Page 91 - PSPS: A Training guide

It also means supporting the emotional and physical move between preschool and
primary school. Maybe the preschool can do a walking tour to the local primary school
and the school might host a teddy bear’s picnic for the incoming preschoolers, their
parents and preschool practitioners. Whatever activities you choose to do, making
children familiar with new environments will help them to feel safe and welcome when
they get there.

What do we use to help us identify and meet children’s needs?
Our understanding of child development means we know that there are certain
indicators and milestones for their mental and physical growth. So our
environments need to provide children with space, equipment, activities and
opportunities that support that development.

Working in partnership with families to understand the child’s
home environment and their wider world

Valuing how play stimulates their natural curiosity to learn
Verbal and non-verbal communication – speaking their language
with both words and body language
Observing, observing, observing. When we watch how children play,
interact, move and communicate, we gain a better understanding
of what they need to support their growth and development.
When it comes to understanding children’s needs and their environments, some are
more obvious than others. A child with physical disabilities, for example, will need
spaces that are fully accessible and inclusive (see Unit 3). A child from a migrant or
ethnic minority background needs to see themselves reflected in their surroundings
(i.e. culturally diverse books, dolls and toys – see Unit 7). Being able to identify other
needs depends on your knowledge of the child, through your partnership with their
parents, your observations and interactions. Some children love being outdoors more
than others, for example, just as some children are more sensitive to noise than some
of their peers.

What matters most is how you create your environments to support those specific
needs and how you share that information. If you know that Jack finds loud and sudden
noises stressful, you might incorporate school bells into stories and role play. By
sharing that information with parents and his new teacher, you have supported them
to plan how they will manage that when Jack begins school. If you are Jack’s new
teacher, you might reduce the volume of the bell in your classroom or alert Jack a few
minutes before it rings.

‘One of my preschoolers the year before last was non-verbal. We worked with his parents
and collected pictures from home for his social stories that we stuck along the wall. Every
day at home time he would run over and point at either his Grandad or Mom to remind us
who would be picking him up that day. We recorded all of this in his ‘All About Me’ folder that
we shared with the primary school ……so they would understand where Cian was coming
from and how he communicates. They [the school] then assigned him a brilliant SNA
[special needs assistant]’.
(Emily, Preschool Leader)