Take twos... expanding to meet the need

Free early education for disadvantaged two-year-olds is an important stepping-stone for families, bringing many of them into contact for the first time with early learning and childcare. It can involve parents actively in their child's experience at nursery and continuing learning and development at home.

The London Borough of Merton's Lavender Children's Centre provides 90 places for children from three months to pre-school. In September 2011, to meet increasing local demand for two-year-old places, the centre opened a 20-place pre-school. Ten places are for funded children and ten are for fee-paying families. Currently, there are 26 on the register and the centre has a waiting list, so it plans to replicate this successful module at its other site in 2012.

The centre and nursery has a great deal of experience and knowledge in working with families to support children's learning. Their Ofsted report in January 2011 confirmed this by stating: 'The excellent partnership with parents and others who support children is an outstanding strength. Parents speak about their excitement on how their children are developing and learning. They feel totally involved and eager to contribute, as they consider the nursery is part of an extended family.'

The pre-school is very clear from the start about its expectations of parents' involvement in children's learning. A week of settling-in activities starts with short familiarisation sessions and builds up to a full three-hour session by Friday.

Throughout the week, parents attend information sessions and workshops on policies, procedures and partnership arrangements, school readiness, language and communication development, and home learning. Individual meetings with the child's key person are held to compile a detailed 'all about me' booklet.

After eight to 10 weeks, each family and the key person review children's progress. The initial 'all about me' information is used as a baseline for discussion, and parents and carers contribute to the review by identifying small steps and progress made. The pre-school recognises that engaging them helps reinforce understanding of how they are supporting learning through the things they are doing at home.

By working so closely, the pre-school has already identified a need for additional communication and language support and has scheduled a 'Chitter Chatter' session for 2012. A library is being planned so parents can borrow books to take home and share with their children.

FURTHER INFORMATION

James Hempsall is director of training and research provider Hempsalls www.hempsallsconsultancies.com.