August 2023 Parenta magazine

Community
management – how
to embed your setting
within your local
community
There’s an old proverb that says: “It takes
a village to raise a child”, meaning that the
whole community has a part to play in the
growth and development of the children
and young people within that community.
Children may be born to specific parents,
but they also spend a significant part of
their life outside their home environment
interacting with others. These can be
pre-school staff, teachers, police, local
shop keepers and business owners, park
wardens or local group leaders such as
Scouts and Guides, church leaders or
sports club coaches.
One of the 4 specific areas of learning
in the EYFS, Understanding The World, is
sub-dived into 3 areas. Within that, there is
an area called “People and Communities”
which encourages children to learn about
the community they come from, and
the sub-section on “The World” is also
designed to help children learn about the
different environments and ways of living
that exist on the wider planet.
Benefits of community
involvement in early
childhood
Community involvement means not only
making sure that the local community
know your setting exists, but that there is
two-way flow of information, both into the
community and back from the community
into your setting. There are many benefits
to this. It is beneficial in all aspects of life,
not just in early years, but in early years,
the opportunity is there to ease the child’s
transition into community life later on.
Some of the many benefits of community
involvement are: