Your Role As a Key Person

Your Role as a Key Person

The idea of a key person is for the child to know that one adult in particular is taking especial care of them and that person goes on to develop a close and genuine bond with them.

You are a point of welcome for your key child and his/her parents or carers at drop off and pick up time. If you are not available the second key person needs to fulfil this role.

As a Key Person you have special responsibilities for working with a small number of children, giving them reassurance to feel safe and cared for and building relationships with their parents from the moment they start until they move rooms.

You are responsible for making observations during your child’s session and identifying their interests and needs, taking photos to show your key child’s learning steps and making sure that your planning takes account of your key child’s emotional needs and development. You need to complete your key child’s profile and the individual summary (after 6 weeks), and ensure the two year check is completed as well as their final summative assessment is complete before they start school.

Confidentiality is vital – keep your key child’s personal issues or private information confidential.

Secure Attachment

·  Ensure that your key child has a recent family photo displayed on a family board in your room.

·  Your role is to help the baby or child to become familiar with the base room and to feel confident and safe within it.

·  When children feel happy and secure in this way they are confident to explore and to try out new things.

·  You should be able to develop a secure and trusting relationship with your children and their parents/carers at all times.

·  You should provide a secure base for your key children by supporting their interests and explorations away from you. Perhaps by smiling and nodding as they explore and by drawing their attention to interesting things around them.

·  You should provide a secure base for your key children by being physically and emotionally available to them to come back to, by sitting at their level and in close proximity to them. You don’t need to trail after your key children all day – encourage them gradually to join the other children.

·  Use body language, eye-contact and voice tone to indicate that you are available and interested, gauging these according to the child’s temperament and culture. Be a welcoming face for that child each day. Smile and use a friendly tone of voice. Make frequent use of your key child’s name.

·  Get down to the child’s level when you talk together. Talk together a lot.

·  Sit down and share an activity together and where possible stay and play for an extended period of time.

·  Show an interest in the child’s choice of toys/resources, or any interests that he or she might express.

·  Understand and contain children’s difficult feelings by gentle holding, providing words for feelings and empathy in a way suited to each individual child.

·  Always comfort distressed children by acknowledging their feelings, offering explanations and reassurances calmly and gently.

·  Settling new key children into the setting gradually, paying particular attention to our settling in policy.

·  Settling your new key children as they arrive each day, especially if they are new to Comfort Angelz Day care.

·  The second key person is also to have a strong bond with your key child.

·  Separation from parents, even for a couple of hours is hard for young children and they become anxious and protest through loud cries or tears, running to the door and eventually showing sadness and withdrawal. This does not need to happen if the child has built a strong enough relationship with you as the key person before the parent/carer leaves.

·  Spend time with you key children when greeting them at the beginning of the day, at activity time, tidying up time, nappy changing/toileting time, feeding, mealtimes and being there when they wake from their sleep (when new to Comfort Angelz Day care)

·  Children show the bond with their key person by being pleased to see them throughout the day, looking to check that they are there, asking them for help, seeking physical reassurance, or simply having a chat. They will notice your absence – hence the need for a second key person.

Shared Care

·  You need to meet the needs of each child in your care and respond sensitively to their feelings, ideas and behaviour.

·  Support parents just as much as the child – asking them how they feel, and encouraging them to share their worries and concerns, and respect them.

·  Be open-minded when talking to parents. They may deal with and do things with their child that is different to us.

·  Respect different family cultures and backgrounds. Do not be judgemental.

·  You should talk to parents to make sure that the child is being cared for appropriately for each family.

·  Make sure that parents are kept informed of any events taking place at Comfort Angels Day care, as well as, staff changes and students working in the room.

·  You need to make sure that a close emotional relationship between your key child and yourself in the setting does not undermine children ties with their own parents.

·  Careful records of the child’s development and progress are created and shared by the parents, the child, the key person and other professionals as necessary. You record observations regularly on your key children’s learning and development to enable you to plan for them each week. The second key person needs to do this in your absence.

·  Acknowledge and allow children to express a range of feelings, anger, joy, distress, excitement, jealousy, love.

·  Find out from parents which language is used at home. If English is an additional language (EAL) get a list of words the child uses or responds to. Ask for CD’s from home which the child is familiar with.

·  Make sure that there are lots of visual aids for children with EAL to help you both communicate eg What happens next, Where are they going next, What activity would they like to do, Are they tired, thirsty etc.

Independence

·  Babies and children become independent by being able to depend upon adults for reassurance and comfort.

·  Children’s independence is most obvious when they feel confident and self-assured, such as, when they are in their own home with family, or with friends and familiar carers, such as, a key person.

·  Babies and children are likely to be much less independent when they are in new situations, such as, a new group or when they feel unwell or anxious.

·  Help your key child with personal care, encouraging him/her to develop independence. This includes changing and toileting your key children, using sensitive handling and familiar words.

Effective Practice

·  Introduce you key child and their parents to the other staff in the room, children and any parents who may be present. Remember you are a team.

·  Make sure you welcome parents and their child, showing them the areas of the nursery they will be using.

·  Make sure you have pegs, trays etc labelled ready for your child before you start their settling in visits.

·  Ensure that shifts are based on when a key person is available for each child.

·  Make sure that there is a second key person for children so that when you are away there is a familiar and trusted person who knows the child well. Make sure the parents know who this is.

·  Make sure you plan time to work with parents so that they really know and understand the children in your key group.

·  Make sure you pass on detailed information to parents/carers each day as to how their child has been, what they have enjoyed playing with as well as eating/sleeping details etc.

·  As children move groups or rooms, help them to become familiar with their new key person.

·  Hold key children who are bottle-fed on your lap to feed, maintaining eye contact and conversations, not chatting to other staff.

·  Dressing and washing your key children, offering help as needed but also supporting their growing skills.

·  Give yourself the opportunity to reflect on the emotional aspects of key working with a skilled, knowledgeable manager or colleague.

·  Care for your key child when they are poorly or hurt.

·  Call your key child’s parents if their child does not attend nursery when expected.

Challenges and Dilemmas

·  Reassuring others that children will not become too dependent on a key person or find it difficult to adjust to being a member of a group.

·  Meeting children’s needs for a key person while being concerned for staff who may feel over-attached to a child.

·  Reassuring parents who may be concerned that children may be more attached to staff than to them.

·  Supporting children’s transitions within and beyond a setting, particularly as children reach 4 or 5 years of age.

Reflecting on Practice

·  Imagine what Comfort Angelz Day care seems like to a parent or a child when they first arrive. It may seem busy, friendly, lively, exciting and fun to you.

·  How might it seem to an anxious parent and their young child of 18 months who has just experienced a violent family break-up?

·  How might it seem to a 2 year old who has been living in one room with a parent who is depressed and makes little conversation?

·  Or a 3 year old child who is walking into a room where the children have already built and maintained friendships<

Reviewed 1/4/14