Nursery World - Working with nurseries: Two-way talk

The importance of helping parents to be involved with their child's life at nursery is explained by Jean Evans, while you can offer them our cut-out-and-keep guide

Nursery staff who keep parents at arm's length because they fear criticism and interference are now, fortunately, few and far between. The role of parents as the first educators of their children is increasingly recognised. Nursery inspectors look for evidence of a successful 'parent partnership' and consider four aspects:

Straightforward, accurate, easily understood information for parents is essential. In practice, it can sometimes be either scant or too complex.

Parents should be helped to feel comfortable about asking for explanations if they have doubts. They should also be made familiar with the nursery's educational aims, for example by looking at displayed plans and photograph albums. Records of achievement or progress files must be easily accessible - if necessary these can be discussed more fully in formal meetings, or written reports can be sent home.

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