BEST PRACTICE IN PRE-SCHOOL SETTINGS. A REPORT ON TURN GREEN PRE-SCHOOL. ILLUSTRATE YOUR ESSAY WITH SPECIFIC EXAMPLES.

This report to the management committee of Turn Green Pre-School is intended for advice on the best practice in the management and running of this unit in an ethnically diverse community like that of Turn Green. The task you have on your hands as management committee is a massive one that requires a high level of dedication and professionalism. To the full satisfaction of your clientele, there are some key issues I wish to bring to your attention to work as a baseline for best practice in this setting.
THE PROVISION OF A SAFE, SECURE AND STIMULATING ENVIORONMENT THAT PROMOTES CHILDREN’S LEARNING:
From the day the child is born, the environment he/she stays plays a pivotal role in shaping his adoption to and progress in all aspects that affect his entire life. The pre-school is simply an extension of this environment. A secure and safe environment is not only paramount to the child’s learning, it is also a right every child in your care must have. This is however a massive challenge considering the rather complex environment Turn Green pre-school operates in owing to the range of daytime and evening community activities in the community centre. There is no blue print for guaranteeing a secure environment but management may adopt some of or all these strategies:
Attempts should be made to teach the children, right from the youngest of two years – safety rules like never to join the company of a stranger without seeking the permission of any the Pre-School staff, how to cross a road, show the children the areas fit for play (say the gazetted outdoor play area) and which areas you may consider unsafe, Attempts should be made to teach the children knowledge on what to do in case they are in danger – for example who to look out for and who to avoid in case they find themselves lost from a group, etc. It is also important that those in your employment all have the necessary emergency numbers like the Kisdscape, the Police, etc.
Other steps must be taken to ensure the premises are checked regularly. For instance, the temperatures in the areas used by the children should be regulated at between 16-24 o/c, the lighting should be well regulated, a freshness of the air inside ensured, all providing a reassuring environment. Fire drills must always be run – but also if possible make this known to the other parents that do not directly engage in the pre-school’s management. This will be reassuring not just to the children but also to the parents. A first aid kit must be kept or carried by staff on duty to those areas frequently used by the children.
You should also take initiative and engage your staff in creating an attractive environment around the pre-school, with a good display of posters around the pre-school. It is best that such posters have a blend of the children’s work, particularly targeting the reception area as well as the corridors- in a quite, calm atmosphere- effectively catching the eyes of the parents in full time employment that simply drop there kids at the pre- school and never have the chance to take part in the activities of the school and the children. Likewise, the displays keep the children motivated since they realise that their effort is valued, praised and rewarded.
ANTI-DISCRIMINATORY PRACTICE:
Like in any institution and/ or social grouping, the equality of opportunity remains not only a key component but also a prerequisite of good professional practice. Your staff must be professional at all time by treating every child and every parent as an individual. They must be valued for themselves, for who they are without any prejudices. Stereotype must be avoided since this leads to bias and negative attitudes about particular people, leading to a feeling of worthlessness and a loss of self-esteem. This undermines any chance of realising a particular child’s full potential to achieve since it checks his confidence.
Any sort of “isims” must not be accommodated in the pre-school. Staff must be cautioned on this as both a legal requirement, and should be informed of the legal challenges that may arise from any such practice. Negative attitude and bias against an individual child or parent on the basis of their gender, race, age, social-economic background, must be discouraged and any such cases condemned in Turn Green. Staff should be made aware of key legislations like the 1965 Race Relations Act, the 1944 Education Act, the 1989 Children’s Act, and the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act, among others.
Discretion must also be practiced by staff to avoid situations that are not expressly classified under the above categories but may also demonstrate a lack of equality of opportunities as required by the law. Consideration must be put to full access to the pre-school setting by children and parents with disabilities through, among others, the provision of ramps along the walkways into and within the pre-school. Likewise, the curriculum should be designed and delivered in view of the existence of children with varying needs and ability. Sensitive treatment must also be offered to the different cultures considering the multi cultural nature of the Turn Green community. This may be in view of the dietary requirements of the different cultural groups, dress code, etc. The previously high unemployment levels in Turn Green leaves an obvious trail of economic deprivation, with a high possibility that some of the pre-school’s clientele are from that underprivileged section. These people must be treated as equals with the others.
PROVIDING FOR THE CHILDREN’S PHYSICAL NEEDS:
One of the most important components of the physical needs of children comes in the form of physical activity and exercise. Physical activity is paramount for a well functioning mind and body. Because at this stage the children’s bodies are growing at their fastest rates in their life cycle, the importance of a good balance of physical activity to this growth does not have to be over emphasised. The pre-school has the advantage of access to an outdoor play area that must be fully utilised. The activities in this play area boost the children’s confidence levels since they derive pleasure and satisfaction from attempting certain challenging tasks. For example, the 2-3 year olds may be excited at climbing slides by them selves, while 4-5 year olds love challenges like filling a puzzle, playing chess, etc.
Physical activity also offers chance for socialisation amongst children. This is because it offers a platform for children of different ages (and at times sex) to mingle freely during playtime. The pre-school must however ensure equality of opportunity to play variety, catering for the different ages and gender especially by way of stocking an adequate variety of equipment. Care must also be taken in carefully drawing out a timetable for the play time, minimising open space play at times when the inflow of other people into the community centre is at its highest. The adjoining room to the kitchen area must also be avoided at all the other times outside of the clearly stipulated lunch hours when it is preserved for the pre-school. This will help minimise children/stranger contact.
The safety of the children at all times while they are enjoying this play must be upheld, with staff looking out for any potentially dangerous or undesirable items like broken bottles, dog waste, logged water, and anything that may pose a danger to the kids. Staff must also be vigilant to spot any trace of injury to the child either before, during, after, or even without any play. Other aspects like the child’s nutritional and other needs that may culminate into other physical problems must also be adequately catered for during all the time the child spends in Turn Green pre-school.
PROTECTION OF THE CHILDREN FROM ABUSE:
The parents’ expectations of Turn Green pre-school have no boundaries for the time their children are in your care. Amongst the responsibilities of the pre-school is the provision of protection from, among others, abuse. It may not be the professional responsibility of your staff to diagnose abuse – which duty is the role of the consultants and the GPs but it is the primary duty of all those working with children to ensure the protection of the child from any form of abuse. This may be physical abuse, which may take the form of hitting the child, biting, kicking, and any other act that may physically injure the child. Other less physical form of physical abuse may include the exposure of the child to the consumption of alcohol and the resultant danger it poses to his physical abilities. Abuse may also be emotional, which may result from minor things like sarcasm, criticising, to threatening the child, yelling, tormenting, in a way that affects him emotionally.
The steps that you may adopt in trying to prevent incidents of abuse may include your staff encouraging children to talk to them freely about anything and everything as though they were their own parents. This may not come easy especially amongst the older children of about five, but the kind of relationship they enjoy together overtime will determine how well this develops. Likewise, introducing sex education to the children at as early an age as possible may keep the child alert as regards the way he/she relates to the opposite sex. Also constantly remind the children of stranger danger but also tactically avoiding keeping them overly worried and anxious. Your staff (professional and support) should be on the lookout for any unusual conduct of the elders that come to the community centre, especially looking out for those who show keen interest in the kids.
It may also be sexual, where an adult or older child (in the pre-school) uses the younger one for sexual gratification. Neglect may also be another form of abuse, intentional or inadvertent. This may constitute the denial of food or any other nutritional requirements from the child, leaving him/her alone say in the play area unaccompanied, denying him warmth, etc. The importance of the pre-school staff in this respect is paramount since the child spends much of their time in their care (especially those who attend a whole day’s care) and less with the parent.
This is most important due to the complexity of some forms of abuse, which may require patient observation of the child. Apart from physical abuse, most other forms do not leave anything physical, and also happen to be from people close and well known to the child. You as management must specially keep vigil since this kind of threat is posed by your very staff as well as the different users of the community centre. You therefore must be very vigilant when recruiting your staff, running clear up-to date security checks on the character of your potential employees.
Once recruited, your staff as well as yourselves must know the signs to look out for to tell if a child is suffering abuse. Signs like an unusually withdrawn child, a demonstration of a clear resentment and rejection of the company of an adult a particular child was hitherto close to, may all signal potential abuse taking place. In other instances, the child may constantly hint at having been requested to keep a secret by an adult, or becomes so secretive about his relations with older children in the pre-school, or simply chooses to bring about the subject of sexual abuse, all pointers to a potential problem.
Care must be taken when handling such cases, especially since there are instances where the abuse is from home. This is more so amongst unstable families, not so unlikely in Turn Green where lone mothers are known to be many. Once abuse has been suspected, you as management should treat the issue with urgency, first by showing you do believe and empathise with the child, allowing him/her the chance to explain the whole situation. Then you must seek assistance from the relevant authorities like the police so that a full investigation may be launched into the matter. This helps in establishing the real truth and may also help protect your staff especially in circumstances where it turns out a mere allegation against a member of your staff by the child in question.
THE IMPORTANCE OF WORKING WITH ALL PARENTS:
While as it is our responsibility to treat the children we have in the pre-school as our own, we must not forget that each child belongs to a parent and we are just mere agents. Therefore, it is absolutely important that staff have a good working relationship with these parents. It is obvious that this wont be easy considering the number of parents who do not directly take part in the affairs of the pre-school. Staff should do their very best to establish rapport with the parents since it is this relationship that is going to win them their trust as well as the confidence of their children, boosting the children’s cognitive development as well as educational success.
Remind your members of staff and your selves of the legal obligation under the 1988 Education Reform Act and the Children Act of 1989 to work in partnership with parents. Initiatives like the Parents’ Charter put special emphasis on the rights of parents in making choices and decisions relating to their children’s education. This cannot be better achieved than in a situation of close parent-staff cooperation. No one knows a child more than the parent and we need this knowledge if we are to workout the best way to help the child. Communication between parents and the pre-school staff consolidates the learning that may take place outside of the pre-school. Parent involvement also allows for tapping into the different skills particular parents may be endowed with, thus allowing for a variety of techniques being employed in the running of the setting to the full benefit of all the stakeholders. It also leads to a sense of accountability to the pre-school on the part of the parent.
A loss of role in the child’s life is one major challenge parents face the moment the child starts pre-school. Parental involvement therefore becomes the only way of making such a worried / left out parent regain some relevance in what concerns his child. It may also offer chance to a parent who may be experiencing difficulties with his/her child by allowing them chance to share their experiences with the professionals in the pre-school to the benefit of both parties.
It still remains debatable as to the level to which parents should be involved since it poses the danger of eroding the professional role of the staff but this should not compromise the efforts towards improved relations. A major question though arises in relation to the importance of having personal information concerning every single child. It may not be possible to achieve meaningful cooperation between parent, staff and child where staff do not have access to all the necessary information relating to the child, yet not all parents are ready to offer this kind of information. Likewise, you need to clearly streamline the mode of communication between your staff and the parents since poor communication may instead jeopardise the child/parent/staff relationship. The multi-cultural nature of the Turn Green area also offers an obvious communication challenge considering some parents may not be comfortable with the English Language.