Well-Being, Belonging and Mindfulness at Preschool Policy

Policy statement

At Roots and Wings Community Preschool we believe strongly in the importance of well-being, a sense of belonging, and mindfulness, and we make it a priority to ensure we are doing everything we can to make our team members and children feel safe, secure, loved, nurtured and valued.

Promoting well-being, a sense of belonging, and mindfulness leads to better development for children in all areas of learning including physical, mental, social and emotional.

We use our setting ethos and values, as well as the Love and Nurture rating scale to promote and empower thisand we ensure an inclusive setting for all, celebrating differences, cultures, and religions so that everyone feels heard, seen and respected.

Procedure

At Roots and Wings Community Preschool we commit to the following procedures to ensure children and Preschool Team members feel safe, secure and that they belong during their time in setting:

• We use the Love and Nurture Rating Scale to assess the quality of our loving and nurturing practice both with children and within the Preschool Team, which is broken down into the following categories:
  • BELONGING: To belong, one must have an established relationship or connection with a group of people. It is possible for children to be emotionally strong, self-assured, and able to deal with challenges and difficulties when they feel a sense of belonging and pride in themselves and their families, their peers, and their communities
  • BECOMING: During childhood, children’s identities, knowledge, understandings, capacities, and skills change. Events and circumstances shape them in many ways. The process of becoming reflects the rapid and significant change that occurs in the early years as children learn and develop
  • BEING: As with many aspects of development and learning, children don’t develop a sense of being on their own. The caregiver and child engage in sensitive, responsive exchanges within them, which grows out of attuned relationships
  • BELIEVING: It means many things to believe in a child, including providing a nurturing environment for all children, keeping a child’s best interest in mind, and providing a child with the opportunities they need to succeed. Even if they don’t believe it, you should speak into their inherent goodness, provide a child with choices, and a child should not be exposed to adult insecurities
  • LOVING INTERACTIONS: In addition to having their basic needs met, young children need plenty of emotional, tactile, and cognitive support, love and nurturing. It is important for caregivers to express love and affection to their children every day through positive touch, through their interactions and the way they respond sensitively. By doing so, young children feel safe, comforted, and included in a loving, bonded relationship
• We will use a responsive curriculum to plan our environment and learning invitations to ensure it supports children’s needs and follows their interests
• We will strive to be outdoors everyday and move our bodies to support and strengthen both children’s and adults’ mental and physical health
• We will practice yoga and mindfulness throughout the week, ensuring we are responsive to varying needs as they arise
• We will provide nutritional, balanced snacks to support both children and Preschool Team members. We will discuss healthy eating and the importance of eating an array of healthy foods during meal times with Preschool Team members role modelling healthy food choices with their own lunch boxes
• Personal hygiene and feeling grounded in their bodies will be promoted by all Preschool Team membersand children will be encouraged to listen to their bodies and take care of their own personal hygiene wherever possible
• We have a dedicated calmness room, as well as several ‘calm spaces’ inside the Preschool and in the garden where children can rest and relax, giving them an opportunity to regain energy and have some time away from the ‘hustle and bustle’ if they need it.
• Preschool Team members eat their own lunches with the children, both to allow for valuable communication and chat with the children, as well as to free team members to have actual time during their lunch breaks to relax and recharge. We know that to effectively co-regulate, adults must feel well regulated themselves and we therefore do not believe Preschool Team members should continually be engaged in activities (such as eating) during their dedicated downtime
• All Preschool Team members have received five to thrive training and will, in addition, practice co-regulation and mindfulness with the children to support their emotional well-being and development of their understanding of their emotions
• Learning invitations and small group times will be planned and provided to help children recognise their emotions and how to deal with them in certain situations
• Our Calmness, Kindness, and Connection-Seeking Behaviour Policy and Procedures will be followed to ensure all team members understand behaviour as a form of communication and that we all follow the same approach
• Special care will be taken where children’s family setups change, i.e. parental separation, new siblings, family fostering, or similar, and we encourage open conversations with all our families to make sure we can support the children in our care to the best of our abilities
• It is understood that any child may need a period of re-settling after prolonged absence. We will take our lead from each individual child for this (for more information, see our Settling Policy)
• All team members are provided with a safe space at work to allow them to speak openly about any struggles away from the children we care for, have their team help them celebrate their joys, and know that they are loved and valued within the setting. As a Preschool, we know our team is our most valuable resource and we want each team member to be able to support all the children in the setting because they are feeling settled within themselves first