Allocating a mentor in childcare

Do you run a childcare centre? Then you need to allocate a mentor (in Dutch) to each child. You must inform the parents who their child’s mentor is.

What is a mentor?

The mentor is a pedagogic member of staff in charge of children in one of the groups. The mentor is the point of contact for the parents to discuss the welfare of their child. The mentor also discusses the development of the child based on the facility’s pedagogical policy plan with the child’s parents. In the case of out-of-school childcare, the mentor is also the point of contact for the child itself.

There is no maximum number of children which can be assigned to a single mentor.

Parental meetings

In childcare centres, the mentor has to discuss the development of the child with the parents periodically. In the case of out-of-school childcare, this only needs to be done if asked by the parents. There is no minimum number of times a mentor must speak with a child’s parents.

Familiar-face criterion

The mentor does not need to be one of the familiar faces of the child. However, they must work in one of the groups the child is in, so they know the child well enough.