"Today the most urgent need in education is that the school should be united with the life of home and family." Froebel in Lilley 1967, p.156.

Froebel advocated for understanding and building upon the child's prior life experiences and knowledge. How can a Froebelian approach support modern day educators to connect with the families and communities of the children in their setting?

The latest episode of the Froebel Trust podcast focuses on connection and celebrates the launch of the Froebel's Trust's pamphlet, A Froebelian approach to connecting with parents, families and communities: a starting point. It explores the importance of relationships and the ways educators and leaders in early years settings can connect with parents, families and communities to understand more about each child's individual experiences. Only then can we truly start from where the child is.

"…It really is our job to be able to open up those conversations in meaningful ways and really get to know their child in meaningful ways, because only then can we support their child, can we develop those relationships and bonds with those children."

Holli Williams, Head of Schools at Linden School Nursery Schools in London

During this episode, the authors of the pamphlet, Froebel Trust Travelling Tutors Holli Williams and Rachna Joshi explain why it's so important for educators to build connections with the parents, families and communities of children in their setting. They share examples of simple ways educators can begin to build relationships, how to approach challenges around connection and the difference strong connections can make to children.

We then hear how connecting with parents, families and communities has been taken one step further at a setting in Sheffield. Fufy Demissie, a senior lecturer in early years at Sheffield Hallam University shares how the University's nursery has developed a special connection with the families it supports.

A transcript of this episode is available at: froebel.org.uk/training-and-resources/podcast 

Episode 18 Resources and Links

·      Download Connecting with Parents, Families and Communities: A starting point on the Froebel Trust website. Free to download. 

·      Developing a mapping tool to support connection and loving relationships in early years settings. Pastoral Care in Education, 1-18. Pearse, S., & Boylan, M. (2025). This includes the relationship mapping tool. 

·      Guests appearing in this episode:

Holli Willams

Holli Williams is a Froebel Trust Travelling Tutor. Holli is Head of Schools at Linden Tree Nursery Schools, a small chain of privately-owned settings in Southwest London. Linden Tree has undertaken all six Froebel Short Course Elements, which began their transformation to a Froebelian educational approach in all their settings. 
 
Holli is also a Trustee of the Froebel Trust. 

Rachna Joshi 

Rachna is a Froebel Trust Travelling Tutor and an early childhood teacher, action-researcher and consultant. She works with under-threes, Nursery and Reception children in classroom settings and holds an MA in Early Childhood Studies. Rachna also writes for organisations like Tapestry and Early Education. Her recent work includes embedding music into settings via grants to purchase outdoor music walls, open-ended music resources and workshops for children and their families. 

Fufy Demissie

Dr Fufy Demissie is a senior lecturer in the Sheffield Institute of Education. She began her career in higher education after 10 years of teaching in Foundation Stage settings.  She currently coordinates the Continuing Professional Development network and the student placement programme for the Early Years Community and Research Centre (EYCRC) at the Meadows nursery, Sheffield.   

Fufy teaches on the BA and PGCE early years courses at Sheffield Hallam University and supervises doctoral candidates. Her own research focuses on understanding the role of dialogic pedagogies in professional learning in the early years and beyond. Recent projects include an Erasmus project on Global Citizenship and Mathematics education and a classroom intervention to promote metacognition in early childhood settings. Fufy is also a trustee of the Froebel Trust.

Courses:

Visit the Froebel Trust website to access more free resources and find out more about the Froebel Short Courses.

If you'd like to contact us with questions about this podcast or suggestions for future episodes, you can email office@froebeltrust.org.uk

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