone message once the school day had ended. She sounded genuinely concerned about my daughter and reassured me that they would be able to administer her medication when she returned to school. Thankfully, I haven't needed to raise any more concerns with her, but I now know that she will listen and that counts for a lot.
PARENT WORKSHOPS
Parents of Reception children have been invited to two workshops since school started, on how to help our children with reading and numeracy. I was pleased that working parents were considered and the sessions were held in the early evening as well as during the day. I found them really interesting - I had no idea what Numicons and number lines were, and the suggestions for how to encourage DD1 with her reading were helpful. We're often told we are expected to work in partnership with the school and these workshops were supportive of that.
As a parent, I want my child to be regarded as an individual, not just one of a large anonymous class of pupils. My husband and I left our first parent-teacher meeting feeling happy that, in just a couple of months, DD1's teacher had got to know our child. She didn't fall back on meaningless data, but spoke knowledgeably about our daughter's personality and specifically how she is still weighing people up rather than making friends.
This is an issue we'd identified, but the teacher mentioned it first. It's not a problem, just something to be aware of, and we're confident that DD1 will be encouraged and supported if necessary in collaboration with us.
I do miss the seemingly incidental chats, but I am reassured that DD1's school values parental engagement and we are building a relationship that should last throughout her time at primary school.
A word of advice
Open and regular dialogue between teachers and parents is central to best practice, says Rosamund McNeil, head of education at the National Union of Teachers
Best practice in the early years is very child focused. It starts with the child and builds out from there. As a result, teachers will naturally want to talk to parents and carers quite regularly and pick up any concerns that they may have about a child.
For instance, if there are any perceived problems with a child's fine motor skills, they may suggest activities to do at home, such as cutting and sticking. This type of activity will support skills - like drawing or writing - that the setting will be seeking to develop in the child.
In the first instance, when a child starts school or nursery, teachers in early years generally do a home visit and talk to the parents and the child to find out what their interests are. This information can then be built into the teacher's planning, which will often focus on a 'target' child in a particular week with activities based around that child's interests. Such an approach also enables focused observations by the teacher on the child's emotional, social and academic development.
Most early years settings will let families know the themes for the following week's activities and encourage them to bring in topic-related objects from home.
Progress reports
The early years setting will also keep portfolios of the child's progress through the year, including photographs of the child participating in activities and examples of their work. Building such portfolios is a very useful way to convey to parents how a child is developing.
It is vital that the child's emotional development is nurtured, and again teachers will ensure that dialogue between families and themselves remains open. Teachers will be very keen to be informed about any change in circumstances, such as the death of a grandparent, which can have a profound effect on young children.
