Leadership

Working with parents in the EYFS

All parents are unique, and sometimes, what they want from their child’s early years provider is very different to what the practitioner feels is appropriate. In light of the increased emphasis in the updated EYFS on developing strong parent partnerships, Vanessa Linehan considers how to strike a balance.

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      string(5319) "parentpartnership10,11 and certainly the new Early Years Teacher standards fail to emphasiseparent partnership. Practical guides to parent partnership in the early years tend tofocus on aspects such as sharing policies with parents, home visits and includingfathers. They do not delve deeper, encouraging practitioners to consider the beliefsthat parents hold about the way that they wish to bring their child up. If practitionersdo not do this, they are in danger of making tokenistic gestures while failing to enterinto a meaningful dialogue with parents about what sort of partnership they would liketo have with their child’s key worker and other staff at the setting.This research took place in one particular playgroup and therefore the findings andrecommendations may not apply to all settings. But looking at parent partnership ina broader context, professionals working in early years should consider the attitudesof parents who may have strong beliefs about over-formalisation of the early years. Aspractitioners, I would argue that this view needs to be respected and practice adaptedaccordingly.90Vol 6.1School Leadership Todaywww.teachingtimes.comPrimaryFileLeadershipResourcesKnowledge trails1) The magic ingredient: parents! – A range of practical ways to involve parents in schooldecision-making.library.teachingtimes.com/articles/parental-engagement-pupil-achievement-school2) Reach a little further – Schools sometimes speak of ‘hard-to-reach’ parents but, says MargaretBooth, we should recognise that many parents find schools formal and inaccessible – and dosomething about it.library.teachingtimes.com/articles/reach-a-little-furtherReferences1. Brunton, P. and Thornton, L. (2010). The parent partnership toolkit for early years. OptimusEducation: London.2. Lindon, J. (2009). Parents as partners: Positive relationships in the early years. Practical Pre-School Books: Salisbury.3. Nutbrown, C. (1999). Threads of thinking: Young children learning and the role of early education.Sage: London.4. Sylva, K., Melhuish, E., Sammons, P., Siraj-Blatchford, I., Taggart, B. (2004). The final report:Effective pre-school education. [online] Institute of Education. Available at: <www.ioe.ac.uk/EPPE_TechnicalPaper_12_2004.pdf> [Accessed 06/06/2014]5. Desforges, C. and Abouchar, A. (2003). The impact of parental involvement, parental support andfamily education on pupil achievements and adjustment: A literature review. [online] Departmentfor Education and Skills. Available at: <bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/filesuploaded/uploaded_resources/18617/Desforges.pdf> [Accessed 06/06/2014]6. Sylva, K. et al. (2004) op. cit7. Hughes, A. and Read, V. (2012) Building positive relationships with parents of young children: Aguide to effective communication. Routledge: London.8. Department for Education and Skills (2007) Every parent matters. [online] Available at:<webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130401151715/http://www.education.gov.uk/publications/standard/publicationDetail/Page1/DFES-LKAW-2007> [Accessed 06/06/2014]9. Hobart, C., Frankel, J. (2003) A practical guide to working with parents. Nelson Thornes:Cheltenham.10. Nutbrown, C. (1999). op. cit11. Whalley, M. (2007) Involving parents in their children’s learning. Sage: London.This area has not been highlighted in other research and as a result, has not beenconsidered by policymakers. The EYFS does not distinguish between nurseries andplaygroups. The guidance that it gives on parent partnership applies to all settingsregardless of whether a child attends a nursery 50 hours a week, or whether they are ata playgroup for three hours each morning.Although the standard of care and opportunities for learning and developmentshould be the same, I suggest that it can alter the way that both staff and practitionersperceive parent partnership. And this is why it is important that parents are treated asindividuals and are asked about their views and expectations when their child starts ata setting. While one parent might expect a formal review every half term, others mayprefer an informal chat at drop-off and pick-up. While some might prefer to attendgroup meetings to find out information, others may prefer written communication.Policymakers and practitioners need to acknowledge individual attitudes andneeds. It is not just children who are unique. Parents are too.Vanessa Linehan is an Early Years Business Manager and practitioner with an MAin Early Years from Canterbury Christchurch University.library.teachingtimes.com/articles/parental-engagement-pupil-achievement-schoolhttp://library.teachingtimes.com/articles/reach-a-little-furtherwww.ioe.ac.uk/EPPE_TechnicalPaper_12_2004.pdfwww.ioe.ac.uk/EPPE_TechnicalPaper_12_2004.pdfbgfl.org/bgfl/custom/filesuploaded/uploaded_resources/18617/Desforges.pdfbgfl.org/bgfl/custom/filesuploaded/uploaded_resources/18617/Desforges.pdfwebarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130401151715/http://www.education.gov.uk/publications/standard/publicationDetail/Page1/DFES-LKAW-2007webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130401151715/http://www.education.gov.uk/publications/standard/publicationDetail/Page1/DFES-LKAW-2007"
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Leadership

Working with parents in the EYFS

27 Jun 2014

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No one appears to be asking the question why this is the case, nor are they considering the possibility that it is the Key Stage One curriculum that needs to be brought in line with the EYFS, so that more children can develop at their own pace and succeed.Of course, many schools do value play-based learning, but they are increasingly torn by the real challenge and pressure to improve results, so they make every effort to get children ready for the demands in Key Stage One in the hope that this will improve results. This is a flawed approach, as we know that, to learn, children need to have their needs met and that means ensuring their physical and developmental needs are met too.Physical development is a prime area of the EYFS, that means it is as important as communication and language and personal, social and emotional development. 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Special Needs

Moving to Learn

17 Apr 2018

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Think learning to drive, or baking a cake or learning to sail, you learn by doing not by sitting and watching, or by cutting out and labelling pictures. The increasing pressure schools feel under to improve their results is resulting in a top down approach whereby children are required to sit still, hold pencils and complete a range of, often inappropriate, adult-initiated tasks in order that they are better prepared for Key Stage One. Indeed, the new baseline that is being developed, has conceded that learning in Reception classes needs to be more in line with Key Stage One, because a significant number of children are still not meeting the early learning goals, which are deemed to be the benchmark for school readiness and the national curriculum. 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They move to develop a control of their bodies and to learn to refine their movements and this takes lots of practice, but, most importantly, they move to learn.  Connell and McCarthy state “all learning begins with the body”1 and explain the link between the development pf ‘muscle memory’ in the brain to that of cognitive brain development. They argue that moving develops the"
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Leadership

Moving to Learn

16 Apr 2018

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      string(5766) "are reduced to 17.It is also proposed that the 117 scale points – or pieces of information collected tocapture a child’s level of development – is reduced to 20.The principle of simplicity is also reflected in the recommendations that revisedEYFS guidance are written to the pain English crystal mark standards, and that there is asingle interactive online version of the EYFS with clear navigation.To further help engage parents in the EYFS, practitioners, including childminders,will be required to provide a short written summary of a child’s communication andlanguage, personal social and emotional, and physical development between theage of 24-36 months. Parents can retain this and share it with health visitors to createa connection between early years professionals and health visitors to support theHealthy Child Programme health and development review (where the timing is right)carried out for children when they reach the age of two and transition to nursery. Thissummary insert is to be owned by parents who can then choose to integrate it andother information into the Red Book so parents can share it with other professionals.PartnershipThe second principle is partnership, notjust with parents, but also with otherprofessionals. The EYFS was created in beforenotions of early intervention had found theirway into mainstream Government thinking.Now with the publication of reports by FrankField and Graham Allen, along with the workby C4EO, there’s a head of steam buildingup and an emerging consensus about howearly intervention should be achieved. So thisreport unpicks some of the tensions betweenthe EYFS and other initiatives. In other words,it calls for the EYFS to be better integratedwith educational and health so that togetherthey can best support children in their earlyyears. If the EYFS is to be a framework foreall children, it can only do this by being fullyintegrated with other government policiesand legislation.In particular the report also highlights ‘a disconnect’ between the EYFS and thelevels in Key Stage 1. The Tickell report identifies the review of the National Curriculumannounced in January as an opportunity to address this by taking into account theEYFS in the review and to reinforce the connections between the two.The Tickell report also recommends a renewed emphasis on healthy developmentfor all children with better and earlier identification of developmental needs, deliveredby closer working between parents, carers, and professionals, including healthprofessionals. The EYFS should be seen as part of a more holistic system in whichparents, carers, health professionals such as health visitors, midwives and GPs worktogether and response to children’s needs. As the report says: ‘Children who mostrequire support and intervention have the most to gain when professionals shareinformation and build up a full picture of their needs.’There is a desperate need forearly years leadership, bothwithin the sector and acrossorganisations, to help value,promote and encourage staff todevelop skills.“”123Vol 3.6School Leadership Todaywww.teachingtimes.comPrimaryFileEYFSMost agree the need for a summary assessment at the end of the Reception year,but the profile is too detailed and complex. An improved framework would ensureconsistency of practice between different settings and a more consistent experiencefor children in terms of the support they receive and the information shared withparents and carers to help them understand how their child is doing.A universal assessment would also allow local and national data to be collected onchildren’s readiness to begin formal schooling at age 5 which would help monitor andassess local and national progress for this age group.Finally the review recommends that reception should remain part of the EYFS andthere should continue to be a strong focus on supporting their development in theprime as well as the specific areas through play-based approaches.Supporting the workforceThe third principle is supporting theworkforce, and this comes out in a number ofways: first the need for an improved, betterqualified workforce; the need to raise thestatus of the workforce. But there’s also anunderstanding that reducing bureaucracymeans delegating responsibility, trustingand supporting the workforce and notover-managing problems that become over-complicated when they are too proscribed.A minimum level three qualification forall practitioners along with an ambition forthe sector to become fully graduate-led isone way to achieve improved standards.Yet there’s a long way to go in a sector thatis largely staffed by young women with fewacademic qualifications. For many it’s seen asan option for those who no other choice. Thenumber of men working is tiny. These factorscontribute to the low status of those working with our youngest children.To compound the problem, the review received criticism of the quality of trainingcourse to prepare people to work in the early years sector. There is a desperate need forearly years leadership, both within the sector and across organisations, to help value,promote and encourage staff to develop skills.For all its diplomatic language, the acceptance of the recession, the importantadvances being made, the beneficial impact on young children, the review is effectivelypointing out that in some areas, standards in the early years sector is falling shortand staff need more support. Yet, as the review points out, there are examples ofexcellent work and there’s a wealth of good practice to be drawn on but no"
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Special Needs

What next for the Early Years?

16 Apr 2018

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