Guest Posted October 20, 2009 Posted October 20, 2009 My EYFS leader (who doesn't/hasn't) taught in YR/EYFS wants me to visit children and their parents in their homes before they start school. I already visit nurseries/playgroups during my PPA time to see the children in their familiar settings and chat to their key workers. I am happy to arrange to meet with the parents but feel this should happen in school. The leader thinks parents open up more and ask the questions they wouldn't be comfortable asking in a school environment and I get to see what the children's behaviour is like at home. At the moment I think this is being nosey, possibly dangerous for me, I'm not comfortable with doing it and as a parent I would have hated it and felt it was intrusive. I've now been told that 'outstanding' schools are ones that do this and it is considered best practise. Is this true? What do you think? Do you do it?
Guest Posted October 20, 2009 Posted October 20, 2009 My EYFS leader (who doesn't/hasn't) taught in YR/EYFS wants me to visit children and their parents in their homes before they start school. I already visit nurseries/playgroups during my PPA time to see the children in their familiar settings and chat to their key workers. I am happy to arrange to meet with the parents but feel this should happen in school. The leader thinks parents open up more and ask the questions they wouldn't be comfortable asking in a school environment and I get to see what the children's behaviour is like at home. At the moment I think this is being nosey, possibly dangerous for me, I'm not comfortable with doing it and as a parent I would have hated it and felt it was intrusive. I've now been told that 'outstanding' schools are ones that do this and it is considered best practise. Is this true? What do you think? Do you do it? Ive worked in education nurseries years and always done home visits, but NEVER go on your own. It can be an advantage as you do get a feeling for the child's home life.The parent and child visit the nursery first and i inform the parents of the home vidit then,but if the parents dont want it to happen i don't go. If you don't feel happy about doing them i would speak to your leader again and perhaps do them together. Hope this helps Gill x
mps09 Posted October 20, 2009 Posted October 20, 2009 This is one of the things encouraged in the EYFS, and we have started doing this. This is the paragraph we include in our welcome pack to new parents (which they get about a month or so before the child is due to start). Evidence has shown that where children have the opportunity to meet their Key Person at home, they find it much easier to settle once they begin at a Pre-school environment as they have already met their Key Person in a safe and familiar place. This is something we would very much like to offer in order to help your child bond with us and make the most of their time at Marcham Pre-school. I always think that 'home visit' sounds too much like a check up which would definetly make parents feel uncomfortable! We do these visits on our own but generally we already know the people we are visiting. If anyone felt uncomfortable visiting someone then we would got in pairs. They've been successful so far and I think it's great to offer them, but as already said, we don't make it sound compulsory
Upsy Daisy Posted October 20, 2009 Posted October 20, 2009 Children need to build their learning on their existing knowledge and understanding and it needs to be based on experiences which are relevant and meaningful to them. By seeing them in their home situation you should get a better picture of their level of development as they will hopefully be in an environment in which they are confident and at ease. It will also help you to plan experiences in school which are meaningful to them. A child who does not have a tv at home may not engage well in your superhero project. I agree with other posters though. Don't go alone and always leave details or where you will be and when you expect to return.
blondie Posted October 20, 2009 Posted October 20, 2009 i would agree -you should never go on our own - make arrangements to go with someone else - one person to chat with the child the other to chat with the parent/carer - make a list of questions/topics you wish to cover, but dont spend too long asking questions a general chat will ghive you lots of info. one thing we found was we werent covered by our insurance when making home visits so had to amend this with our company.
Guest Posted October 21, 2009 Posted October 21, 2009 My EYFS leader (who doesn't/hasn't) taught in YR/EYFS wants me to visit children and their parents in their homes before they start school. I already visit nurseries/playgroups during my PPA time to see the children in their familiar settings and chat to their key workers. I am happy to arrange to meet with the parents but feel this should happen in school. The leader thinks parents open up more and ask the questions they wouldn't be comfortable asking in a school environment and I get to see what the children's behaviour is like at home. At the moment I think this is being nosey, possibly dangerous for me, I'm not comfortable with doing it and as a parent I would have hated it and felt it was intrusive. I've now been told that 'outstanding' schools are ones that do this and it is considered best practise. Is this true? What do you think? Do you do it? I have always done Home Visits - they provide a valuable picture of the child's background and interests and my experience is that parents and enjoy it and feel they can have a good chat about school and their child - we provide a balloon for the child to hang up outside their house, which they love. However, I always go with a TA and leave a timetable at school so my whereabouts is known and we are given supply cover for this to happen during school. We also give the option for parents to come to the school for the chat, if they feel uncomfortable with a teacher coming to their home. Our HT also sometimes does the visits herself.
mundia Posted October 21, 2009 Posted October 21, 2009 I always did home visits and loved doing them. In all the years I did them, I only had one parent who refused, everyone else was very welcoming, and pleased that we had taken the time out to visit them. I often found parents say they were very anxious about bringing their children into school for the first time, especially if they had negative memories of school themselves, and just knowing that they had met you before made all the difference. We also found the children would talk about our visits years later, these events really do make an impact and in my view are well worth the time effort and commitment to do them. It is important to have a very clear policy on visit management such as always go in pairs; tell everyone where you are going; keep a mobile phone switched on; enquire about things such as dogs/other pets before hand especially if you have allergies; have a system in place for emergencies (I only ever had one but it is important to have one which you hope you will never need) Littlebigpaws, go for it, perhaps your EYFS leader could accompany you on early visits?
Guest Posted November 4, 2009 Posted November 4, 2009 Okay, okay, you've convinced me. However I don't think it would be unreasonable to ask that my TA goes with me or that it isn't in my own ppa time. Any tips on how to approach the parents, questions to ask etc?
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