Although to every idea there are strengths and weaknesses. A strength of having this technique is that because the parents and practitioners are meeting for these one to ones often they will begin to create a bond and the parents which then helps the child learn better as they are getting more help and they will also feel more at ease and confident with what they are doing and learning if they can see that their parents and teachers are getting along their progression in language is making them happy and proud. Another strength is that when the parents are speaking to the practitioners they are learning more about them and their language and religion if they have one. This helps because the more the practitioner knows about the child and their language the easier it will be for them to help them and know how to encourage them to progress further. 

On the other hand even though this is a really good idea and could work really well to help both parents and child to support the language it isn’t always the case. A weakness of this activity could be that when someone doesn’t speak fluent in your language e.g. English they might be put off by having a one on ones with practitioners as it might make them feel uncomfortable and as if they are being singled out even though they aren’t. They might not want the extra help because they don’t really want to be pointed out as being different because of their child being an EAL child. Another reason could be that most children who actually come into setting who are learning English as an additional language have parents or just one parent who doesn’t speak any English or very little. If a practitioner was faced with this then it puts a huge barrier up because if you can’t actually speak to the parent it makes it harder to help the child and support their home language.

My experience within setting is that there is always someone on the door when the child comes and goes so that the parent can always have contact with the teachers, which helps when they are trying to gain and build up a partnership up from seeing them and talking to them. If this wasn’t done within setting then the parents wouldn’t speak and communicate with the practitioners as much. It would form a barrier between them as parents wouldn’t want to come fully into setting just to make communication, the practitioner has to be there to seek any opportunity that they will talk. 

Department for children, s. a. (2007). Guidance for practitoners in the early years foundation stage. Retrieved from Primary national strategy: https://www.naldic.org.uk/Resources/NALDIC/Teaching%20and%20Learning/ealeyfsguidance.pdf