- Stay safe.
- Be Healthy.
- Enjoy and achieve through learning.
- Achieve economic wellbeing, to be able to provide themselves with financial support.
- Be a positive contribution to society.
The third legislation that supports the rights of children is the EYFS and is a learning framework for children aged 0 – 5. The welfare requirements include such things as the ratio of staff to children in rooms, the qualification of staff and the types of food and drinks that the children are allowed.
The principles which guide the work of all early years practitioners are grouped into four themes, the first is that every child is a unique child, diversity sound be valued and celebrated. No family is discriminated against, therefore every child is a competent learner from birth and can be a resilient, capable, confident and self-assured person, as children can develop when their physical and emotional well being is being protected by an adult.
The second is the ability to make positive relationships, children learn to be strong and independent from loving and secure relationships with parents and/or a key person, the interaction between the practitioner and the families is based on a professional and respectful relationship between the practitioner and the children and their families. “Parents are children’s most enduring educators” (EYFS handbook May 2008) When parents and practitioners work together professionally and positively within the setting it reflects on the child’s development. Trusting relationships with practitioners support children’s learning more effectively than any amount of resources. A key person has special responsibilities for working with a small number of children, giving them the support and they are able to feel safe and cared for and then are able to build better relationships with their parents
The third is for the practitioner to be able to provide enabling Environments. Environments play a key role in supporting and extending children’s development and learning. Babies and young children are individuals therefore routines and planning should reflect the child’s needs. All planning starts with observing children to understand and consider their current interests, their development and learning. The environment supports every child’s learning through planned experiences and activities that are challenges but not risks. Working in partnership with other settings, other professionals and with individuals and groups in the community supports children’s development and progress towards the outcomes of Every Child Matters: being healthy, staying safe, enjoying and achieving, making a positive contribution and economic well-being.
The forth theme is that every environment should provide different ways to learn and develop as children develop and learn in different ways and at different rates and the setting should be able to provide for that. Children’s play reflects their own unique interests. When children have opportunities to play with ideas in different situations and with different resources, they find new ways of being able to do things. Adult support in this process enhances their ability to think critically and ask questions.
Diversity and equality and key within the setting Cathy Nutbrown said that we respect children and see them as capable learners. The equality act 2010 states that no child or family should be discriminated due to culture, disability, sex, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation or gender reassignment. The Equality Act 2010 also states that you cannot treat someone unfavourably because of something connected to a disability, for example spelling mistakes because of dyslexia.
Good professional skills are the key to any successful setting. One of the skills is good communication skills, communication skills does not just mean the way you speak, it can also mean your body language and being able to listen when you are being told something, being able to communicate in a professional and positive way is good as it ables you to be able to talk more freely about the topic rather than feeling the need to hold back. Positive body language involves standing straight with your body completely facing the person you are talking to, have eye contact throughout the conversation rather than staring at the floor. Taking notes when the practitioner is giving you instructions is a very good way of communicating as you can repeat them back to them to make sure that you are completely certain as to what it is you are performing.
Being able to time manage is also a key skill to have in a setting. It ensures that the children stick to a routine, so that every morning you are there before the children are. If not they may start to ask questions and may become quite distressed before coming to the setting as to whether or not you will be there when they arrive. It also shows that you are committed to the setting , being on time also builds confidence, not just for the children, but for the other practitioners and for the parents to. They know that when they come into the setting you are there to ensure that their child is safe before the parent leaves.
Another important professional skill is being able to look after your personal hygiene, it is an important way of preventing infection from spreading, children’s skin is very sensitive and may react if infection is spread via skin and clothing. Clothing should be easily washable, as you might have many things spilt down you, make sure that they are clean and wash them after every time that you wear them, use aprons whenever they are provided to protect your clothes. Your hair must be clean and long hair must be tied back. Your hands must be kept clean and must be washed regularly with soap so not to harbour infection, your nails must also be kept short as long nails can harbour infection and can also scratch the children. Cleaning your teeth is also important, children, parents and other practitioners do not want to be ‘put off’ by breath that smells, clean teeth also gives you a better mile.
Study skills can help you during your training as it helps you to get ready for when you are in a job, if you master the study skills during your training it will be less to worry about when you go in to your first work placement. Time management is a study skill that helps the staff, if you are on time or early it will help them as you will be able to help set up activities quicker and more efficiently, time keeping will also help you with completing essays within the allotted time rather than it being handed in on the deadline. Knowing how to carry out research will help you with your assignments and tasks on placement. The internet, leaflets, books, magazines and libraries are good key sources into research, however, using these sources for your research requires a bibliography at the end of your task or assignment. A bibliography is a list of any books or web pages that you used in order to complete your given task. Another skill is being able to reference, references link in to the research aspect of the study skills. Referencing means that if you use a quote from a book or web page accurately you must reference it at the end of the quote in brackets by using the authors name, the year the book was published and the page number. One of the skills you will develop within your training is the ability to evaluate, this is where you pin point key aspects of the task or assignment you thought were difficult and how you could have improved them, and parts of the assignment or task that you thought you did well in and why.
The practitioner should be able to develop and maintain appropriate and professional relationships with parents and other practitioners by making sure that they are punctual, you cannot maintain a professional relationship with a parent if you are turning up after they have left, after a while that parent may move on to another practitioner to discuss their child with, you will lose their trust. Also, if you are reliable and punctual then the other practitioners may trust you will setting up your own activity that you supervise for the day rather than them setting it up and telling you what to do when you arrive. The practitioner should be caring as the relationship that you have with the child and parents revolve around how you speak to them and how much time you spend with that child. Practitioners should be fair and consistent, you should learn to leave your personal life at home whilst you are in the setting and focus on the children as your mood may affect the children , if you seem irritable because you are tired the children may avoid you or you may should at a child for something that you would not have shouted at them for before. You should be consistent with the mood that you are in as the children may become scared of you if you fluctuate between moods, they may even feel nervous to come into the setting all together. You should also learn to be respectful and thoughtful, regardless of who you meet, their appearance, sex, age, race or religious believes you should not judge. You should treat everyone with respect and courtesy and have respect foro others personal needs. Practioners should learn the be patient also, as working in child care can be a demanding job. Children learn at different levels and you must be patient. Just because one child has got to a stage before the others doesn’t mean that they others are lazy, they just may need extra help. A practitioner’s role is not just to look after children. It may involve tidying up and sweeping the floor, therefore a practitioner should accept all areas or their role and be hardworking with all the aspects.
A multi agency team is a mixture of different professions working together to support children and their families. This multi agency team can be tailored as the children get older to ensure some continuity. A multi agency team may also help families by providing childcare in the same building as a parenting class or in the same building as a health clinic so that parents can drop a child off at the childcare facility whilst their parents attend a parenting class or take a younger child to the health clinic. A multi agency team is not only helpful for families but it is also helpful to practitioners too, as they can share information about the family on a strictly need to know basis so that the family does not have to answer the same questions over and over again.
The UN convention of the rights or children states in article 12 that ‘State Parties shall assure to the child who is capable of forming his or her own opinion the right to express these views freely in all matters affecting the child, the views of the child being given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child.’ (www.ohchr.org/english/law/pdf/crc.pdf)
The practitioner must have an objective view within the setting, however, that objectiveness would be compromised if the practitioner knows the child from outside the setting or if the practitioner becomes too attached to the child within the setting, the practitioner would want them to achieve higher, therefore may work with that child more closely and provide extra support for that child rather than someone who desperately needs it.
A child centred approach is important as it lets the child expand any area of development they want. It may also produce model ideas for the practitioner to use as part of the children’s learning. Child centred approach provides a chance for the practitioner to ask questions as to what the child is doing, this improves the practitioners knowledge about the childs imagination and personality and it also improves the child language skills, they learn new words about what they are doing and use words that they knew and become more confident using. With a child centred approach the children can use anything that they can find, anything that is in the setting they can use. Therefore the role of the practitioner is to provide the correct resources for that age group and to make sure that the resources are accessible to the children. The practitioner should also interact with the child by asking questions but not telling the child what they should be doing or how they should make it better. From this the practitioner should be able to review and reflect on each child’s individual learning and development from the activity that the child chose to do.
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Bibliography.
Cache level 3 Childcare and education 4th Edition. Tassoni 2007.
- www.ohchr.org/english/law/pdf/crc.pdf
- EYFS framework. May 2008.
