Working in partnership with parents is central to the Early years foundation stage statutory frameworks in England and the National Minimum Standards for Registered Childcare (NMS) in Wales.
Here we’ve put together a round-up of all our resources to help support you as a childcare professional to confidently connect and engage with parents to encourage and develop children’s learning.
Communicating with parents
It’s important that parents and carers know you as their child’s key person. It’s your job to inform parents of their child’s day and the progress their child is making.
Involve parents and carers from the very beginning transition period, along the way from induction, settling in, and daily chats, to sharing of resources, social events and information sessions. Check you have the correct parental permissions in place and secure a way of communicating that works for all of you.
Top tip: Be flexible in your approach to communication with parents. Think about how you might need to adapt to suit different parents, for example those with English as an additional language or a specific learning need. Also, make sure it’s the right time to share information without having to rush off.
Building good relationships
Regular chats with parents are a really important opportunity for sharing information. Parents can often feel they’re missing out on their child’s day, so a few minutes chatting can be reassuring.
It’s important to get them involved in their child’s learning and development. You could do this through our learning journal and information sharing – for example including lyrics to a new song you’ve been working on, or a recipe you’re planning to try.
Top tip: When building a relationship with parents you should consider the sensitive feelings of the parent and thinking carefully about how you communicate, particularly when you have difficult things to say.
“Tactful responses are also needed, for example if a child learns to walk whilst in your setting. A child’s first steps are very important to parents, so I think about this and approach the subject with sensitivity.”
Karen Steer, Childminder
“I make sure to fill it [the learning journal] with extension ideas that the parents can try at home”
Sue Asquith, Childminder.
Extend children’s learning
A good way to extend learning is to have resources that can be shared at home. We’ve developed a parents section and other resources to help ignite enthusiasm for this. Explore our:
How about taking the parents in your setting through our Sharing children’s progress document? This breaks down the stages of development in an easy to digest way.
You can also find out more about:
- Partnerships with parents
- Supporting the home learning environment
- Sharing children’s progress factsheet
- Assessing children’s progress
Take a look at the Autumn/Winter 2020 issue of Childcare Professional page 49 all about exploring story sacks – a fantastic resource that can be shared with parents.