Just visiting

Early years practitioners from Glasgow said it was a 'real eye opener' when they came to visit us at the Westminster Children's Society (WCS) in London earlier this month.

Scottish Independent Nurseries Association (SINA) early years executive Alice Sharp and I first discussed a reciprocal visit when we were representing the now-defunct Early Years National Training Organisation on a trip to Holland to see how they support children of asylum seekers and refugee families.

As like-minded practitioners we spent much of our time on trains having intense conversations about how we could work with refugee children and their families. Groups of refugee families have been re-housed in Glasgow, and in Westminster we have been working with established refugees for years and are now accustomed to the transitory movements of new refugees.

Following the trip, Alice set up the 'Celebrating Global Children'

programme in Glasgow for 30 practitioners. At WCS we began looking much more closely at ways we worked with parents, at whether we met their needs and whether our approach was truly anti-discriminatory.

Our exchange idea become a reality. Thirty delegates, funded by Glasgow City Council, booked London flights to come and see how we support families of different ethnic backgrounds.

They arrived on a wet and cold Monday, armed with travelcards and maps to find all WCS's 12 nurseries dotted across Westminster. WCS buildings are tucked in basements and on roofs, in the middle of housing estates, at Knightsbridge Barracks and in the grounds of schools and a college, where their users need them. The nurseries are small, so we divided the visitors into six groups of five, each with a leader, and provided a timetable to ensure everyone got to visit each nursery, plus fit in some shopping and socialising!

'Our visit was a real eye-opener,' says Angie Muir from TASK Childcare. 'It was nice to see how other centres work and the hurdles they face. I was very surprised how small the individual settings are.

'Gaining information and advice from people who have experience working with the global child was valuable, and all staff were more than willing to share their experience.'

Marie Richardson from SINA was particularly interested in our use of Makaton in the nurseries. 'This is a simple approach used to overcome communication hurdles faced by the global community,' she says.

The visit was a positive experience for us too. WCS was pleased to receive 'Scottie dog' books and Scottish themed story sacks. These were put to immediate use and Scotland may feature as a topic in the near future.

It was also great for WCS staff to articulate what they do and to receive compliments from an informed group of practitioners. Karen Thomson, from Priesthill, Nitshill and Polloc Community creche, says, 'I was particularly impressed by the safe outdoor facilities.

Lots of emphasis was placed on the children going outside every day. The sensory room in Lisson Green is particularly memorable, and I look forward to putting their ideas into practice.'

Margaret-Anne McKinnon from One Plus, Polloc, says, 'It was apparent in all settings that the children's work is valued by staff. Colourful, child-oriented displays created an attractive environment for all.'

Nursery staff can never get enough useful praise and it is always welcome from practitioners who face similar challenges. Such comments bring the smiles and pleasure that Ofsted could only dream about.

The exchange had a knock-on benefit in helping create links among Glasgow practitioners. 'The whole programme was beneficial in many ways, one of which is that strong relationships have been built with other professionals in Glasgow. I look forward to visiting other centres within Glasgow to maintain these relationships,' says SINA's Yvonne Smilley.

The outcome of the visit is that I have to find a generous benefactor to help fund a return trip to Glasgow. Sharing ideas, talking to each other and just commenting on observations can be very motivating, especially when it comes from other practitioners, a context that is underestimated. So often, we have neither the time nor the money to support such an important source of development.

At WCS we look forward to receiving a formal evaluation from the Scottish point of view, and we will be most interested to review our practice and learn from each other.

June O'Sullivan is WCS operations and training manager