As part of the research for a topic or subject that your child is studying at school, he or she may have to interview people. These might be family or friends, neighbours, people in the wider local community, or even an organisation. Knowing who they should ask for information and how to put together a good questionnaire will help them make a good start.

Different people know different things, and this unit will help your child to consider the wide variety of people they might speak to and encourage them to think about when each might be useful. It highlights different ways of contacting people and the importance of keeping safe. Interviewing is covered through a discussion about the most effective questions and the pros and cons of different ways of recording answers. There also a selection of writing frames that your child can use when planning their investigation. These can either be printed out blank and completed by hand, or filled in on the screen before printing.

Why not work through this unit with your child and help them to plan some questionnaires? For example, they could interview you, as well as other older members of the family or older friends about what school was like when you were younger, and compare the answers. How much have things changed?

Go through the rules together for keeping safe and remind your child that they should always get permission from you or another trusted adult before interviewing others.