A safe space for Parents and Carers
Inside Out aims to work with families to support them with challenges which parenting can bring. It is here where we can give support, and provide help regarding particular subjects, offer strategies, and signpost you to further information. We have listed some topics that are most relevant with the need to seek support, and are the most common regarding questions relating to children, for parents and carers.
If there is something you need additional support with that is not listed here, please do not hesitate to get in touch via phone, email, or even face to face when you visit!
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Child Illnesses
Please click the illness type for information regarding these common child illnesses.
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Behavior & SEND
Coming soon
Inside Out's 'Golden Rules'
Kind Hands And Feet:
Encouraging - children to be kind to others by offering a helping hand, a nice warm welcome and to offer comfort to those in distress and show affection
Teaching - children to respect one another, show empathy, make positive relationships.
Preventing - violence, isolation, selfish behaviours.
Inside Out understands that children may physically express their emotions and frustrations in inappropriate ways by harming themselves and others such as hitting , smacking, pushing, kicking, pulling ,biting, and spitting. Inside Out therefore encourage staff and parents/carers to use positive reinforcement by highlighting and praising children when they use kind hands and feet. If there is a situation whereby a child physically harms another, we encourage parents to carry out the following;
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Remove the child from the situation calmly
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The adult should lower themselves to the child's level
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Refer to the golden rules to support the understanding of inappropriate behaviour
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Acknowledge the reasoning behind the behaviour
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Encourage the child to think of a solution (depending on age and stage of development)
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Give the child chance to reflect and change their behaviour
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If the challenging behaviour is repeated, shorten the language you use for example "I said no, we use kind hands’’ (this time do not acknowledge the reasoning behind the child’s actions)
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If the behaviour persists, then a warning should be given for example "if you use unkind hands one more time you will have to come out of the messy room’’.
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Always be consistent with consequences and follow through the actions the child was given a warning to.
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Reinforce positive praise when they display actions that represent kind hands
Good Listening Ears:
Encouraging - Children, parents/carers to listen and respect each other.
Teaching - Children to listen to the needs of others, and to follow instructions. This encourages speech and language and shows interest in others ideas and opinions.
Prevents- Ignorance and disobedience.
Inside Out values the importance of listening. Listening allows people to express themselves, learn, and understand others. We therefore use the phrase 'listening ears'. Listening helps children develop speech and language skills and is the first stage of learning to read and write. This phrase can be used to engage children and get them ready for experiences that need their focus and attention and encourage them to follow instructions and to be open to suggestions whilst engaging in conversations with others.
Good looking eyes :
Encouraging - children to make eye contact when listening to others, for children to process speech and language and identify challenges. This encourages them to tidy up after themselves.
Teaching - children to communicate, show respect , problem solve , listen, and be alert.
Prevents - disobedience, misunderstandings.
Inside Out promotes the phrase ‘’good looking eyes’’ to encourage children to make eye contact with others when making relationships and listening to others. However, we understand that some children can find social interactions daunting and feel more comfortable avoiding eye contact. Encouraging children to look at different materials and activities can help them to become interested and engaged. It can also help them to assess risks and be aware of their surroundings. Using positive praise and using this phase encourages children to explore and gives them recognition for what they have discovered.
For example...
Child- "it’s all bumpy’’.
Parent - "wow, you have good looking eyes, what else can you see?’’.
Kind words:
Encouraging - positive relationships and speech and language.
Teaching - children to respect others, show affection and have empathy for others, express their feelings and thoughts, and extend vocabulary.
Prevents - Bullying, violence, and isolation.
Inside Out encourages staff, parents/carers, and children to use positive language (please see use of language policy) when communicating and engaging in conversations. Children who hear and receive positive praise will repeat and model language when communicating with others. They learn how to express feelings and show empathy in appropriate ways.
Positive interaction skills help children to express and regulate their emotions and feelings appropriately, preventing children from physically harming themselves and others. Children make positive relationships and build friendships
Walking feet:
Encouraging - children to recognise risks.
Teaching - children boundaries of different areas and places.
Prevents - accidents.
Inside Out facilities are designed to promote a calm relaxing environment to encourage children to learn and develop through play. We have a duty to ensure our facilities are risk assessed. Inside Out have a wide range of resources which have elements of risk including tripping hazards therefore, we encourage children to walk around the facilities to ensure the safety of themselves and others, minimising the risk of accidents and to maintaining an environment that is not over- stimulating to others and easily supervised.
Good Sitting Bottom:
Encourages - children to interact and focus, preparing them for school.
Teaches- boundaries of places IE. meal times.
Prevents - distractions and disobedience.
We promote 'good sitting bottoms' in aspects of our adult-led activities that encourage children to focus and prepare them for school however, we understand that children should not be expected to sit for long periods of time and we value the importance of children having a choice in what and how they learn and discover.
We recognise that families have busy schedules, providing for their children and are therefore spending less time together as a family. Inside Out values the opportunities that meal times offer families and children regarding the social aspect of development. It may be the only opportunity some families get throughout the day to communicate and interact with one another. Inside Out therefore have a dining policy which states that children must be seated with parents/carers while dining in our snack shack.
Tidy Away our Toys:
Encourages - children to take responsibility, transition, and understanding what happens next (routine).
Teaches - them to respect and value the environment and the resources available to them.
Prevents - children from being disrespectful and over-stimulated.
We promote tidy up times at Inside Out by giving children a 5 minute warning as to when play finishes and when tidy up time begins. We reinforce this by playing our tidy up song to enable children to associate a song to tidy up and transition them to the next part of their day. We expect parents carers and staff to encourage and support children to tidy up by showing them where items belong and by choosing items for them to put away. All of our toy baskets are labelled to help children recognise where items belong.