Getting Established
Extract from Coram Family and Childcare Trust report
While it may feel like opening your nursery is reaching the final destination, this is in fact only the very beginning of the journey. It is important that all the principals that you adopted in deciding how your nursery was set up and structured continue as the nursery continues to develop.
How will you review and refresh the aims and focus of the nursery?
The wants and needs of the local community are likely to develop and change over time and so it’s important to continue to engage with and listen to feedback from families in order to make sure the nursery is able to adapt to meet these needs. This can be done through formal routes such as surveys, but also through the ongoing informal conversations that parents, directors and staff have on a daily basis.
How will you continue to recruit and develop parental roles?
The Parent Director group will play the key role in making sure that key decisions are made by the local community. Given the short period of time that children attend nursery (particularly if the nursery only looks after children over two years old), it is likely that each Parent Director will only serve for a couple of years. This means that it is necessary to always be looking for new parents who might be able to take on the role. The section on agreeing Parent Directors gives lots of information about promoting the role and supporting parents to feel able to take it on. The approach to doing this remains broadly the same even once the nursery is open.
How will you support staff and parents to develop strong partnerships?
The Parent Directors and nursery staff should continue to work closely with the families using the nursery as well as the wider community. It is worth considering formal and informal ways for gathering feedback from the families using the nursery such as surveys or parents meetings as well as informal conversations at drop off and pick up. Friendly Families nursery is developing regular opportunities to come together, such as monthly meetings and informal play sessions and linking new families to an existing 'buddy' to help explain how the nursery works.
How will you continue the conversations with the wider community?
It can also be useful to continue to run community events at the weekend to engage a wider group of families so that they can find out more about the nursery and to hear more about their wants and needs. There should be processes in place so that this feedback is shared with all Parent Directors and staff and informs ongoing decision making.
How will you continue to keep transparency and involvement around decision making?
Some of the bigger decisions around the running of the nursery will require greater involvement from the parents using the nursery and you will need to decide the best way to support this. It might be that different parents preferred different ways of being involved, for example, some might want the ability to vote or give their opinion remotely, whereas others might prefer the opportunity to attend meetings with other parents. The most important aspect is that it is clear and transparent for parents to know how they can get involved and what they can expect to be able to have a say on. As far as possible this should be in a format that meets the needs of the parents involved.
Summary
Opening the nursery is the beginning of the next phase. As new groups of parents join the nursery it is important to have plans in place to ensure new families are aware of the ‘story so far’ at the nursery and to continue to reach out to the wider community.
How will you review and refresh the aims and focus of the nursery?
The wants and needs of the local community are likely to develop and change over time and so it’s important to continue to engage with and listen to feedback from families in order to make sure the nursery is able to adapt to meet these needs. This can be done through formal routes such as surveys, but also through the ongoing informal conversations that parents, directors and staff have on a daily basis.
How will you continue to recruit and develop parental roles?
The Parent Director group will play the key role in making sure that key decisions are made by the local community. Given the short period of time that children attend nursery (particularly if the nursery only looks after children over two years old), it is likely that each Parent Director will only serve for a couple of years. This means that it is necessary to always be looking for new parents who might be able to take on the role. The section on agreeing Parent Directors gives lots of information about promoting the role and supporting parents to feel able to take it on. The approach to doing this remains broadly the same even once the nursery is open.
How will you support staff and parents to develop strong partnerships?
The Parent Directors and nursery staff should continue to work closely with the families using the nursery as well as the wider community. It is worth considering formal and informal ways for gathering feedback from the families using the nursery such as surveys or parents meetings as well as informal conversations at drop off and pick up. Friendly Families nursery is developing regular opportunities to come together, such as monthly meetings and informal play sessions and linking new families to an existing 'buddy' to help explain how the nursery works.
How will you continue the conversations with the wider community?
It can also be useful to continue to run community events at the weekend to engage a wider group of families so that they can find out more about the nursery and to hear more about their wants and needs. There should be processes in place so that this feedback is shared with all Parent Directors and staff and informs ongoing decision making.
How will you continue to keep transparency and involvement around decision making?
Some of the bigger decisions around the running of the nursery will require greater involvement from the parents using the nursery and you will need to decide the best way to support this. It might be that different parents preferred different ways of being involved, for example, some might want the ability to vote or give their opinion remotely, whereas others might prefer the opportunity to attend meetings with other parents. The most important aspect is that it is clear and transparent for parents to know how they can get involved and what they can expect to be able to have a say on. As far as possible this should be in a format that meets the needs of the parents involved.
Summary
Opening the nursery is the beginning of the next phase. As new groups of parents join the nursery it is important to have plans in place to ensure new families are aware of the ‘story so far’ at the nursery and to continue to reach out to the wider community.
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