Involving Parents – Enniskillen Nursery Training Day

One of the many lovely aspects of my work – especially Early Years Training – is that I have a chance to meet inspiring people. Jenny Boyd is the Principal of the wonderful Enniskillen Nursery school. She’s devoted to the children and the community around the school. She’s a dynamic, wise woman who recognises that you can only give the very best to the children and their parents if you treat your staff as a very precious resource. Jenny’s staff have been on great coach outings to fabulous places, treated to some fabulous Early Years Training (Inset) with exciting trainers and always made sure that they get all the little treats of good food on all their training days! It’s a small school – about 78 children – but it glows with care and love… and the presence of Eddie! Eddie is Jenny’s beloved companion – a loving cheeky little dog adored by everyone. He is beginning to get creaky now – but children and adults alike have learnt to love his quirky ways and respect his space.

We have been working together over maybe fifteen years now… when I do training I work with her brave band of staff and we consider Staff Wellbeing by doing circle-time for ourselves… making sure that we all have golden moments and that we keep our own personal care plans going. I’m always impressed when I go. This time I was even more impressed… the Golden Rules have become the heart of what they all do together. Jenny has invested in our Golden Rules Box Set for very young children – there are six little books in each set. She has seventy-eight books and all the finger puppets that go with those books. Over a six week period each parent/carer takes home one of the Golden Rules books with the little finger puppet of the character that’s in that book. The children decorate a copy of the Golden Rules which goes home in the first week. The parents therefore know exactly what the Golden Rules are and both the parents and the nursery school teachers speak the same language. In other words all the adults in that child’s life will praise them for making a good choice by being kind, gentle, honest, listening, looking after things and trying hard… equally they may ask a young child if they know what Golden Rule they’re breaking now and how can they put it right.

This time when I visited the nursery – I ran a circle-time for a big circle of children aged three and four. The parents bought them to the circle and they observed me work with them for nearly an hour. We were on tiny chairs and I got out my puppets, my magic wand, and we played lots of games and gave the puppets a lot of help. The parents were very enthusiastic afterwards and asked if they could have circle-time for themselves. They loved the idea that they could sit in a circle where there was no judgement and ask for help. So many of them are worried about not being able to get their child to bed, or how to avoid temper tantrums in the morning and quite honestly – the beauty of the circle is that all the answers lie within the circle. We just need to give people time and facilitate gentle, respectful listening and speaking – and then there’s nothing a circle can’t achieve.

(Photograph used of Jenny training is from a different training day – many thanks to Lifestyle Photography www.lifestyle-photography.info for very professional photographs and an excellent service.)

Website Managers Notes

1. Jenny Mosley’s training and conferencing for early years practitioners and conferences for early years professionals is professional and renowned for being fun, informative and practical. Contact us for Early Years Training, Circle Time for Early Years, Positive Behaviour Training and Lunchtime Supervisor Training

2. Jenny’s webshop and catalogue hold a unique collection of Early Years resources including the best-selling Golden Rules Box Set and a lovely collection of both human and animal puppets.

3. Jenny’s lunchtimes training days and workshops are sought after – INSET days – for lunchtime supervisors to playground games and much more, Jenny helps Midday Supervisors and Lunchtime Supervisors to help develop their practice. For enquiries about training in early years settings and schools please phone 01225 767157 or email circletime@jennymosley.co.uk.

4. For all other training enquiries – including our popular open conferences held around the country through the year. Please phone for Behaviour for Learning, training for health and wellbeing and circle time workshops as well as training for working with parents as partners and more, Click Here or phone 01225 767157 or email circletime@jennymosley.co.uk.

5. See our Early Years Training page here.