Developmental Psychology and Stage Statutory Framework free essay sample

Purpose and aims of the Early Years Foundation Stage 1. 1 Every child deserves the best possible start in life and support to fulfil their potential. A child’s experience in the early years has a major impact on their future life chances. A secure, safe and happy childhood is important in its own right, and it provides the foundation for children to make the most of their abilities and talents as they grow up. When parents choose to use early years services they want to know that provision will keep their children safe and help them to thrive. The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is the framework that provides that assurance. The overarching aim of the EYFS is to help young children achieve the five Every Child Matters outcomes of staying safe, being healthy, enjoying and achieving, making a positive contribution, and achieving economic well-being by: setting the standards for the learning, development and care young children should experience when they are attending a setting outside their family home, ensuring that every child makes progress and that no child gets left behind; providing for equality of opportunity and anti-discriminatory practice and ensuring that every child is included and not disadvantaged because of ethnicity, culture or religion, home language, family background, learning difficulties or disabilities, gender or ability; creating the framework for partnership working between parents and professionals, and between all the settings that the child attends; improving quality and consistency in the early years sector through a universal set of standards which apply to all settings, endin g the distinction between care and learning in the existing frameworks, and providing the basis for the inspection and regulation regime; laying a secure foundation for future learning through learning and development that is planned around the individual needs and interests of the child, and informed by the use of ongoing observational assessment. 1. 2 Â ¦ Â ¦ Â ¦ Â ¦ Â ¦ Context and legal responsibilities 1. 3 The EYFS is a central part of the ten year childcare strategy Choice for parents, the best start for children and the landmark Childcare Act 2006. The Act provides the context for the delivery of the EYFS and taken together with the other elements of the strategy, the EYFS will be central to the delivery of the new duties on improving outcomes and reducing inequalities. Recent years have seen significant developments in early years practice and standards. The EYFS builds on these and practitioners will recognise continuity with the principles, pedagogy and approach of the Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage, the Birth to Three Matters framework, and the National Standards for Under 8s Daycare and Childminding. These three frameworks are replaced by the EYFS and will be repealed. The EYFS is given legal force through an Order and Regulations made under the Act. From September 2008 it will be mandatory for all schools and early years providers in Ofsted registered settings attended by young children – that is children from birth to the end of the academic year in which a child has their fifth birthday. 1. 4 1. 5 The Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework 00267-2008BKT-EN Â © Crown copyright 2008 07 1. 6 The term ’early years provider’ includes: maintained schools; non-maintained schools; independent schools; and childcare registered by Ofsted on the Early Years Register (to be introduced in September 2008), all of which are required to meet the EYFS requirements. From September 2008 it is the legal responsibility of these providers to ensure that their provision meets the learning and development requirements, and complies with the welfare regulations, as required by Section 40 of the Act. About this document 1. 7 This document contains the statutory framework for the EYFS. It sets out the legal requirements relating to learning and development (the early learning goals; the educational programmes; and the assessment arrangements) in Section 2 and the legal requirements relating to welfare (safeguarding and promoting children’s welfare; suitable people; suitable premises, environment and equipment; organisation; and documentation) in Section 3. The learning and development requirements are given legal force by the Early Years Foundation Stage (Learning and Development Requirements) Order 2007 made under Section 39 (1) (a) of the Childcare Act 2006. The welfare requirements are given legal force by Regulations made under Section 39 (1) (b) of the Childcare Act 2006. Together, the Order, the Regulations and the Statutory Framework document make up the legal basis of the EYFS. The requirements in this document have statutory force by virtue of Section 44 (1) of the Childcare Act 2006. Providers have a duty to ensure that their early years provision complies with the learning and development requirements, and the welfare requirements. In addition, this document contains statutory guidance. All providers must have regard to this guidance, which means they must take it into account and, if they decide to depart from it, they must have clear reasons for doing so and be able to demonstrate that their alternative approach achieves the ends described in this guidance. Ofsted will take account of any failure to have regard to this guidance when exercising its functions, including any proceedings which are brought under the Act. This document is referred to as the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage and is part of a package of materials which comprise: this document – legal requirements relating to learning and development (including assessment) and the welfare requirements and statutory guidance; Practice Guidance for the Early Years Foundation Stage booklet – the areas of Learning and Development, non-statutory guidance, additional advice and information; EYFS resources for providers and practitioners – CD-ROM, poster and Principles into Practice cards. 1. 8 1. 9 Â ¦ Â ¦ Â ¦ A principled approach 1. 10 The EYFS principles which guide the work of all practitioners are grouped into four distinct but complementary themes: Â ¦ Â ¦ Â ¦ Â ¦ A Unique Child Positive Relationships Enabling Environments Learning and Development 08 The Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework 00267-2008BKT-EN Â © Crown copyright 2008 1. 11 Effective practice in the EYFS is built on these four guiding themes. They provide a context for the requirements and describe how practitioners should support the development, learning and care of young children. The themes are each broken down into four commitments describing how the principles can be put into practice. The EYFS Principles into Practice cards explain how practitioners can use these in their day-to-day work. Â ¦ A Unique Child recognises that every child is a competent learner from birth who can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured. The commitments are focused around development; inclusion; safety; and health and well-being. Positive Relationships describes how children learn to be strong and independent from a base of loving and secure relationships with parents and/or a key person. The commitments are focused around respect; partnership with parents; supporting learning; and the role of the key person. Enabling Environments explains that the environment plays a key role in supporting and extending children’s development and learning. The commitments are focused around observation, assessment and planning; support for every child; the learning environment; and the wider context – transitions, continuity, and multi-agency working. Learning and Development recognises that children develop and learn in different ways and at different rates, and that all areas of learning and development are equally important and inter-connected. Â ¦ Â ¦ Â ¦ 1. 12 This approach ensures that the EYFS meets the overarching aim of improving outcomes and reflects that it is every child’s right to grow up safe; healthy; enjoying and achieving; making a positive contribution; and with economic well-being. Setting the standards 1. 13 The EYFS sets standards to enable early years providers to reflect the rich and personalised experience that many parents give their children at home. Like parents, providers should deliver individualised learning, development and care that enhances the development of the children in their care and gives those children the best possible start in life. Every child should be supported individually to make progress at their own pace and children who need extra support to fulfil their potential should receive special consideration. All providers have an equally important role to play in children’s early years experiences – for example, a childminder who sees a child for two hours a day should consider what a child’s individual needs are at that time of day, and ensure that the provision they deliver is both appropriate to those needs and complementary to the education and care provided in the child’s other setting(s). All types of providers have the potential to deliver the EYFS to an excellent standard. Providing for equality of opportunity 1. 4 Providers have a responsibility to ensure positive attitudes to diversity and difference – not only so that every child is included and not disadvantaged, but also so that they learn from the earliest age to value diversity in others and grow up making a pos itive contribution to society. Practitioners should focus on each child’s individual learning, development and care needs by: Â ¦ Â ¦ removing or helping to overcome barriers for children where these already exist; being alert to the early signs of needs that could lead to later difficulties and responding quickly and appropriately, involving other agencies as necessary; stretching and challenging all children. Â ¦ The Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework 00267-2008BKT-EN Â © Crown copyright 2008 09 1. 5 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. Creating the framework for partnership working 1. 16 Partnership working underpins successful delivery of the EYFS in a number of different ways. Â ¦ Where children receive education and care in more than one setting, practitioners must ensure continuity and coherence by sharing relevant information with each other and with parents. Patterns of attendance should be a key factor in practitioners’ planning. Close working between early years 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 famili es are central to a child’s ell-being and practitioners should support this important relationship by sharing information and offering support for extending learning in the home. Practitioners will frequently need to work with professionals from other agencies, such as local and community health services, or where children are looked after by the local authority, to identify and meet needs and use their knowledge and advice to provide children’s social care with the best learning opportunities and environments for all children. Â ¦ Â ¦ Improving quality and consistency 1. 17 The EYFS brings together and simplifies the learning and development and welfare requirements, in addition to ending the distinction between care and learning and between birth-to-three and three-to-five provision.