As part of our Personal, Social and Emotional education, we are introducing a ‘Persona Doll’ to Nursery. This is an effective approach to promote equality and inclusion with young children.

Her name is Jasmine and we are introducing her by building up her persona which the children can relate to—her family, her likes (catching the train from Maidenhead to Cookham to go to Costa) and her dislikes  - mushrooms and going to bed!

There are other aspects to Jasmine’s persona that some of the children may not be so familiar with;

Jasmine speaks Punjabi as well as English and she goes to the Gurdwara at the weekends. This highlights similarities and differences with people which we can celebrate.

Jasmine will visit the Nursery every week. She will sometimes have a story to share about a celebration or photos from her Nursery. At other times Jasmine will have a story about her time at Nursery and that she needs some help with friendships. We will welcome the children’s questions, answers and problem solving. Jasmine will return to Nursery the following week having solved one of her problems following some of the children’s support and advice.

This will help the children to begin to empathise with others as well as to form their own ideas on how to solve problems when they are upset/ feel left out.

The children may talk about Jasmine at home. They may say she’s real or that she’s a doll. No matter, they will build up a positive relationship with Jasmine which will help them to celebrate differences and think about unfairness.