Nursery World - Key Person Approach

One setting’s focus on the importance of the key person became even more valuable during lockdown, report Wendy Baker and Sally Cave

Keeping in touch during lockdown

At Guildford Nursery School and Family Centre, Surrey, we have always recognised the invaluable role played by the key person in nurturing young children. Lockdown has amplified that importance and provided us with pointers on how to develop the role in the future.

Our practice and pedagogy are influenced by the principles of Friedrich Froebel. He believed that parents need to feel empowered and that parents and children need to feel a sense of belonging, a connection with their community.

Froebel also thought that every nursery and school should be in a ‘close and living relationship with people’s lives’. (Tovey, 2020)

Close relationships, and attachment, are critical to well-being and affect not only the child, but the family too. John Bowlby described how a secure base is provided through a relationship with one or more sensitive and responsive attachment figures. These figures meet the child’s needs and provide a safe haven for the child when they are upset or anxious. (Bowlby, 1988)

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