School and educational achievement is dependent on many complex factors and is usually seen as the key outcome measure by which school effectiveness can be judged. Originally published in 2000, this book aimed to establish whether or not educational achievement can in part be ascribed to the quality and range of home–school links. It provided a timely contribution to the continuing debate at the time on the pivotal relationship between schools and the families which form their constituenci...

First Published in 2000. The topic area of this book is amongst the priority items on this Government’s agenda and is a key part of social policy and strategies across government departments to enhance the quality of life for children and families.

First Published in 1996. This book forms part of a series that brings together wide-ranging contributions which: are written from both professional and parental viewpoints; offer an assessment of what has been achieved; explore a number of problematic issues and experiences and illustrate developments that are beginning to take shape. It will appeal to those with a special interest in and commitment to home-school work in all its actual and potential facets. This book, like the series it i...

First Published in 1997. This book forms part of a series that brings together wide-ranging contributions which: are written from both professional and parental viewpoints; offer an assessment of what has been achieved; explore a number of problematic issues and experiences and illustrate developments that are beginning to take shape. It will appeal to those with a special interest in and commitment to home-school work in all its actual and potential facets. The intention in this book is t...

Parental involvement in children's education is a subject of growing interest and recent legislation in both the UK and USA has given formal recognition of parents’ rights. Learning to read is an obvious area where parents can do a great deal to help, and some schools have had programmes for parental involvement in reading for some time. However recent research has shown the considerable benefit in having carefully structured systems for parental involvement.This book presents a re...

Strong basic language skills are the foundation on which successful future learning is built. Written by veteran SEN authors Sheila Wolfendale and Trevor Bryans, Word Play provides practitioners and parents with a range of fun activities, word games, story and drama exercises that can be used to introduce early language skills in an enjoyable way.Word Play is:straightforward and practicalwritten by well respected experts in education

The chapters in this work describe and explore: contemporary assessment and intervention work with young children with Down's Syndrome, and with hearing, vision, physical and language special needs; the ways in which policies are being translated into practice; and inter-agency co-operation.

This book celebrates good practice in the area of early years and special needs by bringing together authors who are either practitioners or researchers, from a range of different and diverse early years settings including nurseries and units providing special provision. They describe their work with young children who have different and distinctive special needs and disabilities.

This book gives a clear understanding of the growth and operation of special educational needs Parent Partnership Services (PPSs). The reader will find an explanation of the broader national and legal context of PPSs, followed by contributions written by Parent Partnership Coordinators and parent workers in various regions. They describe what they actually do, including their work with and support for parents and carers of children with special educational needs.The book includes i...

Evidence-based practice - what it might mean, how it can be achieved, whether it should be aspired to - is the subject of much debate and argument in social work. Covering areas of social work practice that are well established and those in which evidence is just beginning to become available, the authors address issues such as:* What is to count as evidence, and who decides this?* If relevant evidence is agreed on, how should it be used in practice?* How can the th...

Put together by an outstanding author team, including many authors from the University of Northampton, An Introduction to Early Childhood is a much loved book that helps you explore all the major themes in early years education and care, while providing you with real insight into the changing world of early childhood.To further support your study, this edition has been expanded to include five new chapters including The History of Childhood, Play and Creativity, Children a...

This book is part of the highly successful Transforming Social Work Practice series and is written specifically to support students on the social work degree. Full of practical activities, case studies and opportunities for students to critically reflect and explore theory and practice.Current practice in the field was driven by the government White Paper ′Valuing People′ (2001) which declared some radical aims for services with people with learning difficulties. Now somewhat compr...