1c

Recording 1C

Narrator: You will hear the director of a child-care center talking to the parents of a new child.

Director: Good morning, my name is Bob Ferguson and I’m the director of Ascot. Child Care Center.

Mother: Good morning. I’m Sallyanne Cullen. I make an appointment to enroll my daughter.

Director: That’s right, I’ve got the application form right here. Now, first I need some personal details. So the family name is Cullen, is that right?

Mother: That’s right.

Director: Now, what about your daughter, what does she like to be called?

Mother: Oh, her name is Alexandra, but we all just call her and Alex, A-L-E-X.

Director: Great. As you know, we organise the children into different age groups. There’s the babies’ group, the toddlers, aged 2 to 3, and the preschoolers – they’re aged 4 to 5.

How old is your daughter?

Mother: Well, she’d go into the toddler group − she’s just turned three.

Director: And we always like to make a note of our children’s birthdays so we can celebrate it all together if they are at the centre on that day. When was she born?

Mother: Oh, erm, the 8 of November.

Director: Fine. And we also find it’s a great help to know about siblings – sometimes, a problem at the centre can be related to problems with a sibling. Does she have any brothers or sisters?

Mother: Yes, a brother, Fraser. He’s two years older.

Director: So that would make him five, is that right?

Mother: Yes, that’s right.

Director: Fine. Now, we also need a contact address. Where do you live?

Mother: It’s 108 Park Road, that’s P-A-R-K, Maidstone.

Director: Good. Now, last of all, we need a telephone number we can call if there are any problems.

Mother: Oh, well, I’ll be at work and so my husband, so the best number to call is 3467 8890.

Director: Right, and is that a close relative?

Mother: Yes, it’s my mother-in-law’s number.

Director: We prefer to make a note of how the person is related to the child, so I’ll write down ‘grandmother’.

Mother: Yes, that does make more sense!

Director: Now, that’s all of the personal details. We also like to try and get a picture of your child’s personal development. Can you tell me if there are any specific problems she’s having? For example, does she get on well with other children? Is sleeping a problem?

Mother: Oh, she gets on well with others, I think, but she does have trouble sleeping. We gave up a daytime nap a long time ago!

Director: That’s good to know. I’ll make a note of that. She can just have some quiet time while the others are resting if she likes.

Mother: That should be fine. She enjoys drawing quietly.

Director: Right. Now what about other skills? We occasionally take the children swimming, fully supervised of course, and we only go in a paddling pool as we don’t expect them to swing by themselves yet. Does your daughter need a lot of help getting changed?

Mother: No, not at all. In fact she’s been able to get dressed in the mornings for over a year now, so no problems there!

Director: That must be a big help for you! Now, what about the child-care arrangements? Are there any specific days you require?

Mother: Well, I work Monday to Wednesday, but my mother-in-law has agreed to look after her on Wednesdays.

Director: So does that mean that you’ll just need Monday and Tuesday for now?

Mother: That’s right.

Director: And what about the pick-up time? We offer extended hours for parents who work a great distance away.

Mother: Hmm… I work until 3 o’clock, but it takes me about half an hour to drive home, so ideally, I’d like to pick her up at four if that’s OK.

Director: That will be fine. Now is there any other information you’d like to…