Guest Biker Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 We have been reviewing our settling in procedures and currently we assign keyworkers before a child starts with us.This means we can let parents know who their child's keyworker will be. Parent and children spend one to one time with the keyworker at their settle visit and this works well and seems to help begin to build a partnership between them.However it seems over the first few sessions some children will be drawn to one of the other members staff which is fine and obviously we dont expect keyworkers and children to spend all the time together but if a child bonds with another member of staff then we are happy to swap keyworkers but it always seems a shame for the parents ! How does everyone else do this? Do you assign keyworkers straight away or wait and find out more about the child first. Sorry to ramble on but help please! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fizzy Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 we too assign keyworkers for when the child starts, but switch them around depending on who they bond and relate well to. some do get moved others stay with the one we choose for them. we find this works well for all concerned, the parents dont mind us swapping as its in the best intrest of the child. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 Hi Biker - Just chipping in to say you're not rambling on - the question is perfectly clear! And to welcome you to the Forum. Now I'll let cleverer people take over... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inge Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 we too swap if we feel the child would benefit... parents are happy if explained to them Inge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Wolfie Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 Sounds like a very sensible approach to me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
belle06 Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 Hi can not add anything to the excellent replies already given just wanted to say Hi and welcome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hali Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 hello and welcome from me - we swap too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rea Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 Hi biker, welcome I used to swop too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Biker Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 Thanks for the warm welcome! Also for sharing your practice.It is good to know what everyone else find works! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dublinbay Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 Hello and welcome to the forum Biker. Rambling is not prohibited on this site - you are joining the best of us! Our keyworker children are assigned when their sessions are sorted out. I only work Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday a.m. sessions so my key children would have to be in those sessions too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 Hi biker! When I used to run a pre-school we assignecd initially, but swapped if necessary later. Parents were fine with this, as they got to know all the team quite quickly. Now I'm in a Day Nursery, keyworkers are assigned when children begin, but any changes are largely academic to the parents, as they tend to have contact with the whole nursery team on a regular basis. So I suppose what I'm saying is - whatever suits! See, I can ramble too!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreamay Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 hiya same applys with us some staff are only in certain sessions so it does need to align with them and when children or staff change sessions unfortunatly they have to change key worker. i am in the process of organising some training on key worker system for the eyfs, and to meet one of my professional targets at uni. as also commented on parents have contact with 99% of the staff all the time and there is always either myself or my deputy in a session. The problem I have with assigning children before hand is out of the 9 staff there will always be the ones who refrain from building relationships with the new children and certainly from dealing with crying or more difficult ones!!! So it tends to be the stronger supervisors or sessional supervisors who deal with them.our key workers at present tend to be responsible for obs,photos and updating the childs profile,often prompted by me or dep.and we read profile afterwards and devise a playplan (mainly because we will see the child more than the staff anyhow) i need to get accross that they need to take responsiblity for all their key childs learning and wellbeing inline with the new eyfs. Another concern i have is the idea (from my understanding of it)that the key worker is the main communication with the parent of the child,Im sorry and majority are qualified but I cant trust some of my staff to be talking to parents and some staff wouldnt want to!We all have our strenghs and weaknesses and yes I know it is all about personal professional dev but some staff been with us years prob retire in the next 5 years or so but dont want the myther of more training and would probably want more money if they were expected to talk to parents other than our annual open evening!!! Sorry very long and hijacked post but it is all relevent and I would be interested what others think Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 Now I'm going to be the odd one out here! I don't assign keyworkers until the child has started.....basically because I wait and see who the child bonds with most. This is usually about 2 weeks into them starting, mean while the parent/carer can talk to any member of staff. Still must add though...even after this process we still change key workers if we feel it's best for the child. Guess it's just a case of what suits your setting best. mrsb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiles Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 Hi , I assign keypersons during the first few weeks of the child starting as I find this works beter for our team. We are a sessional preschool and I find assingning keypersons to children a nightmare. Staff work a variety of days with one lady and myself working 4/5 days. Unless I restrict the children days one staff member always ends up with lots of children. Have keyperson groups isnt always easy. Has any one any suggestions for me? smiles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreamay Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 Also do you find it isnt just the child ?(although ofcourse they are most important) If the new framework is saying that the keyworker is the main link between the parent and the child parents tend to be drawn to certain staff better than others,for instance very shy parents need a certain type of relationship and so do pushy ones who would walk all over some of my staff.The problem i have is all my staff would need to go on training on how to deal with parents.I dont mean it to sound as if the staff dont talk to parents of course they do and we are all a friendly bunch but any concerns or issues with the child would come via me or my deputy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 This has raised a lot of debate within our setting as previously the children had key workers and groups and stayed with them for a term or even a year but as mentioned by others this was not always successful as the children were not really known by all the staff and then problems arose when one person was off sick or on PPA as the children were so relient on them being there. (and some were stronger staff than others) We currently do home visits and it tends to be those that visited who the parents go to when they start but we all try to get to know all the children and talk every day about what we have observed. As class teacher I also feel I want to know all the children reallly well as I am the one who holds the parent consultations/ deals with issues that arise and would prefer to be talking from first hand experience!! We are a close team however and I think that this works for us because of that. We have a very happy settled group of children who although some may go to a 'favourite' member of staff do this through choice and the majority are equally happy to settle with all members of the team. Sorry I've gone on a bit and its very waffly, will stop now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Wolfie Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 That makes perfect sense to me! I think at the end of the day, every setting needs to work out what works best for them, there can't be a hard and fast set of rules that suits everybody. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreamay Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 yes I think that is the case Wolfie and as said as Supervisor I need to know all the children really well and we too are a close team its just the vision of some of my staff either not being tactful enough or being over the top that worries me,think i will think it through some more and decide best policy for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MaryEMac Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 We assign keyworkers after the child has been at the setting for a few sessions. That allows us to see if the child bonds with any particular member of staff. As a small group we find that we are all involved with all of the children, all of the time and feedback to the keyworker at end of the session. When I went on the second part of my EYFS training we were told that a child can be assigned a keyworker but can also have a key person in the setting and they may not always be the same person. Mary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreamay Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 thanks mary that useful to know Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 really useful thread-thanks everyone We are introducing key workers from September and wondering on the best approach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie-pops Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 Hi - similarly to others on here, our keychildren are usually assigned according to the days they are in ( most staff work 3 or 4 days - only one person is in everyday). Keyworkers could be changed if it proved an issue but in practice it doesn't usually happen that way. We make incidental observations on all the children anyway, we have a zip file for all staff to contribute obs and notes about children who are not their keychildren. Parents speak to whoever they feel most comfortable to talk to. This may be the keyworker, it may be another member of staff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 15, 2008 Share Posted February 15, 2008 (edited) Hi Biker, I am a fellow newbi to this site too. Good question I think you should do what suites your setting best. I was assigned some key worker children at the beggining of Jan, some of whom I have bonded with and some of whom I haven't as much. This was not through choice I have to add these particular children seem to have bonded better with my colleague and I with a few of hers. Anyway I am interested to know if you would recommend swapping if you were in that boat B Edited February 15, 2008 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rea Posted February 15, 2008 Share Posted February 15, 2008 Hi sylhet, welcome to the forum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hali Posted February 15, 2008 Share Posted February 15, 2008 hello and welcome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreamay Posted February 16, 2008 Share Posted February 16, 2008 it would be a good idea to swop but what you cant have happening is children being swopped all the time as it isnt fair on the parents and becareful what is said 'I havent bonded with your child' doesnt go down well!! also you may have the scenario where some staff would pick and choose the 'easy' children. I think as a leader if those children you havent bonded with HAS firmly attached themselves to somebody else then move them otherwise try and get to know them first,very often the staff will say 'you know I couldnt connect with this child at first but now we hav ereally clicked' Good luck Andrea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Biker Posted February 16, 2008 Share Posted February 16, 2008 Hi Biker, I am a fellow newbi to this site too. Good question I think you should do what suites your setting best. I was assigned some key worker children at the beggining of Jan, some of whom I have bonded with and some of whom I haven't as much. This was not through choice I have to add these particular children seem to have bonded better with my colleague and I with a few of hers. Anyway I am interested to know if you would recommend swapping if you were in that boat B Hi Sylhet. Welcome I know you will enjoy this site it is so addictive! In reply to your question I think it has to be looked at on an individual basis.In my current setting I would be happy for keyworkers to swap children as i know they will have tried their best to get to know their keyworker children.In my opinion children are not so different from adults we gravitate towards different kinds of people according to our own personality. Thanks to everyone who responded to my original question your replies have been really helpful. Biker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 16, 2008 Share Posted February 16, 2008 Just wondering how much time other settings spend in keyworker groups. At the moment I am not a keyworker for any of the children - the other members of staff are keyworkers for the children but as a setting we never spend any time in keyworker groups. My friend who works at a different preschool spends nearly all of her day with just her assigned group of children. I think the way we do things works well because the children get to know all of the staff and don't become too attached or reliant on one person. I suppose it depends whether you are full daycare or sessional as well. We are only sessional. Sally Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 16, 2008 Share Posted February 16, 2008 Hi Sally Our keyworkers don't actually work with just their own children at any time. The keyworker is a point of contact for parents in our setting and when the children first start they are the member of staff the child would be handed over to. We have small group time when the children have a 10-15 minute session but it can be with any member of staff. This gives us all the opportunity to get to know the children, which, for us, means that we can all discuss where we feel a child is up to and we all do observations on all the children. We will change their keyworker if we feel it is necessary, but on the whole we haven't really had to on too many occasions. Linda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Biker Posted February 17, 2008 Share Posted February 17, 2008 Hi SallyOur keyworkers don't actually work with just their own children at any time. The keyworker is a point of contact for parents in our setting and when the children first start they are the member of staff the child would be handed over to. We have small group time when the children have a 10-15 minute session but it can be with any member of staff. This gives us all the opportunity to get to know the children, which, for us, means that we can all discuss where we feel a child is up to and we all do observations on all the children. We will change their keyworker if we feel it is necessary, but on the whole we haven't really had to on too many occasions. Linda We are an extended school so some children attend on a sessional basis and some will be using our service as full daycare. keyworkers are the people who spend time getting to know the child and their family at their initial settle visits .After that they are someone for parents to share any concerns and acheivements with. Although we all continue to observe all children keyworkers target two or three children each week to particularly focus on they are also responsible for recording in their records of acheivement and for targetting those children the following week for activities.In practice all staff work with all children though circle time is usually with keyworker groups . The keyworker is hopefully the person who is there to support the child through their settle period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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