Appointed key worker is a friend

[Daisybell1]

I'm not sure this is a good idea...

I can see the nursery's thinking that it would be nice for dd to have someone looking after her whom she already knows. However might it awkward? Presumably the key worker is the person we complain to about anything and vice versa.

I'm thinking of asking my friend if she's happy with this role and being guided by her- or am I over thinking this?

I work in a suburban day nursery, my DCs go to local schools and I am active in the local church. If I was unable to be key worker to any of the DCs I already knew, my work would be very limited.
Try it for a while, if it gets awkward you can always change key worker later.
I actually quite like meeting my key children in the community and chatting to the families, it gives me more time to discuss issues they wouldn't normally discuss at nursery pick up times, and enables me to best meet the DCs individual needs.

It all depends on the relationship you have with the person. How do you think a conversation would be if they need to discuss issues with you? Are they assertive enough to have a difficult conversation even if they thought it might upset you?

There are some obvious advantages if your nursery is one that has the key person spending a lot of time with your child after the settling in period, assuming your child likes them. For me it would really depend on that person's ability to balance their professionalism with your friendship.

I have had to keywork several colleagues/friends's children. It always worked for me as I found it easier to approach those tricky subjects because we had a good friendship & I knew they trusted me professionally. So I guess it really does depend on the dynamic you have with the person.