What happens when we visit your child?
Our research relies on participation from children and families. We can visit your child at school or at home and may ask you some questions about how your child uses language in everyday situations.. This section explains what happens when your child takes part in research.
Visiting your child at school
Before we visit your child
If your child’s school has agreed to take part in one of our research projects, you will receive an information sheet explaining what the research is, why it is being done, and what types of activities we would be asking your child to complete. This information sheet will also have our contact details, so you can contact us directly if you have any questions about your child taking part.
We also include a consent form for you to complete to let us know you’re happy for your child to take part. Participation is entirely voluntary. We will only visit your child if you have given us permission to do so. If you agree for your child to take part and later change your mind, you are free to withdraw your child at any time and do not need to provide a reason.
When we visit your child at school
If you agree for your child to take part they will be seen either individually or within a group at their own school by a member of our research team. All of our researchers are fully trained, have many years experience of working with children in school settings and all have received enhanced disclosure from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).
When your child is seen in school they will be asked to complete a number of different activities, but will be given lots of breaks in-between activities. We work with the teachers to fit our assessments into the busy school day and to ensure that children don’t miss out on key lessons. Children usually have lots of fun taking part in our research and at the end we usually give some stickers or a certificate to say thank you.
Visiting your child at home
Sometimes we visit children and families at home. If we would like to see your child at home, or you would prefer we visit at home instead of school, we will contact you directly to talk about the project and answer and questions you may have. We will also send you an information sheet explaining what the research is, why it is being done and what types of activities your child would complete.
If you are happy and agree to take part we will then arrange a time to visit your child at home, that fits in with your schedule. When we visit you at home we will ask your child to complete a number of different activities and may also ask parents to complete some activities too. Some of these activities may be completed together and some activities separately. We always give children lots of breaks in between activities and at the end we usually give some stickers or a certificate to say thank you.
Sometimes we video record the home visits, however if this is the case we will ask for your permission before making any recordings. Any video recordings made will be securely stored at the University and will only be viewed by members of the research team.
What happens after you have visited my child?
The information collected either at school or at home is kept strictly confidential. All information will be kept in locked filing cabinets or on a password protected database at the University. Assessment information is identified by code number, and not the child’s name. Names are linked to code numbers in a database that is stored separately to the data.
We are primarily engaged in research and research-related activities. As such, we are not able to discuss individual children or offer educational or clinical advice about an individual child. But once we have finished our research we will send you a newsletter with updates about our research and what we have found.