Learning & Development Progress Check at Two: Part 2 - Meeting of minds

Building effective relations with parents is central to best practice in the early years, and in meeting the aims of the Progress Check at Age Two.

Only through a relaxed but professional relationship with a child's parents or carers will settings be able to develop a holistic view of the child and respond effectively to their needs. That same strong relationship will be needed if a setting is to inform a family of their child's progress, promote home learning and have any 'difficult' conversations about development.

The aims of the check are to:

• 'review a child's development in the three Prime areas of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)'

• 'ensure parents have a clear picture of their child's development'

• 'enable practitioners to understand the child's needs and plan activities to meet them in the setting'

• 'enable parents to understand the child's needs and, with support from practitioners, enhance development at home'

• 'note areas where a child is progressing well and identify any areas where progress is less than expected'

• 'describe actions the provider intends to take to address any developmental concerns including working with other professionals where appropriate.' (from A Know How Guide: the EYFS progress check at two)

CHALLENGES

However, working effectively with parents remains a challenge for many settings, while working with two-year-olds and their families poses particular problems.

Some children will have been attending a setting from babyhood and relationships will have grown and developed with practitioners over a period of time before the Progress Check at Age Two.

Other children on funded places will be entering the nursery for the first time at two and some of these may come from challenging or vulnerable families.

There may also be a number of prejudices and perceptions held by both the setting and the parents that will need to be broken down in order to develop positive working relationships between nursery and family.

At the parent level

Parents may:

• have a negative attitude to all perceived 'authority figures'

• fear being judged poor parents

• place a low value on education, particularly in the early years

• have previous experience of discrimination

• have considerable pressures in their lives, stemming from, for example, poverty, mental health, single parenthood, domestic violence, alcohol, drug dependence or the responsibilities of caring for both children and dependent adults

• lack confidence, knowledge or expectations about child development

• have low levels of literacy and numeracy

• lack confidence in communicating in English.

At the practitioner level

Early years practitioners may:

• have negative attitudes towards parents' lifestyles

• take the view that parents use the setting as a free babysitting service

• lack confidence to work effectively with parents

• lack understanding of the importance of the home learning environment and parent partnership

• lack time or space to talk to parents.

ACTION POINTS

Given the aims of the progress check and the potential difficulties in working with some families of children of this age group, settings need to consider the following issues.

Staff training

Practitioners, particularly the younger and less experienced, may need training to ensure they:

• have the confidence to actively engage parents

• can engage with parents on a day-to-day basis by welcoming them into settings

• are able to communicate effectively

• recognise parents are primary carers. The Nutbrown review (2012) says, 'Practitioners must learn how to regard parents as experts on their own children and listen and learn from them so as to support each child's well-being, learning and development.'

• have the ability to discuss a child's learning and development

• know how they can help parents to extend the home learning environment

• are able to have 'difficult conversations' with parents, where concerns about a child's developmental progress may have to be initiated

• see themselves as partners with parents in children's learning

• can collect the necessary evidence for the check

• are able to respond effectively to possible cases of children with special needs. There are some concerns that early years staff may miss problems, or, conversely, over-identify special needs and there is a risk that if the check is not conducted and communicated appropriately it could damage relations with parents and possibly put them off future engagement.

Practice

• Remember the basis for effective relationships begins on the first visit or phone call. How welcoming and warm you are will set the tone for the future.

• If you know the family is likely to require a high level of input, it is worth considering appointing a very experienced practitioner to be the child's key person.

• Organise home visits, as these can be a good way of making the initial links with parents. On the other hand, some parents will see your visit as intrusive, so you will have to try to arrange that first conversation in an environment that is as relaxed as possible.

• Without collusion, try to find some common ground with the parents. You are not there to judge their lifestyle against your own; your job is to work with the parents to improve the child's life chances.

• Be sensitive when it comes to filling out forms. Some parents have poor literacy skills so ask if they would like to fill out the form themselves or whether they would like you to do it for them.

• Be clear that you work in partnership with parents.

Evidence for the check

You do not have to collect any special evidence for the Progress Check at Age Two. You need to use the normal evidence: photographs, observations and pieces of work that illustrate development levels, which you gather on a day-to-day basis. Use that to fill out your summative assessment.

Difficult conversations

If you have been sharing two-way information with parents from the start, one would hope you would have shared any concerns you had as and when they arose and have involved your Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator to offer support and advice.

It is not easy to tell parents that you have concerns over their children's development, especially if they already feel vulnerable about their parenting skills. It has to be handled sympathetically and sensitively and from the basis that everyone wants the best for the child and that can be done best if everyone works together.

Developing home learning

Encourage parents to stay and play in the nursery. You can use this time to:

• model good practice

• discuss children's interests with parents and suggest ways in which they can extend learning at home

• give parents ideas of things they can do with their children at home that cost nothing

• lend inexpensive toys and books and story sacks (on the understanding they must be brought back, but don't stress too much if they are not)

• set up fun active learning workshops

• set up groups where parents have opportunities to talk to each other.

Some of these themes, such as home learning, will be covered in greater detail later in the series.

Case study: Lucas's family

Lucas was the third child of a family of eight and all his older siblings had attended the nursery before I became the class teacher. Both parents had a fearsome reputation in the community and school for being aggressive and difficult so everyone tiptoed around them avoiding more contact than was necessary.

Lucas's dad had brought him to nursery one morning and was sitting with him drawing. As I passed by, I saw he had done a fantastic drawing of a cartoon character. 'Wow,' I said. 'That's brilliant.' He told me he loved drawing and had he not had such a hard time at school would have liked to have done something professionally. This was the opening I needed to have our first 'real conversation'. We talked about what schools he'd attended and the difficulties he'd had and how he wanted so much more for his children.

Towards the end of the conversation, I asked him if he would like to help me decorate the school corridor for Christmas. He jumped at the idea and over the week created the most beautiful frieze based on the story of The Snowman by Raymond Briggs.

Each day I treated him to school lunches, which he ate with the staff and children and he joined us for coffee in the staff room. He became more and more relaxed and began to talk much more easily. After that he was always happy to volunteer to help around the school and not just him; his wife too. The youngest three children also attended the nursery and over the years their parents continued to play a very supportive role.

One of the most poignant things he said during our conversations was, 'You are the first teacher who has ever treated me like a human being.'

MORE INFORMATION

• Early Home Learning Matters: a brief guide for practitioners by K Roberts (2008), Family and Parenting Institute

• Early years: leading to excellence, Ofsted (2008)

• Foundations for Quality: the independent review of early education and childcare qualifications final report, by C Nutbrown (2012)

• Leadership Skills in the Early Years: making a difference by June O'Sullivan, Continuum International Publishing Group

• Supporting Parents with their Children's 'At Home' Learning and Development, Department for Education

• The Effective Provision of Pre-School Education (EPPE) Project Technical Paper 12 - The Final Report: effective pre-school education, by K Sylva, E C Melhuish, P Sammons, I Siraj-Blatchford and B Taggart (2004), London: DfES/Institute of Education, University of London.

Sue Chambers is a senior LEYF associate

Photograph At Noah's ark nursery, London by Justin Thomas