Reply To: Share your practices

I find it so important to create conversation and be involved in with family and whānau as it creates a sense of belonging for both parent and child in the centre. I always make an effort to talk with the parent at pickup and drop off, not only about the child but how their lives are going as well as it all affects and impacts the way the child learns and their hauora (wellbeing). We also communicate with parents via storypark for sharing the learning their tamaiti is doing with us and we have opportunities for them to share their aspirations they have for their tamaiti. We include family with a whānau wall where we display images and items from their home life in our centre to create a welcoming space. On top of this, each child gets a book to take home each day which we use to communicate with parents. In this book the parent shares their child’s favourite things and what comforts them, and how they are doing before they arrive at our centre (e.g the time they woke up, their last feed, etc.) and we send that book home each day with the times they slept, how much of their bottles they’ve had, what they’ve eaten and their nappy changes. We really value the parents voice as we all have the mutual goal of caring and nurturing the tamariki and making sure their hauora (wellbeing) is being uplifted and positively impacted as this is how they trust us, feel a sense of belonging and are empowered to learn, grow and develop.