BHSA believes that for children to receive quality care and early learning that suits their individual needs, parents/carers and staff need to work together in a close partnership. We recognise that parents/carers play a fundamental role in a child’s development as their first educators and our aim is always to support their role. The two-way sharing of information is key to this. The EYFS Team welcomes parents as partners and this relationship is built on trust and understanding. It is important that we, as practitioners, can support parents/carers in an open and sensitive manner. The EYFS wishes to ensure parents/carers are an integral part of the care and early learning team.

We are committed to:

• Providing opportunities for parents/carers to learn about the EYFS and about young children’s learning in school and at home, e.g. “Meet the Teacher” meetings, weekly Home Learning Newsletters, Parents’ Evenings, Phonics and maths workshops.
• Ensuring the needs and expectations of parents/carers are met through regular communication, electronically and in person, which are evaluated by the EYFS Lead to inform good practice and policy.
• Encouraging two-way information sharing regarding each child’s individual needs, both in school and at home through our online parent communication tool “SeeSaw”.
• Welcoming all parents/carers into the EYFS setting, as much as is possible and as flexibly as is possible, e.g. to support the settling in period, “Stay and Play” sessions during transition, hearing F2 readers, playing maths games, parent talks during our ‘People in the community’ topic and reading breakfasts. We also encourage parent support on class trips.
• Maintaining regular contact with parents/carers and being readily available at the start and end of each day, to provide practical and emotional support and to help build a secure and beneficial working relationship for their children.
• Guaranteeing that concerns or issues are shared and discussed between parents/carers and staff, to facilitate early intervention and plan next steps of support, to ensure all children’s wellbeing and educational needs are being met.
• Supporting parents/carers in their own continuing education and personal development where necessary and inform them of relevant conferences, workshops and training.
• Creating opportunities for parents/carers to talk to other adults in a secure and supportive environment through such activities as open days, “Stay and Play” sessions, workshops etc.
• Respecting the family’s religious and cultural backgrounds and beliefs and accommodating any special requirements wherever possible and practical to do so.