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Chapter 1
Principles for working with children under three and their families
Tracy Gallagher
In this chapter, I describe Pen Green Centre for Children and Their Families and the principles that underpin our work. The chapter will document the principles of operation, how the principles underpin our work with children under three across the organisation including the education and care provision (Nest & Couthie), as well as the groups for parents to attend with their young children. I discuss the importance of developing reciprocal relationships with parents and share case studies of best practice.
Before I describe the work of Pen Green, I believe that it would be beneficial to mention the early pioneers who have influenced the work of the staff at the Centre. I will also put the work of the Centre into context with a historical perspective of the government policies and initiatives that have had an important impact on our work with young children and their families.
Many educational pioneers have influenced early childhood education, and I recognise that they have had a profound impact on my practice and the practice of my colleagues. Pioneers such as Froebel, McMillan and Isaacs all had a strong belief that the parentâs role is a critical one to young children. This belief still underpins our work at Pen Green today. We know from Bruce (1997) that the childâs family and sociocultural backgrounds are deeply influential, and children do not leave the sociocultural aspects behind when attending a group or school setting.
Froebel, Montessori and Steiner all believed that when educating young children, we should start with what they can do rather than what they cannot do. Early Years Education and Care at Pen Green encompasses this belief. Our principles are based on placing the child and their family at the centre of all that we do.
Historically, there have been many different attempts at involving parents in the early years, some far more successfully than others. During the Second World War, there was a great increase in early years provision for children to enable women to take up jobs in factories while men were at war; however, as the war ended, many nurseries closed. It was not until the 1960s that involving parents in the early years became a focus once again. Although attempts were made at involving parents at this time, we did not see a true partnership between parents and professionals. The relationship was not usually equal, for example parents were being asked to make costumes for school concerts but not being valued for knowledge they could share with professionals about their children.
It was in the 1960s and 1970s in the United Kingdom and in the United States of America, we saw a trend to set up and offer services in areas of poverty and social disadvantage. We saw an emphasis on compensatory education. The American project Head Start received government funding for two decades in the hope it would break the cycle of poverty (Ball, 1994). It was believed that by placing children in the compensatory education programmes, you would enrich their development and compensate for the poverty they were living in. However, these compensatory education programmes did not recognise the impact of living in poverty, nor did they acknowledge the significant role of the parents and the important influence of family life. Yet, American research would lead us to believe that compensatory preschool education clearly influences later school success (Ball, 1994).
The work of Bronfenbrenner was introduced in the 1970s. He argued that in order to understand human development, we need to understand the entire ecological system in which growth occurs. Bronfenbrennerâs theory (1994) identified that the system is composed of five socially organised subsystems that help support and guide human growth. He described interpersonal relationships such as those in families were critical to childrenâs development, as were the links between settings such as home and school. The work of Bronfenbrenner has hugely influenced our work in the Centre and our approach to working in partnership to ensure a strong link between parents and workers.
In the early 1970s, Chris Athey at the Froebel Institute considered parental involvement; the participatory approach to working with parents was completely opposite to the compensatory models that had previously been experienced. Chris Athey directed the five-year Early Education Project at the Froebel Institute. The project valued and respected a close partnership with parents. The staff involved in the project had a strong commitment to sharing theory with the parents, and this influenced going towards a more equal and active partnership. In addition, the childâs home life was recognised as important and therefore respected. The analysis and results of this project have had a huge impact on many early years professionals and had a significant influence on our work with young children and their families at Pen Green.
In the 1980s, the early years settings in the United Kingdom still saw separation between the education and care provision for children. It was recognised that at this time, most early childhood services in the United Kingdom were divided into care-focussed or education-focussed (Pascal & Bertram, 2002).
Pen Green was set up in 1983, and in many early years settings at this time, parents were seen as inept and in need of expert guidance from professionals who had all the skills and expertise. This was not the view of staff working at Pen Green; from the onset, parents were valued as important educators of their children (Whalley & The Pen Green Centre Team, 1997, p. 3). The parents, politicians, local authority officers and staff had a vision that there should be a service for children under five years of age, a service that would celebrate their existence and would also offer support to their families (Whalley & The Pen Green Centre Team, 2001). Contrary to the national picture, the staff at the Centre had a strong belief that education and care were indivisible and parents played a key role as their childâs first educators. This belief is still at the heart of our work today.
In 1997, the newly elected Labour government strongly encouraged early years settings to involve parents actively in their childrenâs education. Barber (1996) had confirmed the critical role of parents as their childrenâs first and most consistent educators. In August 1997, the government launched its Centres of Excellence programmes following the white paper âExcellence in Schools.â The Early Excellence Programmes (DfEE, 1997) had a strong emphasis on amalgamating early education and care. The intention was for Centres to demonstrate good practice in education, childcare and integrated services for children and their families, as well as providing training and a focus for dissemination. Pen Green was designated as a Centre of Excellence and continued to hold firm the beliefs that all parents had a critical role to play as their childâs primary educators and the offer of education and care was fully integrated.
Since 1998, the different government agendas have introduced a range of policy initiatives, aiming to have a national coordination of early childhood services. One such initiative was the national Sure Start Programme (DfEE, 1998). The government initiative was set up to support families with children aged from birth to five years living in areas of disadvantage. After many months of discussion, the Corby Sure Start project came to fruition in September of 1999. Pen Green became the lead partner for Corby Sure Start programme. The fundamental aim of the project was to change the way that public services were provided. There was also a clear vision that the project would have a commitment to empowering local people so that the needs of young children and their families could be met. In the Corby Sure Start delivery plan, there was a clear recognition of parents as their childrenâs primary carers and first educators (Whalley, 1999). There was also a strong commitment to having parent representatives on Sure Start boards, making decisions and driving services forward. The National Evaluation summary in 2005 described Sure Start local programmes as representing a cornerstone of the governmentâs drive to tackle child poverty and social exclusion. The Sure Start local programmes were based in areas of disadvantage, and their aim was to improve the health and well-being of young children under four and their families, so that children had a greater opportunity to flourish when they went to school (Barnes et al., 2005).
As well as government policies influencing our work, the Centre has had a strong tradition in keeping up to date with current national and international research and leading early years research projects. The works of Easen et al. (1992), Whalley and The Pen Green Centre Team (1997), Whalley (2007) and Whalley et al. (forthcoming 2017) have explored the importance of involving parents in their childrenâs learning. The research clearly demonstrates the value of working closely with parents, and we continue to believe wholeheartedly in these approaches to working in partnership with parents.
In 2002, âBirth to Three Matters: A Framework to Support Children in Their Earliest Yearsâ (DfES, 2002) was introduced. The intention was to support practitioners in their work with the youngest children. Within the framework, there was an emphasis on working in partnership with parents: âthe role of parents in early years settings has evolved significantly and increasing knowledge about the valuable role parents play in their childrenâs lives has led to an emphasis, by the government, on involving them as much as possible in order to enhance outcomes for childrenâs developmentâ (Langston, 2006, p. 3).
Another critical document was the Labour governmentâs green paper âEvery Child Mattersâ (DfES, 2003). This was published following the Lord Laming inquiry into the death of Victoria Climbie. The programme identified five outcomes for children: Being Healthy, Staying Safe, Enjoying and Achieving, Making a Positive Contribution and Economic Well-being. This was the governmentâs agenda for better outcomes as an entitlement for every child, and at Pen Green, we considered this to be of the utmost importance. The five outcomes reformed the way agencies were expected to work, ensuring that every child was Safeguarded. The intention was clear that practitioners would work collaboratively with parents.
In 2004 at Pen Green, we developed a pedagogical environment for children two years of age and under through the Neighbourhood Nursery Initiative (DfES, 2004). The objective of Neighbourhood Nurseries was to support children under five and their families in the most disadvantaged areas by providing new, good-quality childcare services, so that parents previously prevented from working because of lack of childcare could return to work (DfES, 2004). The development of the new nursery provision at Pen Green for children two years of age and under enabled us to work closely with the youngest children and their families, providing high-quality education with care.
In 2006, we received the designation as School Status which provided us with the opportunity to further expand our provision and offer services to more families within the immediate area, across the town and surrounding villages.
The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) (DCSF, 2008) was introduced following a review of policy; once again an emphasis was placed on partnership working between practitioners and parents. The EYFS focused on care and learning being completely indivisible. The intentions of the framework were philosophically coherent to our approach of working collaboratively with parents and involving them in their childrenâs learning.
Policy and research have continued to influence our thinking at Pen Green. Frank Fieldâs (2010) independent review on poverty and life chances addressed the question of how we can prevent poor children from becoming poor adults. Through his report, he considered the evidence that indicates the earliest years of a childâs life are critical if their potential is to be realised in adult life. He also indicated the importance of involving the community and improving the capacity of local parents to help each other. Graham Allen (2011) identified early intervention as the most effective way of offering services, and the importance of supporting children, young people and families before problems arise. Reports such as those by Field and Allen reflect the thinking of the staff at Pen Green, and the approaches they describe have always been central to the work of the Centre.
Over the years since the Centre opened, we have been involved in a variety of government-funded projects that have enabled us to share our practice and develop innovative ways of working with families and practitioners. In 2014, the revised EYFS (DfE, 2014) identified further requirements for practitioners to work in collaboration with parents. The statutory requirements of the EYFS once again confirmed our approach to involving parents in their childrenâs learning (Whalley & The Pen Green Centre Team, 1997; Whalley, 2007).
At the Centre, the most recent development was in 2014 when we were designated as a Teaching School. The work of the Teaching School enables us to disseminate our work locally and nationally.
Initiatives and policies come and go, but prior to any new development at the Centre, we always reflect on our values and the principles of our work. We always consider what the new development would mean to the children and families accessing our service and ensure any new work is philosophically coherent. This guarantees we remain true to the principles that underpin the practice.
The following table shows a summary of initiatives and documents.
Introduction to Pen Green Centre
Pen Green Centre is in Corby, Northamptonshire. The Centre was set up as part of a substantive under-fives initiative and is housed in a 1930s former comprehensive school. At the Centre, we offer high-quality education and care for children and their families. We also offer information and support services for parents through home visiting, group work, health interventions, adult education and training, as well as the professional development, training and dissemination of good practice through the Research, Development and Training Base, and the Teaching School. The principal functions of the Centre have remained constant over the last thirty-three years, although we have significantly developed the accommodation. We have maintained our principles of operation, withstood radical changes in local government, and responded creatively to new legislation and to major demographic changes.
In the Centre, we employ over 130 staff from different professional backgrounds including Early Years, Community Education, Social Work, Health, and Further and Higher Education. It is critical that, as a staff team, we share a common set of values. These values, with the attitudes and expectations of the staff, create the culture of the organisation (Day et al., 1998). The staff team need to have a shared vision and ethos, clear principles that underpin the work and always work across professional disciplines in a way that is philosophically consistent.
Principles of operation
Our principles of operation outline how we respond to the needs of children and families at Pen Green. We believe that the most effective way of providing coherent education,...
