Parent Open Day

[Guest]

Hi,

 

I have been informed that I need to talk to the parents of the chn who will start in our nursery in January (I teach reception). My classroom assisitant will be running the session but is not confident enough to talk to parents in this type of situation, and as I will be the teacher overseeing her planning the job has been given to me.

I would like some ideas about what to include in the talk. I have thought about telling them about the six areas of learning and how the foundation stage focuses on developing skills through hands on learning. Any ideas anybody?

I have done a search on parents but couldn't find anything.

[Jackie A.]

Hi Matilda,

 

I teach in Nursery and I have the "new parents talk" next Monday. We try to keep ours very informal and although it takes place after school, we still do the talk in the Nursery rather than in the school hall.

Ours runs a bit like this:

 

- introduction of staff - myself and NNs

- quick run through of daily routine, procedure at beginning and end of session, how the session runs

- brief introduction to the FS curriculum with practical examples (we usually set up the classroom as it would be for a session), how we keep records, etc

- a little bit on health and safety, medical, etc

- general information - library, trips, Nursery toys that go home, suitable clothes, Nursery voluntary fund, school PTA, etc

- ways of helping your child before they start Nursery (eg encouraging them to try putting own coat on, counting together, sharing books together, etc)

- any questions

 

All the above information is also in our Nursery booklet which parents get to take away with them.

 

We then serve tea/coffee/juice and biscuits and let the parents have a look around the room. This gives them the opportunity to have a quiet word with us if they feel the need and allows key workers to meet the parents of their new children for a friendly chat.

[Guest]

Thanks Jackie, that was a really helpful outline, just the sort of thing I wanted to know. Can't help but feel nervous but it will hopefully be ok.

[Marion]

Can I just add I find having activities the parents can join in with is helpful. We set up areas with the learning intentions for each activity clearly posted next to them so parents can see it's not JUST playing!

Also I hand out a sheet showing how we teach letter formation for those parents who want to teach their child to write their name before they begin school ( we get lots of children who have been taught to write at home with capital letters and find it takes longer to unlearn than to start from scratch)

 

We are having a family day on Friday with lots of activities and opportunities for parents to work with their child.

[Guest]

Good idea about the handwriting sheet. A few of my children have gotten into the habit of doing capitals. Anyone know where I can find a sheet that shows correct formation?

[Susan]

Hi matilda, not sure if there is anything online anywhere but most handwriting schemes seem to have a page in their manuals giving suitable letter forms.

Which scheme does your school use?

 

Ive given this sort of thing to parents at the first parents evening and have sometimes sent home a name card with the children after their initial visit.

[Guest]

Thanks Susan, we don't have a handwriting policy as such but I will check in the JP book as there may be something in there.

[Marion]

I've added the Jolly Phonics info sheet and the Cripps letter formation sheet for right handed children (need to scan the sheet for left handers and will post later) Cripps style is the same as Jolly Phonics apart from the k. Hope it helps.

letter_formation.doc

Introduction_Web_2005_jp.pdf