The value at the heart of the model is that good quality relationships between parents, practitioners and children are fundamental and need to be developed before anything else can happen.

These relationships need to be built on respecting and valuing each other’s contribution, and embedded in principles of equality and diversity. If these relationships are developed well, communication will flow backwards and forwards between settings and home. This will lead to genuine learning partnerships and to confident parents and staff, enabling them to provide continuity for the child. This continuity will allow parents and staff to really get to know individual children, and this will enable planning to take place which will provide further continuity for the child. Quality relationships enable knowledge to be communicated between the setting and home. Again, this leads to an increase in knowledge of individual children; and helps to provide a setting or activities that will build on what happens at home and vice versa.

Communication helps to enable parents and staff to work together in a genuine partnership to provide positive learning environments for each child.