The Early Childhood
Unit was delighted to welcome Michael Rosen, author and Children’s
Laureate, to speak at the launch of the new PEAL book – ‘Parents as
Partners in the Early Years Foundation Stage’. The
celebration took place at Thomas Coram Children’s Centre in Camden
on Monday 9th March. Michael welcomed the book and
the work of PEAL training (Parents, Early Years and Learning) in
helping to build parents’ confidence as educators of their own
children. Getting to know parents, including them and
encouraging them to contribute their own knowledge and skills to
the work of the nursery and classroom brings real benefits to
children, parents and teachers alike. He particularly
emphasized the critical importance of supporting parents’ to share
quality picture story books with very young children, such as
Maurice Sendak’s ‘Where the Wild Things Are’, which invites
children to think deeply - to reason, speculate, and
wonder.
Sue Steel and Chris Cheshire, who have
completed PEAL training and accreditation, also spoke with real
passion about the changes they have been inspired to make in their
work with parents. Working with parents successfully means
talking less about hard –to- reach parents and thinking more about
how to make services less hard- to- access. It’s important to
find a range of ways to involve all parents. Building relationships
and talking to parents more regularly enables a practitioner to
find out more about an individual child and tailor appropriate help
and support to their educational and developmental needs.
Parents as Partners in the Early Years
Foundation Stage is published by the National Children’s
Bureau (ISBN: 9781905818433, £13,80 NCB
members/£16 non-members). To order a copy call 0845 458 9910,
e-mail ncb@centralbooks.com or go to
www.ncb.org.uk/books.