Nursery World - A Unique Child: SEND Code of Practice

Knowing how to manage 'difficult' conversations with parents and
carers is vital, and particularly so when a child has emerging SEN. Dr
Kay Mathieson provides guidance on what to think about.

From admission to moving on, our conversations with parents and carers are central to maintaining positive relationships between setting and home. For each child, the quality of this communication is very important and even more so if they have an emerging special educational need (SEN).

'Practitioners will usually report that they have very positive relationships with parents. On the other hand, asked which area of their practice causes most concern, they will often reply that it is "relationships with parents".' (Mathieson, 2015:84)

This raises three key questions:

TALKING TO PARENTS AND CARERS

The length of our relationship with a family can range from about six weeks, where a childcare place maybe linked to a training course, to four years. The quality of this relationship is influenced by its length, but also the intensity of communication.

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