Key Carer System

The key person makes sure that, within the day-to-day demands of the setting, each child for whom they have special responsibility feels individual, cherished and thought about by someone in particular while they are away from home.

The key person ensures they have the opportunity to build a personal relationship with individual children rather than all children as a group in the setting. The benefits are likely to be peace of mind for parents, and the possibility for them to build a partnership with professional staff that may share with them the pleasures and stresses of child rearing. It provides an opportunity for them to liaise with someone else that loves their baby or child too. Sometimes parents speak about having to choose between being part of their child’s day, and knowing the details of how she or he spends time. The key person can make sure that parents do know about their child’s day and do not have to miss out. The key person is a first port of call for parents.

Your key carer will regularly discuss your childs development with you and continually keep you updated.

Parental Partnership Approach: To be successful in providing high quality care and education for children depends on the successful partnership between parents and staff team, to this end parents are seen as vital partners in a childs care and education helping with a smooth transition into nursery and the continued support in helping key-carers to keep updated on their child’s needs and progress. Where parents and practitioners have a good exchange of information both parties are able to see the whole picture. Engaging and working with parents is one of the most vital parts of providing children with an excellent nursery experience.

The key person approach is intense involving hard work and a professional and emotional commitment. A good key person really matters to a child and to their family. A key person is likely to have a powerful impact on the child’s well being, their mental health, and their opportunities to think and learn. Such responsibilities will bring feelings of pleasure and pain, the joys and relief of partings and reunions and the satisfactions and anxieties of being a special person in a child’s formative early years.