Working with parents policy

We aim to work in partnership with parents and carers to meet the needs of the children we care for.

We respect that parents are children’s first and most enduring educators. When parents and practitioners work together in early year’s settings, the results have a positive impact on children’s development and learning.

We treat all children and adults equally and create a welcoming, inclusive environment in my home.

Procedure (how we put the statement into practice)

We keep up to date about working in partnership with parents and carers and with relevant legislation by taking regular training and by reading relevant publications such as;
The Childcare Professional and Nursery World.
All parents have access to our website where they can view all our policies and procedures, information about the types of activities provided, the daily routines and how parents can share learning at home.

Contracts and records

We draw up and sign a written contract with parents before the placement starts. The contract is signed by the parents and ourselves and dated. We give a copy to the parent and any other party involved in the contractual arrangements.
We review the contract with parents every six months or when circumstances change.
We issue a confirmation of receipt for all payments if requested by parents.
We meet parents’ requests for the care of their children according to their values and practices, preferences and attitudes
e.g.; if parent requests that their child does not play out in bad weather, or who asks that their son does not play with dolls.
We keep records of these requests with the child record forms which also contain emergency contact numbers, dietary requirements/preferences, food allergies, health requirements, and information about who has legal contact with the child and who has parental responsibility for the child. These records are revisited and updated during regular reviews with parents.

Communication with parents

We work together with parents to make sure that the care of their child is consistent.
We make time for discussion about a child’s needs by sharing information with parents about daily routines and activities in my setting and in the child’s home.
Ways of sharing this information can include inviting parents to add to children’s profile books, email, telephone, face-to-face meetings, and informal day to day feedback.
We will discuss any changes in our or the child’s home circumstances which may impact on the child’s development or my ability to care for a child.
We offer regular (quarterly) review meetings with parents to discuss their child’s learning and development share observations and discuss next steps.
We welcome parents’ feedback on our service. Please refer to our Complaints Policy on our procedures for managing negative feedback.
We display our Ofsted registration certificate and the Ofsted poster for parents which introduce Ofsted's childcare responsibilities and give Ofsted contact details.

Ofsted inspections

We will notify all parents in advance when we are to be inspected by Ofsted so that parents can contribute their views to the inspector.
We will supply parents with a copy of the Ofsted report within five working days of receiving the report.
All significant incidents are recorded in an incident book and will be shared and discussed with parents so that we can work together to resolve any issues.

If there is anything in this policy that you are unclear about or unhappy with, please email us or contact us