[Accessed 15.04.13].
E3
A document called “Working together to safeguard children” has been produced by the department of health this document gives everyone working in a childcare setting advice on how to protect the children in their care in accordance with the Children Act 1989 and 2004.
Some common policies and procedures in place to safeguard children include: -
* “Supervising children carefully at home times
* Never letting a child go home with anyone other than the usual carer, unless a letter has been brought in
* Signing visitors in and out
* Making sure that visitors are not left unsupervised with children
* Making sure that visitors to settings wear a badge
* Checking that employees and people working with children have no criminal convictions”. Tassoni. P et al, (2002) p573.
Behaviour policy’s in settings ensure parents that no physical punishment will be used but clearly outlines the punishment for children who misbehave in the setting.
Practitioners need to be aware of the setting’s policy and procedure with regards to controlling children’s behavior as since the Children Act 1989 “protects children in schools and local authority care settings from all forms of physical punishment Lyon (2000) p 14.
Tassoni (2007) says how it is important to watch experienced practitioners in your setting and how they deal with children’s behavior. It is important to be award of child protection and the policies in place at the setting. Some settings may require you to wear an identification badge at all times and sign in and out. It is normal if the setting does not know you to never be left alone with the children this is in place to protect the children and yourself as if a complaint is made about you with a certain child you have a witness with you at all times “you should be aware of how much physical contact you should give children” Tassoni. P et al, (2007) p10. Practitioners need to know when it is appropriate to hug and touch a child as it might be appropriate for babies and young children as they need that physical contact but for the older children it is not encouraged. “It is worth noticing the amount of physical contact the other staff uses with children. This will help determine what is appropriate. If you are not sure what to do, remember to ask your supervisor or tutor” Tassoni. P, et al, (2007) p11.
The health and safety policy helps safeguard children by making sure the child is safe at all times and the food that is given at dinner time and snack time is healthy, this is part of the EYFS in England, the Foundation Phase in Wales and the Child Care Act 2006. At my placement snack is provided for nursery and reception children given them a choice between two items.
E4
There are many pieces of legislation in place designed to promote fair, just and inclusive practice in childcare settings. These help prevent any discrimination by ensuring all children are treated equally. “Settings that are fair, just and inclusive recognise that anti – discriminatory practice means that individual needs are taken into account and that children and their families are not expected to all be the same.” Tassoni. P et al, (2007), p120.
It is important that we value and respect all children and their families no matter of their diversity or need. “We need to value children for who they are, not what they do or how they look” Bruce. T, et al, (2007) p256. Every child needs to be included in all activities and activities need to be adapted to allow each child an opportunity to participate regardless of their diversity or disability. Diversity is understanding that everyone is unique and we all have are individual differences these can be are race, ethnicity, physical abilities, social status, religion etc. No matter of are differences we should all be treated fairly and as equals.
Tassoni (2007) says how an inclusive approach involves thinking about each child as individual and planning activities that allow each child to feel valued and accepted. Every interaction with the children should be positive making sure that no child is being left out.
Practitioners need to encourage all children to participle in activities and be able to adopt an activity to involve children who have a greater need. “The skill is working with children is to think of ways in which to adopt practice to make sure that these children can now join in” Tassoni. P,et al, (2007), p353. This can be something simple like raising a table so that a child in a wheelchair can use for meals or table work, and putting chairs around the table for other children so that the child is not isolated. This allows the child to participate in normal activities without making too much fuss about the wheelchair.
“The Foundation Phase supports the cultural identity of all children; helping children gain a positive awareness of their own cultures the foundation phase encourages childcare setting to celebrate different cultures. Through the foundation phase children are supported in becoming confident, competent and independent thinkers and learners” Conwy (2012).
Another part of promoting fair, just and inclusive practice in the setting is remembering to involve the parents. It is crucial for the children’s development and the parents / teacher relationship that schools and parents work together. As of 1990 when the Children Act 1989 came into force, developing and maintain appropriate relationships with parents become a legal requirement in all settings. As the Children Act 1989 states “there must be more partnership between statutory agencies and parents. There must be respect for parents as children’s earliest and most influential educators. There must be acknowledgement that parents ultimately want the best for children” Legislation (2012).
E5 and D2
It is important for children’s self-reliance as well as independence that we do all we can do to empower them. Practitioners need to see children as individuals who have the able to make choices. Through empowerment children will gain confidence and independence and will become more confident in themselves and making decisions.
Free play or choice is a strategy which helps to empower children by asking “where would you like to play” or “what do you think” giving them more choice and making them an active participant in their own learning. By doing free play the setting could provide creative activities such as painting or drawing these activities are fun for the children and also help develop the child’s fine motor development and pencil control. During free play the children choose their own play activities this helps them gain independence and self-reliance. The children can also choose whether they would like to play indoors or outdoors as long as they do not exceed the adult children ratio. Each activity area in my placement has a number on telling the children how many of them can safely play here, this teaches the children patience and turn taking as if the area is full they have to wait and take turns in doing that activity. During free play the children have a chance to mix and play with the other reception class allowing friendships to form and also allows access to more activities in the other classroom.
Another strategy to empower children to develop independence and self-reliance is giving children appropriate responsibilities. In my placement I am with children within the age group of 4 – 5 years every day two children are chosen to become the class helper’s always one boy and one girl these helpers will get a “helper” sticker to show they are the helper and throughout the day would help the teachers with tasks. Tasks include putting straws in the milk and passing out the snack, being first and last in the line when going to assembly, helping tiding up and picking the story for story time. The teacher would praise the “helper” and other children who help them do the tasks throughout the day at the end of the day the people who help tidy up also get a sticker reinforcing the good behaviour and so making the child want to continue this behaviour and this would boost their self-esteem. At the end of the week a special person is chosen to take “Miss Honey” (a bear they chose and made at the beginning of the year at the bear factory) home for the weekend the child is chosen based on their behaviour and achievements during that week and a record is keep of each child who has had the bear to ensure everyone is included and has the chance to take care of the bear.
E6 and D1
All children at some point in their live with experience a range of transitions “a transition in the context of childcare, refers to the movement of a child from one care situation to another” Beaver. M, et al, (2008), p141 it is part of growing up, however all children are unique and so will deal with transitions differently. Some of the common transitions we all face or faced at one point in are lives are moving school whether from primary to secondary or starting school for the first time, moving home, change of group, class or room, change of routine e.g. school routine or home routine altered.
Settings can prepare children in different ways for transitions depending on the kind of transition and the age group going through the transition. “Fairly small changes can have a significant impact on under 3’s and it is important not to underestimate this. A change to the routine because of a member of staff is poorly may result in an unsettled child”. Tassoni. P, et al, (2007), p144. Children under 3 have a very limited understanding of time, this means that you should not talk about changes too far in advance and will need to go other what is going to happen on a regular basis. Keeping a calendar and counting down the days could have them prepare for school as they will know how long until they will start.
It is important that when a child is separated from their primary carer that they receive a good quality of consistent loving care from their key worker to allow the child to form a new bond with this person and so reduce the possibility of the child going through separation anxiety this is linked to John Bowbly’s attachment theory.
Gathering information can help support children through this time for example brochures, posters, references and experiences from other pupils at the school can prepare the child and make the child feel less nervous and worried about attending. Open days and visits are another great opportunity to overcome many barriers and worries children might have and is also a great opportunity to ask questions and get some of the answers or information you are looking for.
As practitioners we need to be able to support and understand the children who are making this transition no matter of the age of the child we can do this by getting to know the child before they progress or even finding out information about the children to be able to offer the right support to those children who might need more encouragement and interaction to make them feel safe and secure this links back to seeing the children as individuals and meeting their individual needs.
Because of this it is doubly as essential to use parents as a key issue for supporting children during transitions. Parents must be respected as primary carers and as those best to bring up their children. And so we can gather information from parents about how best to prepare and settle children at this time. This could involve for example key information about personal care. Also as part of this we can use and develop links between settings directly. Settings can help by providing information that can help us prepare children successfully.
Another key issue when supporting children at this time is providing a successful continuity experience for children and families, to help them settle in better. This can involve ensuring that basic care needs are continued successfully. Supported by,
appropriate activities given to the children, and maybe having a certain day where the parents could come in and see how the child's getting on and having one to one with the teachers so they are getting involved and supporting the child and being there for them through out there change in their life.
E7 and B1
“Discrimination is principally about unfairness. Being discriminated against means not getting the same rights, services or opportunities as others do. Discrimination is complex, but certain groups of children, young people and their families are more likely to be discriminated against than others.” Tassoni. P, et al (2007), p151
This could because of their racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sex orientation. Discrimination is usually caused by peoples miss information, miss understanding and general stereotyping. Stereotypes are usually a fixed pictures of everyone who fits into that group e.g. all muslims must be terrorists because one group of muslims were this is not true these views are then reflected on the way people are treated by others. This is known as direct discrimination. Indirect discrimination is when someone is refused a service or treated differently and a restriction is put on to so with people which fall in to that group. This can be deliberate or accidental.
Children can also be discriminated against because of their parent’s beliefs or customs e.g. a child could be discriminated against because there have gay parents or both sex parents. Discrimination can have a huge impact on the children’s self-esteem and self-worth. They may suffer from loneliness from being isolated by other children which will have an impact on their self-esteem and their social development possibly leading to underachieving at school and continually having a feeling of failure resulting in the child not reaching their full potential. Discrimination can also reduce a child’s self-actualisation and constant discrimination could lead to emotional problems and have a huge impact on the child’s holistic development as it can affect all areas of development if allowed to continue.
Attitudes and values can lead to discrimination these attitudes are often shaped by family life and the kind of environment and experience the child has been brought up in. Media can also have an impact on are attitude and values towards certain group as celebrity and other people views can influence are views and also fear can result in us discriminating against the groups we are scared off and do not fully understand. In the classroom teachers could unknowingly discriminate against someone and so teach the children that this is right this is often taught without the intention and is known as hidden curriculum. Staff development can help settings to prevent discrimination as it can include training on a regular basis to remind staff on the impact of this on the children and on the setting.
Discrimination is an important issue in settings and has a strong impact on the way settings are run and organised. All staff should come to work as a professional and leave their own personal views and values at home. All settings should have policies and procedures linking to legislation that help inform us of how to prevent discriminatory practice and also provide knowledge and understanding for staff on what is discrimination and ways to deal with it in the classroom. Challenging discrimination would be deal with in the settings equal opportunities policy. “All settings should have an equal opportunities code or policy and this should include procedures for combating discrimination”. Tassoni. P, et al, (2007), P156.
An equal opportunities policy will inform staff on how to deal with situations such as having non-English speaking families by offering suggestions like using a translating service or allowing the children to translate to the parents for you.
As part of good practice and why of preventing discrimination it is essential that staff members respect all children and their families. Settings could also make the effect to allow the children to get involve and learn about different cultures and celebration and so can prevent discrimination by educating the children in different faiths and cultural backgrounds. “Sometimes discrimination can be hidden and harder to detect, for example an early years settings that does not have any images of ethnic minorities on posters or in books – even though there are no negative images, it is still discrimination” Tassoni. P et al, (2007), p154.
C1
Lev Vygotsky concept known as the ZPD (zone of proximal development) is a theoretical perspective which supports the development of strategies for empowering children. As http://www.swanseagfl.gov.uk [accessed 19.4.13] states empowerment is an important concept that gives the children a better opportunity to enhance their learning and lives in order to develop self-confidence, competence and self-esteem.
“Vygotsky believed that adults were able to support and extend a child’s thinking and skills by careful interventions. The adult would look at what the child could achieve on their own and what the child is capable of achieving with support, with this support the child has progressed and extended their learning perhaps learning a new skill. This concept is widely used in practice to empower children as it allows the child to achieve their full potential with a little assistance from an adult or even another child mate. “Thousands of schools have modelled their curriculum after his principles, allowing access to a supportive learning environment and empowering them to develop their personal strengths. Experiences that students have at school contribute to learning both inside and outside of the classroom” http://www.ehow.co.uk/info_7955555_theories_lev_vygotsky_classroom.html [accessed 14.04.13].
Vygotsky believed that we can empower children by giving them the skills and guidance to help them and we can do this though the ZPD. This is reflected today in practice e.g. “the child could not solve the jigsaw puzzle by himself and would have taken a long time to do so (if at all) but was able to solve it following interaction with the teacher, and has developed competence at this skill that will be applied to future jigsaws”. McLeod, S. A. (2007). By helping the child the teacher has allowed him to master this skill that will help him progress and achieve in the future.
Jerome Bruner’s conceptt on scaffolding builds on and can be linked to vygotsky’s ZPD. Scaffolding is the idea of the child being helped by the adult or more advanced child to learn new skills or schemas. This support is slowly taken away over time allowing the child to eventually complete the task on their own and so mastering a new skill or schema.
E.g. the child learning to ride a bike is held and pushed by a helper while the child learns to pedal and balance the bike. Slowly the helper will reduce their support and eventually through multiple attempts the child will be able to ride the bike without the support of the helper and mastering a new skill. This support or scaffolding is needed to begin with as the child is learning to ride the bike, but as the child is able to maintain their balance and co – operation the scaffolding is taken away. “The most important point about scaffolding is that it is temporary. Elements of scaffolding will be withdrawn by the instructor as the learner gains the knowledge, experience and skills to complete a task unaided. In Vygotsky’s words, “what the child is able to do is collaboration today he will be able to do independently tomorrow”. http://www.ehow.com/about_6526490_scaffolding-learning-theory_html. [Accessed 19.4.13].
A
Some legislation and regulations have a bigger impact on working practice then others the COSHH regulation 2002 ensures that the settings keep the environment safer and secure again this act could impact the setting financial having to know by law keep substances locked away if the settings has not got locked cupboards or a secure place for these substances this could mean buying suitable storages for them. A setting should have a policy on behaviour this policy should state that the settings does not use any physical punishment on the children as the Human Rights Act 1998 and the UNCRC states that all children should have the right to dignity.
Here in Wales are regulatory body inspectors are Estyn their purpose is to “inspect quality and standards in education and training in Wales.” http://www.estyn.gov.uk/ [accessed 14.04.13]. They ensure that settings are safe, healthy and secure for children to be in. They do this by inspecting schools on a regular basis ensuring that the schools are keeping up and providing a rich learning environment for the children, this helps influences practices to keep up to date with new legislation and keep the environment within the quality and standards Estyn has set out.
The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 had an impact on the settings making sure the environment they provide is safe for all members of staff, parents, children and any visitors. This act make settings think about updating their policies and procedures to make sure that all equipment is safe, stored and used in the correct way. Settings now should make sure that all staff are up to date with their training and are aware of all health and safety procedures and policies in regards to the setting. The discrimination of ethnic minorities groups will not be tolerated in settings there should always been a policy within settings but was reinforced due to the legislation and following regulations implemented by the Equality Act 2010. This impacted settings because we must show respect for all families and put families first by showing no judgement towards anyone this is part of our professional conduct and must be upheld no matter of personal views or feelings.
Working with young children can influence the working practice in the setting, such as curriculum framework, this would influence your work because you get to work with the child individually so if the child is behind in the curriculum framework which would be the foundation phase in wales and early years foundation stage in England. This would influence the setting because you would have to work with the child individually so the child’s planning would be different to the other children. This would mean that more staff would be needed to be able to meet this child’s needs. Funding in the setting would also influence the setting as it wouldn’t be possible to have the resources you might need in order to meet every child’s individual needs.
The Food Handling Regulation 1997 has an impact on settings as it sets out guidance for anybody handling food that is coming to be consumed by the children to follow this could be that the setting has to provide aprons and gloves for food preparation and possible staff training and update training to ensure that all staff know what to do and are complying with the settings policy and procedures set out to reflect this regulation. The Data Protection Act 1998 has one of the greatest impact on the setting where working in a partnership is concern as a breach in confidentiality could result in a breakdown of a working relationship with parents and other professionals and “A serious breach of data protection is also a disciplinary offence and will be dealt with under the Law Centre’s disciplinary procedures. If a member of staff accesses another employee’s personnel records without authority this constitutes a gross misconduct offence and could lead to summary dismissal” http://www.lawcentreni.org/data-protection.html [Accessed 16.06.13].
In conclusion any legislation regarding childcare is going to have an effect on the setting whether it is a huge effect or little. Depending on the setting and the policies and procedures in place it could be just changing a few routines or polices but for other settings that do not keep up to date or do not bother changing their ways it can result in closer or even the life of a child in their care. New legislation and updates are brought out to reflect something that has gone wrong in childcare settings and are revised to ensure that doesn’t happen again. This is settings must keep up to date and be prepared and willing to change their routines as for anyone working in childcare are main priority is the safety of the children.
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