Key Person and the Buddy system. 

 

A Key Person is defined as “A Person who has responsibility for supporting a specific group of children and building relationships with them and their families” A key person should respond sensitively to children’s feelings and behaviours, meeting their needs by giving reassurance and supporting them on their learning journey. 

Children thrive best when they are surrounded by loving and secure relationships, this is normally provided by the child’s parents and families however this can also be provided by your child’s key person, this is what we call “The triangle of trust” between the child, the parents, and the key person. The key persons role in the triangle of trust is to ensure the children and their families have more than one person in the setting that has a nurturing relationship with the child/children as being emotionally attached to an adult helps support the child/ children to feel secure, when children feel safe, they tend to engage in new things and become more independent which is essential to their development.

At Banana Moon we operate with a key person and buddy system. On settling in at Banana Moon the senior in the room will be allocated your child/children as their key person- once the child has settled, we allow a settling in period for the children to find their key person in their own time. While children will gravitate naturally to one adult, we pride ourselves in ensuring the staff know and have good relationships with the children in the room, so each adult can take on that “Buddy” Role to a child’s key person. In the Banana Moon Key person policy it states, “It is important to remember that the nursery operates a shared staff responsibility – a buddy system, which ensures that the regular care of all children, is consistent. The buddy system is used to cover shifts, holidays, and absence for sickness. By operating a buddy system, all staff are being sensitive to the children’s needs and alert to their individual learning.

The key person’s role goes far beyond information sharing and communicating the child/children’s development. It is an emotional reciprocal relationship, as children grow they will be guided by their key person/s to explore new experiences, learn new things and begin to find themselves as a member of society (British values) 

The children are always put at the heart of every decision made, all staff working at Banana Moon Lower Sundon contribute to the children’s care and development journey, contributing to handovers, golden moments, and gaps in development. If you would like to have a meeting with your child’s key person, they will be available to talk to you about how your child/ children are doing on drop off’s and handovers.