Keeping Communication Simple – Daily Communication Diaries

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Good communication with parents is a critical focus for professional nurseries and childcare settings. And one thing parents are always curious about is what their child has been doing during the day.

Questions will vary from parent to parent but common ones include:

• Have they eaten well?
• How much sleep have they had?
• Has she sat on the potty?
• What activities have been keeping them busy?
• How quickly did they settle? Etc.

The challenge for the Key Worker is trying to remember all the details for each child they are responsible for. No easy feat considering the busyness of the day, what they miss during their break times and the fact that other nursery staff may have spent more time with an individual depending on what activities a child has chosen.

But despite these difficulties, the fact remains that parents still want and even expect to learn this information. And for good reason:

• They want to know how their child has been in their absence
• A shorter than usual nursery sleep or skipped nap could explain a child’s grumpiness at home
• A child may not want their tea when they get home because they’ve eaten so well all-day
• The fact they’ve used the potty at nursery may spur a parent on to persevere at home etc.

So how do you ensure parents are given this important information without overloading your Key Workers?

Use feedback forms

The answer is to use pre-printed forms that key workers and other nursery staff can complete for each child. Simply create a template that contains all the key information parents expect to know (and that you want to collect). And whilst you can leave some space for free writing, remember the reporting process will be made that much quicker if you use tick boxes. However, the key downside of such pre-printed forms is the cost to keep printing them, the messiness of using loose forms and how easily they can get lost, misplaced or thrown away. Fortunately, there is a more effective solution…

Personalised Communication Diaries from Nursery Resources

Our Communication Diaries offer a practical and professional way to keep parents informed whilst minimising your paperwork. Unlike pre-printed forms which can look untidy and get lost, the diary builds into a log over a number of months which parents may like to keep.

The Communication Diaries are A5 in size, contain 120 form-style pages and last approximately six months for a child attending full time. They are also spiral bound and even have full plastic-acetate covers to ensure durability and prevent wear and tear. And at the newly reduced price of as little as £1.90 each (including VAT), they could prove significantly cheaper than printing your own (especially when you take into account labour as well as printing costs). In addition, the diaries can be completely customised to suit the needs of your childcare setting…

Customisation can include:

• Simply add your childcare name and/or logo to the covers when ordering online, this adds an instant touch of professionalism and will be sure to impress your parents and inspectors
• Re-designing the inside templates to perfectly suit your requirements, meaning there’s no compromising on the feedback. You will have to contact us for this and we will get our experienced designers to set them up for you. Once done they’ll be saved on file for your future orders.

It’s really easy to order communication diaries for your nursery or childcare setting. Simply choose your preferred diary here, select whether you would like personalisation, choose your pack size and then simply add it to your basket. Alternatively, give us a call on 01733 898108 and we’ll be happy to assist you. Streamline your paperwork and cut your printing costs today.

Consistently highly rated since 2011…

The Communication Diaries have been a welcome addition. The staff prefer these as they are able to communicate more concisely about the child’s day and find it useful when writing ideas to promote home learning opportunities. We will continue to use these resources and would highly recommend them. Sarah Vick – ManagerWisbech Day Nursery

I find these invaluable! Help me to communicate with parents.Heather Casey, Childminder

Orders always arrive quickly, smart presentation, personalised with our logo. Easy to use and most importantly parents just love them! Caroline Ashton, Puddleducks of Liss

To learn more about the importance of communication with parents read our Parents and Partners article.