Parent Handbook
Everything parents need to know about life at Stepping Stones.
Stepping Stones Parent Handbook
Our Parent Handbook explains how our centres work, from daily routines to health, safety and communication with families. You can download the full handbook using the button below, or read the summary on this page.
Empower your child with a dynamic learning experience.
Imagine empowering your child to be truly passionate about learning; watching them soak up their surroundings, taking everything on board. Rather than a regimented experience, they learn through exploration and discovery in a supportive and enriching environment.
At Stepping Stones, we strive to create
– A warm, welcoming home-like environment that promotes secure, respectful and reciprocal relationships and assists children, families and educators to gain a sense of belonging.
– A vibrant and flexible environment that is rich in choices and provides extensive opportunities for learning as individuals and as part of a group.
– Opportunities to undertake collaborative group work and projects generated through children’s interests and/or family interest, community or educator initiation.
– Opportunities for children to develop independence through everyday routines.
– An environment that is safe and promotes exploration, discovery, challenge and understanding of our natural and physical worlds.
– An environment and experiences that build high self-esteem and self-worth.
– An environment and curriculum that promotes holistic development and high expectations for children across all developmental domains through intentional teaching and spontaneous learning opportunities.
– Opportunities for children to express their knowledge and understandings through each of their 100 languages e.g. art, music, story, dress up, construction etc.
– Respect for diversity through acknowledging the cultural backgrounds, languages, values and contributions of the families in the centre.
– Opportunities for children, families and educators to develop cultural competence through promoting positive attitudes, gaining knowledge and developing communication skills and interactions across cultural groups.
– Opportunities for children, families, and educators to share their ideas, knowledge, skills, culture, language and experiences with the centre through regular communication, involvement in the centre and programme development.
– Partnerships with families in all aspects of their child’s development including working with families to develop and evaluate goals for their child.
– Ongoing records of children’s development and assessment through reflective journals, samples of children’s work, reflections and observations.
– An environment that promotes positive behaviours and pro-social relationships between children and others.
– Opportunities for educators to gain further knowledge, skill and competence in the early childhood field through regular staff training and professional development.
OUR MISSION
‘We provide an environment in which all children are supported to reach their full potential’.
OUR VALUES
We believe by remaining constantly curious, collaborating, and communicating with children, educators, families and the wider community we will achieve the best learning outcomes for each child and the highest quality education and care.
the reggio emilia approach
‘The Reggio Emilia approach is to co-construct the curriculum with the children and their families, stimulating a free and open-sourced style of learning.’
Our programmes stem from the interests of each individual child. Spontaneous learning opportunities abound – children are encouraged to develop skills in:
– Problem solving
– Hypothesising
– Critical reflection
– Collaboration
Then, they are invited to document their ideas and understanding in a variety of ways.
How was the Reggio Emilia Approach formed?
Following World War II in the Reggio Emilia region of Italy, a group of committed parents, teachers and the extended community believed that the destruction caused by the war necessitated a new positive approach to teaching their children.
And so, under the leadership of educator Loris Malaguzzi, they agreed on the fact that children have rights – indeed, they had overcome the same complexities of the war as the adults did. Because of this, they agreed that children should be given unique opportunities to further develop their potential.
Malaguzzi believed that, due to their infinite imaginations, children have an extraordinary number of ways they can express themselves. And so, the Reggio Emilia approach was born. Today it has been adopted worldwide and Malaguzzi is lauded as a pioneer in education.
For more information regarding the Reggio Emilia approach kindly refer to the downloadable brochure.
Safety first
We take safety of the children very seriously:
– All of our centres have closed circuit television (CCTV) or a video intercom.
– You will be issued with a fob tag to sign in and out every day.
– We would ask you to provide details of persons other than yourselves who have the authority to collect your child. If necessary, educators ask for identification.
– It is our policy to provide a healthy and safe environment for staff and children.
– We expect our employees to take responsible care of their own health and safety at all times.
– Staff are responsible for locking cupboards and the store room, reporting broken locks or missing keys.
– All management and staff at Stepping Stones are trained in first aid.
– A first aid box is always available which is stocked on a regular basis.
– The premises are equipped with fire safety equipment. In case of a fire the staff are to follow the fire drill that is practised twice a year and evacuate the children accordingly. The children are the first priority and immediate action is to be taken to safeguard the children and staff. We have a daily register with all the children attending on that particular day; this is to be taken out with the carer to head count all the children. All rooms will be rechecked after all the children are safe. The carers will call the fire department on 112 which is written near the telephone.
Medication
Only medicines that have been prescribed by a doctor and provided by parents can be given to children in our care. A medical care plan will be completed by parents, recording the timing and dosage of medicines to be given to their child as requested by them. These instructions will be signed, dated and the time noted each time the medication is administered. All medicines will be stored safely, in the fridge where required.
Sanitary
– The premises are kept well maintained and cleaned daily. Maintenance and health and safety inspections are done on a regular basis.
– The premises are cleaned and the toilets disinfected daily, and all objects used by children and staff are wiped down.
– Staff use disposable gloves in assisting children during potty training and the changing of nappies or dealing with vomit or blood. Nappies are put in nappy disposable bags and in an airtight container. Garbage is taken out every evening and nothing is left inside the bins.
– Handwashing is strictly observed at all times and children are encouraged to wash their hands after each activity, especially before eating. Children have appropriate charts in the premises to promote hand washing
Our buildings
All our buildings have:
– Well-appointed activity rooms that are stocked with a full range of educational resources.
– Outdoor areas with plenty of outdoor play equipment.
– All our outdoor areas have fitted high-quality shading to protect children from the sun.
– All our outdoor areas include a vegetable patch, where children are encouraged to enjoy the experience of planting and growing their favourite veggies. This encourages them to adopt healthy eating habits and an appreciation for the natural environment.
– All our centres have CCTV cameras installed.
– All our centres have air conditioning and are equipped with fire safety equipment.
– All our centres are certified by a Health & Safety officer.
We also lead by example, encouraging the children to understand the importance of recycling and the value of water within our environment.
Our programme
Educators reflect on the day’s learning every day, and the programme is planned according to your child’s interests, needs and developmental milestones. It is through play-based experiences that educators invite your child to increase their learning opportunities.
The programme is guided by the five learning outcomes of Malta’s national framework for the early years:
1. Children who develop a strong sense of identity.
2. Children who have a positive self-image.
3. Children who are socially adept.
4. Children who are effective communicators.
5. Children who nurture positive attitudes towards learning and become engaged and confident learners.
Working in partnership with parents
We strive to make sure all our centres feel like a home away from home. And so, we work hand-in-hand with all our parents, any family members and the wider community. Connections to your child’s home, social and cultural life are an important part of your child’s development.
The lines of communication remain open between parents, children and our centre.
– The Coordinator/Manager in charge is always available for discussion with parents. Parent meetings are held regularly by appointment. Since parents are very busy, arrangements can be made for more private discussions at agreed times.
– Information provided by parents about their children will be kept confidential and treated on a strict need to know basis.
– Information regarding the children’s activities throughout the day is always available to parents on a daily basis through the Procare application, our outdoor notice boards, through verbal communication and through the newsletter which is delivered to parents every term.
– We work with families to develop and evaluate goals for your child.
– Parents are encouraged to come to our outings, induction meetings, orientation sessions and parent clubs.
– If we have any concerns about a child’s well-being during the day, every effort will be made to contact the parents or their emergency contact.
– When possible, to further encourage the children’s development, parents will be asked to send in objects from home, e.g. photographs, old boxes and cartons, cereal boxes, egg cartons etc. to involve them in our activities.
– Parents are requested to keep us informed of any changes to personal circumstances which may have an effect upon a child, e.g. change of address, telephone number, doctor, emergency contact.
– Educators at Stepping Stones discuss children’s progress and development with parents every day and maintain a good and friendly relationship with them.
– Staff ensure that all the children feel included, secure and valued. They build positive relationships with their parents in order to work effectively with them and their children.
– Parents are also requested to keep us informed of any circumstances which could have an effect on a child’s emotional wellbeing, e.g. bereavement, separation or illness in the family.
– To ensure your continued satisfaction, we conduct parental meetings a minimum of two times per year as part of our quality improvement process.
– An evaluation sheet is given to parents every parental meeting and can be filled anonymously from our website.
We also acknowledge that all parents within the centre have an amazing range of skills and interests, and children love learning about these experiences.
And so, we would encourage you to share these with the children and educators.
Working in partnership with early years professionals
Here at Stepping Stones, we make sure to observe children throughout the day while taking note of any observations. Once we see that a child can benefit from early intervention after conducting a child’s developmental report, we will organise a referral with the parent and give them references of different early years professionals. We also have an open-door policy to any professionals working with our children who wish to observe and organise sessions at any of our childcare centres.
Commitment to sustainability
We encourage educators, children and families to reduce, re-use and recycle. Each centre has a recycling box where children can bring items from home to craft.
Our learning programmes
We offer a range of specialist programmes to stimulate your child’s creativity and development.
Arts – Through exploration of a wide range of art works, styles and techniques children learn how to observe and translate their thoughts into the 100 languages and listen and respond to multiple perspectives.
Fitness – An innovative programme that teaches children to love physical activity, develop motor and co-ordination skills and stresses the importance of being healthy.
Dancing, Yoga, Outdoor games and sport skills are taught within this programme.
Music – Music ignites all areas of the child’s development and skills for school readiness: Intellectual, social and emotional, fine/gross motor, language and overall literacy. It helps the body and mind to work together allowing children to practise self-expression.
Earth – Early childhood educators have a ‘powerful window of opportunity to play an active and significant role’ in assisting young children and families to understand sustainability issues, concepts and practices. The children will further develop their awareness of their impact on the environment and ways to minimise it.
Assessment practices
As part of our practices, all our childcare educators conduct observations throughout the day to be able to give a detailed child developmental report to parents during our parental meetings which are held every six months. Childcare educators also send monthly observations which also include photos to all parents to give parents an overview of how their child is progressing each month. Our developmental reports and monthly observations all follow and include the five learning outcomes from ‘The Learning Outcome Framework’ issued by the ‘Directorate for Quality and Standards in Education’.