What to expect of key worker?

[Fluffy24]

DS (6months) recently goes to nursery mornings - apparently quite happily.

He has a key worker but not sure what her role is as there are about 4 different people in his section during the course of the week (a couple on job share I think) and when I leave/collect him I see him with any of them.

Can't work out if this is a negative - ironically I might not have thought much of it of I hadn't been told that so-and-so is his key worker which led me to wonder why they need them?

Am I just going mad with PFB syndrome - quite possibly!!

[grabaspoon]

Basically a key person is the 1 per on in charge of your child's paper work etc.

Ds will be cared by all of them equally and form attachments with all of them. If the key person was just in charge of caring for specific children what would happen when the key person was on a later shift, when they went on lunch, we're on hoolifay/sick. The children can't just be left on their desk until they get back. All staff in the room will care for them it just means that all development checks etc will be that persons responsibility.

[Fluffy24]

Thanks grab - that makes perfect sense.

[Strawberrybubblegum]

It's a pity so many nurseries do see the key worker role just as being charge of that child's paperwork. If you read more about it (for example in People under 3) there are really big advantages - both for the child and the setting - in trying to have the key worker do as much of the personal care as possible for the child, and try to encourage a strong attachment to that carer.

That book is great, btw - gives lots of information on how to make settings work better, for the benefit of both children and staff.

But if your son is happy and settled, I wouldn't see it as particular cause for concern. As I say, it's not at all unusual.

[Indiedog]

As grab said, they will form binds with everyone, but there is more to the key person. Certainly in preschool so two years plus.

I have just left on maternity leave, but my role as a key worker was to form a bound with a child. Get to know them, their likes/dislikes, what makes them happy and sad, get to know what they do outside of the setting.
Look at their learning, plan activities, group time, one to one to help move their learning on.
So if they come in never having held a pair of scissors, we look at fine motor skills, threading, hammer and nails, holding pens/pencils/scissors etc etc, building blocks.

This is for slightly older children, but we all work to the EYFS - early years foundation stage, which starts from birth, and moves all the way up to 60 months in Year R.

I'm guessing a nursery worker will use the basis of this, and most will produce some sort of paperwork that will show progress over the childs time with them. You can ask to see how they record your child's progress. Just remember, it varies from child to child, and setting to setting as to what they do.
OFSTED require every setting to keep some sort of record.

As long as your child is happy, has a variety of stimulation and continuous care that's good.

[insancerre]

No, its not just the person I'm charge of that child's paperwork!
That's a very old-fashioned view and does not describe the role of a key person
The fact that a nursery still uses the term key worker and not key person is very telling
The role of the key person is to develop and maintain a nurturing relationship. They should help the child and their family settle in the nursery and aim to develop a bond that means the child's emotional needs are met. They should be the key person and help the child form emotional attachments. They should ideally do all their intimate care and get to know them by observing and spending quality time with them. They should do their assessment and planning and work with parents to ensure the child learns and develops.
Children should also have a secondary key person who will act as the child's key person if they are not there
The child and their family should feel that their key person is there for them and they have a special relationship
Well, that's how it works in my nursery