Understanding the key person approach: a quick guide

Babies, toddlers and young children in the early years need consistent, warm and responsive care from the adults they spend time with. Consistency matters for all children, and especially for the youngest.

The key person approach is a powerful way of ensuring that each child can be known, cared for and treasured by a special person. It’s also an important way of ensuring that parents feel confident and know who to talk to if they have any concerns or important information to share. 

An effective key person approach builds on attachment theory. Every child needs warm, loving and consistent care from their special adult. That strong relationship helps children to become more confident and to develop a wider web of relationships with other children and with adults. 

Key people can help young children to develop their awareness and understanding of their emotional states. In particular, elaborating on what children say about their feelings will help this development. So, when a child says I’m sad, the practitioner might elaborate on this by saying I think you’re sad because you couldn’t have the car you wanted. 

Some children come into Early Years settings with emotions they might struggle to manage, such as anxiety, lack of confidence, shyness, anger, aggression or insecurity. This could be because of the temperament they were born with. Or, it could be because of a difficult earlier experience – for example, prematurity. This group of children in particular need key people and all staff to respond sensitively to their emotions. If responses are harsh or controlling, the children will not learn to develop positive behaviour. Instead, they may become aggressive and anti-social as they grow older. This risk is especially high for boys from disadvantaged backgrounds. 

So, it’s important for teams to work together and support each other. Then responses to children with high levels of negative emotion can be calm and sympathetic, whilst boundaries and rules are applied consistently. Staff need to ensure that they do not respond by trying to over-direct and control the children. Over time, positive approaches will help the social development of all children, especially the most vulnerable. 

The key person approach needs careful organisation and support from managers. Any close relationship can produce strong and sometimes difficult emotions. Key people need time and opportunities to talk through the complexities of their emotional work as carers. 

Whether an organisation cares for small children in the early years, or frail elderly people in a residential home, there is always a risk that the needs of the institution will come first. 

Caring for young children is complex and demanding. There are no easy solutions to challenges like the need to respond warmly to all children, whatever our personal feelings may be. Or recognising that a 2-year old’s repeated tantrums are part of the child’s healthy development. It’s important that young children develop their independence, even though this might strain adults’ patience. 

The experience of the child must always be central to practitioners’ thinking. This requires the organisation to take positive steps to make time for practitioners to reflect on the experiences of the children. Practitioners need to think about the ‘child’s voice’. 

This post is an extract from my book Understanding the Revised Early Years Foundation Stage: Principles into Practice. 

You can download the whole book without any charge or sign-up needed here: www.development-matters.org.uk 

infographic generated by Google Gemini