Skip to content We believe that the journey of early years is a shared adventure, and we are proud of the incredible bonds formed between our little ones, their parents, and our dedicated team.
Why is Parent Partnership Important in Early Years?
Engaging parents in their child’s learning journey is crucial, as it not only strengthens our community but also enhances the children’s overall experiences. When we work together, we can unlock endless opportunities for growth and development. Children benefit most from Early Years education and care when parents and settings work together in partnership. You and your child are entitled to expect courtesy and prompt attention to your needs and wishes. Our door is always open, and you will always receive a warm welcome. Confidentiality is maintained in all discussions about your child, except where there is concern for the child’s welfare (see safeguarding).
Your input is very important to us, and we welcome any new ideas that could improve our nursery. We recognise that your life skills, background, and culture are valuable resources for our nursery. You are always welcome to attend part or all of a nursery session and share some of your experiences or skills with us.
We work in partnership with our parents by implementing stay and play sessions, offering families the opportunity to engage in various activities together. These sessions include craft mornings and afternoons, reading time, afternoon tea, forest activities, cultural and festival celebrations, and much more. Parents can come along and spend the morning or afternoon with their child and other families, fostering a sense of community and enhancing their child's learning experience.
Once a month, we invite parents to join their child for breakfast. This is a wonderful opportunity to spend quality time with your children and interact with other parents and nursery staff in a relaxed and joyful setting. We offer a selection of pastries, fresh fruit, and fruit juice for you to enjoy together.
To ensure clear and effective communication, we use Nursery in a Box – our online system designed to keep parents in the loop! Each week, we send home exciting activities for you to enjoy with your little ones. At the end of your child's focus day, the keyworker will provide an in-depth handover, ensuring all areas of development are met and outlining appropriate next steps.
Our Parent Packs are designed to strengthen our parent partnership and support you at home with various important aspects of your child's early years development. Each Parent Pack is filled with valuable resources and guidance on topics like potty training, sleeping, welcoming new arrivals, oral health, and coping with bereavement.
We work closely with families by signposting them to various agencies for specific training or classes they may need. Emma and Becky, our qualified trainers, offer parent first aid classes, which many parents have attended. These sessions help parents feel more confident and prepared in case of an emergency, ensuring they have the necessary skills to keep their children safe.
We work in partnership with parents who have English as an Additional Language (EAL) by providing tailored support to them and their children. We actively gather key words in the child's home language and use online translation tools to share important information with parents through our online platform. Within the room, we utilize visual aids to assist communication and understanding. This approach ensures that both parents and children feel supported, included, and able to fully participate in the nursery experience.
We support families and children through all transitions, from starting nursery to moving to new rooms within our setting, and eventually transitioning to school. Our process begins with clear communication via Parent Admin, informing parents of their child's upcoming transition and providing a transition social story. We complete a thorough transition assessment and ensure a full handover from the current key worker to the new one, fostering familiarity and comfort for both the child and family. We also prioritise close collaboration with families during the transition to school, including visits to schools, welcoming school teachers to visit us, and sending out comprehensive information on school readiness. This holistic approach ensures that children and families feel supported and confident throughout these important changes.
Scallywags Nursery is currently using an exciting online programme which we use to complete your child’s learning journal as well as being our admin centre. The package Nursery in a Box, allows your child’s key person to complete a monthly focus day and collect photos and videos of your child using a tablet. It allows parents to log on using their own personal login details and to view and comment on these special moments, and to be able to contribute their own stories of the child’s life outside nursery whenever they wish to.
Nursery in a box is about capturing the magic of a child’s early years’ experience, and recording children’s learning in a way that is easy and fun. The team here work hard to ensure they know your children extremely well, we observe their play, development and interests, we assess what they know and what we want them to learn and then we plan activities and provision which will extend their development and teach them something new or help to bed in the skill they are already mastering. All of these things are done by using our understanding of child development and our knowledge of your child as an individual person.
Your child’s care diary will also be uploaded on this portal allowing for you to view how your child’s care needs have been met throughout the day e.g What your child has eaten, sleep routine, accidents and any messages / additional information
Nursery in a Box also allows parents to:
At Scallywags, we understand just how important sleep is in supporting a child’s overall development. With our forest school focus, we aim to nurture the whole child – socially, physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Restful sleep plays a vital role in each of these areas, helping children to thrive and make the most of their time with us.
That’s why we’re passionate about supporting families with their little ones’ sleep routines. Through parent partnerships, helpful support packs, and most importantly, by working closely with Charlotte – one of our wonderful Scallywags mummies and a local sleep consultant based in Hornchurch – we’re here to help your family find rest and rhythm.
Charlotte offers a warm, supportive approach to sleep, delivering both informative workshops and bespoke 1:1 sessions tailored to your child’s needs. She’s not only a valued member of our Scallywags community, but also a certified Safe Sleep practitioner and an active member of both the International Association of Child Sleep Consultants and the International Paediatric Sleep Association.
So if sleep has been a struggle, know you’re not alone – and help is right here. Supporting your child’s sleep so they can flourish at nursery is a joy and a privilege.
“Hiya, I’m Charlotte, an Infant Sleep Consultant based locally and I’m thrilled to be supporting the parents at Scallywags Nursery with their little ones sleep, offering sleep workshops and bespoke 1:1 sleep support.
I am an active member of both the International Association of Child Sleep Consultants, the International Paediatric Sleep Association, as well as holding a certificate in Safe Sleep, ensuring the sleep advice I give is line with Safer Sleep Guidelines.
In addition to this, I also support the local health visiting team in the Havering area as well the mums on the ‘Mums Matter’ programme with their sleep and mental health.
www.thegiftofsleep.uk
Instagram: @thegiftofsleep_uk
Or join the FREE Facebook support group, search ‘Sleepy Mummas Support Group’ for sleep tips.
At Scallywags we understand that starting nursery, moving from one room to another, changing settings or starting school is an exciting time for children, but can also be a challenging and anxious time for both children and their parent/carers. We are committed to putting the needs of the child first whilst working with each other, parents/carers and other professionals to make transitions as smooth as possible for all concern.
We realise having your child start nursery can be an anxious and scary time so we aim to make the settling in process the most relaxed and smooth transition as possible.
Although children moving from room to room as they reach a new age group have usually been with us at Scallywags for some time, we still see this as an important transition for them and feel that it is important that this is planned and carried out in a way that meets the needs of each individual child. An up to date transition form on the child will be completed by the original key person and handed over to the room leader prior to the child moving over. This information will contain child’s individual routine, likes, dislikes, any additional needs, the child’s developmental goals and next steps etc. The same process as “settling sessions” when children start nursery will occur when children move on to the next room, the child will have “hour” sessions leading up to the half day sessions in their new room. Once we feel the child is settled and confident in their new room and has formed lovely and strong relationships we will arrange a parents meeting to introduce the parents to the new key person and show them around the room.
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