Introduce
Children with SEND require a holistic understanding of their circumstances informed by families’ perspectives. This can support consistency between home and educational environments in a way that helps children to feel secure and supported. Families will need to advocate for their children, but equally professional experience will play an important role in identifying challenges and solutions. It is therefore essential to build strong partnerships with families which values their insights and contributions.
Develop
Watch the video below where Dr Alison Gurney outlines how might families be engaged to support children with areas of need.
Reflect
Consider:
- How do you capture families’ experiences? How do you frame children’s differences? Do you also celebrate them?
- Thinking back to a challenging situation with a child and their family, what was the issue? What did you do well? What might you do differently going forward?
- Is there potential to obtain resources and that reflect a breadth of identities and experiences.