parental engagement and speech, language and communication · 2020-05-25 · • is speech,...

Parental Engagement and Speech, Language and Communication

Copyright 2020© Sarah Hardwell. All rights reserved 1

Parental engagementand Speech, Language and Communication

Sarah Hardwell



Does that match how you see things?

Is closing the word gap and a language rich home environment seen as priorities in your area/setting?



3. Working in partnership with our disadvantaged families, improving perceptions of parents.

“We are concerned to hear of the lack of evidence about interventions that will support parents and families in creating a positive home learning environment. Interventions must be based on solid evidence and rigorous evaluation, to ensure that activity and funding is not being wasted on efforts that may not be effective”

Tackling disadvantage in the early years, select committee report, January 2019



“Parental engagement in early years education is consistently associated with children’s subsequent academic success. On average, parental engagement programmes evaluated to date have led to a positive impact of approximately four additional months’ progress over the course of a year. However, there does appear to be some variation in effectiveness between approaches, suggesting that careful thought is needed when developing and introducing parental engagement approaches, and that on‐going monitoring and evaluation is essential.”

Parental Engagement, Education Endowment Foundation, 2019

Asking Questions!

Several parents expressed uncertainty about whether child’s SLC development was at expected levels.

General perception that supporting a child’s SLC development was something distinct to usual play activities.



The aim is to lift the curtain on what goes on in Early Years education. Share with parents how we support their child’s development and explain the research or evidence behind what we do. We place parents alongside us in supporting their child’s development in a partnership of all adults in that child’s life.

Bronfenbrenner!

My pathway plan● The basis of my project’s findings is that through sharing targeted

information on a regular basis and using a variety of methods (face to face conversations, email, WhatsApp, Facebook, paper handouts), an effective working partnership with parents and carers can be formed or enhanced.

● This has moved beyond the initial plan of SLC development, having found that such a regular exchange of information (the emphasis being on two-way communication) can form a solid foundation for addressing and supporting more complex needs.

● By building a partnership initially through regular discussion of SLC development activities and related information, parents will find that a close working partnership with their child’s educators continues as their child progresses through school.



Did it work? More answers!

“The first time we made story time interactive”

“We spent up to half an hour per session, A LOT longer than we would spend reading a book normally.”

“The story sack provoked a lot more conversation about the story.”

“It has shown me how much imagination X has, also how she understands scenarios.”

“It has broadened our thinking around story time and how we make it more interactive.”

What about the practitioner?

Reinvigorated my whole practice, not just SLC.

Shift in focus of the information exchanged with parents – more questions asked by parents on a wider range of topics.

By focussing more intently on the role of parents in a child’s development, I have built much more effective partnerships than anticipated.



“the most successful parenting interventions appear to include a focus on equipping parents with a greater understanding of child development, developing parental confidence in their role as parents, or on providing assistance to parents to co-parent.”

What’s the best way to engage parents?

• Is speech, language and communication the best focus?• Can different styles of settings achieve better

partnerships with parents, or do partnerships work differently?

• Examples of successes and failures?

Nothing is more important than helping a child on their path into the world and if what I do can help them onto a successful path, that is something truly special and hugely rewarding.

parental engagement and speech, language and communication · 2020-05-25 · • is speech,...

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