I have always admired Penny’s work – her books were my “go to” in my childcare career as a childminder and my recommended reading as a childcare trainer/assessor. In Penny’s previous role as trustee for PACEY, she produced some brilliant short videos on different aspects, particularly on working with very young children.
With this in mind, I was delighted that she was one of the first speakers at the Coram PACEY annual conference. She was also speaking on a topic that is very close to my heart – working with very young children, particularly babies, and supporting parents with that very difficult task of leaving their children, often for the very first time.
By Pat Tomlinson
Penny has a very “down to earth” practical approach, and this was demonstrated right at the start of her talk. She talked about looking at settings for her grandchild and how, from the first impressions of a setting and meeting a particular childminder, she knew straightaway that she was the right person. Penny described the childminder as a “Mother duck” – she put the children first as she answered questions. Penny also describes other settings she visited which didn’t get such a glowing report, including seeing a trapped tortoise in a nursery.
I love the way that Penny describes parents. While understanding their anxieties about handing over their baby to a stranger, she called them Long Lingerers and Cut and Runners. How true this is – I’ve seen this in my childminding career, and I must admit, like Penny, as a parent I was a Cut and Runner.
Although Penny was light-hearted about the different types of parents, she also demonstrated the serious side of this – getting it right for both parents and children will make future separations more comfortable. Penny gave a useful insight into why parents feel like they do and practical tips on how to get these transitions right.
Working with parents is the key to successful transitions and Penny emphasised this, with advice on how to empathise with parents, share information (all aspects of a child’s life) and to really get to know what a child’s routines are, while also sharing with parents how these will be accommodated in the setting.
I also loved Penny’s descriptions of the settling in period – she called it the “slide in/slide out” where the childminder/childcare practitioner slides in and the parent slides out. It just made so much sense – gradually the childminder interacts more with the child as parent does less and moves away. Penny advises several short sessions to make this process work.
It all made sense to me and although I didn’t give my settling in sessions this name, it’s exactly what I used to do. I’m so glad I was following Penny’s advice (although I didn’t know it at the time).
What a wonderful start to the conference and well worth the very early start and train journey on a Saturday morning.
