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Home Visits

A home what?!


 When I first started teaching and told my Mother about home visits she was absolutely flabbergasted, she had never been visited by any of mine or my brothers teachers and couldn't understand the reasoning behind it. I imagine lots of you were horrified to find that before your child started school you would be visited not only by your child's class teacher but also with his/her EYP (Early Years Practitioner). 


But fear not ... this is not a test. 


Before you start a panic google for the local cleaning company lets clear a few things up, we are not coming to see how clean your house is. We won't be doing a spot check on dust or peeping under the sofa to check your hoovering schedule nor will we be counting the number of educational toys your child has. We are not coming to judge you or put you on a fast track list for the social services. 


So what is the purpose of a home visit?


The reason we visit isn't just a welcome excuse to take a trip outside of the classroom. Our home visits have true value and really make a positive impact on the year ahead. By meeting your child in a place that they feel comfortable really supports them in their first few days and weeks at school. Their teacher is no longer a big scary face taking them away from mummy and daddy, she/he is the person who played cars under their living room table. Home visits also allow teachers to have a bit of one to one time with you and answer any pressing questions you may have and talk you through the school's procedures and policies. Teachers are very busy people and the start of the school year is exceptionally manic, take this opportunity to ask those questions. 


What should I expect?

Please don't prepare a hostess trolley of treats, your teacher will already have visited 10 other children and probably has another 5 to go. So don't be offended if they decline a cuppa. You will usually be visited by two members of staff, the class teacher and their assistant (either a TA or an EYP), one member of staff will talk you through any important pieces of information including expectations and routines. They will ask you to complete a questionnaire with them covering a range of topics such as allergies and spoken languages. They will also give you the opportunity to ask any questions. Whilst this is happening their colleague may play with your child. I like to ask the children in my class to draw a picture so we can display it in the classroom ready for when they start school, I feel this helps to make the classroom feel like home! 



I hope this post has reassured any worried parents out there, please feel free to ask any further questions in the comments section. Watch out for my next post which will uncover the mystery of 'Start Dates' 

Thank you for reading!   

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