TEY 13.2

STAFF STARTER PROCEDURES Parents can often be very anxious when their children are starting nursery or school. Their concerns may centre around handing over the responsibility for their child’s welfare and happiness to somebody else, possibly for the first time, so it becomes a huge milestone for the whole family. Early years practitioners need to be consistent in communication, confident and reassuring, and sensitive to each parent’s feelings. Try to share daily routines with home, and if possible, during the day use communication platforms to send positive messages and images to the child’s online learning diary. Always make time to talk to parents when they pick their children up and share key moments/concerns from their child’s day. ALL ABOUT ME Encourage children to introduce themselves by drawing self-portraits and then displaying them next to photographs. Ask them to paint pictures of their families, and ask keyworkers to scribe the names and share what they like to do at home. Display the pictures so children can see their finished work on the walls. Children starting in Reception could fill an “All about me” bag with two or three items that are special to them so they can show and tell their classmates about themselves. CROSS THE CIRCLE This is a good game for recognising things that children have in common with each other and celebrating their differences. Invite a group of children to stand in a circle and play “Cross the Circle”. Ask for a volunteer and give them an instruction on how to cross the circle. These can range from simple movements such as jumping/hopping/stomping to more imaginative ideas such as move like a… ballerina/astronaut/ frog/snake/train/plane , and so on. Extend the game to swap places if you’re wearing red/blue/orange… or if you have black hair/blue eyes/ red shoes . The children must swap places with another child. WE’RE ALL DIFFERENT Sharing books with children is a helpful way to tackle subjects such as diversity and inclusion. Share You Choose by Nick Sharratt and talk about making different choices of where they would like to go, different families and friends, which clothes they like to wear and games they want to play. Who are you? by Smriti Halls is another conversation starter for younger children to talk about diversity and choices. My Family, Your Family by Laura Henry-Allain MBE is a helpful book for talking about different families. Visit the Book Trust website at booktrust.org.uk to find more helpful suggestions for books about celebrating differences. PUPPET PLAY Introduce a puppet to the children – large hand puppets from thepuppetcompany. com work well, as they appear to speak and have more personality. Choose a name for the puppet and invite the children to ask questions about how the puppet is feeling. If it is feeling sad or says it has no friends, how could the children cheer it up? Use the puppet to support children who are struggling to settle or make friends. BUILD A FRIEND Explain to children that they are going to “build a friend”. Invite a child to lie down on a piece of stiff paper or cardboard and draw around their body before cutting it out. Use collage and paint to create a model friend. Brainstorm some words to describe a good friend and scribe them onto post-it notes to add to the picture. Try kind , loyal , patient , honest , and funny ! Display the friend at a “friendship stop” so children know where to go when they are feeling lonely. THE KINDNESS JAR Share Kind by Alison Green. The book introduces different ideas of kind acts, such as smiling, hugging, caring, not leaving people out, and celebrating diverse families. Explain how being kind to each other is what friends are supposed to do. Start a “Kindness Jar”. Every time someone does a kind act, let them put a button or glass marble into the jar. Offer the children rewards such as free “choosing time” or a special outdoor activity when the jar is full. TIP: An invaluable way for practitioners to help children settle into a setting is to carry out home visits. These provide practitioners with an insight into a child’s home life, their interests and special toys, enabling keyworkers to relate settling-in activities and resources to each child. Making friends Jude Harries is an author and teacher of music and drama, with experience of working with children aged nine months to 11 years. Celebrating differences Teachearlyyears.com 27