Take twos.. continuity of care

Port Clarence is three miles from Billingham town centre in Stockton-on-Tees. The local authority identified there were many two year-olds locally who were eligible for free two-year-old early education. However, as is often the case, a lack of sustainable, registered childcare in the area meant it was difficult for families to find and use a local place. In September 2010, the local authority worked in partnership with the primary school, children's centre, the Pre-School Learning Alliance and the community centre to set up a new playgroup offering 12 two-year-old places, five mornings a week during term-time.

For these two-year-olds, continuity of care is a key issue when they move from the playgroup to the nursery class at the primary school. A strength of the partnership between these organisations and staff has been their commitment to ensuring this transition is smooth.

Staff help children and families prepare for the move, and the playgroup key person accompanies children's settling-in visits to school.

Support continues when children have moved to nursery. The children's centre teacher meets regularly with the school nursery teacher to discuss individual families' needs and support programmes. In addition, the children's centre teacher meets parents and children after nursery once a week, and walks back with them to the community centre for a short activity session.

Parents, staff and children prepare a healthy light lunch together. Lunch is a great opportunity to talk, eat and learn together through a combination of adult-led activities and child-initiated free play. Throughout, there is a focus on healthy eating, play and language development.

By using repetitive language and activities linked to book themes, parents are continuing to learn how they can support child development and engage with their children's learning at nursery and home.

As a result, staff have found children are settled in quickly, parents' anxieties are minimised, and parents are engaged in their child's learning and are providing good home learning environments. Partnership working means parents are signposted to additional services, catering for the wider needs of some families. The once-a-week group has been welcomed by parents, and they have requested additional support, so an hour-long parents-only session is to start this term at school while children are attending their nursery class.

Further information

James Hempsall is director of training and research provider Hempsalls www.hempsallsconsultancies.com