Home visit from nursery teacher

[TheRealAmandaClarke]

dS starts nursery school soon. The nursery teacher has booked a home visit for the end of this week (utterly inflexible meaning I have to take a day's leave and lose a day of paid- for child care).
Can someone explain to me the purpose/ likely content of this summons appointment?
Many thanks in advance.

[Optimist1]

It's an opportunity for your child to meet his teacher ahead of time, and for her to meet him in surroundings he's comfortable in. She'll get a chance to talk to you one-to-one about things like whether he can go to the loo without assistance, and to talk to him about things he specially likes. Just a short "getting-to-know-you" session that should benefit all parties. It's not an inspection of your home.

It's understandable that the logistics of visiting all new pupils doesn't allow for parent preference for appointment times. (You sound a bit snippy about this IMO.)

[TheRealAmandaClarke]

Thanks.
I work pt and yes, I am a bit miffed that there's no flexibility.
But I am keen to have him get the most out of nursery so I have taken the time off.
I didn't imagine it was an inspection of my home tbh.
With other apps (MW, HV etc) they've been clearer with me about the aim of their vists and I just wondered what she's likely to be looking at.

[Ragwort]

Home visits are a good idea but it is not at all helpful if the appointment can't be made flexible - I was involved with a nursery and we would never 'insist' on a specific time for a visit - it would be entirely up to the parent to invite us when convenient (and yes, this meant it was less convenient for the staff - but we were providing a service).

[Norudeshitrequired]

Lots of nursery schools do this. The areas of the country with state nurseries start children full time as young as 3, so it makes sense to meet them in their home where they are comfortable. Surely once your little one starts nursery school your childcare fees will be lowered so losing one paid day will earn itself back.
It's important that the teacher gets to see your little one in an environment where they can be themselves. Lots of the teachers don't like the home visits either as they might have phobias of animals, have to visit dirty houses or just generally feel uncomfortable being in a strangers home. The teacher is also losing several days out of the classroom by doing lots of home visits, so it's inconvenient for everyone but helpful for the child.

[tumbletumble]

My friend is a nursery teacher. She says that the home visits are very useful. If she sees each child playing in their home environment and has a chance to chat informally with you about his likes / dislikes / development, she can 'hit the ground running' when he starts nursery and will have a much clearer idea of how to handle any problems that may arise.

[TheRealAmandaClarke]

Hmm.
The teacher isn't losing a day of leave are they?
It's not really the same thing as managing their teaching time.
I can see that it's useful to meet him at home.
I guess I just wanted an idea of what level of assessment might be being made. I think I'm a bit anxious about my perception of the very early "judging" of children that goes on. It's always good to be prepared.

[poopooheadwillyfatface]

I would feel free to decline their offer if it's going to be a PITA, I declined the reception teacher's offered visit.

[GiraffesAndButterflies]

I'd expect it to be less 'judging' your child and more checking out their particular needs, eg are they trained, do they have a dummy, has he been away from you for long periods before, does he still nap in the day, that kind of thing. They're unlikely to pigeon hole your son before they've even got him in the front door.

[Norudeshitrequired]

N the teachers isn't losing a day of leave; because the teacher is working. But I'm sure that the teacher has plenty to do in the classroom and will get behind with stuff whilst she is out doing her visits.
Children only start nursery school once, surely you can lose one days leave to ensure that your little one meets the teachers in a comfortable environment and has a good start.
I have to add that lots of nursery schools (the state ones) insist that the children do only half days for the first couple of weeks to help them settle in gradually. Have you checked whether that is the case and thought how you will manage it if the school has this policy?

[AugustRose]

I can undersand your annoyance at the lack of flexibility, I don't know if you have asked to change the day/time to when you are not at work.

But these visits can be very helpful for you and your child to meet the teacher and talk about any issues. You may not have any and that's great but some families need to be able to talk about private issues away from the nursery, where they have full attention to make sure they are listened to.

When one of my DDs had her visit the teacher took her photo for her coat peg so it was already for when she got there. She asked what she liked to eat and play with, what were her favourite toys and people. Just small things to make it familiar and friendly from the start.

[Optimist1]

Yes, August, that's a very good description of the home visit that we had (including the photo for the coat peg).

The lack of flexibility is still totally understandable to me - the teacher had 60 homes to visit (nursery class for 30 in the mornings and 30 in the afternoons) and it obviously made sense to plan to do all the families in one road at one time for optimum management of her time out of the classroom.

18 months on from the visit and we still occasionally talk about how Mrs X came to his house and told him about her pets (he'd expressed an interest in animals) and did a jigsaw puzzle with him.

[TheRealAmandaClarke]

Anks giraffe that does help actually.
And thanks august for that description. That's the kind of thing I was looking for by way if description.

noshitrequired I just said I was a bit miffed about the lack of flexibility. I am not up in arms about it. I am aware that teachers are busy.
And of course it's worth a day's leave, that's why I have taken a day's holiday and arranged my own appointments to be covered that day at my expense.
It's just that it's a big week for me work- wise and obviously it would have been nice to have my time considered as much as theirs. But I will have to get used to that not being the case I suppose.

Thanks everyone.

[Optimist1]

Enjoy the visit, OP (love your username, BTW!)

[TheRealAmandaClarke]

Thanks optomist DSbis certainly looking forward to Friday. He is very excited

[insancerre]

Have you rung them and asked if you can change the time/day of the visit?
The nursery will have very specific ratios to maitain,meaning that the teacher can only legally come out of ratio when there is someone to replace her.

[TheRealAmandaClarke]

Yes Insncerre I tried to change it.
Hey HO. It was ok.

[MillyMollyMama]

My girls went to private nurseries and we just turned up on the start day! Visiting 60 children is immensely expensive. I am surprised any local authority can afford it these days as cover would be needed in the nursery. When I worked in Education as a manager, the only children our nursery staff visited were the SEN children and children identified as needing early nursery intervention by the Nursery Panel. All the others visited the nursery with a parent or carer before they started.