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Positive Relationships

Positive relationships form a key foundation to the ethos, curriculum, support, interactions and inclusive practice for all children within early years settings. The child should be centre of this relationship triangle.

To effectively foster positive relationships and effectively meet the child’s needs a clear ethos from management is needed where practitioners supported to understand the important role, they play in developing positive relationships with parents, carers and children, and what this will look like in practice to ensure a genuine partnership where all are viewed as equal.

All practitioners need to understand that all parties have different experiences, knowledge, skills and needs, which will mean that practitioners will need to be sensitive and adjust interactions according to individual needs.

Metaphorical Backpack

Children arrive at your setting with a metaphorical backpack of lived experiences, opportunities, skills and needs, and this will look different for all children, with each child needing to be responded to in a way that takes account of all those elements. For example, one child may have a wealth of experiences, lots of opportunities that have been carefully supported to enable them to develop skills across all developmental areas, and now need supportive setting practitioners to build upon this in partnership with their parents/carers. Another child may have had a similar range of opportunities, experiences and support, but has also experienced adverse childhood experiences which significantly impact how the child interacts with the world and will require sensitive and skilled support to respond to the child and provide support to allow them to navigate the world and reduce the impact these experiences and needs. To build on the backpack metaphor, they not only need support to build upon their previous experiences that are in their backpacks, but they also need support to organise their backpack, get out what they need, pack up what they do not need, and other things.

  • Practitioners take time to get to know the child and their family, who the family members are and any wider needs within the family.
  • Practitioners are able to build on these positive interactions in a genuine partnership to discuss strategies, next steps, and so forth.
  • Practitioners understand that parents are the child’s first educators, they hold a wealth of information about their child, their needs and experiences that practitioners support them to share.
  • Practitioners understand that children behave differently in different settings and with different people. For example, some children will mask when in an early years setting but experience overwhelm, meltdowns and very different behaviours at home.
  • Practitioners genuinely seek to work in partnership with parents/carers, listening to, taking on board their views, opinions, knowledge and experiences.
  • Practitioners understand that parents and carers may have hidden disabilities, needs or experiences that positively or negatively impact their ability to engage and trust an educational establishment.
  • Practitioners understand how challenging it can be for parents/carers to navigate the experiences and emotions that come from having a child who has emerging needs, and practitioners need to be curious and sensitive about this.

  • Practitioners take time to get to know the child and their family, taking an interest in what the child likes, dislikes, how they communicate this, who the family members are, and so forth.
  • The setting understands that some children may need different supports to transition into the setting, for example longer transition process, more visits with parents/carers staying longer, shorter sessions, visits when the setting is quieter, home visits, and so forth. This must be discussed and agreed with the parents’ carers, considering and identifying plans together.
  • Key relationships may be more pertinent for children who have emerging needs and SEND to support them to build up trust as a secure base in which to explore and learn in the setting.
  • The relationships will support the child to access the environment, help them to navigate challenges and mitigate barriers.
  • Only when there is a positive relationship will a child be supported to co-regulate.
  • Practitioners understand the impact of ACE’s and trauma on children’s development and behaviour.
  • Practitioners use the knowledge they have about the child’s family, experiences, needs, and interests to plan effective support for the child.
  • Practitioners really get to know the child and seek to understand what their behaviour is communicating and use this information to meet needs.
  • Practitioners know the child’s triggers, sensitivities and signs that indicate they need support and use their knowledge about what calms and regulates them to avert difficult or unsafe behaviours.
  • Practitioners seek to make reasonable adjustments where these are needed for the child to effectively access the setting.
  • Nurture children’s individuality, respecting their play choices and interests, for example, schematic, special interests, hyper-focused, and so forth.
  • Practitioners need to be curious about the needs, challenges of children at all times.

  • Are staff supported to understand their role in building positive relationships with families and understand their role as key person through effective supervision?
  • Does the leadership team effectively ensure that all staff understand their roles and responsibilities in relationship to SEND, to ensure effective communication and actions occur for children who may have emerging needs?
  • How does the setting effectively identify and facilitate key person roles?
  • Do staff have opportunities within their supervision and other avenues to address their wellbeing which supporting children and families with complex needs?
  • Does the setting have an inclusive and flexible ethos that ensures all members of the team including those in administrative roles relating to inclusion?
  • Do policies and procedures support flexible transition arrangements.