The group of 30 students on the SINA course 'Celebrating Global Children', all of whom work in nurseries in Scotland, visited London last week and toured Westminster Children's Society nurseries to find out more about good practice in anti-discriminatory policy.
SINA early years executive Alice Sharp had met June O'Sullivan, Westminster Children's Society's operations and training manager, during a trip to Holland organised by the now-defunct Early Years National Training Organisation to look at children's care in centres established for asylum seekers and refugee families.
Ms O'Sullivan said, 'We kept in touch, and this visit is the culmination of that initial contact. Our visitors were very complimentary. They said that the relationships they observed were very warm, and that the staff were very committed and flexible. Our staff found it interesting to begin to articulate what they do.'
She added that the Scottish students wanted to see the Westminster nurseries to observe their expertise in supporting families of different ethnic backgrounds. 'We'll make an exchange visit to Scotland to encourage the staff to reflect on their practice, particularly as the Scottish curriculum has a much stronger play emphasis,' she said.
Discussions are now under way about taking Westminster Children's Society staff to Sheffield Children's Centre, where half the employees are men and there is a policy to challenge gender stereotyping by involving men in childcare on an equal basis.
