We offer range of opportunities for mums and dads to become involved with the centre and to work with us for the benefit of their child.
Transition-Settling in
At Douglas Valley we recognise the importance of ensuring that times of transition for children are handled sensitively to ensure children and parents are supported and receive the information they need, at what can be an unsettling time for both children and parents. The key points of transition at Douglas Valley are:
- We have a range of procedures in place to help support children and parents during from home to the centre
- Between services e.g. babies to toddlers, toddlers to pre school, pre school to out of school club.
- From the Centre to school or other provision.
We have a range of procedures in place to help support children and parents during these changes and would encourage parents to talk to staff, particularly their child’s key person, about transition to alleviate any questions or worries.
Parental Involvement
We actively encourage mums and dads to be involved in their child's care and education.
Keyperson
Each child is allocated a key person when they start at the centre and they are available to speak to parents/carers on an informal basis at the beginning and end of sessions. Parents are welcome to look around the centre at any time convenient to staff.
Open days
We hold regular stay and play sessions where mums, dads, grandparents etc are welcome to join their children, find out what happens in the centre and how they can support their child’s learning and development.
In addition to the stay and play sessions we hold termly open days (3 per year) to ensure parents/carers receive regular information regarding their child’s progress.
Parents/carers helping in the centre
We welcome parent volunteers in any of our services. Please see your child’s key person or room leader for details. All adults working in the centre including volunteers have to have an Enhanced Criminal Bureau Records check. We will organise this for any of our volunteers.
Communication
In order to support our partnership work mums and dads are given a weekly newsletter which contains information and news about the centre as a whole and each of the individual services. We also have parents’ notice boards in each of the entrances to the centre.
Additional services
We also host a number of services that parents/carers can become involved in, such as Family Learning, parenting support, mother and toddler group and other support groups.
Consultation
We value your opinions and encourage parents/carers to input into the development of our services. At regular intervals throughout the year we ask parents/carers for their thoughts and ideas on various aspects of the service we offer.
