Working together

Within the education system in N. Ireland a nursery teacher has quite a unique role. I am often the first teacher that parents have encountered since their own school days and if they have had a negative time at school it is crucial that they trust me and feel relaxed with me. Nursery teachers and parents have a more co-operative partnership than most teachers.I always stress to parents that they are their child's first teachers, they know them best and that as long as we work together, their child will have a positive experience at school.

Often I am the first person to talk to them about concerns they may have about their child, sometimes just having someone else to talk about about issues can relieve stress. Over the past 11 years that I have been teaching nursery, I have had to help over 5 sets of parents along the often painful road of coming to terms with having a child with autism.

Team work is the key in my job, with the parents, with the children and with the assistants who work in the class.The nursery team is a very special working relationship, the whole idea is that my teaching qualification and educational background compliments the child care qualification of the assistant.Together we can provide the best possible learning experiences to the children in the class.

At a course I attended on the Reggio Emilia Approach the course facilitators talked about in the Reggio schools the teachers and pupils are equal partners in the learning experience, the adult does not have the role of instructor or rule maker but rather is just part of the group who can decide how things happen but is not in charge. I believe that a nursery teacher should learn alongside the pupils, I am glad that I never have to stand in front of the 26 children and 'teach' them. We explore and discuss and investigate together.