Key Workers

The standard from Ofsted is that just children in Reception class need a key worker but we feel that all our children deserve the best !

Harlequin have used the key worker system for 4 years – long before Ofsted made it compulsory for 0 -4 year olds.

A key worker is a member of staff who has a small group of named key children. The play worker is then responsible for that child's records, observations, activity planning, progress, behaviour management, communication with parents/carers and any problems that may arise.

The key worker will have perhaps 6 key children to particularly focus on rather than 20 – 30 children.

The children should all know who their key worker is and that this member of staff is their “special”  staff member. The children all know that they can go to any member of staff that they want to but that their key worker is their special person.  A list of key children and their key workers is on display in each club.

Competitions within each club have been started between each key group. The children can earn stickers for various deeds and the key group with the most stickers gets a prize at the end of term. The competition is very fierce!

Each key worker will regularly write an observation on each of their key children. The aim of this is for the staff to totally focus on a child for a short time and to identify how we can develop that child or move them on. Observations can identify a physical need such as needing glasses or poor gross motor skills. This then enables us to inform parents of our concerns or we can practice gross motor skills with that child. Equally, if a child is good at something or has a special interest, we will pick that up and then look at how we can develop or encourage that skill or interest. It’s all about moving the child on in a fun, non confrontational way.