Two-year-olds: Working with parents - Welcome!

The Department for Education (DfE) programme of funded places for two-year-olds is giving a largely new wave of families access to early education and childcare. According to DfE figures, 55,000 children were already taking up places in April, with the number now mounting steadily as the September target of 130,000 approaches. But who are these families? And how can practitioners work with them to ensure their children can truly benefit from the scheme?

As with any kind of early years provision, getting to know the families will be essential, say early years experts. 'Settings need to take a holistic view of the child, and we can't know the child without knowing the parents because the child is at the centre of the family's network of relationships,' says Ann Langston, director of consultancy Early Years Matters. 'If we work with children, we work with families by definition. And as pioneering American psychiatrist Dr Karl Menninger said, "How parents are with children is how children will be with the rest of the world."'

This year, the Government stipulated that the 20 per cent of two-year-olds being offered places should either be looked-after children or in a household that qualifies for free school meals, afterwards leaving local authorities free to apply their own local eligibility criteria to target the most disadvantaged. From September 2014, however, children numbers will double to around 260,000, entitling some 40 per cent of two-year-olds to a place.

Eligibility for 2014-15 is due to be announced in September, but the DfE's proposed criteria looks likely to apply. Looked-after and adopted children would qualify, as would those with disabilities or special educational needs. Eligible too would be children in households qualifying for free school meals, Working Tax Credit or Universal Credit and with annual gross earnings of no more than £16,190. This would mean, notes the DfE consultation document on eligibility, that 'almost all two-year-olds classed as being in poverty would be entitled to free early education'.

This widening of the scheme is expected to bring about a major shift in the profile of the families. Bernadette Duffy, head of Thomas Coram Children's Centre in the London Borough of Camden, says, 'This year's 20 per cent were very targeted, but a large number of families in Camden qualify for free school meals, so as more come into the scheme we don't expect them all to have a high level of need.'

The picture is similar in the London Borough of Newham. Julian Grenier, head of Sheringham Nursery School and Children's Centre, explains, 'We know a large proportion of our parents will be eligible for places so they won't have a drastically different profile to the families using the free entitlement for three- and four-year-olds.'

Other areas expect the same pattern to emerge. Vicky Jenkins, early years and childcare strategy manager for Brighton and Hove City Council, says, 'Up until now, children have been identified by health visitors but as the scheme expands the needs of the children won't multiply and they'll be more like the profile of children across the city.'

But patterns will vary. There are concerns among some public sector heads about the extent of need in some communities. Pilot settings for the programme did target the most disadvantaged, but one nursery school head says that all of their two-year-olds, bar one, had already been referred to at least one other agency by the time they entered the setting.

Lack of places in some areas is also likely to force local authorities to continue to prioritise those families with the greatest needs. One children's centre explains, 'We've had to prioritise those most in need as we have more than 180 eligible two-year-olds locally but only around 80 places available. Some local providers are only taking two or three children, as they can make a big difference to the dynamics of the setting.'

THE RIGHT BALANCE

Whatever the family circumstances, says Mr Grenier, 'Settings will have to strike the right balance with these families. They should avoid taking a deficit view of the children - that is, seeing them only in terms of what they can't do - and see them as competent learners, while ensuring that they have set up the right structures to ensure that everyone gets the help they need.'

That is the approach at Kensington Children's Centre in Liverpool, where 14 of its 30 funded two-year-olds places prior to September are already attending its 62-place nursery. Nursery manager Irene Ennis says, 'What we have to remember is that parents want the best for their children, and through the outreach work of the children's centre and partner agencies, word is now getting round and parents are also actively coming in for more information. They can see the benefit of their children accessing nursery and what the children's centre can offer.'

Nevertheless, entry to the scheme could be daunting for many families. According to Government figures, only 37 per cent of two-year-olds from the poorest 40 per cent of families access any formal early education, compared to 78 per cent of their richer peers.

Mr Grenier says, 'Settings have to be prepared for the fact that it will feel very new for most children, so it will be very important for them to have a carefully thought out and well-organised settling-in process.

'Then no sooner are children settled at nursery than they catch cold or a bug. While some families will take all of this in their stride, others may find it too much and may need support to help them stay engaged.'

At a practical level, there will be advantages for settings that can balance parent schedules with their own business needs to create a model that suits both sides. Under the programme, eligible two-year-olds will be entitled to up to 15 hours per week, to a maximum of 570 hours of free early education over a year.

'Many models are being used and developed and success criteria are what works for the child, the family and the setting itself,' says James Hempsall, director of Hempsall's, which is supporting the rollout of the programme in partnership with Mott MacDonald. 'We are seeing that not all parents want to use all their 15 hours, preferring perhaps 10 hours. Others are keen to have continuity and regular hours throughout the year, especially as the summer holidays can be so long.'

BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS

Whatever the timing of the sessions, it will be building relationships with both parent and child that will be so critical to working with families, and the success of the programme itself.

'It's all going to stand or fall on the quality of practitioners' relationships with the child and the parent, because that's the nature of working with two-year-olds,' says Mr Grenier. 'We know from research by leading experts like Dr Peter Elfer that feeling securely attached with caring adults is fundamental to a successful experience of early years.'

Building trusting relationships will require practitioners to appreciate the unique nature of each family while acknowledging the potential impact of poverty on some of the parents within the programme.

Early years consultant Marion Dowling says, 'Two-year-olds are naturally demanding, curious, questioning and always on the move; if you're a harassed parent with money problems or poor housing, coping with a child can be a challenge. And the problems are compounded if the child has special needs. It does come back to poverty. If you have a child with special needs and you're financially comfortable, you have the money and the probable know-how to find support.'

As to the nature of relationships between practitioner and parent, these need to be 'friendly and open ... so that parents readily come and talk, ask questions and seek support,' says Joyce Connor, programme director for the early years at the National Children's Bureau.

Allied to this is how settings communicate with parents. Language can be a major barrier to engagement, so as well as taking the necessary steps to accommodate speakers of English as an additional language, the advice from experts is: steer clear of jargon (such as 'child-initiated learning'); avoid putting parents on the spot, especially with form filling as they may be uncomfortable with reading; and explain all your policies, procedures and systems, since parents welcome clarity and knowing 'how things are done'.

In its work, including the REAL approach to working with parents (Raising Early Achievement in Literacy), the emphasis is on developing balanced relationships. Ms Connor explains, 'What the parent brings is valued - their knowledge of their own child, and what the practitioner brings in relation to knowledge of child development and learning is also important. A good relationship helps them to share this knowledge and understanding regularly to benefit the child.'

An essential aspect of this relationship will be to support home learning, and convey the extent of its importance to parents. Mr Grenier explains, 'The Effective Provision of Pre-school Education Project found that the home learning environment had more of an impact on children's development than any other factor, including the quality of early years education and care. Therefore, a key role of settings is supporting parents to help their child's development - maybe through parent workshops, home visiting, running a toy library and encouraging parents to access Bookstart through their local children's centre.

Advising on behaviour will also be essential. Mr Grenier says, 'Many parents will turn to nursery staff for advice because they see them daily and have built up trust. So it is helpful if nursery staff can offer advice on some common issues such as sleep, toilet training, eating and managing tantrums. This would involve some staff training and making sure that the advice offered is consistent and appropriate. Helping parents early on with ordinary problems like these can help to prevent things from escalating.

'Equally, staff need to know when they should refer on, and how to refer to their local children's centre,' he adds. And that will require turning to other kinds of partnership.