The first term of the school year is a crucial time for setting the tone for inclusive provision.

As teachers welcome children to their setting, it is important to remember that every child has had a different experience during the school holidays. The focus should be on welcoming every child and their family, irrespective of their background.

Leaders should ensure that they review and update their key policies and procedures with this in mind. For example, policies around partnership with parents, settling in, key persons, diversity, inclusion, race and special educational needs and disabilities will all need to be considered.

But beyond making sure that these documents reflect your aims, what else can early years leaders and practitioners do to make sure their setting is truly inclusive?

1. Create a sense of belonging

One important step towards building an environment that is welcoming to everyone is to take the time to reflect on how we create a sense of belonging. Early in the term, we should give children permission to tell their own family stories, in their own voice, and celebrate their family in whatever form it takes.

It is important to empower children to feel confident about their identity. The more we support every child to feel welcome, and acknowledge and embrace their home life, the more it will help the child to feel like they belong in your school or setting.

2. Take care with communication

When communicating with parents, make sure that you do not always address things to “Mum and Dad”. We know there are children who may not live with their mum and dad, and we want to avoid any trigger for either the child or their grown-up.

Children may live in a kinship care arrangement or with same-sex parents. Or there may be children in your class who have had one of their parents die.

As a school community, you may want to discuss a preferred term, which could be, for instance, parent, carer or grown-up. In the same way, be mindful of the language used on your website and social media channels to describe the person(s) living with the child.

When communicating with individual parents or carers, be sure to ask them how they would like to be addressed. It’s not as easy as simply referring to all parents in the same way, but personalising communication really helps to create a sense of belonging.

Pronunciation also matters. I am verbally dyslexic, and it takes me a while to learn how to pronounce certain words and names.

As a way of supporting my own learning, I always make a point of asking parents and carers how to sound out their or their child’s name phonetically. It’s sometimes also helpful to record the name, so I can listen back and be sure I am pronouncing it correctly.

3. Follow a child-centred approach

One way to make every child feel more included and “seen” is to create a document outlining key information about them. Create a one-page template, which can include a photograph of the child - with signed permission from whoever has legal responsibility for them, of course.

Depending on the child’s age, stage and level of attainment, the document may feature the voice of the child, or the teacher or their parent/grown-up may complete it for them.

The document can cover the following:

• What do others admire about the child? Give the child’s peers, family members and other grown-ups the opportunity to write a word or two to describe what they admire most about the child. For example, “funny, kind and caring”.
• What is important to the child? Give the child the opportunity to state what matters to them. For example: “To make sure that I keep the photo of my mum, who died last year, in my book bag at all times.”
• How best to support the child? Ask the child what they need to feel supported in the classroom. For example: “For an adult to sit near me if I get upset, especially if I think about my mum. I show this by going quiet and not wanting to take part in activities.”

These child-centred templates can be provided, where needed, to other staff and professionals so that they are aware of the needs of every child.

4. Review your resources

Finally, carry out an audit of the physical resources and materials you use in your classroom. Do they represent all families within your school and the global community?

Even if you do not have diverse families within your school environment, it is important for all children to know and understand that there are other families who do not look like them.

Consider how to represent children and parents in a professional and sensitive way - and select resources with care to reflect this.

Laura Henry-Allain MBE is a writer and consultant. Her new book My Family, Your Family: Let’s talk about relatives, love and belonging, illustrated by Giovana Medeiros, will be published on 7 October