The Importance of a Warm Welcome

When you consider it, children often spend 8-9 hours in a nursery (and possibly up to 10) on a given day.

As parents, we drop off our little ones, often in a rush to get to where we are going and then collect them again at the end of the day wanting to know what our children have been doing in the time we have been gone. Although the children may spend hours in the setting, mum and dad often spend just a few minutes in the morning and evening and in that time, we need to gain their trust, build relationships and keep them informed.

At Kids Allowed, we have recognised that these few minutes are absolutely key to building strong relationships with our parents. If we don’t get it right, a child could spend an amazing 9 hours with us but because we haven’t taken the time to inform parents of their child’s day properly, the impression a parent gets may be totally different and incorrect assumptions can be made. (We must remember, it’s not ONLY about making sure our children are happy, parents are paying our wages so we need to remember that them being happy too is really important!)

Our Manager spends the first hour of the day “hanging around reception!” Some may think this is a waste of time and they could be doing something more useful, but we have decided that there is nothing more important than parents and children seeing the person in charge when they arrive, having a sense that the Manager is visible and has a high-profile presence in their Centre.

It doesn’t stop there, when parents and children arrive to their base room they are warmly welcomed again, this time by the room based team and if they are in, by their Key Person too. We don’t think you can be greeted too many times!

Just the few seconds out it takes to raise your head, make eye contact and have a welcoming smile on your face makes all the difference to both the parent and most importantly the child, making them feel safe, welcome and happy to be there.

Encouraging a child to come into the room and join in either with breakfast or an activity, so that parents can walk away knowing their child is engaged and happy, means a parent can leave for work (or where ever they are going) feeling confident that their child is going to have a happy day and of course, if needed, have a conversation about anything we need to know or any instruction we need to follow for the day.

Parents often comment that even team members not in their child’s base room will say hello to their child by name and they love this, feeling part of the wider community of the Centre and feeling that everyone is there for them.

At the other end of the day, the handover is equally, if not more important.

Honestly is vital too. Don’t say a child’s had a great day if their face is tear-stained or they have not been themselves – be truthful (but tactful). Nothing knocks a parent’s confidence in your team and your setting more than knowing they are being fed a line to keep them appeased.

Another thing to try to avoid is the ‘generic’ – “they’ve been great” that doesn’t say anything and feels like a fob off. Let the parent know something special their child has done that day, for example, “Olivia’s had a great day, she had fun playing with Johnny and Kate and she had a great time in the construction area, building and knocking down towers. Is this something she enjoys at home?” This takes just a moment but is real and personal and shows we are really interested and have engaged in their child’s day.

And it’s only our view – but avoid “EYFS speak.” Parents want to be spoken to in plain English rather than jargon. We often forget that words we use every day, out of context with a parent are often confusing and mean nothing.

We have to be realistic. We can’t give a “War and Peace” handover, as other parents would be waiting, but these few minutes of personal feedback along with a warm welcome when they arrive and a lovely big wave as their child is leaving makes everyone feel special.

We have found when colleagues join us from some other settings, they really don’t understand the importance of these key, few minutes of the day to parents and children. They can be dismissive or generic in their feedback or they don’t understand the importance of acknowledging parents in the room and giving them eye contact and a smile, so don’t assume these things are happening. If you want to deliver a 5 star experience to children and parents, it’s getting the little things right that matters.

I’m not writing this thinking we get it right every single time, we don’t! But as a childcare provider we recognise it is important and we train and coach our team on how to do it properly.

Our parents seem to agree it’s something we do well. In this year’s parent survey 97% agree they are warmly greeted in the morning and 93% agree we provided a good handover at the end of the day. This has vastly improved from when we first asked parents this question a few years ago and we have a happier customer base because we have focused time, attention and training on it.

Kids Allowed – Happy children, Happy parents – Happy colleagues