Nursery Key Person policy

Key Person introduction

Staff at The University of Dundee Nursery Ltd are highly committed to identifying and meeting the individual needs of each child attending.  A key person is a named member of staff assigned to an individual child to support their development and act as the key point of contact with that child’s parents or carers. The key person has special responsibilities for working with a small number of children and helps build and develop positive relationships with children and between parents, carers and staff.

The key person is the family’s initial, but not exclusive, point of contact with the nursery. Other staff will also maintain contact as it is unlikely that the key person will be on duty every time a child is brought to or collected from the nursery, if a key person is away ill or on annual leave their key children will be observed by other staff in the room to maintain the record of development.

Management of Key Persons

All staff working in the nursery playrooms, namely the Room Leaders and Early Years Practitioners are required to assume key person responsibilities. The Room Leaders supported by the Management Team, will oversee the key person responsibilities of the staff in the playrooms. The Senior Nursery Managers will monitor children’s records of development and learning under the Curriculums and ensure they are updated regularly and to an appropriate standard. The room leaders are responsible for ensuring fair and even distribution of key person responsibilities and will monitor at regular intervals each key person’s assigned children.

Principles

This policy will provide staff with a framework in which to operate the nursery key person system. It will define for staff the roles and responsibilities of a key person and how those roles and responsibilities translate into practice. By sharing with and gathering information from parents / carers relating to individual children, staff will be able to develop a full and accurate picture of each child’s level of skill, knowledge and understanding, and their interests. This will enable staff to closely match provision to each child’s individual needs.

The guiding principles by which the key person policy will be managed are:

• To build a trusting relationship with the child and their parent/carer.
• To ensure the happiness and welfare of the child within a stimulating and safe environment.
• To ensure a smooth settling in procedure for all key children both into the nursery, to their next home room and ultimately onto school.

Key Person policies and procedures

• The key person will complete the care plan with the parent/carer at the child’s first settle and ensure that the other team members are aware of any allergies or special requirements.
• The key person will be the main contact responsible for greeting the parent/carers and child at all their settling visits, so that a bond can be established.
• The key person will be planning for their key children during activity times. This is a good opportunity to feedback assessments into the child’s planning needs. The key person is responsible for providing accurate observations of their key children and linking to the appropriate stage within the Curriculum.
• Development Matters guidelines. The observations will be used to inform planning about how to enable children to progress.
• All members of staff including a key person need to record basic information about all children present at nursery during the session such as sleep times, mealtimes and anything exciting or notable that happened during the day. This information is then passed on to the parent/carer at the end of the child’s session by any member of staff on duty at this time.
• When the child is due to leave nursery, the key person must ensure that their Online Learning Journey profile is fully up to date and that it is handed to the child’s parent.

The role of the Key Person

• The key person will help to ensure their key children feel safe, secure and confident, if they are to develop to their full potential. Their parents/carers need a trusted person who they can talk to about their child’s individual needs.
• When a child settles into a new home room, the assigned key person will perform a baseline assessment of that child, which will be shared with parents and carers.
• The key person is responsible for a group of children, but as a member of a room the key person is also responsible for all the children in their care.
• Where a child is attending other childcare settings at the same time as attending The University of Dundee Nursery Ltd., the key person will share information with those settings via the “All About Me” records.
• Arrange at least 2 parents meeting per year or informal meetings with the parent to discuss the child’s progress and/or any developmental concerns the check brings to the key person notice. Discuss development concerns with parents and contact appropriate professionals with parents’ consent. These parents meeting can be via phone, TEAMS meeting or face to face if possible.

• To ensure that parents/carers are kept informed of the child’s day to day experiences. However, all staff hand over to parents at the end of the day, we do not specify that it must be the child's Key Person as this is impractical for a variety of reasons. In the Golden Eagle Room, the notice board is located at the bottom of the ramp and is completed each day so that parents can see easily what children have been offered for the day. No parent receives a hand over from their child's Key Person every day as all staff is aware of any issues such as accident forms or messages that are to be relayed to parents upon collection. The Daily Sign in sheets are marked if staff have a need to talk to individual parents, if a parent notices this then they should question a member of staff prior to leaving for the day.

• To change and check key children’s nappies as required and to assist with potty training and other toileting or intimate care needs. The member of staff answering the door will usually be the one to hand over to parents – including any forms or messages. No parents will receive a handover form their key person daily.

• It is the Room Leader’s ultimate responsibility to ensure that this happens during sickness or other key person absence. Parents/carers are to be informed.

• The key person will assist the parent/carer and child with the settling process, taking time to listen to questions, and provide answers.

• Where a child is transitioning to a new room, current key person and new key person will liaise with each other to ensure that accurate information is passed on. A Transition Form will be completed, and the parent/carer introduced to their child’s new key person.

The nursery is fully committed to continually evaluating its key person practice, managing changes and transitions as sensitively as possible and ensuring each child feels special and is provided the opportunity to develop an attachment.

The Nursery Management Team are ultimately responsible for managing and maintaining the key person policy and procedures.

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