Realising the Ambition tells us that ‘Parental engagement is about parents’ and families’ interaction with their child’s learning. It can take place at home, in the setting or in the community. Where it takes place is not important. The important thing is the quality of the parent’s engagement with their child’s learning, the positive impact that it can have and the interaction and mutual development that can occur as a result of that interaction. Examples of this could be:
- working in partnership with parents in the creation and review of their child’s personal plan in ELC
- stay, play and learn session
- parents sharing their skills e.g. helping to develop an area of the setting, cooking or baking with the children, talking about their jobs
- sharing children’s profiles with parents
- parent evenings/meetings to share children’s learning, development and next steps
- day to day conversations around a child’s learning and needs e.g. drop off/pick up times or daily diaries