Partnership working in schools

Taking into account the recent Tickell Report why and how might schools work in partnership?
The earliest years in a child’s life are the most crucial (Robson 2006) and a variety of different professionals are involved with them from parents, health visitors, teachers and in some cases social workers. Therefore by reviewing the Tickell Report and its recommendations, the importance of partnership working will be highlighted as well as the strategies that may be implemented an the effects they have on child development.
In 2008 the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) was introduced (DfE 2008) and although improvements were made Dame Clare Tickell, Chief Executive of the Action For Children charity, believed that it was still not perfect. "We need good quality early learning for all children and a framework that raises standards, as well as keeping children safe." (Tickell 2011) This view is what led to a review of the EYFS and the creation of the Tickell Report March 2011. From the report various recommendations were made in how the EYFS can be enhanced with it focusing largely on effective partnership working. ‘Recommendations will help give those professionals more freedom and are designed to make the entire system work better for children, professionals and parents’ (DfE 2011) highlighting the notion that partnership working is key to learning.
One key recommendation made is the early identification of additional needs which suggests that more focus needs to places on child development and another recommendation is to clarify safe guarding and welfare so that it is more understood. (Tickell 2011) The Every Child Matters document (DfES 2003a) held the opinion that ‘the government does not bring up children – parents do.’ (Simon and Ward 2010 p107) This view has been reinforced within the Tickell report with the recommendation that parents should be engaged in their child’s learning rather than just being informed. Although other recommendations were made such as reducing paperwork the ones highlighted focus on partnership working with parents, health and education services and social workers.
Partnership working is based on personal and professional relationships joining and working together under various circumstances for the needs of the individual child. Although policies and legislation play a vital role ‘there is no substitute for building positive relationships between all those involved.’ (Hallam 2011 p159) The recommendation for identifying additional needs promotes partnership working amongst health visitors, teachers and parents so that the child’s needs can be assessed and dealt with early on.
Partnership working has many advantages as it enables various professionals to communicate with one another and share information that they have about a child therefore allowing a wider picture to made about the child. (Steel 2008) Sharing information may mean that additional needs are identified at an earlier stage allowing them to be dealt with quicker and a plan can be made to ensure individual learning strategies. This falls in with one of the recommendations in the Tickell report (Tickell 2011) and can be supported by both school and the parents allowing the child to achieve their individual potential. Partnership also allows parents contributions to be respected and discussed which will in turn raise their confidence so that they feel the best is being done for the child. With parents feeling more confident they are more likely to offer support to the teacher so that they can work together to raise the child’s learning. (McNaughton et al 2008)
Although there are plenty of advantages, in practice some professionals have found draw backs as they have been expected to take on more but offered little or no training.(McNaughton et al 2008) There is a similar view held between all professionals including parents that information is not always shared equally or that it is given in a way that only they would understand using language common to that profession therefore it is important that a ‘shared language’ (Ainslie et al 2010 p31) is used. For example often in sensitive matters such as child abuse where a variety of professionals are involved such as the police, school teachers, health visitors each professional holds a key piece of ‘the jigsaw’(Barr et al 2005 p17)that they do not share amongst each other. By keeping information back it means that the needs of the child are not being met so professionals need to be encouraged to share information equally. Another barrier can be seen in the referral process as it is currently rather complicated, complex with a lot of paperwork which may hinder how quickly additional needs are identified as well as how quickly safe guarding issues are dealt with. (Tickell 2011) However, the Tickell report is looking to make this far clearer by reducing assessment procedures and paperwork so that more time is spent dealing with the child rather than filling in paperwork.
As partnership working is a complex issue some professionals do not always fully appreciate what it actually means and have varying beliefs and opinions.(Hodge and Runswick- Cole 2008) Therefore effective partnership must include a thorough understanding of the provisions of each other and remember how their working together will benefit the child. Although there are plenty of plans to improve partnership and the EYFS all changes come at a cost especially training of professionals and ‘with government debt running at £185bn at the end 2009’ (Simon and Ward p112) reducing expenditure is evident and likely to impact on the EYFS. Social workers, for example, have an extremely demanding and emotional role to play when dealing with sensitive issues and to ensure effective partnership ‘they require high quality training, skilled supervision and suitable and sufficient resources.’ (Leeson 2010 p490)This said there are still strategies that can be implemented that require time rather than cost.
There are various strategies that can be put in place to promote effective partnership working. The EYFS Statutory Framework (DfES 2007) believes that parents play a central role in a child’s learning and that ‘ close working between early years practitioners and parents is vital for the identification of children’s learning and needs and to ensure a quick response to any area of particular difficulty’ . (Steel 2008 p19) This has remained a key element in the review and so it is important that considerations are made in how to engage and communicate with them so that are aware of how their child is progressing and how they may offer support at home. Sometimes letters aren’t always the best way to communicate with parents as they can easily get lost so therefore texts and emails may be a more reliable source in ensuring all parents are up to date and if necessary, they can be individualised .It has been suggested that if parents use ‘number talk’ and discuss objects with their children at home they become more mathematical adept. (Gunderson and Levine 2011 p1021). If it is true that children benefit from what they learn at home teachers must engage with parents informing them of how they can help at home for example giving examples of books they could use and maybe guidance on the National Curriculum. Although some believe that this is putting far more pressure and expectations on the parents to take on roles that some believe should be the sole responsibility of the teachers a survey, taken in England, suggests that ‘72% of parents’(DfES 2008) want to be more involved in their child’s education. Teachers have also argued that their professionalism is threated as the parents are becoming so involved and they feel far more accountable. (Crozier 2010) However in order to reduce these negative views a well-balanced teacher-parent relationship must be created so respect and understanding is held between both parties. Barriers can be created if parents have had a bad experience of school or if they feel they lack knowledge of certain areas (DfES 2008), in order to reduce these barriers teachers need to make them feel confident in talking to them and that they can come to them with any questions that they have so therefore a good teacher- parent needs to be built. Therefore a good strategy to use would be to set up workshops for parents to attend where they can see what is being taught and maybe one’s for their own subject knowledge to be increased for example using ICT. (Steel 2008) There are limitations as not all parents will be available due to other commitments, however effective communication will allow them to advise the teacher the times most suitable for them even if it is once a month. To summarise it is apparent how important partnership working is and how it has had a large impact upon the recommendations within the Tickell Report. Therefore all agencies must collaboratively work together to help each so instead of just being informed they have a say. With everybody merging together the individual child’s needs and benefits are placed at the heart which is exactly what Dame Clare Tickell hopes to achieve within the Tickell Report. To ensure that effective partnership occurs the barriers need to be reduced by all professionals being offered support and training that they lack confidence in as well as being open to share information to aid others rather than holding it back as each piece of information is vital. To conclude ‘it is important to remember that ultimately practitioners and parents all have the children’s best interests at heart.’(Steel, 2008 pg19)