Integrated Marketing Communications Essay Example for Free

Integrated Marketing Communications Essay Definition: Integrated Marketing Communication Definition: IMC is a concept of marketing communications planning that recognizes the added value of a comprehensive plan that evaluates the strategic roles of a variety of communications disciplines – for example, general advertising, direct response, sales promotion, and public relations – and combines these disciplines to provide clarity, consistency, and maximum communications impact by The American Association of Advertising Agencies (the 4A’s) The Emergence of IMC The Market revolution forcing a movement towards IMC: †¢ †¢ A shift of marketing dollars from media advertising to other forms of promotion, particularly consumer and trade oriented sales promotions A movement away from relying on advertising-focused approaches, which emphasize mass media such as television and national magazines, to solve communication problems A shift in marketplace power from the manufacturer to the retailer The rapid growth and development of database marketing Demands for greater accountability from advertising agencies and changes in the way agencies are compensated The rapid growth of the Internet, which is changing the very nature of how companies do business and the ways they communicate and interact with consumers †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ The Role of Marketing Communication Marketing communication performs several functions for consumers: †¢ Consumers are told how the product is used, by what kind of person, and where and when †¢ Consumers learn about who makes the product and what the company and the brand stand for †¢ It allows companies to link their brands to other people, places, events, brands, experiences, feelings, and things †¢ It also contributed to brand equity by establishing the brand in memory and crafting a brand image Marketing communication contributes specifically to brand equity in the following ways: †¢ By creating awareness of the brand †¢ Linking the right associations to the brand image in the consumer’s memory †¢ Eliciting positive brand judgments or feelings †¢ Facilitating a stronger consumer-brand connection Marketing Communication Forms Marketing communication consists of 6 major modes of communication: Advertising: Any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods, or services by an identified sponsor Sales Promotion: A variety of short-term incentives to encourage trial or purchase of a product or a service Events and Experiences: Company sponsored activities and programs designed to create daily or special brandrelated interactions Public relations and publicity A variety of programs designed to promote or protect a company’s image or its individual products Direct marketing: Use of mail, telephone, fax, e-mail, or internet to communicate directly with or solicit response or dialogue from specific customers or prospects Personal selling: Face-to-face interaction with one or more prospective purchasers for the purpose of making presentations, answering questions, and procuring orders Advertising Sales Promotion Events

The anti communist feelings Essay Example for Free

The anti communist feelings Essay I think Arthur Miller has been very successful in the character of Parris because although he doesnt actually cause any of the damage directly he still makes him a thoroughly unpleasant character and I think that the audience would feel the same. I personally feel sorry for Parris because he isnt a bad man hes just a pathetic one.  I think a scene which shows a lot of the worst behaviour is act three in the court. The obvious examples are from Abigail and the girls when they pretend to be bewitched by Mary who gets terrified at their act. Their reason for doing this is that Abigail is angry with Mary for betraying them and wants her to be accused of witchcraft so that she has no choice but to go back and join them. The audience I think would have particularly drawn into the scene because it is very tense and a lot of things happen. When Elizabeth lies for John and when John is arrested I think would have been parts that made the audience particularly angry with Abigail. Miller creates tension in this scene especially in the part where Mary is getting hysterical with the girls repeating every word Mary says and stamping their feet. This makes they play come alive and be more exciting for the audience. But in this act the climax of the tension is John Proctors hysterical speech; A fire, a fire is burning! I hear the boot of Lucifer, I see his filthy face! And it is my face, and yours, Danforth! For them that quail to bring men out of ignorance, as I have quailed, and as you quail now when you know in all your black hearts that this be fraud God damns our kind especially, and we will burn, we will burn together! and the stage direction of insane laughter makes even more exciting. The best of behaviour is shown from Act three onwards because the characters consciences catch up with them and they have to take responsibility for their actions. One of the best cases of this is in reverend Hale, when he arrives he seems intent on finding witchcraft; I mean to crush him utterly if he has shown his face!(When talking about the devil. Act 1) but as the play progresses Miller changes the characters views completely. He goes from the accuser to helping the accused lie and Miller does this so subtly that the audience dont feel uncomfortable about this change. In act two he is beginning to waver by going to see the Proctors even though hes not on official business. In act three he announces I denounce these proceedings, I quit this court! and in act four we hear the defining quote of this character; There is blood on my head! Can you not see the blood on my head? referring to the lives of innocent people he has taken and is now feeling the strain on his conscience. I think that the audience would probably feel that Hale is someone who just tries to do his best and would not feel the same animosity towards him as Parris. Another example of the best of human behaviour is in Rebecca Nurse. She is a small character but helps give the play depth because all of the characters lives are intertwined which makes the audience feel like the characters are more personal. Rebecca is one of the only consistent characters in The Crucible she never changes her mind or lies to save herself even when faced with extremely gruelling circumstances. She never compromises her conscience by signing a false confession neither does she turn in her friends. When asked to sign a confession she replies Why, it is a lie, it is a lie; how may I damn myself? I cannot, I cannot.(Act 4) I think the audience would have liked Rebecca because she is the sort of character who doesnt change so is someone you can get comfortable with. I myself found Rebecca to be the most responsible of all the characters in the play despite having a small part. Eventually Rebecca is hanged which I think the audience would have been shocked and angry because she is a pure soul. Another person in this situation was Giles Corey who like Rebecca chose to be crushed to death rather than get other people in trouble. The most obvious example of the best behaviour is found in John Proctor in both the third and the fourth Acts. Where Miller makes him the hero by letting him confess to his sins and become a martyr. Miller creates the hero character for Proctor by letting have one final emotion filled speech about being true to your conscience and despite his admittance of an affair with Abigail the audience would like him and feel sympathy for him. The emotion of this final scene is only really shown when it is performed because of the stage directions Miller gives is what really creates tension. At first after seeing Elizabeth he decides to confess in order to stay with his family but when he is asked to sign the confession he finally snaps and his conscience takes over. His defining speech of the whole play is this final one; Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given my soul; leave me my name! One of the other reasons he decides to die rather than sacrifice his morality is when he sees his friends go off to be hanged and their looks of surprise at seeing him lying. Another thing he says which also contributes to the decision was this; I have three children how may I teach them to walk like men in the world, and I sold my friends? this shows that he was thinking about how his family would feel if they knew he had lied. I personally found this scene the most emotionally draining of the entire play because you really get involved and start caring about the characters and I think that final speech is the best of the entire play. This essay has discussed many things that featured in The Crucible such as conscience and the way Arthur Miller made his characters either liked or disliked. All of the characters in this play were put under extreme pressure and in these situations the best scenes in the play arise. Overall I think that the best of human behaviour was presented more strongly than the worst because the characters that have the best behaviour are more strongly presented. But saying that Arthur Miller does successfully portray the worst of behaviour also because none of his characters are two-dimensional they all his separate lives which intertwine and so you feel for all of them even those who responsible for the deaths. In my introduction I aimed to show the parallels between puritan Salem and the anti communist feelings of right wing America. I have done so. The audience at both the time this was written and in the present day would find this play both emotionally challenging and exciting. The reaction to the last scene probably would have been tears, as I myself was close to tears when watching the film version. I also have achieved the link between the interrogation of Arthur Miller over his political beliefs and the witch hunts in Salem 1692, His reaction to the hysteria and how he wrote the play in protest to the somewhat ludicrous questioning of people in Salem.

Role of Construction Industry in UK Economy

Role of Construction Industry in UK Economy Introduction The UK construction sector plays a key role in the UK economy, which comprises an ocean of products, services and technologies. These may vary in terms of their economic value they generate, reflecting differences in their use of particular factor of productions and the value they generate from them. In line with this the UK construction can be classified in, firstly construction contracting industry, then provision of construction related professional services and finally construction related to products and materials. This sector is also to be hold a considerable growth opportunities of the globalisation of the construction market which a forecast shows that it will grow by over 70% by 2025. The below mentioned coming paragraphs will elaborate more on the pros and cons of being globally competitive Construction industry in the UK economy The UK construction industry nowadays is one of the largest sectors, which has added  £90 billion, to the UK economy and has created almost 10% of the UK employment. It also bares many factors that can affects demand, which one of them is globalisation. The construction industry in UK has a good position to take advantage of global market. The construction sector in UK is known for its services like architecture and development of advanced technologies used in construction such as Building Information Modelling (BIM) and also it has a higher proportion of patents to construction. In 2011 UK has exported construction contracting to give a trade surplus of  £590 million. One of the main strength of UK is at exporting architecture and quantity surveying services. In line with this the contracting industry form part of one of the largest sub-sector in the construction industry in the UK. This have been proven as it has accounted nearly 70% of the total value added generated by UKâ₠¬â„¢s construction and around 70% in the job sector. In spite of that, the UK’s technologies capabilities in the construction export are mixed up across its sub-sectors. Although significantly smaller compared to others, construction products and services play an important key role in the well-being and generate economic profits, about  £4.2 billion in gross value added in 2011. However UK this is not the case in UK’s trade performance in construction related products, which has, make a deficit of about  £6.2 billion in 2012. The construction sector was not spared with the 2008’s recession. From 2007 to 2011 the construction sector has accounted a downfall of 2.2% of the UK’s GVA. But everything seems to start going on the track according to a survey done by ONS. The most recent Construction Product Association forecasts clearly indicate that a fall in construction output of 2.1% in 2013 because of the effects of cuts in public investment. The table b elow shows the output in the construction industry statics. UK construction in the global economy It is also important to note that the UK construction industry has came across problems concerning global market during the economic downfall in 2008, in spite of this UK remains one of the largest construction contracting industry. The construction industry in the United Kingdom has face many drastic changes over the pass 5 years which include increasing of prices of raw materials, limited funding, government spending cuts, corporate failures and falling consumer spending coupled with new accounting standards and regulatory requirements. It has been predicted that global construction market will significantly rise by 4.3% per annum, from USD$8,663 billion in 2012 to USD$15,030 billion in 2025. There are several factors that can accentuate international development. Globalisation Globalisation endorses the main key features to be globally competitive. Most of us globalisation concerning political, economic, social and technological force appears all but unstoppable. As a result of this constant increase in demand global transport infrastructure, advancements in information and communication technologies, and significant progress in the elimination of tariff and non-tariff barriers, businesses are now more fluid in concur this more geographical locations around the world. Consumer Demand As the construction sector covers a wide variety of sub-sectors, including civil engineering, engineering manufacturing and house building, consumer preferences vary considerably across parts of the sector. Overall, greater consumer uncertainty and restricted credit conditions since 2008 have dampened consumer demand for a range of construction products. However, over the past 20 years there has been a general growing interest in property development in the UK and globally, with individuals placing increasingly high demands on builders including requirements for energy efficiency and high quality finishes. Preferences between urban and rural dwellings, and regarding home ownership versus rental accommodation, also have important effects on the demands placed upon the sector. Demographic change An ageing population and change in entire well being of the population has brought forward the provision of the healthcare facilities, housing, education and infrastructure. The increase in life expectancy the overall population has pushed to find the need for hospital and care homes and thus their construction, repair and maintenance. Supply of a proper workplace of elders can be beneficial to the younger generation as they can learn key skills, which are in the verge of becoming lost skills. This can be a reason why UK construction industry must not fully invest into international. Sustainable construction An Annual growth of 22.8% has been forecasted for 2017 as a result of the increasing low carbon regulatory requirements and a much greater societal demand for greener products. According to a recent survey around half the architects, engineers, contractors, building owners and building consultants around the world anticipate that at least 60% of their work will be green by 2015. Emerging markets By 2020 emerging economies are expected to account for 55% of all construction spending. Recent countries, like China and Brazil, are expected to follow this trend to be able to experience transformational changes in the performance of their economy to develop their economies compared to developed economies, although they are more prone to have an increase in demand in areas such as utilities provision and infrastructural renewal, for the big-ticket and development to arise, it will depend on how the growth of the nation is going on. Drivers of long-term growth One among of the numerous drivers of growth in this sector are certainly to gain access to foreign markets and increases export activity. In line with this there are much more factors associated to long-term growth. The below mentioned point will elaborate more on the factors that pushes UK construction industry to drive competitiveness and a long-term growth organisation. People and skills The future of UK construction industry, either international or domestic, resides in the skills and flexible workforce. One other hand there has been a drastic fall in the apprenticeship completions in construction related to industries during these past years. In addiction to that about one fifth of all vacancies in the wider construction sector are persistent and hard to fill because employers cannot recruit staff with the right skills, qualifications or experience. Innovation capability Being competitive, to survive and grow, innovation will be essential to meet these expectations. Competitiveness can lead be advantageous, thus improve productivity and enable companies to aim higher. The RD showed that construction industry has been less innovative compared to other sectors in the UK economy. Although there has been  £7.42 billion versus  £3.15 billion in 2007 to invest in terms of design and organisational innovation it still remains low compare to the other sectors. This is due to: High level of industry fragmentation and limited collaboration Procurement impacting on the level of collaboration Sub-optimal knowledge transfers and lost learning points Issues around market uptake and awareness of benefits from innovation Access to finance and risk-averse attitude to innovation. Access to finance For long the access to finance have been one of the most important aspect for a company to operate and grow. Studies proved that construction faces more difficulties to obtain finance from bank this is because they are considered to have a much higher risk due to low level of fixed capital and smaller firm size. In addition to this late payment make it difficult for construction industries to rely on credit to smooth cash flow on their businesses. Supply chain development Supply chain has a large part in the construction industry. Most of the supply chain is being source in the UK. A survey has made to estimate for every  £1 spent in construction at least 90% stays in UK. Also an analysis made by BIS has clearly show that for a large building project, the main contractor directly manage around 70 sub-contracts which most are smaller in size. To end there are more factors that can impact on the demand for construction and influence the sector’s performance and activity. For example, including regulation and standards, land availability and the planning system and the wider macroeconomic environment. Conclusion Given, the advantages and disadvantages of being an international industry outlined in the previous paragraph, it is quite predictable that despite of the unpredictable challenges that has arise in the recent financial and economic crisis of 2008, the construction industry in the UK still play an important role in the well being and vital for the UK economy. This has lead UK to be one of the largest construction markets in the Europe. UK construction sector has been responding well to the challenges that global market has brought foreword but also it has shown potential of taking advantage of substantial opportunities that global market will give them in the future. The UK is famous for having the most professional construction services. Also being for providing world-class architecture and development of technology such as Building Information Modelling (BIM). In line with this, UK is also known to have a greater proportion of employees in construction contracting with the required qualification like a degree or equivalent qualification, which has almost doubled over the last ten years. In some professional services such as architecture and quantity surveying, the sector continues to run a trade surplus in construction sector. UK construction sector have seize many opportunities present to them. Being globally competitive, the UK construction industry is will place to benefit more from the opportunities for a global shift such as low carbon economy and green and sustainable construction. But, there will be a continuous need to ensure investment in the innovation and technology, along with this there must have and increase in collaboration between businesses and research institution for UK to be able to realise its potential. In connection with this UK construction sector must pay particular attention to shortage of skills, and limited awareness of financing options. They must also brought improvements concerning supply chain and they have relatively low levels of exports in construction products and materials.

Thunderwith Essay -- essays research papers

Thunderwith Essay Everyone goes through a grieving stage in their lives. Lose of a loved one like a mother or just personal problems can cause a person to be upset and grieving. In the novel Thunderwith by Libby Hathorn, the main character Lara gives an example of the stages of grieving. And how she learnt to overcome her mother's death.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the beginning of the novel, Lara is faced with the death of her beloved mother. She is sent to live with her father that she has not seen since she was a child. Lara is also going to live with her father's new family that she has never met. Larry her father has a new wife. 'Lara has the impression that the Man will care for and look after her, saving her from his wife and kids.'; When Lara eventually meets her new stepmother, her half-brother and half-sisters, she immediately knows that she is not wanted and that they hate her. So Lara thinks that the Man will look after her and save her from his family. This is further denial of the pain and loneliness she feels. Thunderwith the novel expresses a young girl grieving over her mother's death.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Soon afterwards Lara meets a dog. She decides to call it Thunderwith because she thinks that it is a gift sent down by her mother. Lara is so happy that she can have one moment of happiness. 'She had just met Thunderwith and somehow by caring about him meant she didn't care about being by herself. She 'was not really alone at all-Thunderwi...

Brown, achievement: Martial arts competition :: essays research papers

A faint twinge of excitement floated through my body that night. A hint of anticipation of the coming day could not be suppressed; yet to be overcome with anxiety would not do at all. I arduously forced those pernicious thoughts from seeping in and overcoming my body and mind. I still wonder that I slept at all that night. But I did. I slept soundly and comfortably as those nervous deliberations crept into my defenseless, unsuspecting mind, pilfering my calm composure. When I awoke refreshed, I found my mind swarming with jumbled exhilaration. The adrenaline was flowing already. After a quick breakfast, I pulled some of my gear together and headed out. The car ride of two hours seemed only a few moments as I struggled to reinstate order in my chaotic consciousness and focus my mind on the day before me. My thoughts drifted to the indistinct shadows of my memory. My opponent’s name was John Doe. There were other competitors at the tournament, but they had never posed any threat to my title. For as long as I had competed in this tournament, I had easily taken the black belt championship in my division. John, however, was the most phenomenal martial artist I had ever had the honor of witnessing at my young age of thirteen. And he was in my division. Although he was the same rank, age, size, and weight as I, he surpassed me in almost every aspect of our training. His feet were lightning, and his hands were virtually invisible in their agile swiftness. He wielded the power of a bear while appearing no larger than I. His form and techniques were executed with near perfection. Although I had never defeated his flawlessness before, victory did not seem unattainable. For even though he was extraordinary, he was not much more talented than I. I am not saying that he was not skilled or even that he was not more skilled than I, for he most certai nly was, but just not much more than I. I still had one hope, however little, of vanquishing this incredible adversary, for John had one weakness: he was lazy. He didn’t enjoy practicing long hours or working hard. He didn’t have to. Nevertheless, I had found my passage to triumph. My mind raced even farther back to all my other failures. I must admit that my record was not very impressive.

Freud And Marx :: Sigmund Freud Karl Marx compare Essays

Freud and Marx   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Freud and Marx it can be argued were both, as individuals, dissatisfied with their societies. Marx more plainly than Freud, but Freud can also be seen as discontent in certain aspects such as his cynical view of human nature. Each were great thinkers and philosophers, but both seemed unhappy. Perhaps the social ills and trouble each perceived in the world about them were only the reflections of what each of the thinkers held within themselves. Each person observes the same world, but each of us interprets that information in a different way. They both saw the world as being injust or base. Each understood the disfunctions in society as being caused by some aspect of human greed or other similar instinct. They did however, disagree on what the vehicle for these instincts' corrupting influences are. Freud claimed that tension caused by the stuggle to repress anti-social instincts eventually was released and caused the social evils he observed. Marx also saw instincts at work but not the tensions and Id that Freud saw, Marx simply credited man's greed and the subsequent oppression of other men as the root to all that was wrong with civilization. It is interesting to note that both Freud and Marx saw conflict but each traced it back to sources each was respectively educated in.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Freud was a Psychoanalyst and his understanding of the mind was very conflict oriented. He saw man as a kind of glorified animal who had the same desires and needs as any other animal. The only true difference between the human-animal and other animals was that the human-animal possessed an intellect. Freud divided man's psyche into three parts, the Id, Ego, and SuperEgo. What differed the human-animal from any other animal was the SuperEgo, which arose from man's intellect. The Super-Ego as Freud theorised it is the values of one's parents internalised. He went further to then explain that unhappiness in life is caused by the conflict between the Id and the SuperEgo. As stated, all of Frued's philosophy was very conflict oriented so it is not difficult to understand then how Freud applied this view macrocosmically to society as a whole.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Freud addressed this in his essay, "Civilization and It's Discontents". In it, Freud claimed that civilizations are developed through the channeling of anti-social erotic and aggressive urges into constructive outlets. He went further and explained that social ills are caused by those members of society who are not satisfied with the substitutes supplied by the channelling of anti- social instincts into social creative energies. Such repression causes a certain tension which after awhile cannot be repressed and is released in socially

Inclusive Education Essay

In this assignment I will be critiquing a peer reviewed research article which explores an aspect of interprofessional practice. I will reflect on my practice and identify how the research discussed with in the article impacts and challenges my thinking and approach. By critiquing the journal – Early Years: An International Research Journal, I will show knowledge and understanding of other professional roles in early years under pinned by theory I have researched. My own understanding of inclusive practice in early years is that – â€Å"All children, irrespective of ethnicity, culture or religion, home language, family background, learning difficulties or disabilities, gender or ability should have the opportunity to experience a challenging and enjoyable programme of learning and development.† (Early Years Statutory Framework, 2014, 1.15) The journal focuses on 52 early years practitioners from England, their experience of interprofessional working, woven together and their level of confidence and competence also different settings such as children’s centres, preschool settings and private settings as well as community preschool as it has been the fore front of government policy in UK since the inquiry into Victoria Climbie I have focused on three prime aspects from the journal: training, communication with multiagencies and support which I think is key regarding my own reflection of my practice as well as the impact on my thinking approach. The writers of the journal are Jane Payler and Jan Georgeson (2009) but nowhere in the journal are their qualifications and backgrounds cited. It is unclear that the writers are professional s or have had any practical experience in early years. It does not tell you where the settings are located and which back ground the children and families are from. I believe if all this information was given it may have been clear to the readers why we believe that research done in the deprived area has a  huge impact on their achieving when it comes to budget training and skills. If it was a deprived area they might be struggling with the funds, resources and support. On page b385 it states that they sent the questionnaires out but I believe all the methods used had weaknesses as it does not say anywhere what language they were using and what sort of questions were asked. Throughout the journal the writers praise the efforts that are made from the children’s centre in terms of working with inter professionals. As a reader I felt they were biased towards the children centre as throughout their article they have mentioned several times about how well children centres are doing, in comparison to preschool and private nurseries. Even the tables indicate that the children’s centres are performing at the top and preschool and private settings are nowhere near their achievement and successes. On page 387 of the journal it states that during her research it clearly showed that the children’s centres showed a secure understanding of procedure as well as confidence in approaching other agencies. The first aspect explored was training needs. The Journal article states that â€Å"the survey done was completed by 52 early years practitioners who were either undergoing, or had recently completed training for early years professional status.† Due to the level of education, it is clear to me why most of them were confident when working with outer agencies and writing reports according to the NutBrown review of early education and childcare qualifications interim report (March 2012) – â€Å"Getting qualifications right will help to ensure that women and men enter the profession with the skills and experiences they need to do the best work with young children and their families. Well taught courses and learning routes that lead to reliable qualifications can help early year’s practitioners to improve their skills, knowledge and understanding, constantly developing in their roles.â€Å" This has made me reflect on my own training in regards to what I need to attend in terms of inclusive education and its importance as it is clearly shows in the journal on pg381 that the staff members with high qualifications and training were more confident in approaching and writing IEPS (Individual Educational Plan). As I was reading the journal one thing which really drew my attention was that it talked about the staff training being inconsistent. In some places staff seemed confident and in some places they were not. My  self being an early year’s practitioner and working in a private sector I can relate to the problems as staff are expected to go on training in their own time. Working within the Borough of Hounslow I have experienced first-hand cuts that have definitely been made in regards to training. According to the Guardian published in 2011 heading â€Å"The government is putting training out of reach of those who need it most in early years’’. (Th e Guardian, 2011) It goes on further to state thatâ€Å" From August colleges and training providers, in the main, will receive only half the cost of courses’’. This results in training being harder to gain. In order to go onto training you now have to firstly go onto a waiting list. Not only has that had an impact on your practice but also a staff member’s confidence with dealing with any situation which that training may have addressed. Another issue is that we now, as a setting, have to pay for the training. If a setting is low on funds the training cannot take place and so the staff members, as well as, children, parents and the setting, miss out. Covering the staff on training and courses exacerbates the situation.† It is also shown on page 390 of the journal that due to the cuts the speech and language therapist who will come to the setting one day fortnightly was reduced to once a week which impacts on the children having to refer somewhere else and not having an inc lusive service. I have been affected by this last year as I was told that there was no money left in Hounslow borough to give out for inclusion support staff which resulted on my having to use the staff I had already to support the child’s need . Despite the above and reflecting on my own practice, I believe early years practitioners do the best when it comes to identifying a child with a need, as they are the primary carers after the parents. In my belief, other agencies might have the qualifications but we as practitioners are the ones who identify the problem and so refer them on. As stated in the new EYFS (2014 3.20) â€Å"providers must support staff to undertake appropriate training and professional development opportunities to ensure they offer equality, learning and development that continually improves.† The second aspect which came to my attention was the different level of support throughout the children’s centre, preschool and private nursery. It was astonishing to see that the children’s centres were given the most support and due to this it is not a surprise that they were the most confident in approaching the  outside agencies and writing reports. This is clear due to their inter links with the outside agencies. According to the article they state that in every child’s centre in London they have family support, speech and language therapists as well as health visitors who are designated to each children’s centre. Due to that reason, I believe that they have far more support including regular meetings, interactions and support; however, private nurseries and preschools do not get that support and rely on communication based on letters as well as emails and phone calls, which is not always reliable and as effective as meetings. From my own experience I have noticed that once you identify a concern with a child’s speech and language, the referral takes over six months to completely get a response from a speech and language therapist. In Hounslow alone there is a long waiting list of children waiting to be seen by a speech and language therapist. Due to this, it is no doubt in my mind that having an in-house speech and language therapist or to even have a type of training in order to help and support children with their need as now out of? â€Å"Children coming to school are in need of some sort of speech and language support’’. (I CAN Talk Series – Issue 6) This has challenged my thinking and approach I would definitely like in my setting, as a manager, ascend a staff member to see how the speech and therapist works so they can come back and continue with the therapist approach. It was described by one of the practitioners that sitting with a child whilst seen by the therapist helped her to support the child page 389. I would love to be able to do so in my setting. I can support children with some support while the child is waiting to be seen by the speech and language therapist. Once the child has been seen by the speech and language therapist I make sure I have the copy of the recommendations and advice made by the therapist, so I can use the same strategies used by the therapist. According to I CAN, an organisation that helps children to communicate, ‘‘In some parts of the UK, particularly in areas of poverty over half of children start school with speech, language and communication needs.’’ â€Å"That means 2 to 3 students in every classroom have significant communication difficulties.’’ (I CAN Talk Series – Issue 6) One of the other aspects which came to my attention was that throughout the article it is c lear to me that there has been effective communication within the children‘s centre as there have been professional  staff on site; therefore all communication is face to face especially with speech and language therapists. Whereas private and other settings do not have this capacity and funds so all the communication involving outside agencies is on paper. It is clearly shown in figure 1 page387 that the children’s centres were 100 % on target when it comes to face to face contact with outside agencies. Other settings like independent preschools where I am employed are only doing 75% of face to face contact when it comes to communication and although it’s only 75% contact it is effective within that percentage. I agree with this as my own private setting has to rely on emails, phone calls and paper. This is also clearly stated in the journal on page 387. On page 395 it tells you about the need of the effective inter professionals practice in early years and their belief that it will be possible once the two year old check for disadvantaged children is extended. Since the 2 year check has been introduced I have experienced more regular contact with the health visitor. I have experienced di fferent types of response when it comes to effective communication. As in the document one part needs to be done by the practitioner one by the parents and one need to be done by the health visitor regarding any concern with the child. Some health visitors will be very particular in writing about the child’s health and on other hand some health visitors will write little information concerning the child and leave it as ‘no concerns’. Conclusion: The article helped me to reflect on my practice and identify key issues that impact and challenge my thinking and approach. For me, inclusion is not simply the toleration of all pupils, but the active provision of opportunities for all to feel good about themselves and to have the chance to flourish, whatever their individual needs and potential barriers to learn might be. Whatever difficulties may arise in dealing with the outside agencies ,distance between the professionals and resources and funds available as a particular I believe we have a legal duty to make sure we do the best when it comes to equality and diversity (inclusive and inclusion). In my setting and practice I have made sure that I provide and implement a clear policy and procedure to promote equality and support to every child in need as up held by the legal frame work in EYFS 3.66. It was also clearly stated in the journal on page 389 that settings doing their best when it comes to competence in developing their knowledge and network for inter-professionals over a period  of time were based on their knowledge and greater experience of integrated provision. Effective working practice with outside agencies should occur whatever the contact is, face to face or remote. As a practitioner it is our responsibility to make sure the child is covered within the inclusion policy. The second part of my assignment will be focusing on communication and the importance of communication in settings between other agencies, staff and parents/guardians. The word â€Å"communication† comes from the Latin word â€Å"communis,† meaning â€Å"to share.† (Communication studies). I believe sharing is a very important element when working within your practice, with parents and outside agencies. Personally I believe communication â€Å"is the act of conveying information for the purpose of creating a shared understanding. And includes verbal, non-verbal and electronic means† (Communication studies) According to Pietroni (1992) – â€Å"We should not underestimate the many factors that challenge working relationships between professionals. Most fundamental is communication.† â€Å"To achieve better integration of services and organisation, The Children’s Act 2004 required local authorities to enter into partnership arrangements with parents who, in turn, carried reciprocal duties to cooperate.† -Aubrey Carol. â€Å"As suggested by the Laming Report, the Common Assessment Framework(CAF) was introduced as a standardised approach to assessing children’s additional needs. CAF supports the identification of a child’s additional needs which are not currently being met at the earliest possible stage.† (How children learn, Pg. 59) As an early years professional it is very important that I use communication effectively regardless of the type of setting, the ability to communicate effectively is crucial for developing positive relationships with children, young people and their families, colleagues and other professionals. Not only does it pave the way for a happy working environment but it is also a core unit of study for most children and young people especially when working with inclusion. In my setting I am the manager and the SENCO. I believe we are at the stage of norming as described by Tuckman in his performing team development models. Consensus largely forms among the team, our team responds well to reinforcement by a leader. Roles and responsibilities are clearly defined and important decisions are discussed and agreed upon by the entire team. Smaller decisions may be delegated to  individuals or small teams within a group not only to empower the members of staff but to ensure each staff member understands how to handle decision making and help them to gain experience. Our team also discusses and develops our processes and working styles and are always adapting and evolving in parallel to new research and studies. There is overall respect for team leaders and leadership is shared by the team. Leader facilitates and enables (similar to the Situational Leadership ‘Participating’ mode). Working beside staff is very important to make sure we have an e ffective chain of communication which is strong and healthy. In support of this â€Å"Good communication practices need to be built into the policies and procedures of a setting† (Communication studies: what is communication) In our setting we make sure we work alongside parents as they are the â€Å"first educators† (Early Years Foundation Stage – EYFS, 2.2.) To help children achieve their full potential we make sure that practitioners investigate the experiences families and children receive when they attend our setting. Their feedback is essential to us as it helps us to further improve and meet the needs of parents more successfully. As part of gaining insight into the experiences of children and parents in our setting we send out surveys and questionnaires for parents to express their opinion through, this is especially effective if the parent does not feel comfortable expressing their opinion face to face with a member of staff. In addition to this our setting has an open door policy where every morning members of st aff are available to talk to; our staffs are multilingual and can communicate with a vast range of parents. We also have a text and email system in place for the parents who are working and don’t have time to complete surveys or get in touch with the staff. All these systems are in place to ensure effective communication. Coffee mornings are also in place and provide greater opportunities for parents to discuss their feelings in an informal atmosphere. Some settings invite parents to attend a short nursery rhyme performance and a chat about their experiences of the setting. We, at our setting take the ethos of â€Å"parents as partners†. Research tells us that the parents have the most influence over child development and so practitioners will serve children better by working in partnership with the parents. Practitioners also need to be mindful of the parents’ readiness to engage. There are many factors that should be considered when communicating or  attempting to communicate with parents such as communication barriers. Some of these barriers include time constrain ts regarding parents working hours, story time and language issues and if the parent may have special needs. Another communication barrier is if the engagement may be difficult due to family issues (such as a new baby, caring for a relative, domestic violence, health issues, and unusual working patterns.) It is only by understanding parents and valuing their input that practitioners will be able to acknowledge their readiness to engage with the setting. Strong and positive communication and relationships between staff, parents and children will help to develop an atmosphere of trust and comfort. Some children may receive additional support from agencies for their communication development. It is essential that practitioners work in partnership with these agencies to maximize the benefit for the child as it also states in EYFS â€Å"When parents and practitioners work together in early years settings, the results have a positive impact on children’s development and learning.† (EYFS, 2.2) Our setting works closely alongside outside agencies and take the multi-agency approach to make sure we provide the best care to the children. We also follow EYFS guide lines which states in i.16 – â€Å"Close working between early year’s practitioners and parents is vital for the identification of children’s learning needs and to ensure a quick response to any area of particular difficulty. Parents and families are central to a child’s wellbeing and practitioners should support this important relationship by sharing information and offering support for extending learning in the home†. – To make sure this is happening effectively we have implemented a key person system. Each child has a key person allocated before they start at the setting; it is established before the child starts the setting and on the basis of the initial meeting on induction day and the information gathered from paperwork. An example of this in practice is during introduction staff members meet all the parents and the children. If during the meeting we identify any information about the child’s specific needs such as speech/language/physical issues and the parents need e.g. parents first language is not English, the key person is chosen to suit the need of the child’s /parents so they have better communication and feel more comfortable and at ease. Parents can feel confident in communication with staff members and between their children and staff. The role of the key  person is too gather as much information as possible before the child starts the setting so that the settling in time can be arranged according to the child’s needs and interest. On the child’s first day the key person sets the activity of the child according to the child’s perceived interest and ability to ensure comfort and a sense of safety for the child. In addition to this the key person is responsible for noting and observing the activities of the child. After the initial meeting of the child and pare nts the SENCO of the setting (me) sit down and asses and evaluate any issues or concerns. An example of this is a child who attended my setting and during the induction day the mother had mentioned that the child is shy and an introvert. However upon observing the child during induction activities I learnt that the child may be more than just shy or anti-social. I came to this conclusion as I had noticed the child avoided eye contact and would only play with one toy, a toy car in which he would move it up and down in a continuous pose. The child also flapped their hands as a result of excitement. After the introduction I sat with my staff and talked about the day and mentioned the particular child. I then allocated myself as the child’s key person. I felt I had more rapport with the child and insight than any other member of staff. I then shared my thoughts and observations I had made during the day and offered some solutions and plans of action. During the first few weeks of the child attending the setting I conducted many observations and also got in touch with m y local SENCO and shared my concern over the phone. We then collectively arranged a day for her to come and observe the child. I double checked and ensured there was no further help I could provide and did all that was possible for the child e.g. the child enjoyed sticking doodles wherever he could and so I made a little post-box in each corner of the classroom and moved any hazards such as televisions as he loved sticking notes on the screens of television and computers. I also maintained daily contact with the mother and even asked her if it was possible to come earlier to pick him up as he became very upset when seeing other parents pick up their children. And made the mother aware of the assistance I was receiving from my local SENCO. I explained how it was vital to contact my area SENCO as they could provide advice which would further help me to support her child to the best of my ability. On the mothers agreement permission my area SENCO visited me and observed the child  she later introduced herself to the mother, she explained her role and what she could do for her child. We arranged a meeting to discuss the concern we have as a team and our plans to set up a IEP so that we are to help and support the child on confirming the date we made sure that all the people involved are available such as the mother, area SENCO and myself the setting SENCO. We explained everything to the mother for example what an IEP is and what we were trying to accomplish with it. My role was to arrange a support worker who would work alongside the child to support his needs. On our meeting day we all sat down together with all staff members who were going to support the child. Everyone shared their thoughts individually and expressed their opinions. In the end we set up IEP targets to help the child develop skills and improve, these targets were made in shared agreement. Each individual involved was given a copy of the IEP targets, this ensured that all staff members involved in relation to the child was aware of the child’s difficulties and aware of processes to help overcome them and that we all were all shared same vision to establish positive relation, both with each other and what’s best for the child. I personally believe â€Å"A trusting relationship between the practitioner and parents begins with the initial contact and it is crucial that from the start, parents appreciate that staff value their knowledge and understanding of their child.† (Working in partnership with parents, EYFS Principle) â€Å"a professional and honest approach by all staff will be the baseline in building the feeling of trust† as also reinforced in the government good practice guide as well as in Working Together to Safeguard Children, 2013 states – â€Å"all professionals contribute to whatever actions are needed to safeguard and pr omote a child’s welfare and take part in regularly reviewing the outcomes for the child against specific plans and outcomes;† according to the report published a HM inspector in 2007 talks about working together with professionals and has stated that it is important that we as a practitioner enable ‘’parents to play a stronger role as partners in their child’s learning and development.† The staff also share the IEP so all the other staff are also aware of what is our common goals as a team as I believe it is very important to work as an effective team and to have the common goals. For me teamwork is like an oil that makes the team work. It can enable smoother movement towards targets, can prolong forward momentum, and can help teams to overcome  obstacles. In my setting I make sure when I communicate to my staff, parents and professionals I perform as an adult as a model of Berne’s transactional analysis theory. As I believe if you talk like a child you will get a reaction like a child so it is very important that you make sure you come across as someone you want to be, as an adult or someone representing an accounting function or model. We need to be communicating like an adult. To make sure the staff is confident in doing the targets I arrange for the staff to go on training to be able to support the child as it is vital to me to make a â€Å"quality lea rning experience for children and this requires a quality workforce†¦ providers should regularly consider the training and development needs of all staff members to ensure that they offer a quality learning experience for children that continually improve† (Department of Education 2012). We also have professionals come to our setting to train the staff on the IEP targets such as bucket time. Intensive interaction and especial time in the setting – â€Å"the staff trained that share their experience and knowledge with less experienced staff, in order to ensure that continuing professional development takes place†. (EYE VOLUME 14) The professionals who train the staff come to the setting to work with the key person to see if they are using the training effectively. I have regular contact with the professional through phone, email, and through paper. We have regular interaction with the outside agency and termly meetings in which the child’s progress and next steps to take are addressed. During the meetings the child’s transition is also discussed as it is very important to make sure the child moves to the next setting with all the support and the hard work achieved by us at our setting is implemented and continued. I sat with the mum and the area SENCO to explain to mum the options she has to choose from as in the end it’s what she wants for the child that is important.as it is clearly stated in the SEN code of practice working in partnership with parents 2.2 â€Å"parents too have a vital role to play in supporting their child’s education.† They hold key information and have a critical role to play in their children’s education. It continues to state that parents have â€Å"knowledge and experience to contribute to the shared view of a child’s needs and the best ways of supporting them.† So I believe it is very important that professionals (schools, LEAs and other agencies) actively seek to work with parents and value the contribution they make. It  is my belief that â€Å"The work of professionals can be more effective when parents are involved and account is taken of their wishes, feelings and perspectives on their children’s development.â €  In the document it continues stating â€Å"When practitioners are friendly and have a genuine interest in the children, parents come to like and trust them, and mutual respect can flourish.† According to B Sandra who is the consultant and director of Early Years gives some recommendation on effective communication according to her recommendation we need to give full attention to the person who we were communication, we need to be aware of our body language, need to resist any ways to interrupt. We need to take account of individual need and be flexible in the way they communicate and be ready to ask for help when required, be honest about what we know and what we don’t know, one of the other recommendation is that we need to be sensitive to culture differences as in some cultures direct eye contact is class as been rude in other culture satin cultures certain gestures are classed as rude.so care is needed when communication. While communication with a person with English as a additional needs we need to use photos, and visual aid. Someone with hearing aid needs to be communicating visual aid as well as use of British sigh language to make sure effective communication is taking place. To conclude my assignment I believe that a happier, healthier and better-informed workforce leads to a better setting. And that engaging your workforce with the right kind of communication, delivered regularly and efficiently through appropriate channels and means can make a big difference to all involved, for example you, your staff, child, parents and outside agencies.