Taking part in a child planning meeting
The contribution that ELC practitioners make to a child planning meeting is an important one, but there can be challenges too. In the next activity Pamela and Liz discuss their experience of child planning meetings for Pamela’s daughter, Eilidh. You’ll hear how difficulties were resolved and how positive relationships were built that benefitted everyone.
Figure 5.5 Tea and biscuits for a child planning meeting
Activity 5.2 What makes a good child’s planning meeting?
Timing: Allow 10 minutes
Listen again to Pamela and Liz, this time discussing planning meetings. Make a note in your learning journal of the key points and compare your list with the one in the discussion.
Download this audio clip.Audio player: Audio 5.1
Transcript: Audio 5.1 Liz and Pamela discussing good planning meetings
CAREGIVER:
The first plan – I know that you'd had a planning meeting before.
EILIDH'S MUM:
Yes.
CAREGIVER:
Because the deputy head went to that. And I was a bit miffed, to say the least, only because I felt like I knew Eilidh because I was the person that was working with her. So when the next one came up, I asked if I could sit in on it.
But in the end, they said yeah, that would probably be better in the long term. And I said, oh, can Sarah come as well? Because the two of us are supposed to work with Eilidh. And it would be beneficial for us both to know what was going on, meeting all the different people, seeing what we need for Eilidh that would help her settle within her space.
EILIDH'S MUM:
Yeah. We'd had a few child-planning meetings before Eilidh came into education that were incredibly daunting. And yeah, I think one of them maybe had 16 different professionals at them. Some of them we had never met before they actually turned up at the meeting.
And so by the time that Eilidh was three and coming into education, we had already decided that we needed to really scale down our planning meetings, have them in places that are comfortable. And that really made a bit of a difference. So not to have people who weren't necessarily directly involved.
So when we came to do our child-planning meeting at the nursery, we didn't bring the chest physio with us, although I think she might have come to one at one point. And there was no need for community nursing at that stage to come along to it because it wouldn't be relevant to her time at nursery. The professionals that needed to come were obviously you guys talking about Eilidh's play, the OT for equipment, physio to help with the support, et cetera, like moving the hand link, and education.
And that seemed to be a manageable group of people that made it not daunting. And that when we came to the meeting, there was nobody new. Everyone knew why we were there. And we were then enabled to, I suppose, make it more productive.
And as a parent, that made it a little easier. Because sometimes, and particularly our very, very first meeting, when there was just a whole room full of professionals, and some of them we didn't know and didn't know what their purpose was. It just felt really comfortable. We knew everyone in the room. And we knew what their purpose was and how that then impacted Eilidh at nursery.
CAREGIVER:
It became more friendlier…
EILIDH'S MUM:
Yeah.
CAREGIVER:
I think as well.
EILIDH'S MUM:
Became more like a chat.
CAREGIVER:
Yeah, having a chat about everything, being sure that we're all following the same guidelines and we're on the same hymn sheet.
EILIDH'S MUM:
And we were able I think – you guys were so great at communicating with me because of that. And I've been able to build up that relationship. But we built up that relationship, obviously, with the OT and the physios and stuff.
And there were small things that they would say, is that, would it be OK to have the meeting at 9:00? 9:15? Is that OK for you? Because then that means that we can come to that meeting. And then we can do something else.
Whereas if they were coming to a meeting at 10:00, 10:30, that was the only thing that they could do in the morning. So they wouldn't be able to fit a meeting in beforehand. So when they came at 9:00, nobody was huffing, oh, I have to take this whole morning just to do this one meeting. There was a bit of communication that was making it comfortable for them.
CAREGIVER:
Also gave you time, when the meeting was finished, to leave Eilidh with us…
EILIDH'S MUM:
Yes.
CAREGIVER:
…for a little while. And then go and do what you needed to do and give you that space.
EILIDH'S MUM:
And also just to talk to the professionals afterwards because then I wasn't caring for Eilidh. And if they talked about something, I was then able to, maybe doing something at home, I was then able to carry on that conversation after the meeting without then going, well, I've got Eilidh, and I need to get home. That was quite good.
But obviously, you guys made that comfortable for all of us in such lovely surroundings in the staff room with tea and biscuits. That's a really big thing. You go places to have really big conversations with lots of people and don't get tea or a biscuit.
And it was lovely having Eilidh at the meeting. And because Eilidh was at the meeting, and she was so comfortable being at the Cowgate and all around us, that made a difference, too. Because we were talking about Eilidh doing things, and then actually she was there demonstrating beautifully, taking her cars and putting them into her little garages. And, yeah.
CAREGIVER:
It was nicer. It was a much better atmosphere as well. Nobody sort of felt out of place. You didn't feel like, oh, they're professionals, and I'm not sort of thing. Everybody was welcoming. And everybody had a wee bit to say. And everybody listened.
And then when everybody was ready to put in their inputs as to what would be a nice suggestion. Or no, that doesn't work. So could we try this?
EILIDH'S MUM:
But you guys made that relationship with those professionals good by listening to what they were saying, taking on, and having conversations with them about the things that did or didn't work. And so you were all equal.
Audio 5.1 Liz and Pamela discussing good planning meetings
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Discussion
Pamela and Liz thought that a good planning meeting included
- speaking up about which staff should be at the meeting and making changes
- being able to talk about what does and doesn’t work
- having the child present and involved in the conversation, and ensuring that the child has someone to look after and play with them during the meeting (although it may not always be practical or possible for the child to be present)
- deciding, in partnership with families, which professionals it is most helpful to have at the meeting
- ensuring that the family has met the professionals before the meeting
- ensuring that the communication needs of the family have been considered
- having a welcoming and comfortable meeting space, with refreshments available.
- professionals listening to each other
- finding a time that works for everyone, to enable follow-up conversations and relationship-building.
Perhaps you are involved in child planning meetings. Now that you have reflected on what can help a meeting go well, is there anything you would like to improve?
This section has highlighted some of the key points that will help you to conduct a child planning meeting. The next section looks at play for children with complex medical needs and explores resources that will be helpful.
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A Child’s Plan