Meet the parents
The opportunities for parental involvement in early years provision are more plentiful than ever as Curriculum for Excellence becomes embedded in practice. Charlotte McNeill reports.
With the number of lone parent families on the increase and the pressure of work commitments, life can be a juggling act for families with young children. Another factor to consider is the decline of the local extended family, and the opportunities for young children to enjoy quality time and interact with adults are not as plentiful as they might once have been.
Yet, as practitioners know, playing with children and talking and listening to them is paramount to their physical and mental wellbeing and development. The role of parents in nurturing their children's development doesn't end at their own front door – parents also have an important role to play working in partnership with Early Years practitioners.
'Research tells us that the life chances of a child can be hugely enhanced if parenting is right in the early stages,' says Lorraine Sanda, National Parental Involvement Co-ordinator at Learning and Teaching Scotland. 'There's no doubt about the gains for the children, families, communities and practitioners of getting the partnership with parents right.'
Partnership
While true partnership cannot be achieved overnight, Lorraine is confident that it can work. 'The starting point in terms of developing real parental involvement is the shared belief that practitioners are working alongside parents to get the best outcomes for children in Early Years. If we truly believe this, we can start working towards creating a partnership.'
'This means asking ourselves how we can support parents, how we can involve them at all stages of their children's learning, and thinking about how parents can support us in what we are trying to achieve,' explains Lorraine. 'I would encourage all Early Years practitioners to self-evaluate how they involve parents at present, and to meaningfully involve parents in that evaluation.'
How can practitioners help these partnerships thrive? 'Building trust, respect and open, two-way communication is crucial to forming the relationships that lead to real involvement. So much of a child's learning in the Early Years takes place outside of nurseries and we have to think about how we can work in partnership with parents, grandparents and other key people in children's lives,' says Lorraine.
She continues, 'When you think about 'relevance', 'personalisation and choice' and 'challenge and enjoyment' – three of the principles for design used in Curriculum for Excellence – how more relevant can you make the curriculum to young children's lives than by involving their parents?'
Early Years settings across Scotland are introducing innovative approaches to capitalise on the valuable contribution parents and other family members can make to their children's development. Highlighted on the Learning and Teaching Scotland Video website is Inveralmond Early Years Centre Nursery School, West Lothian, where they are supporting parents through the Peers Early Education Programme (PEEP). The programme gives parents tips on how to play and interact with their children, and provides opportunities to meet with other parents to share experiences.
'PEEP aims to help parents learn to interact with their babies and children from a very young age, and to create an interest in literacy and numeracy experiences among young children before they come to school,' says Aileen German, Headteacher at Inveralmond Early Years Centre Nursery School.
In it together
Meanwhile, Clentry Nursery in Fife adopts a whole-nursery approach to involving parents in their children's learning. Listening to parents' views at the planning stages of Early Years experiences and encouraging their active involvement in the life of the nursery has paid dividends.
'The nursery does a lot of work around health promotion, involving parents in cookery lessons and a fruit and vegetable stall for families who use the nursery,' says Lorraine. 'Parents also take part in positive parenting classes and regularly volunteer to participate in forest walks and swimming trips. It's a great example of sharing learning experiences. Parents really appreciate the advice they receive in the non-threatening Early Years environment, so we have a wonderful chance to gain parents’ support.'
In Argyll and Bute a group of 10 nurseries and schools have come together to develop parental involvement in active learning. One of the initiatives introduced, ‘Shared Start Shared Finish’, sees parents join the classroom each week either for the first or last half hour to work with the children and see active learning in action. 'This enables parents to understand the benefits and rich experiences that active learning facilitates,' says Lorraine.
Another approach involves parents and staff sharing ideas on planning learning opportunities. Lorraine states, 'This is real partnership, parents and staff are learning from each other, valuing and taking account of each other's experiences and perspectives, and at the same time getting the best possible learning experiences for children.'
Further details can be found in the article entitled 'Parents help to make learning fun in Argyll and Bute' article on the Parentzone website.
Additional support needs
The involvement of parents of children with additional support needs demands particular attention. 'It's impossible to underestimate the role of practitioners in supporting parents and raising awareness of their rights,' says Linda Alexander, Senior Manager at Enquire, the national advisory service for additional support for learning. 'Enquire exists to help practitioners and parents, and young people, get the information and advice needed to ensure children are supported towards maximising their potential.'
Enquire urges Early Years staff to raise awareness among parents of the services it offers. 'No problem is too small or too big, and we are here for practitioners as well as parents through our information service and telephone helpline. Partnership working is crucial for effective communication and it's what works in the best interests of the child,' says Linda. Full details of the service provided are available on the Enquire website.
With a shared agenda, joint planning and a true partnership with parents, the potential rewards for children in Early Years are very exciting. Parents and practitioners have made great strides working independently, but together they will achieve so much more.
Find out more
More information about Clentry Nursery and other examples of good practice can be found in the Good Practice section of the HMIE website.
Shifting focus from simply communicating to true involvement emerged as a key finding of the Parents as Partners in Early Learning (PPEL) Project, which provides a snapshot of policy and practice in Early Years Settings in 150 local authorities in England.
A scoping study on models of family learning commissioned by the South East Forum illustrates how family learning approaches can support children's learning and development, and raise parental aspirations.
Lorraine Sanda will deliver a session on making parental partnerships work for Curriculum for Excellence, at the Scottish Learning Festival on Thursday 24 September 2009 at 2pm. For further ideas on involving parents take a look at the sharing ideas section of the Parentzone website.
- Posted on 08 September 2009 under Working with parents and carers, Issue 16, In this issue.
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