Half of nursery practitioners have found it more difficult to engage with parents and carers in the last year, according to research.

A survey of more than 580 early years educators carried out by childhood education platform Tapestry found that virtually all respondents said they were proactive in trying to engage families, but 50% said this had become more difficult.

One respondent said the extension of funded hours made it more difficult to engage with parents, as everyone arrived and departed at the same time, making drop-offs an pick-ups busier.

Where parents and carers experience barriers to engagement with a setting, such as English as an additional language, respondents were most likely (90%) to focus on face-to-face chats and meetings to support them. Almost a quarter (23%) also reported using online tools like Google Translate and almost two thirds (63%) involved a child’s key person in helping to build a relationship with their parent or carer.

Around half of respondents (51%) reported reducing their use of printed letters to communicate with parents and a fifth (21%) reported less use of face-to-face meetings. Half (51%) reported an increased use of email, 54% an increased use of online learning journals and a third (35%) reported increased use of online meetings.

 Dr Helen Edwards, co-founder of Tapestry and a former nursery owner, said: “Since its inception, and in the years after the pandemic, Tapestry has developed new tools to support educators as they seek to communicate in a digital-first world. We are always surprised at how quickly settings take up these new tools and I think it is driven by a wish to engage with families as effectively as possible.”