Home Visits in the Early Years: Why We Need to Bring Them Back

By Dr. Aaron Bradbury

Home visits used to be part of early years practice as standard. There was a time when they weren’t an optional extra or something you squeezed in if you had time. They were simply what we did because we understood something basic: children settle best when relationships come first.

But across the sector, home visits are becoming less common, I’m being told so at events and conferences. Some are being shortened, replaced with phone calls, or removed completely. I understand why. Staffing pressures are intense, time is limited, travel isn’t funded, and safeguarding processes can feel heavy. This isn’t about blaming practitioners, most staff would love to do them properly. This is about a system that has squeezed relational work out of practice.

The problem is, home visits aren’t a tradition we can afford to lose. They are relational pedagogy in action. When we meet a child in their own space, we’re not “checking up” on families. We’re building trust. We’re showing children that we are safe before we ask them to separate from the people they feel safest with. We’re saying to families, without judgement, “We see you. We’re here with you.”

That matters because the start of nursery or reception can be huge. For some children it’s exciting, but for others it is a real rupture, a new place, new adults, new expectations, and separation from home all at once. A home visit can soften that transition. It gives the child something familiar to hold onto. It also gives the practitioner insight that a form never will: how a child communicates when relaxed, what comfort looks like, what routines matter, and what makes them feel secure.

Home visits also support inclusion in a way we don’t talk enough about. If we remove them, it isn’t the confident families who lose out, it’s the families who already feel unsure, anxious, or disconnected from services. The ones navigating poverty, housing issues, disability, trauma, language barriers, or isolation. A home visit can be the moment a family feels safe enough to be honest and to engage.

When home visits don’t happen, we see the ripple effects quickly. Settling takes longer. Distress can increase. Relationships take longer to build. Practitioners are left guessing. Children are expected to cope with transition as though resilience is something you demand rather than nurture. This leads to early misunderstandings which can set the tone for everything that follows.

Now, home visits don’t have to look one way. They can be short and purposeful. They can be done in pairs. They can happen outdoors, on the doorstep, or in a community space chosen by the family. They can be flexible and safe. But what matters is the principle: the relationship should start before day one.

If we are serious about child-centred practice, then we have to stop treating home visits as an extra. They are foundational. The system might have pushed them out, but that doesn’t mean we should accept it.

Because in early childhood, relationships aren’t a bonus.

They are the work.