Twelve lively, chatty 3- and 4-year-old children have just returned from one of their regular visits to see their older friends at the local residential home for elderly people. They are full of joy having absorbed and shared fun facts about spiders and other insects that excite their curiosity, made paper aeroplanes and sung funny songs to the tune of the old piano.
This is a regular activity at a London Early Years Foundation (LEYF) nursery, one that brings joy and connection to children, educators and local residents. Engaging regularly with every part of our local community is at the heart of our social justice pedagogy, which is about weaving equity, sustainability, compassion and community partnerships into the fabric of early years education. Nurseries like LEYF are transformative spaces where disadvantage is tackled head-on, where parents are supported and empowered as educators, and where children experience fairness and belonging from their earliest years.
Cities can be very lonely places and loneliness is a problem that can affect anyone, in any place, of any age and background, from an older person mourning the loss of a life partner to a young person who simply feels different and isolated from their friends. Studies from Yale[1] and the Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood[2] found that becoming a parent falls into one of the highest categories of loneliness; access to groups or community events can sometimes open a door to friendship.
Nowland, R., Charles, J. and Thomson, G. (2024) Loneliness in pregnancy and parenthood: impacts, outcomes, and costs. Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine 97(1): 93–8. DOI: https://doi.org/10.59249/nktk3337
Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood (2021) Parental Loneliness Survey May 2021. Available at: https://centreforearlychildhood.org/our-work/research/parental-loneliness-survey (accessed January 2026).
This is why nurseries can be a catalyst for community engagement, especially in large cities with high levels of migration and change. With this in mind, LEYF nurseries created a focus for practice that we call the multi-generational community approach.
Unlike most parents’ experiences in regular nurseries or childcare programmes, LEYF families get invited to communal activities, such as the summer barbecue or the autumn fair, the nursery manager’s birthday party, the dads’ breakfast, parents’ lunch or grandparents’ tea. Then there are the volunteering activities, such as inviting parents and family members in to plant the garden, repair the shed or build a new play structure – a day that involves sharing food and conversations, and creating a sense of camaraderie.
Growing relationships means being open to the world
So many parents are grateful to the nursery for connecting them with others through simple activities like community walks, activities at local fairs, open days and coffee mornings. Today, many LEYF nurseries run food banks where local people can collect food and toiletries and it’s often a place where they are not made to feel uncomfortable about their financial circumstances. Instead, they enjoy a pleasant chat with a friendly nursery manager.
But operating a multi-generational community approach is more than building relationships with parents within the nurseries. It requires us to engage actively outside the nurseries with our local communities. We make this clear to parents who choose LEYF nurseries so that they agree that their children will be visiting homes for older people, supporting local art and music initiatives, regularly walking to the library and being visible on their local streets.
We observe many pedagogical benefits from these activities: children walking their local streets identifying the shapes and colours of the buildings, spotting birds and learning the names of trees, train stations and bus numbers. Outside, the opportunity for learning is huge and also provides children with the chance to do their own research. For example, 3- and 4-year-old children photographed things they disliked about their local environment and sent a report to the local council to address the issues that offended them, which included rubbish bags, too many cars and litter.
For some parents this is a surprise, and they worry about safety, but we reassure them that finding your place in your neighbourhood, recognising the landmarks, is a key to children’s learning. Moreover, we believe that it is part of their rights to have their presence recognised and respected and we notice that it also puts a smile on many faces when the children are out and about, that it reinforces a positive cycle. We also believe this builds social capital, a term used to describe the relationships we form and nurture with family, friends, neighbours, colleagues, and the wider community; and which Putnam[3] describes as the glue that binds us and the grease that helps us interact.
Putnam, R.D. (2000) Bowling Alone: The collapse and revival of American community. New York: Touchstone Books/Simon & Schuster. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/358916.361990
In reality parents describe their happiness at being welcomed and involved in a place where they can begin to make friends and where children believe their nursery is an extension of their home. We notice that this involvement makes parents much more at ease about sharing their children with us and reduces any anxiety that the child is better looked after at nursery and may love their nursery teachers more than their family, especially where home life is very stressful.
Conversations that build relationships build community
To ensure that this approach is accepted by parents and anchored in practice in all our nurseries, LEYF teachers are trained to lead pedagogical conversations. We believe that building harmonious relationships is more successful through conversations because people like to talk, and conversations are often the place where new thinking and understanding emerge.
A conversation can be casual or planned and when we are planning a conversation, particularly to raise some sensitive issues, we use the guiding principles of CHART:
The guiding principles of CHART
Concern: The conversation is shaped by a concern for each conversationalist and a willingness to share a topic or discussion with each other.
Hope: Engaging in conversation always holds the possibility that we will gain or learn, and that process carries us forward.
Appreciation: The conversation is driven by a sense of respectful appreciation, with participants willing to consider each other’s view.
Respect: Good conversations work well when there is mutual regard even when there are differences of opinion.
Trust: Good conversationalists listen in good faith. This doesn’t mean they are gullible; rather, it is the starting point from which they verify that their trust is not being abused.
Conversations are complex processes that offer opportunities to share information, learn from one another, build mutual trust and respect, and encourage active listening. The most powerful conversations are those that nurture and strengthen trusting relationships. This is why we want our educators to become conversation coaches skilled in listening carefully and giving time to hear what others are really saying. Through this, a simple discussion about a child’s development can unfold into deeper insights about parents’ circumstances at home and their ongoing worries. Parents may share doubts about their parenting confidence, from concerns about their baby’s development to managing a lively toddler, or reveal bigger challenges such as separation, financial strain, or the stresses of long working hours. Even everyday issues, like balancing screen use while preparing dinner, can open the door to more subtle disclosures about financial worries, mental health or relationship tensions, all of which can profoundly shape a child’s wellbeing.
Building trusting and supportive relationships with parents is not just important, it is the foundation on which children’s learning and wellbeing rest. At LEYF, we see time and again that when parents feel welcomed, respected and involved, the nursery begins to feel like a second home. Trust grows fastest when the environment reflects parents’ needs and voices, making it relevant, inclusive and genuinely open to them. We know that child development is powerfully shaped by the networks of trust and care that surround a child within their family, their nursery and their wider community.
One mother recently told us that she had been nervous about leaving her 2-year-old for the first time, but after joining a nursery coffee morning where she met other parents and chatted with staff, she felt “part of a family, not just dropping my child off”. This matters to all of us working with small children because, whether we are educators, parents or grandparents, our shared hope is that every child grows up in safe, well-connected and supportive environments.
About London Early Years Foundation (LEYF)
As a social enterprise, at LEYF we combine commercial acumen and business discipline with social purpose to create a business model benefiting everyone. We provide high-quality accessible nursery education and care to over 4,000 children aged between 3 months and 5 years, of whom over 30% are from disadvantaged backgrounds. That includes anything from individual disadvantage to living in poverty. Consequently, 75% of our nurseries are based in poor areas where we offer fully accessible funded provision for children with special learning needs and disabilities, and from families in need. We employ over 1,000 staff and 120 apprentices, many from the same locations as the nurseries so that we can support the local economy including purchasing food and services locally to keep as much money flowing through the local economy as possible.
For us at LEYF, social justice is rooted in the principles of equity, inclusion and children’s rights, sustainability, compassion and partnership. We believe that nurseries are part of the wider community and that children have a right to find their place in their community and help shape it.
