How much communication should I expect from nursery?

[sleepslikeababy]

My 2 yo started nursery at the end of July. He does 4 mornings a week. He loves it, runs in every morning, and always comes out beaming.

My issue is the lack of communication from the nursery. They have an app (Tapestry) but it hasn’t had any photos added to it since August. There is Parent Mail but the last email was for the Queens funeral (last minute closure). At handover a different worker each day will bring him out and say ‘he’s eaten loads, had a great day,’ or some variation of that. I hardly ever see who I think is his key worker Is this normal?

He’s our first so not sure what to expect. I feel a bit like I have no idea what he’s doing or how he’s doing for half the week.

To clarify, we have no concerns about behaviour or development, I just feel like there should be more information shared.

Am I wrong? What’s the communication like at other nurseries? Should I not worry because he seems happy?! I don’t want to make and issue where there isn’t one…

Of course records on development are necessary, but there is no OFSTED requirement for daily photos!

Our nursery is £68 a day in London (has just gone up 😞). The nearest other one that does daily photos is over £80.

My DD 2¾ is at nursery 3½ days a week. We get spurts of updates maybe every fortnight on the Famly app. We get an occasional mention of "DD has been really funny today she said blah blah blah"
But generally, I think, no news is good news. Doesn't really matter what she's doing tbh I don't need to see pictures, although it is nice.

Why do you need to know what they've done that day? What are you doing with that information?

Tapestry, used right, isn’t just pretty pictures for parents but an assessment tool showing how the child is progressing. If nothing is going on I’d like to hear how assessment is being done. This sounds less than ideal, but not awful, I’d write to the maker and ask if there is a parents evening or similar sim and if not for a meeting.

It’s not the photos I care about. These are nice but not the entirety of what I mean by ‘communication’s. He’s been at that setting 2 full months and I have had no information about his development, milestones, what he does well, poorly etc. I only mention Tapestry as I thought it was a tool for observations accompanied by photos or videos, less so just for photos. We have no concerns, but we’re not educators trained to spot potential issues etc. I just wondered if it was typical not to have had much communication of any type (not just photos) from a setting, if you haven’t explicitly asked for it. Or if discussions about development etc are only in instances when there’s an issue. At school there are parents evenings and report cards etc.

The shift in EYFS guidelines probably explains why my expectations don’t match reality - so this is really helpful to know.

I suppose at the heart of it, I don’t really need to know what he’s doing all day, I don’t need updates on how he’s got on every minute, but I need to know that THEY are tracking his development, that THEY know him well, and that he is progressing. If I had more communication that suggested this was the case (not saying they’re not doing this - they just don’t tell me), then it probably wouldn’t niggle me.

But as several have pointed out - no news is probably goods news! And I should just ask!

I think they’re still getting to know him. Milestones are extremely broad at this age and the lack of any discussion of his progress and development after two months just means he’s within his expected range and there’s no issues.

However, if you’d like more detailed analysis of his progress you could have a chat with the nursery and explain that you’d find it reassuring?

We get a full monthly report and an observation mid-month. Could you ask how they are teaching his development?

It's true that Ofsted requirements for 'paperwork' have changed but staff still need to observe and assess children's progress. How this is done depends on the setting but Ofsted need clear evidence (it can be verbal) that children are meeting milestones, and if they're not how the nursery is supporting them.

A good nursery will share these observations through daily handover conversations. There doesn't need to be lots of photos on an app.

Partnership with parents is part of the inspection and the nursery need to demonstrate how they share information.

Remember these are little children, away from home for the first time and having spent their early childhood under Covid.

It's imperative that the nursery staff know your child as an individual and they notice whether they're struggling, lonely, have a new friend etc

As a parent you might want to follow up at home on new interests from nursery.

The sign of a high quality setting is the effort they put into partnership with parents.

*tracking

Thank you - this is very helpful!

I’m sure you’re right and that 2 months is not a long time, particularly given all the new starters I’m sure they’ve had recently.

I feel like I understand the processes a bit better now so am not as bothered. I briefly thought maybe something very key was missing but now I think I get it!

Yes! This is what I envisaged. One of the few emails that got sent home told us it was Shapes Week and so we followed this up at home. We haven’t had anything like that since his first week. It’s these things I’m wanting to know. Not that he slid down a slide or to see a picture of him eating his lunch (although these are nice!)

The problem is, in my case, that most of it is verbal or by text showing me what my DC are interested in, where they went, I share what we’re doing at home but CM wouldn’t be able to prove that to Ofsted but it works for me.

I do get brief development updates every term which I’m happy with.

I’ve had lots of school reports etc that have very obviously been copied and pasted so I take that kind of paperwork with a pinch of salt.

Why the need to follow anything up at home? They're at nursery to "learn' and surely shapes etc is something that occurs naturally in everyday life? Same for number and letter recognition, reading, etc.

He’s not there full time. Half the week he’s at home with me. I don’t understand why you wouldn’t want to try and offer some sort of continuation between what he was doing at nursery and at home? Even if it’s just to be able to encourage a conversation about what he’s seen at nursery that morning.

I don’t think that’s odd!

I’m not saying he gets sat down for lessons on shapes. I mean that’s not what he does at nursery either (surely!). But to reinforce his learning with play or even just to ask him a simple question? Again I don’t think this is that odd haha

I don't view nursery as being an education setting, I view it as being a substitute for home - so I want them cared for, cuddled, entertained. At that age, learning happens naturally and at home we just go with whatever they're showing an interest in.

Our conversations with nursery show that they know our DDs - things like mentioning their reactions when someone snatches a toy or the things they're enjoying playing with. We never really discuss development with them.

I think of the kind of conversations you'd be having with a grandparent who looked after them, rather than a teacher if that makes any sense?

Yes, it’s a bit of a red herring in nurseries though - because (due to the large key groups nursery practitioners often have) you need the records to gain that knowledge of the child. It’s very unlikely that you’ll be able to pull the information for every child right out of the top of your head. Yes, there’s less direct tracking now (so less long winded written observations) but in my experience inspectors still expect to see records of some sort.

And ofsted will absolutely expect to see good relationships and communications with parents - it’s one of the first things they ask about. It’s just not accurate to say ‘oh as long as they’re cuddling them that’s all that matters!’ There’s so so much more to the job and good communication with parents is part of it.

As a parent I need to know because my child may not be able to tell me and it’s very basic to want to know what your child has been doing in the day.

As a practitioner observing and recording what the child is doing, how they do it etc, is vital in understanding how that child learns and who they are.

Oh absolutely. But yesterday I was told that DD demanded to try the potty, another day I'm told she screams when someone snatches a toy off her, another day that she only likes to hold certain people's hands on a walk.

Those things matter, they know my DD, they know her little ways. I don't need to know that they're working on shapes so I can help with that at home. It's care not school.

I think from what I’ve seen in everyone’s posts it seems the nursery are not particularly great at communicating but that my expectations were too high, or not aligned with what nursery is and how it functions.

Essentially, it’s would you be happy if every day your daughter came out and they said ‘she at her lunch, see you tomorrow’. Nothing about ‘shapes’ or ‘cuddles’ - just she ate her lunch…

Depends on the person tbh OP. Some of the staff at ours are chatty, others not and we get next to nothing. I'm a big believer in vibes at nursery rather than paperwork or info if that makes any sense - if my DC are happy, the other DC appear broadly happy and the staff are taking an interest and seem to know my DC well then that's all good with me.

But in this case the staff aren’t taking an interest. You’re missing the point - op isn’t complaining that they’re not uploading enough pretty pictures in addition to a long and detailed verbal handover. She’s not being told what her child is like and what they’ve been doing. She’s being told ‘they are lunch, bye.’ So basically just a brush off handover. Not showing any interest or care in her child.

Tapestry, used right, isn’t just pretty pictures for parents but an assessment tool showing how the child is progressing. If nothing is going on I’d like to hear how assessment is being done. This sounds less than ideal, but not awful, I’d write to the maker and ask if there is a parents evening or similar sim and if not for a meeting.

But, in truth, a lot of parents who are out at work, want to know their dc are being well cared for, having fun and developing within normal bounds for their age. Most of us don't want our children "being assessed" all the time. If the OP's child were not settling, or not progressing, or not developing 'typical' skills for their age, then I expect the conversation and communication would go differently.

Yes, I agree it sounds like the OP's Nursery could be a bit more communicative, but most parents don't need or want a blow by blow description of the day every time they pick up their child. I would want to know if they weren't eating, or they weren't developing age appropriate skills. If the staff had concerns. I don't need to continue a theme at home, I would be talking to my dc at home about whatever was happening around us anyway, me asking for a particular shape to be passed to me would happen if that situation arose and not because I knew the practitioner was focusing on it that week. Ditto looking for conkers or collecting fallen leaves or whatever - it happens because it is September / October, not because I get an e-mail or other notification from Nursery saying that is what they are doing too.