Guest Posted July 24, 2010 Posted July 24, 2010 Hi all, As part of my new job which starts in September I have been asked to compile an induction booklet for new children. I thought it could include photos of key areas and items within the setting. I will then do an introduction to all staff ending with child's key worker and explain what the key worker will do for their child. I will then explain that the parent may stay with their child for as long as necessary and complete any outstanding paperwork. However, apart from the photos I am not quite sure what to include for the child themselves. At my previous settings we just answered parent's questions on the first day and it was all very informal - I have never been asked to compile a booklet or checklist before. Does anyone have any ideas please or an example if any of you do children's inductions. Thank you
Guest Posted July 24, 2010 Posted July 24, 2010 Hello We have a welcome booklet (more for parents) which I am going to update through the hols, but would be interesting to see what other settings do! Good luck with your new job
finleysmaid Posted July 24, 2010 Posted July 24, 2010 sorry Emma can i ask do you mean for the children or for the parents?
Guest Posted July 24, 2010 Posted July 24, 2010 (edited) quote Good luck with your new job Thanks! We have a prospectus for parents but hoping the children will like having their own 'welcome' book as well - rather than having a setting book would be nice for the child to take home and talk about with their parents I think. Edited July 24, 2010 by Guest
Inge Posted July 24, 2010 Posted July 24, 2010 I made a booklet once of pictures around the setting which showed our routine, and things we felt the child might like to see... I made it into a little story about us and parents used to read it to the children.. simple things like.. when you arrive you will xxxxx... and went though the routine of the day.... it had pictures of where coats were hung, register, story, quiet area, activities we did, visual timetable etc etc.. included pictures of the staff, and as children came for a visit with parents the term before they started we managed to get a picture or two of them in the setting to include... this was our induction day.. a day in the setting with parents ... gave us time to meet the child and parent. time for them to ask any questions etc.. and show child where things were. it helped with them knowing 'what comes next' and other things we felt the children often 'worried' about.. a few times for those who found it hard to settle I did one with them in it all the way through to take home for parents to read and look at with them at home... its a long time since I did this but all liked it... Inge
finleysmaid Posted July 25, 2010 Posted July 25, 2010 I have produced these for children with SEN who needed extra support on entry - i would love to do it for everyone but they all go to different schools and not all of them are forthcoming with information! (i'm pre-school sending into schools!)also a cost that we couldn't afford. Anyway what i would say is that the children going into school are always worried about toilets, food and friends(playground times)- they never seem to be too bothered about teachers(sorry!) some need to know how the routine goes and an idea of what will happen to them during the day. Is this going to be a two way thing...so are there going to be fill inpages with what they like to do/play with/what they don't like etc? or are your feeder units already doing this? might be quite nice to ask them what they would like to play with when they get to you. Sounds like quite a lot of work to set up but great once done. be careful that you are not re-inventing the wheel with any previous settings. I have prospectus' for all schools and often photos too that are discussed with the children before they leave.
Guest Posted July 26, 2010 Posted July 26, 2010 that a nice idea havin a booklet of photo's for the children but expensive when you have 20 new children starting
Inge Posted July 26, 2010 Posted July 26, 2010 (edited) the ones we did really did not cost as much as we expected them to .. only about 4 sides of A4 was enough - I did them A5 size and were 6 pages..(so 3 x A4) Pictures were mostly generic ones.. so only changed when we changed layout.. even then they seldom changed as we may move them but the item looks the same.. and yes there was a picture of the toilets! I had them on a PC and slotted in any pictures of the child if I had one , not always possible. printing was on normal paper fast draft was more than adequate for the purpose.. and several parents returned them for reuse... if you put a note in them asking for this ... they were very popular, ans had parents also feel more involved and 'in the know' about everything as well as the children. Inge Edited July 26, 2010 by Inge
Guest Posted July 26, 2010 Posted July 26, 2010 Yes, Suer I agree. We are a village playgroup and as far as I can tell so far we only have a small intake. The problem I have just found is that my first day is also the first day of one of the children so I will not have a chance to take photos of the activities, only the setting, before we start. Mmmm, perhaps I will have to revise my ideas!
Inge Posted July 26, 2010 Posted July 26, 2010 I have produced these for children with SEN who needed extra support on entry - i would love to do it for everyone but they all go to different schools and not all of them are forthcoming with information! (i'm pre-school sending into schools!)also a cost that we couldn't afford. Unless I read it wrong, I think this is more to do with starting your setting.. so would be for new children coming to you and tell them about what you do rather than moving on to school.. Inge
finleysmaid Posted July 26, 2010 Posted July 26, 2010 i have produced these because the school wasn't doing it and we were asked to produce it for them! - i know the setting well as both my children attended it! (sorry i realise this is a bit confusing now i've re-read )
Guest Posted July 27, 2010 Posted July 27, 2010 Right, I think I have the wording about right but would like to add some little pics throughout to make it more interesting. I am using photos for toilets, coat hangers, kitchen etc but would like some cartoon like pics for the activities. Does anyone know where I can download some pictures please?
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