Unit j assignment

Editor's Notes

• #3: The pre-school is based on a military garrison and in each family at least one or both of the parents are serving. The aim of the Jolly Phonics sound pack is to provide a resource which is ready prepared to enable parents to use after work (meeting their needs). The pack has been designed to meet the needs of the Eal families specifically the Nepalese community within our garrison. It has also been designed for ease of use as at times one parent may be deployed leaving the remaining parent as the sole carer. Waite (2011) explains that involving families and the community outside of the setting enables children and families to be more engaged with learning and a more positive attitude. The parent pack extends the child’s learning experience through learning jolly phonics at preschool and then continues learning at home with the parents. Bridges can also be built between the setting/practitioners and home/parents, also learning in the community (working with Nepalese families), learning beyond the setting.
• #4: Whitehead (2010) explains that phonics demonstrate the sound (phonemes) and letter (graphemes), and that in the English language there are 44 phonemes. Show systematic synthetic phonics cards used in schools. Constructive criticism- different accents may alter the sound of the phonics and the spelling aspect i.e. through (ough and oo are the same sound). Neaum (2012) explains that language needs to be heard to be learnt and that children will learn chunks of language that they hear regularly. Therefore children need opportunities to hear language to go through the development of learning language.
• #5: The sound bags use a variety of ways to engage the children including involving the parent, visual objects, a sensory experience, a song and a website where games can be played. Hayes and Whitebread (2006) explain that ICT can be used to develop children’s learning and develops children’s ICT skills. The parent pack is covering many areas of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS DfE 2014) including Communication and Language using the phonics, Understanding the World with the use of the website and computer, Expressive Art and Design through singing the song expressing themselves and Personal, Social and Emotional Development with interaction and developing children’s self esteem. This links to Every Child Matters (DfE 2003) Enjoy and achieve- children build self esteem as they become more confident with the sounds enjoying using the sound pack. Language acquisition enables literacy and this can lead to well-being.
• #7: This links to Every Child Matters (DfE 2003) Make a positive contribution through building trusting relationships with parents through the parent pack. It also links through the awareness of cultures as the pack is to help children and families attending the setting. The website can be used in addition to the sound bags and visual jolly phonics cards in the resource pack. Permission was gained from the headteacher to use the website and videos on the website.
• #8: Malcolm Knowles (1973) defines pedagogy as the art and science of teaching children and andragogy as the art and science of teaching adults. In pedagogy the learner is dependent on the teacher and the teacher is responsible for the learning. Where as in androgogy, the learner is responsible for the learning and is self dependent. It is important to teach the parents the letter sounds in a way that they understand and in a way which is not patronising. This pack is simple and easy to understand and is linked to the school website which simply demonstrates the sounds. The parents can add to the sound bags and write comments in the comment book provided to continue to improve the pack. Neaum (2012) suggests that phonics should be taught with an early years pedagogical approach and that phonics should not be taught until children are ready at the correct stage of development with phonological awareness (to be able to hear the subtle sounds and differences) from having used and listened to language, songs, rhymes and alliteration. Therefore it is essential that any children (especially to consider for children with EAL) are not using the parent pack until they are at the correct developmental level having heard and used enough English themselves to be able to hear the phonics. It also questions if the parents with EAL are at the correct stage of learning English to be supporting their children with phonics. Although it is important that the practitioner and parent are working together to teach the child the letter sounds to lead to blending the sounds for reading and not just the letter names. Waite (2011) explains that learning outside the setting can affect children’s future lives. This links to Every Child Matters (DfE 2003) Achieve Economic Wellbeing through helping children’s outcomes throughout life by giving them a positive start. (Language acquisition enables literacy following onto wellbeing).
• #9: ‘Parents as Partners’- The setting supports parents in their essential role inviting them for stay and play with their children in the setting weekly with the day of the week changing each term to include all parents. Parents are given information about their child through having an open door policy for parents to be able to talk to keyworkers/practitioners at any time or arrange a meeting, over the telephone and there are also termly parent meetings. Parents can meet other parents at ‘coffee club’ held every Friday in the school, to make new friends in the community when they are away from home. Parents are given regular written information via newsletters, a weekly planning letter, the settings facebook page, email and home contact books containing information about what their child has been participating in and their development. An outing is planned for mothers day and fathers day each year inviting parents to join us with their children (to build relationships) to local attractions such as Honeybrook Farm and the Sea Life Centre. Parents can also see photos and videos of their child in the setting via Dropbox (a cloud storage information system). Providing the parents have signal they can access Dropbox to see the videos and photographs even when posted. The settings ‘Parents as Partners’ policy is to ensure continuity between the setting and home (working with parents). It is important to have regular communication with parents to share important information which will have an affect on the child such as if one of their parents is deployed.
• #10: The setting works with parents through the above policies:- New arrivals- The Manager/ Deputy shows the parents and child around the setting welcoming them and also providing them with a prospectus giving information about the setting such as the timetable and snack menu. When a child starts in the setting they are made to feel welcome and designated the keyworker that the child forms a bond with. The parents are invited to stay and play with their child for as many sessions as needed to help to settle them into the setting. Parents are them communicated with regularly of their child’s day and progress. This policy works with parents to ensure they feel welcome and settle their child into the setting. Our vision- Children are with us from as little as three months to as long as three years. Children can be affected by moving house or a parent being away. The settings aim is to provide a stimulating environment where children will feel happy, secure and valued. The children's individual needs are met and the setting aims for children to learn new skills, make choices and to develop their independence and self-esteem. The setting helps children work towards the Early Learning Goals of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). It is important to prepare the children for school transition. The children access school facilities such as the library, hall, music room and playground on a daily basis, helping the transition to school run smoothly. The setting meets families needs offering childcare from 8am to 5pm to assist working families. Confidentiality- Parents can trust that any information they give parents will be kept confidential. Staff sign the confidentiality policy in their induction. This policy is to stress the importance of confidentiality to build a relationship of trust with the parents. If a member of staff broke confidentiality in the first instance they would receive a warning. Equal opportunities- The setting is inclusive, welcoming all families regardless of gender, race, social group, religion, family background or disability and is committed to providing equality of opportunity for all children and families and eradicating discrimination. We acknowledge festivals of children attending the setting and celebrate them. This policy is to ensure that all families feel welcome from the community. Safeguarding- The setting’s primary responsibility is the welfare and well-being of each individual child in its care. The setting believes we have a duty to the children, parents/carers and staff to act quickly and responsibly to any concern that may come to the settings attention. Children are also safeguarded in the setting through high staff:child ratios, registers, risk assessments, safer recruitment including DBS checks, accident records and staff attending safeguarding training every three years. This policy is to ensure children are safeguarded and will not always work with parents as if a child is believed to be at harm then the Designated Safeguarding Officer would make a referral and parents would not be spoken to.
• #11: Whitehead (2007) reminds us that parents cannot all be grouped together as they are from different cultures and have different languages, traditions and beliefs, they have different levels of education and different strengths and weaknesses. They are the child’s continuing educator. Whitehead (2011) explains that when parents are involved in early learning (especially language) it can be the foundations of later accomplishments. She describes how parents model language to children which is why it is so important to teach parents the letter sounds and the correct way to say them. Penn (2007) suggests that the childcare industry has reached ‘crisis point’ due to factors such as parents on low wages affording increasing childcare costs to maintain high staffing levels and employers not giving working parents flexible hours. Therefore the purpose of this parent pack is to help working parents in a home learning environment in possible limited time with their children. Neaum (2012) explains that strategies can be used to enable parents with EAL such as welcoming them in their language, visual cues, enabling parents to get involved in the setting, making links with the families home and community and resources in different languages. The setting invites parents to ‘stay and play’ once a week with their children. The sound bags parent pack is translated into different languages and contains objects which will provide visual cues. The parents and children using the bags are invited to add objects from home to get involved. EYFS Parents as Partners (DfE 2007) has key messages for practitioners to work with parents and build good relationships to benefit children’s learning, well being and outcomes. Also the importance of the child’s family and home learning environment.
• #12: Facts from Every Parent Matters (2003):- When parents and children work together it often leads to the best outcomes. Better outcomes such as going to college or university can be linked to when parents, particularly fathers get involved in their children’s education. Children are motivated by mothers and fathers to do well in education and schooling. Children’s first and most important role model is parents. Facts from EPPE (2004):- Better cognitive and academic achievements are from children who grow up in a supportive and encouraging environment. Outcomes for children are improved by the quality of the home learning environment. Quality interactions are more important than the time spent. Facts from The Impact of Parental Involvement on Children’s Education (DCSF 2008):- The quality of the time fathers spent with their children was more important than the quantity of time. Two thirds of parents would like to be more involved with their child’s learning in the setting. When parents are more involved it has a positive impact on children’s achievements in education. Reading, writing and numeracy improves with family involvement.
• #13: The idea of the parent pack is to support parents and remove barriers. EAL can be a barrier as the families may not understand English which is why the parent pack is translated into Nepalese, French and German as those Nationalities have or are attending the setting. It could be translated into further languages as different Nationalities joined the setting. The military families attending the setting are families away from home. They have access to support systems including keyworkers as key people in the setting, other families living on the military base, the community and welfare support such as SSAFA (SSAFA 2014). Unfortunately some families may feel isolated if they have not made new friends and are away from home. The Armed Forces charity SSAFA was founded in 1885 to support families left behind whilst those in the Armed Forces were serving. The charity supports servicemen and women and their families from everything to a support phone line to housing (SSAFA 2014). As a nursery, preschool and out of hours club linked to the school used predominantly by the military, there are times when the setting is directly involved with supporting families alongside SSAFA. On the military base events which we support include a fundraising fashion show and the ‘Big Brew Up’ where donations are given in return for hot drinks and cakes. Neaum (2012) explains that practitioners need to break down barriers to support children and families with EAL including understanding that their home language is valued and English is being learnt in addition to their home language and not replacing it. This is important to consider with the parent pack, that the phonics are being learnt to support their children’s English and preparing for blending words to learn to read in English; but the families home language is still respected and instructions are provided in their language. Understanding links to Every Child Matters (DfE 2003) Stay Safe as an understanding of language will help children to stay safe such as when crossing the road.
• #14: Children on the Homefront (RAND 2010) researched the experiences of children from military families, examining their social and emotional development as well as their academic experiences and found that children which had parents who were posted had more emotional difficulties than other children and that girls from military families had more school, family and friend difficulties. Links to mental health were also found from the challenges military children faced.
• #15: The Microsystem is where the child has the most direct contact such as with siblings, parents/carers and their nursery/preschool/school. This is where the keyworker is important to form a relationship with the child and family giving them a key person to go to. The Mesosystem is the interactions between the parts of the microsystem such how the setting and parents work together. The way which the setting works with parents includes- a ‘home contact’ book, online photographs in Dropbox and online portfolios in WordPress, photos on the school website, termly parent meetings as well as an open door policy to talk to parents at any time, listening and responding to parents wishes, parent stay and play sessions and parent packs. The sound bags are an example how the parent and practitioner work together (to teach the children the letter sounds and what begins with the sound). The Mesosystem is also the community. The military families have support from SSAFA (SSAFA 2014), other families on camp and the setting. The Nepalese community on the military base is a strong support network with families helping one another. The Exosystem is factors affecting the child which are not directly related to them such as their parents being in the military and having to regularly move house and setting, loosing friends and breaking relationships. Every time a military child moves they do not continue to learn for 6 months. Some military children will move an average of once every two years and will attend 5 to 9 school in their childhood. This is the reason why some military families send their children to boarding school for continuity so they don’t have to change schools each time they are posted. It can be questioned if the benefits of having a consistent school out way children being with their parents from the findings of studies including Every Parent Matters (2003), EPPE (2004) and The Impact of Parental Involvement on Children’s Education (DCSF 2008). The Macrosystem is things which are out of the child’s control in the wider system such as politics or culture. For the military child this could include a parent being deployed due to war. The Chronosystem is the changes over time in which the child grows up. For a military child this could include siblings leaving home to go to boarding school (for continuity). The technological age we live in enables children’s parents who are posted to see pictures of their child in the setting via Dropbox (a cloud storage information system). A number of the families attending use Facetime at home to communicate with posted parents- this is visual as well.
• #16: Vygotsky (1978 cited Whitehead 2007) explains that adults make an important influence to children’s learning in the ‘zone of proximal development’. It is suggested that children learn best when their learning is extended beyond what they already know and is the time in which children learn the most in language and thinking. It is the practitioners role to identify the child’s level of development and to extend their learning. Brunner (1986 cited Whitehead 2007) suggests that with adults supporting children’s learning, gently guiding their thinking (scaffolding) the less knowledgeable are supported by the more knowledgeable. It is important for Early Years settings to support parents doing activities at home with their children such as by the use of a parent pack. Skinners Operant Conditioning Theory (1904-1990 cited Squire 2007) is a behaviourist theory where it is suggested that learning is from a consequence or reinforcement following an initial behaviour. For example, if a child asked for milk and the mother smiled and gave the child milk then this is positively reinforcing the language development. Skinner suggested learning is through exploration (being active in the learning process), repetition and drawing conclusions from behaviour. The children using the parent pack will explore the sound bags and contents, song, website and phonics with their parents and therefore are active in the learning process. The sound bag activity, song and website can be repeated over and over again with the child actively engaged to learn the phonics and actions. Whitehead (2010) explains the behaviourist approach suggests that learning is shaped through reinforcement and therefore only correct speech should be reinforced. If a child says a word incorrectly it is the settings policy to repeat the word back correctly such as if the child said ”and” the practitioner would repeat back “yes the sand” to encourage the child to want to talk and to never say no that was wrong. Chromsky (cited Whitehead 2010) explains that people have a Language Acquisition Device (LAD) which is a natural inborn language (explained as an innate linguistic disposition) which is activated by social involvement with language. The parent pack is encouraging a social interaction between parent and child and using and repeating language using phonics and words in an engaging way. Bandura (1977 cited MacLeod-Brudenell 2004) social learning theory suggests children learn from observing and imitating significant adults. The pack is role modelled by parents which the children can watch using the sound bags and then copy.
• #17: The image above taken from the Allen Report (Allen 2011) for Early Intervention shows the brain of a normal three year old child and a neglected child, demonstrating the difference that experiences can make to a child’s brain. This links to Every Child Matters Stay Healthy (DfE 2003) for a healthy mind through interaction and learning, and also links to mothers staying healthy in pregnancy. The Allen Report (Allen 2011) explains that by the time a child is three years old their brain is 80% developed and can affect their outcomes in life. The reports findings stressed the importance of early intervention and two year old progress checks for children in settings. Although there are times when a child arrives in the setting at nearly three years old, but has the two year progress check having already had the two year old health check from the health visitor. This means that the information form the setting is never shown to the health visitor. Also children aged two years old who don’t attend a setting will not ever receive the two year progress check, only the two year health visitor check.
• #18: The following legislation and reports link to ‘Unit J Working with Parents’ as well as the parent pack:- The legal definition of a ‘parent’ is a parent by legal right or responsibility (Gov.uk 2014). Parental responsibility is given to a mother from birth. A father has parental responsibility if he was married to the mother when the child was born or written on the birth certificate. Parental responsibility can be sought through a parental responsibility agreement from the mother, the court or by jointly registering the birth. Same sex partners who were already civil partners at the time of the treatment will both have parental responsibility or can apply. When adopting a child, a named couple will both have parental responsibility. The Children Act 1989 states the importance of parent’s playing a full part in their children lives unless intervention is necessary. Parents are being encouraged to work in partnership with the setting with their child’s home learning using the sound bags. UNCRC 1989 (United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child) which was ratified by the UK in 1991 has articles specifically linking to working with parents including Article 5- The Government gives parents the responsibility to support their children as they see best. Article 18- Both parents should be responsible for the upbringing of their child and must do what is best for the child. Article 9- Families must stay together as long as the child is not in danger. Children should have a say in decisions. Childcare Act 2006 aims are to give duties to the local authorities to improve young children’s well-being and to improve their Every Child Matters (DfE 2003) outcomes, decreasing inequalities, providing high quality, stable childcare to working parents, providing parents with information and support and for childcare providers to adhere to Ofsted requirements. Support for all: the families and relationships green paper (DCSF 2010) states the importance of stable relationships in a family for a child’s healthy development, the government supporting families to maintain relationships and measures in place such as parental leave to help families during times of stress and accessible public services including children’s centres.