STARTING POINTS: PART 9 - Bella, 48 months old

By Julia Manning-Morton, an independent consultant, trainer and author (www.key-times.co.uk/profiles/). She specialises in practice and provision that meets the needs of children under three and is an expert on the personal, social and emotional well-being of children and practitioners.

Her publications include Two-Year-Olds In Early Years Settings: Journeys Of Discovery (2015)
and Exploring Well-being in the Early Years (2014)

Four-year-old Bella lives in a flat in central Manchester with her adoptive parents, Neil and Dawn. All three are of white British heritage and speak English at home.

Bella attends a combined nursery school and children’s centre, and although she has only recently started attending the school's nursery class, she is not new to the setting. She has been attending the ‘stay and play’ and various other groups at the children’s centre with Dawn since she was adopted at the age of 12 months. In fact, it was at the centre that Dawn and Neil attended the course for prospective adopters as well as a post-adoption support group.

Being very familiar with the nursery environment and some of the practitioners is very helpful for Bella and her parents, as she has a visual impairment (she is very short-sighted) as a result of having been born prematurely. So, knowing the layout of the building and recognising the voices of some of the adults gives her confidence and the beginnings of a sense of belonging in the centre.