There are many ways in which children benefit when parents and carers and practitioners work together:

• Children settle more easily and feel more secure if they know that their parents/ carers and practitioners (school teacher) ‘get on’ really well.
• Children will benefit from having a similar routine or approach in both settings – for example, parents/ carers are able to tell practitioners what time a child normally needs a rest, eats or feels tired, and how to deal with difficult tantrums or what to expect, as well as any toileting  or self-help issues.
• Practitioners and parents/ carers can work together to help with speech and language or advise on specific communication strategies to help a child who has a language delay.
• Parents/ carers are usually the first to notice that something is bothering a child, they can pass their concerns on to practitioners who can recognise and help to resolve them. Small unresolved problems or situations may become big ones if not acted upon promptly.

There are many ways in which school staff can try to build up a good relationship between a child’s home and the setting:

• In order to work effectively with parents and carers, senior staff are on the entrance gate before and after school every day. The idea of this is to reassure parents and carers that we are available to talk whenever they have any concerns. This strategy builds trust as they know they are always welcome to have an informal chat. Children also benefit from this casual approach as they can sense that their parents and carers and practitioners are working closely together.

There may be times when parents and carers will need to be contacted quickly for example, their child is not feeling well, has had an accident etc. Exchanging emergency information is extremely important. It is vital that we have up to date contact information to hand i.e. emergency numbers and addresses. These are usually exchanged during the pre-admission meeting.

We encourage parental involvement as parents/ carers often have a lot to offer in terms of their knowledge, interests, experience, and in volunteering for activities. Working together can also help bring the community closer together.

We encourage our parents/ carers to get involved in the school life and some parents/ carers offer help permanently i.e. ‘reading mums’ in school once a week; others may help out occasionally on school visits as an extra ‘pair of hands’. Some parents/ carers find that working as a volunteer boosts their confidence and gives them chance to meet other parents/ carers of children with disabilities.

A good working partnership means that our parents/ carers enjoy coming in to school. The school also benefits as we gain extra help and benefit from having extra adult support. We also realise that being friendly with parents/ carers is not the same as being ‘friends’ as this may cause unnecessary problems i.e. parents/ carers asking for confidential information, or asking to let unwell children remain in school. Professional boundaries must be maintained at all times to avoid any misunderstandings.