It is important to provide the best possible education for each individual child, no matter what their needs may be. A key part of this is having the means to support all children and their families. SEND is common in the early years foundation stage (EYFS) and spotting signs and symptoms early is key to helping the child. 

In this article, we will explain what SEND in early years is, how it fits into the EYFS framework, and how to support children with SEND in early years.

What is SEND in Early Years?

SEND is defined in the SEND Code of Practice (2015) as “A child or young person has SEND if they have a learning difficulty which calls for special educational provision to be made for him or her. A child of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning difficulty or disability if he or she:

• Has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age.
• Has a disability which prevents or hinders him or her from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools or mainstream-post 16 institutions.”

The Equality Act 2010 defines disability as “A person has a disability for the purposes of the Equality Act if they have a physical or mental impairment and the impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.” a disability can arise from a wide range of impairments. It is not always necessary to identify a child as having a specific or diagnosable condition. This can be difficult, because the underlying cause of their symptoms may be hard to establish. Instead, we must consider the effect the impairment is having on them. Under the Equality Act 2010, settings are also required to make reasonable adjustments to support a child.

Recognising SEND in early childhood is pivotal, as these are the years in which children are more impressionable and start to develop. This is why SEND is such an important topic to be knowledgeable on as an early years practitioner. As someone who works with children, you should be alert and aware of difficulties that some children may face in relation to SEND. In doing so, you can respond to early concerns to assist in the support of children with SEND.  

For children aged two or more, special educational provision is giving access to education that is additional to, or different from that of other children of the same age. Alternatively, if a child is under the age of two, the special educational provision refers to the educational provision of any kind. Having such measures in place is important for children who have greater difficulty in learning than their peers, or have a disability that makes it harder for the child to make use of certain facilities and learning approaches. 

All children have the right to an education which gives them the tools to achieve their goals and become confident young children. Early years education is especially important in providing young children with the means to transition into compulsory education as they get older. In light of this growing need, it is vital that education professionals in all education settings understand how to support children with SEND to achieve their best possible outcomes.

Looking to learn more?

It is important for those working with children of any age, to be aware of SEND. To learn more, take a look at our Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) in the Classroom Training.

Delay in learning and development, or behavioural issues in the early years may not necessarily indicate that a child has SEND and you, as an early years practitioner, should not diagnose them. However, having the knowledge can help you support the child and offer guidance to their parents or carers. 

However, it is still useful for you to be aware and have knowledge of signs to look out for, so you can pass on any concerns or observations you may have to those who can help. You should follow the graduated approach, as outlined in the SEND Code of Practice (2015). We will look at this in more detail, later on in the article. 

In England, during the academic year of 2021/22 there were just over 170,000 children aged 5 and under receiving support for SEN, either through EHC or SEN Support. It is recognised that children with SEND are impacted in their ability to learn. Some children may lack the skills to access and engage in the curriculum. Having SEND can affect their: 

• Reading and writing skills.
• Mathematical ability.
• Ability to process information and understand things.
• Social skills.
• Cognitive skills, such as concentration or organisation. 

A Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo) is especially important in situations where you may not be in a position to act further, as they can coordinate provision for children with SEND and provide professional guidance and support to colleagues on SEND.

There are many types of special educational needs and the SEND Code of Practice (2015) defines four broad areas of need, as follows:

1. Communication and interaction.
2. Cognition and learning.
3. Social, emotional and mental health.
4. Sensory and/or physical needs.

While some children have difficulties that fit clearly into one of these areas, others have needs that come across two or more areas, also be aware that their needs may change over time.

It is because of these areas in need of support, that SEND is so important during a child’s early years and education. Combining the governing principles of the EYFS with the requirements of the SEND Code of Practice (2015) is an essential part of ensuring all children are met with equity in their opportunities for education.

How Does SEND Fit Into the EYFS Framework?

All children deserve a supportive and fulfilling environment to help guide them to the best possible start to their life and education. The EYFS sets the standards that all early years practitioners must follow to ensure that children under their care can learn and develop in a safe and healthy environment. The EYFS requires all early years providers to have arrangements in place to support children with SEND and provide parents with information on this.

To learn more about the EYFS framework, take a look at our article, here. 

SEND and EYFS are intrinsically linked. In order to provide children with care, education and support, you must follow what is set out in the EYFS guidelines. They also state that those who work with young children must be knowledgeable about, and aware of potential difficulties a child may be facing. This means early years practitioners are able to respond early to concerns and work with parents and doctors or GPs.   

The EYFS framework requires non-maintained providers to have arrangements in place for meeting children’s special educational needs. These settings within early years must promote equal opportunities for children. All providers funded by the local authority, to deliver early education places must have regard to the SEND Code of Practice (2015). The EYFS also states that maintained nursery schools must identify a staff member to act as SENCo to assist this and expects that other providers do the same. 

The role of a SENCo within an Early Years setting includes:

• Ensure all practitioners in the setting understand their responsibilities to children with SEN and the setting’s approach to identifying and meeting SEN.
• Provide advice and support to colleagues.
• Ensure parents and carers are closely involved throughout and that their insights inform action taken by the setting.
• Liaising with external professionals or agencies.

Local authorities are responsible for statutory functions in relation to children (0-5) with SEND. Part of this responsibility is providing guidance and information to support children with SEND, and signposting practitioners, parents and carers to what is available through the ‘Local Offer’. The Local Offer is an information directory where you can go to find out what support or provision is available in your local area. It will include information on specialist teachers, therapy services such as speech and language therapy, Health Visitors and the Area SENCo. Click here to find out more about the Local Offer.

Consistency in the quality of early years settings is essential to ensure no child is left behind, struggling as their peers progress. Equal opportunities and anti-discriminatory practices put in place by The Equality Act 2010 and reiterated by the EYFS Framework, must make sure that every child is included and supported to help them achieve their best. The benefits of inclusive practices within early years are tenfold but of course, show the most reward to the children that it supports. 

For more information and training within the education sector, take a look at the wide array of courses we offer at High Speed Training, here.

Once you understand how SEND fits into the EYFS, it’s important to learn how you can support children with SEND in their early years.

How to Support Children with SEND in Early Years

Supporting children with SEND in early years is essential. Early identification, followed by providing effective provision, improves a child’s long-term outcomes. Effective provision includes high-quality teaching and making reasonable adjustments in order to remove barriers a child faces. Having a SEND can impact a child’s mental health and early identification can reduce consequences such as low self-esteem, frustration and behavioural challenges. Early diagnosis and action moving on from this increases awareness and understanding of a child’s difficulties and adds an extra legislative aid.

Some ways of supporting children with SEND will simply be an extension of your general good practice as an early years practitioner. However, other, more specific strategies will be required. 

Some key ways you can support those in early years who may have special educational needs are:

• Create a positive and supportive environment for all pupils, without exception. 
• Build a holistic overview of the children under your care, their needs, personalities and potential signs of SEND.
• Communicate with both parents and child as well as your SENCo. 
• Consider your space, ensuring it is organised in a way to support children with SEND.
• Have high expectations of children.

The graduated approach is a key part of supporting children with SEND, and should be led and coordinated by the SENCo. It involves four steps:

1. Assess – use a range of assessment strategies to analyse and identify the specific support needs of the child.
2. Plan – starting from the assessment, co-produce and share a plan detailing the provision to be put in place. There should be a clear date to review.  
3. Do – implement the agreed provision.
4. Review – monitor the child’s progress and evaluate the success and impact of the support given. 

In Early Years, most assessments will be carried out by observing the child. Use this time to really get to know the child and understand their needs. Observations should be clear, factual and precise. Describe interactions the child has with other children. Keep an accurate record of anything a child says, for example, if a child says ‘I taw a tat’, write it as they say it, rather than ‘I saw a cat’. 

Your analysis of the assessments should provide you with an indication of where the child’s strengths and difficulties lie, their interests, the progress that they are making, and identify any barriers to learning they might be experiencing. In the case of children who have, or are suspected to have, SEND, the focus then needs to be pulled even tighter, and the assessments should dig deeper.

During assessments, you should aim to gather as much relevant information as possible to build a complete view of the child. Supporting children with SEND exists outside of the learning environment. It is a collaborative process by yourself, the SENCo and the child’s carers or family. You can assist by providing as much information as possible. 

To learn more about the graduated approach, take a look at our article, here. 
SEND support extends past early years, to schooling, and into post-16 institutions, so it may be useful for you to understand how support might look later on. To learn about supporting children with SEND in the classroom, take a look at our article.

Strategies for Helping Children with SEND in Early Years

Having strategies in place is an essential part of supporting children with SEND. Examples of some tips, activities, strategies and resources you can use are: 

• Keep your knowledge up to date – be aware of different types of SEND, and how to support children based on the best advice and evidence. 
• Develop high-quality universal provision – this is essential for children with SEND, but also hugely benefits all children. This covers the learning environment, high-quality teaching and interactions, questioning, planning, differentiation, and personalised learning. Developing high-quality universal provision reduces the need for future targeted provision (such as interventions). 
• Focus on inclusive practice – a learning environment which makes changes and modifications will reduce barriers to learning. Children will need different levels and types of support in order to achieve their potential. Ensure that children with SEND are included with other children who do not have SEND. 
• Interactions with the child – allowing the child to take the lead ensures they feel their efforts are valued and important. Show them that you will always respond – even if they’re not saying any words you can understand. Use descriptive commentary, to provide a gentle running commentary on what the child is doing and what is happening in the situation. 
• Responding to concerns – if you have concerns, look at the child’s development in more detail and compare with typical development ages and stages. 
• Develop effective and supportive partnerships with parents – communicate regularly, involve them with decisions about support and signpost parents to further support. 
• Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) are the most prevalent, and increasing type of need in Early Years. Here is an article outlining some key strategies for supporting SLCN within Early Years, along with some resources.  

Below you’ll find two scenarios briefly outlining how the graduated approach was used to provide support. Consider how the graduated approach was applied here, and how you can use it within your setting. 

Four-year-old Noah finds it difficult to sit comfortably on a chair. Observations show that he also struggles with climbing and catching a large ball. You plan activities which encourage development of core strength, such as soft play and riding a tricycle, whilst also looking at the classroom furniture to see if the table and chairs are the right height for him. You continue to follow the graduated approach to review the outcome.   

Two-year-old Mae isn’t responding to her name or following simple instructions. She also prefers playing alone. You speak to her parents and agree she needs to see her health visitor about organising a hearing test. Tests show she has ‘glue ear’, which is monitored to see if it clears up. Meanwhile, the listening environment of the setting is assessed and improved, and communication cards are used to help Mae to express herself and understand instructions. You continue to follow the graduated approach to review the outcome.   

Every child deserves the best possible education and this stands true in early years. As an early years practitioner, awareness is essential. You need to monitor and observe the children in your care so that they can get the best possible support and thus, education as soon as possible.

Further Resources:

• Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) in the Classroom
• How to Become a SEN Teacher
• Supporting Pupils with SEN in the Classroom: Guidance for Teachers
• Summary of the SEND and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan
• How to Support Children with Disabilities to be Active
• 7 Creative Classroom Exercises for Teaching SEN Children

The post What is SEND in Early Years? appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.

Whether you’re an early years provider wishing to find out more about the approach, or a parent who wants to understand how The Curiosity Approach works in your child’s setting, this article will tell you all you need to know.

What is The Curiosity Approach in Early Years?

Founded by Lyndsey Hellyn and Stephanie Bennett in 2017, The Curiosity Approach is a modern-day early childhood education method, driven by active learning and critical thinking. Hellyn states that, in founding The Curiosity Approach, both women wished to “create a generation of thinkers, doers, and investigators”.

The co-founders formed their unique approach to the early years by taking inspiration from many different sources. Bennett states that The Curiosity Approach is “a beautiful recipe book of the teachings of all the great early years pioneers, including Maria Montessori, Reggio Emilia, Rudolf Steiner, and Emmi Pikler”.

Within this completely play-based and child-led approach, children become the centre of their own development – or the pilots of their own play. Children are encouraged to explore, experiment, and create, using engaging resources modelled by passionate facilitators. Their innate curiosity is awakened and sparked.

The approach moves away from technology and focuses on the wonder found all around us, here and now. The co-founders believe that modern-day toys are geared towards entertainment, rather than natural play and imagination. Bennett argues that “the more a toy does, the less opportunity a child has to think and communicate”. Curiosity Approach settings instead favour authentic, open-ended resources, and recyclable curiosities, rather than bright, primary colours, or plastic toys.

Within the day, there will still be distinct rhythms, routines, and rituals, such as welcome time, story time, and nap time, and children will learn during each and every part of their day, whether it be a table-top activity or lunch time.

Why is Curiosity and Initiative Important in Learning?

There are many similarities between The Curiosity Approach’s values and those set out in The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Framework 2021. The Framework agrees that children learn and develop well in enabling environments, with teaching and support from adults who respond to their individual interests and needs. As well as recognising that play is essential for children’s development, the Framework also states that “children learn by leading their own play”.

When setting out the three characteristics of effective teaching and learning, the Framework again draws upon values shared by The Curiosity Approach. These are:

• Playing and exploring – where children investigate and experience things, and ‘have a go’.

• Active learning – where children concentrate and keep on trying, even when they encounter difficulties, and enjoy their achievements.

• Creating and thinking critically – where children have and develop their own ideas, and can make links between them, and develop strategies for doing things.

Whilst playing actively and thinking critically, children will develop the skills to help them become independent thinkers and strong communicators – skills which are vital if they are to become lifelong learners. They will take the time to be more curious, and take the initiative to explore what is happening all around them.

Find out more about child development in the Early Years here.

Why is Play so Important in the Early Years?

Today’s children are growing up in an automated, technological world. 57% of five – to seven-year-olds have then own tablet, for example, and 14% have their own smartphone. With so many young people now accessing digital technologies every day, children are losing their ability to play, create, and imagine. However, we know that children learn by leading their own play, and by taking part in play which is guided by adults.  

Hellyn and Bennett believe that early childhood is a sacred time, full of endless possibility and opportunity, and it should not be seen as time to prepare children for school. By providing children with open-ended resources, which spark their curiosity, children are forced to think critically. Rather than building their reliance on screens, they are stepping back into a world of play and imagination, where children are active participants in their learning.

The Curiosity Approach also moves away from the typical practice of recording and tracking a child’s development on a spreadsheet, and instead trusts and supports the child to achieve their potential. Hellyn states that the approach is not concerned with “comparing a child with another child. Each child unfolds in their own time and space”.

This child-led form of assessment has now been highlighted in The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Framework 2021. “When assessing whether an individual child is at the expected level of development, practitioners should draw on their knowledge of the child and their own expert professional judgement and should not be required to prove this through collection of physical evidence”.

How Does The Curiosity Approach Work in EYFS?

Home from Home

Nurseries and providers who adopt the approach replicate a child’s home environment, rather than that of a typical school.

Settings should be nurturing safe spaces, where children feel loved and at ease. These learning environments are fundamental within all aspects of a child’s social, emotional, and academic development. To make the children feel comfortable and relaxed, fill your spaces with pictures of the children and their families and pets in unique frames. (Remember to follow your setting’s safeguarding policies, and UK GDPR regulations when doing so.)

Calm and Safe Spaces

Overstimulating environments can be distracting to some children with SEND, and can cause feelings of upset and anger. The Curiosity Approach, therefore, favours calm and tranquil spaces, rather than the more traditional, bright and busy early years environments.

Developing a sense of belonging and safety are also key values of the approach. Hellyn and Bennett took inspiration from Te Whariki, the early childhood curriculum of New Zealand, when creating The Curiosity Approach. Te Whariki advocates the benefit of creating a personalised and safe environment for children, where respect and diversity are valued. When children feel loved and secure, they are much more likely to excel.

Child-centred

Hellyn and Bennett believe that the child must lie at the heart of the learning experience. Activities should not be set up just because they’ll look pretty on social media – there should be a reason why the play has been created, and this should be linked to the child’s current interests. For example, you might set up an invitation for learning filled with unique mirrors, flowers picked from the garden, and paint. You might do this because one of the children enjoyed making daisy chains with her mother at the weekend, and has also shown a recent fascination with mirrors and reflections. 

Accessible

Resources and invitations for learning should be easy for the children to access. They should be presented at their level, so that the children can explore them independently. This promotes active learning as the children are engineering their own play, and following their own interests.

Embrace and expect mess

Hellyn and Bennett ask their Curiosity Approach settings to welcome disorder as it will have occurred as a result of a child’s strong connection to their play. Children can help you to wash or clean down outdoor equipment, but activities should not be avoided just because they may create mess.

Curiosity Approach Ideas

Indoors

Indoor Curiosity Approach settings are filled with authentic, open-ended resources. Think old clocks, metal tea sets, dried fruit in bottles, unique jewellery boxes, serving trays, kitchen utensils, and shells, stones, and dried fruit in glass jars – objects that children can explore and investigate.

The co-founders understand that children will learn and engage with resources in different ways. Each resource is full of possibility and wonder. Dressing up areas, for example, should be filled with items to provoke interest and intrigue, rather than synthetic items which merely reinforce societal stereotypes. Think old hats, walking sticks, handbags, old telephones, and vibrantly coloured embroidered slippers. Surround displays with texts and unique photographs or art work linked to the items. These areas are there to develop children’s imagination, literacy, and social skills.

Hellyn and Bennett suggest that providers reach out to parents, carers, and members of the local community for support in stocking and replenishing their curiosities. They also advocate posting requests on community message boards, looking in charity shops, and searching through car boot sales.

Find out more about children’s social development here.

Outdoors

The Curiosity Approach champions every aspect of outdoor learning. Whether it be bug hunting, digging in the sand, planting seeds in old tyres, climbing, rolling, or den making, there are so many ways to develop children’s talents and interests whilst outdoors. In Curiosity Approach settings, you’ll find unique play areas for the children to explore. Their hay bale and pallet tables bring innumerable learning opportunities. Children have access to cutlery and crockery to host tea parties. They can even use real microwaves (unplugged, of course) rather than pretend ones to ‘warm up’ their ‘self-created food and drinks’.

Hellyn and Bennett believe that children love emulating adults in their play, so opting for real plates, toasters, and microwaves is preferable over miniature plastic versions. They stress that adults must model the play, so that children learn how to respect and value the objects they’re using.

Old sheets can be draped across their outdoor tables – acting as a giant canvas for all the children to contribute to. You’ll also find old trunks filled with curiosities throughout their outdoor settings. Each of these activities provide endless play opportunities, as well as developing each of the skills set out in the national curriculum, particularly the strengthening of the children’s fine and gross motor skills.  

Recycled materials

It should come as no surprise that The Curiosity Approach are advocates of salvaged, recycled materials. They want children to develop a deep love and respect for their world, by playing with natural materials. For example, when painting, children can use pinecones and leaves to create and experiment with different patterns and textures.

Providers can also encourage children to collect materials that interest them, and bring them in for their friends to explore too. Think conker shells, unusual fruit and vegetables, and crisp red autumnal leaves.

Charities such as The Salvation Army and Toys4Life are helping to fight the global problem of plastic waste, by providing toys for children in deprived parts of the world. They also offer school and nursery collections to any providers who are looking to donate unwanted plastic toys or resources.

Find out more about environmental awareness for kids here.

Words and Stories

As well as having an inviting reading corner, make sure the environment is as language-rich as possible. Stories and writing should be accessible everywhere. Children should be surrounded by poems, songs, and rhymes, as these are ways of introducing and reinforcing new language. Book shelves and displays can easily be formed using recycled materials, such as plastic drain pipes, and reclaimed wood.

Want to Learn More?

Find out more about how to create a language-rich, communication-friendly settings in our course on Supporting Speech and Language Development in Early Years, created in collaboration with speech and language therapists.

Parental Support

Hellyn and Bennett stress the importance of linking learning to the child’s needs and interests. A great way to do this is to engage with parents or carers on a regular basis to find out what is sparking the child’s curiosity at home. Providers can send a sheet home every 6-8 weeks to find out what the child is enjoying, which special occasions they’ll be celebrating soon, and which parts of the community have they visited. You might find out that a child has developed a love of the ocean following a visit to the aquarium, so you might then map out some provocations focusing on sea creatures, and investigating uniquely textured shells in the sand. Select a story stimulus to further develop the child’s love of the sea. Furthermore, if parents upload photographs to your provision’s learning portal, print off some pictures of the child enjoying the aquarium. This will help to strengthen links between home and nursery, as well as developing the child’s confidence within the setting. Surround the images with fairy lights and blow some bubbles around the provocation to stimulate further curiosity.

The Curiosity Approach is a creative and innovative method of supporting child development in the early years. It places children at the heart of the learning process, and provides them with innumerable opportunities to explore, imagine, and create. To find out more about The Curiosity Approach, you can visit the official website, follow them on Facebook, or read one of their best-selling books.

Further Resources

• Supporting Speech and Language Development in Early Years course
• Why is Child Development so Important in Early Years?
• A Guide to Supporting Language Development in the Early Years
• Understanding the Importance of Motivation in Education
• The Importance of Routine for Children: Free Weekly Planner
• How to Become an Early Years Practitioner
• Promoting Positive Behaviour in Early Years: A Guide for Nurseries

The post Curiosity Approach in Early Years: Importance and Ideas appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.

In this article, we will look at all of the above, tying it into ways you can make effective provisions for personal, social, and emotional development, as you are required to do if you are Ofsted-registered.

How to Promote Positive Behaviour in Nursery

The EYFS framework describes ‘positive behaviour’ to consist of:

• Emotional Intelligence:  Managing feelings and behaviour (self-regulation), being able to express your emotions effectively, and being empathic towards others.
• Social Skills: Being able to form positive, respectful relationships.
• Cognitive Skills: Having self-confidence and self-awareness, and the ability to understand different feelings. 

Before children go to school, they learn essential skills like the above through play, interaction, and discussion. Nursery plays a key role in facilitating these opportunities for learning and development.

Some broad strategies that you can use to help children develop the ability to behave in a positive way include:

Making use of activities, structured and explorative play, and games that encourage curiosity – this develops children’s reasoning and problem-solving (i.e. cognitive skills). They learn best by playing, listening, watching, asking questions, and doing, so set this in motion – for example, try setting them a challenge, such as building a bridge or tower.

Using structured group play to encourage positive and respectful relationships (i.e. social development). For example, you could play games where children learn to share, such as circle games or board games where they have to take turns to roll a dice. Additionally, make sure you and other adults have a trusting relationship with the children – you can be a role model for good relationships. Strong relationships also link to emotional development, making children feel more able to share their feelings with you. 

Recognising their emotional needs and acknowledging them by articulating them, to aid children’s emotional intelligence. For example, you could say: “I understand it’s hard for you to stop playing on the bike, but it’s someone else’s turn now.” This does three things.

1. Aids the development of empathy.
2. Helps children to connect the dots between how they’re feeling and what they’re doing – spotting where emotions come from can help children develop self-awareness.
3. Triggers a soothing biochemical reaction. When a child feels understood, their neural pathway linked to emotional intelligence grows, and in time, children will learn to soothe themselves by accepting their emotions.

Other methods of developing emotional intelligence include accepting and listening to expressions of emotion, rather than shushing them, telling them to stop crying, or scolding them. Everyone should be allowed to express how they are feeling and know that it is valid. You might think that children often overreact, but this is because their brains are developing so quickly that they can be easily overwhelmed with emotion. In other words, this is natural, and should be accepted and accounted for in your setting.

Want to Learn More?

Build on your existing knowledge or learn new skills to help you in the classroom with our wide range of Training Courses for Teachers and Schools. Find everything from Autism Awareness to Supporting Speech & Language Development In Early Years.

What Behaviour Should I Expect From a Child at Different Stages?

Behaviour expectations are key when working with children – you should be clear about how you expect children to behave in different scenarios, and communicate this to them. For example, you might have two golden rules for toddlers (e.g. ‘kind hands’ and ‘take turns when playing with toys’), and three rules for children who are older. You should repeat these rules every day, and have a visual reminder of them on the walls of the room (e.g. photos of children following the rules). 

However, before you set your behaviour expectations, you need to consider what typical behaviour for children at each stage of development looks like. This helps you to know what is a reasonable expectation and what is not. For example, it’s unreasonable to hold children to adult standards, because they’re not yet ready to behave in that way – it takes time to build up the ability to do so. 

Typical behaviour for each age range, based on Birth to 5 Matters guidance, looks like:

You can find out more about typical development using the Birth to 5 Matters guidance here. It might be useful to display the above information in an age-appropriate behaviour chart within your nursery, as a reminder to all staff, as well as giving it out in a parent-friendly format.

Creating a Positive Behaviour Policy or Procedure

Every early years setting should have and follow a set behaviour policy or procedure. This does not always need to be written down, but all staff should know and be aware of it. This promotes positive behaviour and ensures a safe, secure, and effective learning environment where incidents are always dealt with fairly, consistently, and proportionately. 

You can use your policy or procedure as a selling point – it demonstrates your commitment to the Early Years Foundation Stage framework and to child development. This document sells your values, ethics, and principles to parents wanting to find excellent childcare.

Your behaviour policy or procedure will set out expectations for everyone’s behaviour in the setting (including the adults), as well the strategies that will be used to guide children’s behaviour – both rewards and consequences. You can also include your commitment to families within it (e.g. ‘We will make sure that your child is taught right and wrong in a gentle way’). It is important for parents to be on board with the policy or procedure, because consistency is key – all adults need to take the same approach to behaviour management in order for it to be maximally effective.  

You can use the information given in this article, including the strategies that we will discuss in the next section, to create your behaviour policy or procedure. 

Strategies to Manage Difficult Behaviour

We have collated eight strategies that you can use to manage challenging behaviour in early years. These strategies should be useful for all kinds of behaviour issues, but we have also put together a specific guide for behaviours such as tantrums, hitting and biting, and refusal to do something.

1. Ask for the behaviour you want.

It’s always better to have a positive approach – frame your rules by asking for the behaviour you would like to see, rather than the behaviour that you wouldn’t. For example, rather than saying ‘no hitting’, ask for ‘kind hands’. When a child is displaying difficult behaviour, remind them of the rule in a positive manner and give them time to process and follow it – don’t overload them with too many sentences.

2. Reward good behaviour.

Whenever children are behaving well, reinforce them (e.g. ‘Well done for showing us kind hands, Sam!’). Make sure that praise is specific – what exactly did they do that you liked? This helps children to understand what is expected of them and choose their actions accordingly. You could also have a reward chart to add an incentive to behave – this might be a traffic light or weather board system, where you move a child’s name to a different part of the board based on their behaviour. You could also give out stickers, which might add up to an even bigger reward (e.g. a certificate, a small toy, or a class party).

3. Make the consequences clear.

When children don’t follow your expectations, give them a second chance to correct the behaviour by reminding them of the rules – but if they still don’t correct themselves, there should be an age-appropriate consequence. Consequences are most effective if they are immediate, logical, and decided in advance – you should set out in your behaviour policy which consequences you might give for different behaviours. They might be as simple as moving a child’s name on the behaviour chart, or you might decide to use methods such as thinking time (also known as time-out, though this can have a negative connotation).

If you do use thinking time, keep it for more challenging behaviours, and make sure that you sit with the child throughout – don’t abandon or isolate them. It should be an opportunity for them to calm down and sit in a quiet space, which should last for roughly one minute for each year of their life (two minutes for a two-year-old, three minutes for a three-year-old, etc). You could use a sand timer to show them how long they will be there for. After thinking time, it should be a fresh start for the child: the incident has been resolved.

4. Take note of triggers.

Certain children might display challenging behaviour regularly, and it is useful to observe what triggers this behaviour in them. You could use an ABC chart to monitor what happened directly before and after the behaviour, and see if you can spot any patterns. This will help you to fix the problem. For example, you might find that a child displays challenging behaviour whenever it’s time to tidy up – this might suggest that they struggle with transitions. As a result, you could put strategies like visual timetables in place to make it easier for them. 

5. Talk about feelings.

Discuss your own feelings with the children in your nursery to make them aware that everyone has them, as well as labelling what you think they’re feeling when they behave in a challenging way. Research has shown that labelling feelings reduces the negative effects they are having, helping the child to behave in a more positive way. You can find out more in our article here. 

6. Be a role model.

Children learn how to behave by watching others. As a result, it’s important that you stay calm and level-headed, never raising your voice, and follow your own behaviour expectations at all times. Additionally, don’t shame or humiliate children for their actions – this can be very damaging to their long-term mental health, and is not an effective behaviour management tool. As we’ve discussed, consequences like time-out are not a punishment, but simply time for the child to calm down, phrased in a positive way – in no circumstances should we ever tell a child they’re going to the ‘naughty step’ or ‘naughty chair’.

7. Look at additional needs (SEND).

Some children might display challenging behaviour as a result of special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). If you suspect additional needs, you should leave diagnoses to medical professionals, but do ask your setting’s SENCo for advice, discuss your thoughts with parents, and/or get help from the Local Authority.

8. Review your strategies.

  Make sure you set aside some time regularly to think about which strategies are effective for which child, and whether you need to try something different. Your behaviour management toolset should grow and adapt over time with experience, in order to be as effective as it can be.

How to Stop a Child From Biting

In response to a child looking as if they are going to bite, you could:

• Try to divert or distract them before they do it – invite them to join in with a different activity or come and see something interesting. 
• Give them alternative things to bite on, especially if they are teething.
• Talk about what mouths are used for (e.g. laughing, smiling, eating) and what they’re not used for (biting other people).
• Praise the child when they use their mouth to do the right thing.

If a child does bite, you could:

• Say ‘Ouch, hurts’, with an appropriate facial expression.
• Say ‘Stop’ firmly, with an accompanying hand signal.
• Turn your attention to the child that’s been bitten first. This ensures that the child that has bitten doesn’t learn that they will get attention for doing this.

How to Stop a Child From Hitting, Kicking, Pinching, or Scratching

With this type of challenging behaviour, it’s important to put proactive strategies in place to reduce the likelihood of it occurring. This includes:

• Teaching your expectations clearly (e.g. ‘We use gentle hands and feet’). You may do small group activities focused around these expectations to make sure that children know what they mean.
• Modelling how to play in different situations, including sharing. Act out good behaviour in front of the children.
• Reinforcing them when they do it correctly, giving them praise or attention. 
• Providing activities where children can express their feelings so they don’t need to resort to challenging behaviour, such as puppets, circle time, and quiet areas to go to.

If the behaviour does occur:

• Make sure the other child is OK.
• Take the child to a quiet space for thinking time if they need it – not as a punishment, but to help them calm down and not hurt anyone else.
• Let the child know you understand how they feel, but separate the feeling from behaviour (e.g. ‘I can see that you’re angry because Sam took the toy you were playing with, but it’s not OK to bite’).
• Don’t force the child to apologise, but wait until they have calmed down, and then discuss how you could make the injured child feel better.

Strategies for Refusal to Do Something

When a child refuses to do what’s expected of them, try:

• Giving them a choice of two things you want them to do (e.g. ‘Do you want some banana or some apple?’). 
• Asking them why they don’t want to do it, if they are of an age where they can explain this to you.
• Explaining to them why you want them to do something. This can help to persuade them that it really is necessary.

To reduce the likelihood that a child will refuse to do what you’ve asked, make sure that you always:

• Give plenty of warning of change ? try sand timers or visual timetables.  
• Choose activities that they like to build up a habit of compliance.  
• Shorten the length of time of the activity.  
• Change the activity or social grouping.
• Make sure that the activity is appropriate to them.  
• Give lots of positive attention when the child participates in adult?led tasks.

Strategies for Tantrums

Remember that tantrums are normal – it is easy for children to become overwhelmed with everything that is going on around them. When a tantrum does occur:

• Try to divert or distract them, if you spot it early.
• Make sure that the child is in a safe space where they can’t hurt themselves. 
• Ask them if they want to go to a quiet space for thinking time (if appropriate).
• Wait for the child to calm down, and then offer them reassurance (e.g. ‘It’s OK’ or offering a cuddle or special toy).
• Only intervene physically if there is a risk of damage to the child, other children, or property. Remember that you will need to keep a record of any times you have physically intervened with a child.

Promoting positive behaviour in nurseries is an important aspect of your practice, but all staff should remember that we can’t expect adult behaviour from a young child. By keeping typical development in mind, teaching children how to regulate and express their emotions, and having pre-determined strategies for behaviour that challenges, you can ensure that your nursery is a safe, supportive learning environment for all children.

Further Resources:

• Supporting Speech & Language Development in Early Years
• Challenging Behaviour Online Training
• Conflict in the Classroom: Coaching Children to Act Responsibly
• Curiosity Approach in Early Years: Importance and Ideas
• How to Become an Early Years Practitioner
• Why is Child Development So Important in Early Years?
• Child Mental Health Quiz

The post Promoting Positive Behaviour in Early Years: A Guide for Nurseries appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.

In this article, we will outline what EYFS means, why and how the framework is being changed, and how you can implement the changes in your setting.

What Is the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Framework?

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is a framework that sets the standards for learning, development, and care in early years settings. It ensures that children aged from birth to five learn and develop well, and are kept healthy and safe.

The framework applies to all Ofsted-registered early years providers in all settings in England, including:

• Nurseries
• Childminders
• Pre-schools
• Reception classes

Ofsted refers to the EYFS when carrying out inspections and reporting on the quality and standards of provision.

Parents should have an awareness of the EYFS so that they know what and how their child will be learning, and what sort of support they should expect from an early years setting.

Why Is the EYFS Framework Being Changed?

The reasons behind the changes to the Early Years Foundation Stage framework are that they:

• Are expected to improve outcomes for all children at age five, but particularly the outcomes for disadvantaged children, and in the areas of language and literacy.
• Will reduce workload, including unnecessary paperwork, so that those working in the early years sector can spend more time with the children in their care.
• Will make the Early Learning Goals clearer, more specific, easier to assess, and stronger predictors of future attainment.

A pilot study of the changes, undertaken by the EEF in 2018-19, reported that participants did feel that their workload had reduced, felt empowered to use their own judgement in the settings, and viewed the changes positively overall. Participants did have some suggestions about improving the framework before the national roll-out, some of which have been taken into account.

What Are the Changes to the EYFS for 2021?

The EYFS changes, which apply from 1^st September 2021, are occurring in several different areas.

Safeguarding

There have been some minor changes to the safeguarding and welfare section, including a need to “promote the good health of children”, including oral health. In practice, this means teaching children about healthy eating habits and the importance of brushing your teeth – practitioners will not need to supervise toothbrushing or assess children’s oral health. Ultimately, you can decide how you will meet this requirement.

Early Learning Goals

The Early Learning Goals (ELGs) – which summarise the knowledge, skills, and understanding that all young children should have gained by the end of the academic year in which they turn five – have undergone several changes.

Want to Learn More?

Build on your existing knowledge or learn new skills to help you in the classroom with our wide range of Training Courses for Teachers and Schools. Find everything from Challenging Behaviour to Supporting Speech & Language Development In Early Years.

The seven areas of learning and development (communication and language, physical development, personal, social, and emotional development, literacy, mathematics, understanding the world, expressive arts and design) are the same, but the depth within each of them is greater and they contain more examples of how to support children. Additionally:

• Communication and Language now only has two goals instead of three (Listening, Attention, and Understanding is one; Speaking is the other). It includes more focus on adult-child interactions.
• Physical Development contains a greater focus on the link between gross and fine motor skills.
• Physical, Social, and Emotional Development includes additional information on self-care and healthy eating.
• Literacy contains a stronger emphasis on pre-reception literacy learning, and the link between language comprehension and later reading and writing.
• Mathematics focuses on the importance of shapes, spatial reasoning, and measures, with greater clarity on counting and comparing quantities.
• Understanding the World has been changed to clarify the expectation of children understanding the concept of ‘past’.
• Expressive Arts and Design includes a wider variety of ways children can develop their creative skills, including different materials and techniques they could use.

Pre-reception providers don’t need to use the early learning goals. It is also emphasised that the early learning goals should not be used as a curriculum; they should be used to assess children’s development during the summer term of the reception year (as part of the EYFS Profile – discussed below).

Assessments

The statutory progress check at age two remains in place – you are required to help identify a child’s strengths and any areas where progress is less than expected.

The framework contains some guidance for the administration of the Reception Baseline Assessment, to be taken within the first six weeks of a child starting reception.

At the end of the EYFS (the end of the academic year after a child turns five), you must complete the EYFS Profile. It will no longer be statutory for local authorities (LAs) to moderate the EYFS Profile in 25% of local schools each year, which removes the burden of the moderation process.

You will still need to submit EYFSP data to the local authority, and it will still be collected nationally – however, there is an emphasis on not tracking children’s progress by ticking off milestones on a list. Milestones (and they order in which they occur) should not be used as checklists or viewed as necessary steps for individual children to achieve. Every child develops differently and needs to be supported accordingly using your professional knowledge and experience.

The government will make new exemplification materials available to help teachers to feel more confident in making accurate, consistent judgements for each child across the Early Learning Goals.

The “exceeding” judgement criteria will be removed from the EYFSP, although teachers will be expected to continue to identify and stretch more able children. Additionally, the DfE says that it will ensure the EYFSP handbook is clear on how practitioners should complete the Profile for children with SEND or EAL, and children who are summer-born.

You can read about the changes in more detail in the government document here.

Development Matters

Development Matters is the non-statutory curriculum guidance to be used alongside the EYFS framework. This is recommended, but not compulsory.

It has been revised for 2021 in line with the EYFS changes, and the main motivation behind the changes is to give practitioners more room to use their professional judgement – based on their knowledge and experience – and to avoid development being overly tracked or monitored. As a result, the guidance is:

• Shorter – it is about two-thirds of the length of the previous version, with more freedom to develop the right broad curriculum for individual children.
• Simplified – the age bands have been made much broader. There are now only three age bands: birth to three, three- and four-year-olds, and children in reception.

The Early Years coalition has published Birth to 5 Matters as an alternative to Development Matters – it is publicised as ‘guidance by the sector, for the sector’.

How to Implement the EYFS Changes

Depending on your role and the type of setting you work in, you might prepare for and implement the EYFS changes in a different way.

Leaders and Managers

You are now required to design your curriculum around the new educational programmes, not the early learning goals. Begin doing so now in preparation for September 2021, but you don’t need to implement the changes before this date. You should ensure that your staff know about the changes (in detail), and have up-to-date training – including safeguarding training and paediatric first aid.

You might consider contacting your local authority or support groups for advice. Early adopter schools could also prove to be sources of support and guidance, having already gone through the process of implementing the changes – we spoke to Knavesmire Primary School, who had the following to say:

You may find our articles on child development and early speech and language development are of use when designing your curriculum – they give you detailed ideas of how to support the development and maximise the opportunities of children in your care.

Practitioners

To prepare for September 2021, you may wish to speak to your manager about how you will be adapting your work in line with the changes. Begin your preparations to implement the new framework, and ensure that you’re comfortable and happy with what you’ll be doing. Ofsted will be carrying out inspections – which will look at how you adhere to the new EYFS framework – routinely, though you will not be required to provide them with data to show that children are progressing as they should be.

Childminders

Begin planning for the changes now, so that you will be ready by September. If you need advice and support in the meantime, you could contact your local authority or any associations that you are part of, who should be able to help. Also consider contacting other childminders in your area for support and the sharing of ideas throughout the process.

The Early Years Foundation Stage framework has a huge impact on the way you carry out your work in the early years sector. The statutory changes that will be implemented from 1^st September 2021 aim to improve outcomes for all children, reduce your workload, and give you more power to exercise your professional judgement. Keeping these key objectives as a focus should help you to make the most of the framework as an opportunity to celebrate your setting and each unique individual within it.

Further Resources:

• Supporting Speech & Language Development In Early Years Course
• Training Courses for Teachers & Schools
• Guidance on Supporting Language Development in the Early Years
• Professional Development in Early Years Education

The post Changes to the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Framework 2021 appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.

In this article, we will outline the opportunities for professional development within the early years sector, explain why you might consider these pathways, and then discuss the ways in which you might look to progress your career.

Click on the links below to jump to a certain section of the article:

• What are the Career Opportunities in Early Childhood Education?
• Why Consider Early Years Pathways?
• How Do I Develop My Early Years Career?
• Alternative Careers & Industries to Early Years

What are the Career Opportunities in Early Childhood Education?

The early years sector is large and you could work in several different settings during your career, each with different advantages. They include:

• A day nursery that is maintained by the local authority.
• A private day nursery.
• A setting attached to a school (often called a pre-school).
• A play group or holiday play scheme.
• A crèche (where you look after children for a short period of time, usually one to two hours – for example, at a gym or hotel).
• Domestic premises – as a childminder or nanny, you might work from your home or someone else’s to care for children.

Within each of these settings, you could gain qualifications to further your career.

List of Careers

The list of careers in early childhood education that you might choose could include:

• Specialist roles – you might decide to specialise in Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND), or become a Special Education Needs Coordinator (SENCo). You could become an expert in safeguarding as a Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL), be a Physical Activity and Nutrition Coordinator (PANCo), or a Literacy or Maths Leader. Specialist roles allow you to learn more about a subject you’re passionate about and use your knowledge to help the children you work with day to day.
• Residential Childcare Worker (Level 3) – Early Years Practitioners can choose to move to residential childcare instead of day care. This can be an extremely rewarding role if you are looking for a new challenge.
• Deputy manager, progressing to manager – being in a supervisory role comes with more pay, more responsibility, the power to be involved in making decisions, and more control over your work.
• Early Years Senior Practitioner (Level 5) – whether you are a manager or just want to learn even more about early years, you could aim for a Level 5 diploma. This would support both your leadership and management skills and your knowledge of the sector, including pedagogy, behaviour, SEND, safeguarding, development, and more.
• Teacher – you might decide to use your knowledge and qualifications to move into teaching. You could join a teaching apprenticeship scheme, or work towards a degree in teaching.
• Nursery owner – you have the potential to start your own nursery, should you wish to. You don’t need any particular qualifications if you aren’t planning to be both owner and manager; you simply need a great business plan. Our article on ‘How to Start a Nursery Business’ can give you more information about this.

Careers Requiring Degrees

With a degree in early years, you could expand your career opportunities even further. You might choose Early Childhood Studies, which enables you to become an education consultant or a graduate practitioner (amongst other opportunities). You could study Healthcare Play Specialism and work with health professionals to organise play activities for children preparing for operations. Taking part in an Early Years Initial Teacher Training (EYITT) programme could give you Early Years Teacher Status – from there, you could do further training to achieve Qualified Teacher Status and work as a primary or secondary school teacher.

There are so many opportunities available in this field, and with the skills you gain in your role, you could also pursue alternative careers – later in this article, we will list potential job opportunities outside the sector.

Why Consider Early Years Career Pathways?

There are many benefits to working in the early years sector which make it appealing:

• There is a huge variety of roles that you could pursue and move on to, making the career pathway interesting and diverse. The Department for Education is committed to making sure that this pathway is clear, and has produced a useful progression map showing each step.
• You have the opportunity to support children during the most important period of their education and development. Your work could influence how they perform later in their life, and help them transition into school much more easily. This can be extremely rewarding.
• Your working day will often consist of fun activities – if you have a passion for caring for and teaching young children, this is a job that won’t feel like work! In one day you might find yourself doing arts and crafts, music, cooking, reading stories, playing games, or going on outings – it doesn’t get more varied than that.
• Early years work requires transferable skills, many of which you might already have developed. For example, if you are nurturing, caring, creative, encouraging, good at listening and observing, and able to work as part of a team, you would be a good employee in early years. Having these transferable skills also means that you could change career easily if you weren’t enjoying it – you’d be suitable for many alternative roles!

Overall, early years careers are exciting, rewarding, and varied, with plenty of different development pathways to follow according to your interests.

Understanding how to effectively coach or mentor your class can help influence them in later life. If you’re considering taking on a leadership role, our Coaching and Mentoring course is designed to give you the practical tools and techniques needed to kickstart, or advance, your successful career today.

How Do I Develop My Early Years Career?

No matter what your ability or level of experience, there is always an opportunity for progression within the sector. Your Continuing Professional Development (CPD) in early years might be achieved through completing courses, creating a development plan, and shadowing professionals. 

Personal Development Plans

It’s important for everyone to have goals and aspirations set out for their Continuing Professional Development. This helps to motivate you and give you a focus for your everyday work. Having a Personal Development Plan (PDP) can help you keep track of where you want to be in your career and which steps you have taken to get there. You can use our free downloadable PDP template to get started.

Early Years Training Courses

Training courses can help you progress to the next level of your career, as well as giving you both mandatory and voluntary training in topics that are applicable to your role.

If you enter the sector as an early years worker, childminder, or nanny (unqualified), you might choose to take training courses to become an Early Years Practitioner (Level 2), and subsequently Early Years Practitioner (Level 3), also known as Early Years Educator. These qualifications make you a qualified nursery worker. From this point, you will be able to choose whether you specialise in a certain area or try to progress to a managerial role.

Safeguarding courses are essential for those working with young children – you could upskill yourself by taking higher level safeguarding training, such as Advanced Safeguarding Children (Level 2) or Designated Safeguarding Lead Training (Level 3).

Need Safeguarding Training?

From our Level 1 Safeguarding Children in Education course – which all early years workers will need to complete – to higher-level safeguarding training (including Advanced Safeguarding Children (Level 2) and Designated Safeguarding Lead Training (Level 3)), we can help with your training needs. Visit our Safeguarding course library to browse our available courses.

You might also choose to take courses that develop your skills in working with children, such as Challenging Behaviour Training, Child Mental Health Training, and Autism Awareness. This sort of training boosts your employability, job security, morale, and productivity in your role. Many early years workers discover their true interests (and future specialisms) by taking courses in a range of subjects and gradually building up their knowledge.

Shadowing Early Years Professionals

Shadowing is a great way to learn skills from your colleagues, especially if they specialise in an area that you want to develop in. Alternatively, they might be able to mentor you. If you need advice or want to learn something from a colleague, it’s always best to ask – they’ll likely be able to help.

Alternative Careers & Industries to Early Years

If you are wondering which other roles you would be qualified for outside of early childhood, our 10 suggestions of alternative careers are as follows:

1. After-school club or activities programme coordinator

You could work at an existing club or activities programme, or create your own. This sort of job would be as varied as your early years career and utilise many of the skills you already have from working with children, including your creativity.

2. Private tutor

As a tutor, you can work flexible hours, and you aren’t necessarily tied to one location – online tutoring is becoming increasingly popular. Tutoring is a rewarding role where you can impact a child’s educational attainment and future; if you’re a specialist in a certain area, it’s a job that you should consider.

3. Learning mentor

Learning mentors work closely with individuals who are struggling with social, emotional, or behavioural problems that affect their ability to learn. You would be based in an education setting, working with children and young people. Some posts only require GCSEs in English and maths, though others require a degree.

4. Outdoor learning professional

If you believe that the outdoors is vital to children’s development, you could become an outdoor learning professional. The role would involve managing and running activity programmes to help children learn, develop, and increase their self-awareness and wellbeing. As an early years worker, you likely already have a lot of experience with this!

5. Children’s charity worker

For those who are passionate about making a difference to children’s lives, being a children’s charity worker could be the ideal job. Roles within charities are varied, from children’s support assistant (where you could provide high quality care and education to children with brain injuries) to charity fundraiser.

6. Youth support worker

Instead of helping children reach their potential in their early years, you could start working with young people aged between 11 and 25. Being a youth support worker involves creating, organising, and running programmes to help them develop life skills and find their identities. You could also choose to become a professional youth worker by attaining a degree or postgraduate training.

7. Social worker

As a social worker, you would support individuals and their families, and ensure that they are safeguarded from harm. Again, this can be a rewarding and challenging position – it would utilise your patience, resilience, flexibility, and organisational skills. This job does require a degree in social work.

8. Speech and language therapist

Many children struggle with speech, language, and communication problems (including stammering, language delay, and cleft palates) – as a speech and language therapist, you could provide them with the care and support they need. You will need an undergraduate or postgraduate degree in speech and language therapy, and your excellent communication and listening skills, creativity, empathy, and caring nature will come in handy.

9. Children’s nurse

You could work with children of all ages, supporting both them and their families throughout their treatments. An understanding of children’s behaviour, as well as empathy and communication skills, is vital in this sort of role. You will need to complete a pre-registration nursing programme, which will teach you theory and give you experience in clinical practice.

10. Educational psychologist

Similarly to being a learning mentor, working as an educational psychologist would involve supporting children and young people with emotional and social issues or learning difficulties. You would need to assess their needs and come up with appropriate interventions to overcome them, which might include learning programmes and behaviour management strategies. You would normally need training at postgraduate level in order to qualify for this role.

We hope that this gives you some ideas as a starting point – the transferable skills you will have gained from working in early years could also be useful in many other careers.

The early years sector offers extremely rewarding career pathways, with many different opportunities for specialism. By upskilling yourself and taking CPD training, you could help to maximise your potential for progression. Choosing a career in childcare does not close the door to alternative jobs – you will gain transferable skills and invaluable experience of working with children which you could utilise in a range of different fields.

Further Resources:

• CPD Courses for Teaching Staff
• Professional Development Plan for Teachers
• How to Become an Early Years Practitioner
• Volunteer Roles in Schools: What Are the Requirements?
• Interview Questions for Teachers
• Promoting Positive Behaviour in Early Years: A Guide for Nurseries
• Coaching and Mentoring Training
  
  

The post Professional Development in Early Years Education appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.

Research has found, however, that in some areas, more than 50% of children entering reception have language levels below what is expected for their age. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, this statistic has likely worsened as language development has regressed for many children, leaving them behind their peers.

Both parents and early years workers could play a significant role in helping to improve children’s language development and outcomes. To aid you in doing this, in this article we will cover the stages of normal language development, why it is so important, how to recognise potential speech problems, and what you can do to support young children’s language.

The contents of this article are as follows:

• What Does Normal Language Development in Early Childhood Look Like?
• Why is Speech and Language Development Important?
• How Do I Recognise Speech Disorders in Children?
• Strategies to Support Language Development

What Does Normal Language Development in Early Childhood Look Like?

Speech and language development involves four main components:

• Phonetics and phonology: learning to pronounce speech sounds, as well as understanding the rules about which sound sequences occur in the language.
• Semantics: learning vocabulary and understanding how concepts map onto words – for example, does ‘dad’ mean any man? Or any man with a beard? Or just one particular man?
• Syntax and morphology: the rules for how to arrange words in sentences (for example, a verb normally comes second, rather than last), and how to change things like tense, voice, or number – for example, is the plural of ‘sheep’ ‘sheeps’?
• Pragmatics: learning social rules for using language, including adapting your language for who you’re talking to, taking it in turns to speak, and staying on topic. This also includes learning non-verbal communication – including facial expressions, gestures, and tone of voice – and how this interacts with the words we’re saying.

As you can see, learning how to communicate is quite complicated. The good news is that children are programmed to be able to do it, but they do need lots of input from adults to be able to kickstart this process. This also needs to be direct, face-to-face input from a real human being; children can’t learn language effectively from TV or computer games, even if they are ‘educational’ (Kuhl, 2007 and others). As a result, the more you talk to a child (or baby) and support their language, the more progress they will make.

We use milestones to get a sense of what normal language development looks like – this is a more accurate way of measuring than attempting to compare one child with another, because all children are different. Understanding each milestone of development will help you to choose the right strategies to support a child with their speech and language.

Ages and Stages of Language Development

Babies start learning to recognise language even while they’re in the womb. Research has shown that they remember stories that they were read while they were in utero, as well as recognising their mother’s voice (DeCasper and Fifer, 1980, 1986; Kisilevsky et al., 2003).

Once they’re born, their development tends to progress through the following stages:

We have only mentioned a few aspects of each stage here – for a more detailed list, see our article ‘Why is Child Development So Important in Early Years?’ or take our course on Supporting Speech and Language Development in Early Years.

Communication and Language in the EYFS

If you are an early years worker, you can also use the Early Years Foundation Stages (EYFS) to measure a child or baby’s development. The early learning goals for communication and language are:

• Listening and attention – including the ability to discriminate sounds and maintain and monitor attention in a shared context, and being able to anticipate key events in stories.
• Understanding – first words in context, then phrases, and gradually more complex sentences, as well as questions like ‘how’ and ‘why’.
• Speaking – being able to express their feelings, needs, wants, thoughts, ideas, past experiences, and pretend play events.

Children are expected to achieve these goals when they have turned five years old. Ofsted inspectors will check to see whether early years practitioners are using adequate strategies to help children develop their communication and language skills. We will provide some ideas of strategies you can use later in this article.

Why is Speech and Language Development Important?

We have already mentioned that speech and language development is vital in a child’s life, but a more detailed list of the benefits associated with it includes:

• Providing a foundation that they can build on at school. Children need to develop their speech and language before they can learn to read, and language is the main way that information is transferred from teachers to students, learnt, and understood.
• As a result of the above, children’s early vocabulary is a predictor of their later educational outcomes, particularly reading comprehension and decoding (e.g. Bleses, Makransky, Dale, Højen, & Ari, 2016). Smaller vocabulary sizes in the early years lead to worse academic performance later on.
• Language development is hugely important for children’s overall development – for example, it supports cognitive advancement.
• It helps children to form friendships. Using language facilitates them having meaningful interactions with those around them.
• It enables them to communicate their needs better, reducing frustration (and, in turn, tantrums or outbursts).
• Children are able to make more sense of the world around them. Language is tied to our thoughts and the way we perceive the world – when we are able to describe what is going on around us in words, this helps us to understand it.

As a result, it is important to do whatever you can to help the children and babies in your care to improve their communication and language skills.

Want to learn more?

Our course on Supporting Speech and Language Development in Early Years explains what typical development in this area looks like, discussing a range of support strategies approved by speech and language therapists, and going into detail about speech, language, and communication needs – including what causes them, warning signs, and how to help children who you know or suspect might have them. Have a look at our course library to see this and other courses that we offer.

How Do I Recognise Speech Disorders in Children?

As with all types of development, things can go wrong when children are learning to communicate. This could be due to difficulties with learning, cognition, hearing, or sight, or a poor learning environment with little interaction with adults. In this section, we will describe the different types of language problems, their symptoms, and what you should do if you suspect a problem.

Types of Language Problems

Children might experience any of the following issues:

• Language delay – where they are developing along the normal lines, but are slightly behind the average in achieving each milestone. This is the most common developmental delay in children, and more than half of language delays in children under three resolve themselves.
• Developmental Language Disorder – where they have problems either understanding language (receptive language delay) and/or using words themselves (expressive language delay). This might be misdiagnosed as poor behaviour, poor listening, or inattention.
• Speech sound problems – where children find it difficult to produce a certain sound – for example saying ‘wadio’ instead of ‘radio’ (articulation disorder) – or they make a pattern of sound mistakes, such as consistently saying only one syllable in a word, like ‘bay’ for ‘baby’, or changing certain consonants in lots of different words, such as ‘tat’ for ‘cat’ and ‘toffee’ for ‘coffee’ (phonological process disorder).
• Fluency – where children stutter or stammer. This might happen at the beginning of a word, such as ‘li-li-like’, could involve speech having to completely stop, or could be the repeated interruption of speech with ‘um’ or ‘uh’. Children under five quite often stutter as they’re learning to speak, and this comes and goes. However, one in five children have a stutter that is more severe.
• Attention and listening problems – where children are unable to concentrate on speech and filter out background noise effectively, leading to them ignoring speech, interrupting, or being easily distracted.

Being aware of the different types of language problems will help you to communicate the problem to a professional, if necessary, as well as giving you an idea of how you can help in the meantime.

Symptoms of Language Problems

Symptoms that could indicate a language problem include:

• Lack of attention when being spoken to – easily distracted.
• Failing to carry out simple tasks or instructions (when old enough to understand these instructions).
• Poor eye contact.
• Speech that is extremely difficult to understand – only comprehensible 50% of the time.
• Uninterested in being read to.
• Repeating the same thing over and over again.
• Avoiding conversations.
• Consistently making speech sound errors over a long period of time.
• Not speaking at all by 18 months of age, or not understanding speech by this age.
• Not recognising or labelling common objects.
• Difficulty learning nursery rhymes or simple songs.

It is not always a problem if children do not meet milestones ‘on time’ – there is a huge range within normal development. However, if you are worried that a child is behind where they should be, making a list of when they do achieve each milestone will help you see whether there is a pattern.

Be aware that language development will be slightly different for English as an Additional Language (EAL) children. Having less exposure to English will mean that they develop more slowly – they are not necessarily delayed, they just haven’t heard enough of the language to learn it yet. Learn how to support EAL students in the classroom here.

What Should I Do if I Suspect a Problem?

It’s important to act if you suspect a language problem, because delayed language development can cause frustration for you and the child, as well as difficulties learning and making friends, and behavioural problems. On the other hand, early intervention can be extremely helpful and mitigate any effects of the delay or disorder.

If you are worried about a child’s language development, the first step is to talk to your GP – if you are not the child’s parent, you may wish to tell the parents your concerns and suggest that they book an appointment. You don’t need to try and diagnose the problem that the child is experiencing, but giving the GP or parents an idea of the symptoms would be useful.

The GP will refer the child to a speech and language therapist, if necessary. The speech and language therapist can decide what can be done to help, and what the potential for change is (their speech therapy goals). They might give parents exercises to do with the child, or have one-to-one sessions with them.

There are often long waiting times for intervention, so in the meantime it’s important that you use all the strategies we will list in the next section to ensure that the child has as much support as they possibly can. Try to understand the problem thoroughly so that you can be empathic and make it easier for the child.

Strategies to Support Language Development

We have put together eight strategies that you can use to encourage children to develop their language. You may already use some of these strategies, or may need to change what you are doing slightly to maximise the learning opportunities you give to the children and babies around you. Whatever you can do will be helpful in giving them the best outcomes possible.

1. Be a Good Role Model

Since children often learn by observing and copying adults, you need to ensure that you are modelling good speech and language skills as much as possible, including:

• Speaking slowly, so that children have time to process the information you give them, as well as clearly and calmly.
• Using short sentences so that they aren’t overwhelmed with language
• Making eye contact, getting down to the child’s level if necessary.
• Modelling the right pronunciation and sentence structure, making sure to enunciate each word and sound – for example, it helps children learning to speak if you say ‘going to’ rather than ‘gonna’.
• Not using ‘baby words’ – children will need to learn the adult version from somewhere, and if you model it for them, they’ll learn it more quickly.
• Labelling objects and actions around you to teach them more vocabulary – for example, ‘look at that dog!’.
• Listening carefully when children are talking to you – give them your full attention.
• Not interrupting when they are speaking.
• Giving them opportunities to respond by leaving pauses after your sentences – this helps them learn turn-taking in conversations, but also gives them time to think and anticipate your next sentence.
• Making signs, gestures, or actions as you speak to help convey your meaning.
• Using expressive language to discuss objects, actions, and emotions – for example, ‘that’s a beautiful picture!’, ‘look at that tall tower!’. This will help children to expand their vocabularies.

Being a good role model only requires you to adapt your behaviour slightly, and can have extremely rewarding results.

2. Read to Them

Reading in early years is extremely effective for language development – it also has many other benefits, as you can find out in our article ‘Why is Reading Important for Children?’. Try to read books every day if you can – it is even useful for babies under six months, but is particularly effective as they get older.

When you read, point to the words as you say them. This helps the children link the spoken word to the written word, and will aid their literacy development later on. Talk about each page to encourage the child to speak – for example, you could say ‘that’s a lot of food – what’s your favourite food?’.

Engage them in the book by using intonation, pointing to pictures, and letting the child guess what will happen next. Toddlers might want you to read them the same book over and over again – this is great for getting them to really absorb the language, and testing whether they can finish the sentences for you. Alongside their favourites, read children books on different topics, particularly as they get older, so that they broaden their vocabularies. Talk about words that they aren’t familiar with, asking them if they know what it means, and explaining it if not.

3. Talk Together

Naturally, talking to a child as much as you can will assist their language development. It’s important to talk to them even when they can’t talk to you – from birth, you should chat about what you’re doing and ask them questions, responding to any gestures or noises they make as if they’ve spoken a sentence. This teaches them how conversations work, and exposes them to lots of vocabulary and sentence structures to become familiar with.

To make your conversations even more impactful, think about:

• Talking to infants in a singsong, high-pitched voice. They are more likely to tune into this and listen to what you’re saying, thus accelerating their language development.
• Addressing them by name to get their attention before you speak (and teach them their name!).
• Expanding what children say by repeating and building on it. For example, if they say ‘car’, you could say ‘yes, look at that red car over there’. Giving the child complete sentences helps them to learn more about grammar.
• Using parallel talk and self-talk. Parallel talk involves talking about what the child is doing – for example, ‘you are wearing a nice blue dress today’ or ‘you are playing with the toy giraffe’. Self-talk involves talking about what you are doing, such as ‘I am tidying up the toys because it’s almost time to go home’. This helps teach children to pay attention to cues and predict what will happen next.
• Being positive. If children make an error with their language, you should still say ‘well done’ or ‘yes’ – it takes a lot of effort to learn to talk, and they will need lots of encouragement. You can then repeat what they said, correcting the error; they will learn gradually by hearing you produce the correct forms. For example, if a child says ‘her got dog’, you could say ‘yes, she has a dog’.
• Choosing topics to work on each half-term. Some vocabulary will come up naturally in conversation, but by choosing a topic (such as daily routines, animals, body parts, food and drink, or colours) you could teach children even more words! The repetition of the same topic over a number of weeks will also make it more memorable.

4. Sing with Them

Singing is particularly important for babies and younger children – it can really help their language development by supporting them in differentiating sounds, recognising rhymes, improving their memories, and broadening their vocabularies. Just as with reading, pause before the end of a song line, getting the children to fill in the gap – for example, ‘twinkle, twinkle, little… (star)’.

You could make up your own songs, or ask older children to do so. If they’re silly, the children might enjoy and remember them even more!

5. Play Describing, Guessing, and Turn-Taking Games

Games are great language activities that you can try out. You could try:

• Getting the children to feel a hidden object and describe it so that the others can guess what it is.
• Playing ‘what am I?’, where you describe an object and the children have to guess it – for example, ‘I have four legs and I’m a pet, I like to bark’.
• Playing I Spy.
• Sitting in a circle and taking it in turns to pass something around, only speaking when it’s your turn. You could get everyone to answer a question (such as ‘what is your favourite food?’) this way. It also helps to build attention and listening skills, which are vital to good communication.
• Asking children to wait until you say ‘go’ to do something, such as knock down a tower or make lots of noise. Again, this improves their attention and listening skills.

There are also lots of other games that could be just as fun as these suggestions – see what you can come up with!

6. Encourage Pretend Play

Pretend play helps children to broaden their vocabularies – you could get them to dress up as characters from their favourite book, make up their own stories, or try role-play using some simple props.

During the play, encourage the child to name the objects that they’re using and ask them questions like ‘what are you doing now?’, ‘where’s teddy’s hat?’. You could give them simple instructions within the play, such as ‘put teddy down’, making them more complicated for older children (‘make your dolly sit on the chair’).

7. Explore Rhymes

Rhymes are key for language development, just like singing. In addition to helping children to differentiate sounds and learn more words, rhymes increase phonological awareness skills and prepare children for learning to read.

You could play games – such as coming up with a word that the children have to find lots of rhymes with – or make up poems together. Reading rhyming stories is another good way to incorporate it into everyday life.

8. Create a Language-Rich Environment

To maximise opportunities for language development, ensure that the environment around you is conducive to good communication. This means:

• Keeping it organised and uncluttered. Research has shown that tidy rooms help children to learn better.
• Having displays on the walls that are colourful, include words, and are interesting to look at (but not overwhelming). This is useful for older children who might be beginning to match the spoken word with the written word.
• Having plenty of books available that are age-appropriate and appealing.
• Ensuring it isn’t too noisy or there are ‘quiet spaces’ available. To develop communication skills, children need to be able to hear properly – you could use tents or dens to create areas where children could talk to each other, as well as making sure the general volume isn’t too high when you have conversations.

We hope that these eight strategies will give you a good starting point for supporting language development.

Language development in the early years is crucial for children’s outcomes later on – by using supportive language strategies and learning to recognise potential problems, you can help them to achieve the best outcomes possible. We hope you have found this article helpful!

Further Resources:

• Supporting Speech & Language Development In Early Years Course
• Why is Reading Important for Children?
• Promoting Social Development in Children Through Structured Group Play
• Curiosity Approach in Early Years: Importance and Ideas
• Education Training Courses
• Child Development in Early Years
• How to Encourage Children to Express Feelings & Emotions
• Promoting Positive Behaviour in Early Years: A Guide for Nurseries
• Child Development Quiz

The post Supporting Language Development in the Early Years appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.

However, research has shown that only 25% of parents recognise the importance of the first five years; additionally, teacher training does not adequately cover the early years, despite the fact that children are still within this period when they begin school. This lack of awareness on both parts could cause failures to provide the best environments for children, and their progress could be limited.

In order to help you understand the early years, this article will provide guidance on the stages of child development, milestones that children reach within each stage, and how to encourage development. We will also provide further research to show you why this period of life is arguably the most important.

Want to learn more?

Our course on Supporting Speech and Language Development in Early Years explains what typical development in this area looks like, discussing a range of support strategies approved by speech and language therapists, and going into detail about speech, language, and communication needs – including what causes them, warning signs, and how to help children who you know or suspect might have them. Have a look at our course library to see this and other courses that we offer.

What are the 5 Stages of Child Development?

Development describes the way a child grows, changes, and develops skills – not only physically, but also socially, emotionally, cognitively and communicatively.

Child development can be broken down into five stages:

1. Newborn (0-3 months)
2. Infant (3-12 months)
3. Toddler (1-3 years)
4. Preschool age (3-4 years)
5. School age (4-5 years).

At each of these stages, children reach different milestones (also known as ‘characteristics of a stage’. In the next section, we will describe what these milestones are, giving you a general idea of the rate at which children progress.

What are the Characteristics of Child Development Stages?

At each stage of development, children gain skills in four main domains. These domains are:

• The communication and speech domain. Children have to learn to communicate with everyone around them. As well as learning the language, they learn about taking turns in conversation, and how to categorise the world around them. This can be extremely difficult, and leads to interesting errors; for example, when a child learns that a round object is a ‘ball’, they have to work out if that means everything round is also called a ball. Is the moon a ball, and why not? It takes time to understand what separates one word from another.
• The physical domain. The body increases in skill and performance over time, going through gross motor development (learning to use large muscles, such as the arms and legs), and fine motor development (learning to use muscles to make precise movements, such as the hands and fingers).
• The social and emotional domain. Children’s identities, self-images and perceptions of feelings evolve as they grow. They also develop relationships with others, and learn how to socialise and follow social etiquette.
• The cognitive domain. ‘Cognitive processes’ are higher-level functions of the brain, including thinking, knowing, remembering, judging, and problem-solving. As they develop, children increase their understanding of the world, improve their memory, gain better concentration, and refine their problem-solving skills.  

All of these areas of development interlink at every stage – children can’t progress in one area without progressing in another.

Progressing Through the Milestones

The milestones that are met across domains in each stage have been determined by a large amount of research. They are intended to help parents and those who work with children to understand what to expect, so that they can identify any delays or problems and provide adequate support accordingly.

However, it is important to note that the stages of development are best thought of as a general guide. Development does tend to happen in the same order for every child (for example, you need to learn to stand before you learn to walk), but the timeframe is flexible. Differences between children are usually nothing to worry about; like in other stages of life, everyone is different. Development depends on many factors, such as the child’s environment, health, genetics, and family background (including how supportive their family is).

If you are concerned about a child’s progress, keep notes about the time periods of milestones that they have reached, and speak to your GP or health visitor. Identifying delays early on can be extremely helpful.

The milestones for each stage of development in the first five years are as follows:

Why is Early Child Development Important?

The reason that early child development is so critical is that it lays down the foundations for the rest of children’s lives. The brain is at its most receptive during the first five years, which leads to early experiences having a huge impact on the development of neurological connections. This influences children’s brain functioning throughout their lives.

More specifically, early child development has a direct impact on children’s behaviour, social skills, emotional boundaries, ability to form close relationships, school readiness and level of achievement, even into adulthood.

As a result, it is important for parents and those who work with children to support and encourage development in all domains. All children learn more if the adults around them make a purposeful effort to help them. Think of cognitive development, for example; children can only learn the names of different colours or animals if they have been told them. In terms of communication, they can only learn new words if they are talked to frequently – there is a direct link between the rate a child’s vocabulary develops at and the amount the mother talked to the child in the first year (Bee, 1984). Positive behaviour also needs to be promoted in the early years to ensure that they understand what is expected of them in society.

Consequences of Unmet Developmental Needs

If children’s developmental needs are not met, this can impact them in the form of future mental health problems and deep-rooted issues. Studies have shown that children who were not provided with enough mental stimulation are prone to behavioural issues, low self-esteem, poor attention and insecurities which can last well beyond childhood.

A common developmental issue that has become evident is that children are failing to acquire language and social skills in the way that they normally would. Technology, such as computers and handheld devices, has caused this.

Many parents believe that playing ‘educational’ games or watching ‘educational’ TV for hours every day helps to develop children’s communication and cognitive skills. However, this is not the case; research has shown that interaction with their parents and other humans in the first five years is far more educational, and is vital for children’s development. Time spent using electronic devices takes away from time spent having real interactions, causing a negative impact on children’s development.

In the next section, we will provide you with some facts and tips on how to aid children’s development at each stage within the first five years. This will help you to ensure that you are doing the best for the children you care for.

How to Encourage Child Development in Early Years

At each different stage of development, there are things that you can do to help.

Overall, strong parent-child bonds, good nutrition, adequate sleep, routines, and a safe, nurturing environment will help to ensure that children develop as they should.

The first five years of a child’s life are critical for their futures. It is important to ensure that you understand and pro-actively encourage their development during this time, in order to meet their needs. You can use the child development checklist and the tips for supporting development to help you to do this, as well as adding to them with your own ideas.

Further Resources

• Supporting Speech & Language Development In Early Years Course
• Supporting Language Development in the Early Years
• Why is Reading so Important for Children?
• Education Training Courses
• Keeping Children Safe in Education: Key Changes
• Promoting Social Development in Children Through Structured Group Play
• Curiosity Approach in Early Years: Importance and Ideas
• How to Encourage Children to Express Feelings & Emotions
• Reception Baseline Assessment: Guidance for Teachers & Parents
• Child Development Quiz

The post Why is Child Development So Important in Early Years? appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.

This article outlines the role of an early years practitioner and explains what training and skills you require to pursue this rewarding career.

What Qualifications Does an Early Years Practitioner Require?

Working with early years is a unique role that comes with its own challenges and rewards. To carry out this role effectively, it’s important that you receive appropriate training. This will enable you to confidently look after early years children and deal with any problems that may arise. Some training is essential, whereas others are additional courses that will help with your professional development.

Although you don’t need formal qualifications to begin as an assistant in early years settings, there are certain training requirements your employer must comply with. Also, if you are serious about a career in early years, you will soon need to embark on formal courses. There is also a legal requirement to have certain ratios of qualified staff to children, so having an appropriate qualification improves your employment prospects.

The training you need will depend on the specific early years environment you work in, but we’ll look at some of the most common types that are essential or beneficial below.

Essential Training

The following training is essential for all people working in childcare settings:

Safeguarding

Anyone working with children must have training in safeguarding, welfare and child protection. If you are going to be a staff member of an existing organisation or an assistant working under supervision, you should receive safeguarding training from your employer as part of your induction.

Every childcare setting must also have its own Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL). This is someone who has overall responsibility for safeguarding and is the first point of contact for any concerns staff may have. They will also liaise with other local authority services where necessary.

If you are going to start up your own child practitioner business or be a childminder then you will need to take on this responsibility yourself. Statutory guidance states that the DSL must undertake an appropriate training (e.g. an online training course) which will enable them to identify and respond to any child protection concerns. 

Need Safeguarding Courses?

At High Speed Training we offer CPD certified safeguarding training from Level 1 Introduction to Safeguarding to Level 3 Designated Safeguarding Lead.

Take one of these fundamental courses and show employers that you are proactive. It will give you confidence in your work – you will know how to identify and protect children at risk, providing a safe and supportive environment for all.

Paediatric first aid

If you are in sole charge of children at any time, including childminding, then you must have a current full paediatric first aid (PFA) certificate. There must always be someone who has a current PFA certificate on site and available at all times children are present or on outings. PFA must be renewed every three years. Without PFA, you cannot look after children on your own.

Childminder training

If you plan to start a childminding business, you must undertake training before you can be registered. The early years foundation stage (EYFS) framework statutory guidance states that registered childminders “must have completed training which helps them to understand and implement the EYFS”.

Many childminder associations provide suitable courses, such as PACEY and Childminding UK. You can also ask your local authority or childminding agency about courses in your area. In some cases, the local authority can help you with paying for these.

Criminal Record and Barring Checks

Crucially, you need to be able to prove that you are a trustworthy person who is safe to work around children. In England, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man this is carried out using the disclosure and barring service (DBS).

It is essential that anyone over the age of 16 working with early years children has an enhanced DBS check with barred list check.

This shows your criminal record and whether you are barred from working with children. Your employer should arrange this for you, or if you are a childminder this will be carried out through Ofsted or the childminder agency you are registered with.

When you receive a DBS certificate, you may find it helpful to register for the DBS update service, which is a way to keep your certificate up to date and allow employers to easily check for changes (note that you must register with the update service within 30 days of receiving your certificate). In Scotland and Northern Ireland, the equivalent services Disclosure Scotland and AccessNI are used respectively.

Additional Training

Additional training depends upon the type of setting in which you wish to work. Level 2 and level 3 qualifications are important to maintain qualified staff to child ratios set out in Section 3 of the Early Years Statutory Framework. For example, in formal group settings such as nurseries, at least half of staff must hold a full and relevant level 2 qualification, and the manager must hold at least a full and relevant level 3 qualification with two years relevant experience.

Examples of Level 2 qualifications include:

• Level 2 Children and Young Peoples Workforce.
• Intermediate Apprenticeship Framework (early years pathway).
• Level 2 Diploma for the Early Years Practitioner.

To be considered a Level 3 qualified child care practitioner, you must hold a level 3 (or above) qualification that meets the Department for Education’s criteria for ‘Early Years Educator’ and also hold a suitable level 2 literacy and numeracy qualification.

Examples of Level 3 qualifications include:

• Level 3 Diploma for the Children and Young Peoples Workforce.
• Level 3 Diploma for the Early Years Practitioner.
• Level 3 Diploma in Holistic Baby and Child Care.

For a full list of Level 2 and Level 3 early years qualifications which are approved by the Department for Education, use the following link. Additionally, anyone who completed level 2 or 3 qualifications after June 2016 must obtain a full or emergency PFA certificate within 3 months of starting work.

Certain settings, such as school nurseries or reception classes, also require a staff member to have a Level 6 higher education qualification.

Qualifications which award you with the following statuses count as Level 6:

• Qualified Teacher Status (QTS).
• Early Years Professional Status (EYPS).
• Early Years Teacher Status (EYTS).

You may also wish to carry out specialist training, for example:

• Looking after early years children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).
• Specific pedagogies such as Montessori or Steiner Waldorf.
• Nutrition for early years including allergies.

What Skills Do I Need to be a Good Early Years Practitioner?

As an early years practitioner there are a wide variety of skills that you need to be good at your job. If you possess these skills, an early years role could be for you. If you are just starting out, consider getting some work experience as a nursery or childcare assistant. This way you can really confirm whether this is the career for you before embarking on an early years course, and it will show motivation and drive to any future employers.

Patience and empathy

Since you will be working with young children every day, you will need patience and empathy. Young children are learning how to exist with their emotions, and can take a long time to think when asked questions or having a conversation. You need to be open minded an appreciate every child’s individuality and personality, as well as able to put your own preconceptions to one side and allow a child to blossom with their own unique character.

Behaviour

You need to be confident around children and know how to deal with tantrums and misbehaviour. You have to be a role model and teach children what is appropriate and not appropriate behaviour. Although this may in part come naturally to you, there are well researched and proven techniques that you will find helpful. You can find some useful tips in our article: Promoting Positive Behaviour in Early Years.

Communication and teamwork

A large part of the job will be interacting with parents and carers of children. You need to be able to give clear updates to them in a friendly manner and show enthusiasm about their child. You will also need to work closely with other staff members and share information, progress or concerns about the children in your care.

Creativity and playfulness

Although you will provide some structure for children in your care, a large part of early years development is learning through exploring and discovery. You need to be willing to channel your inner child and be confident to engage in play, games and imaginary worlds. This can be a really fun part of the job!

Roles and Responsibilities of an Early Years Practitioner

In short, the role of an early years practitioner is to look after the social and educational development of babies and young children. But what exactly does this entail? Well, crucially, there is a large safeguarding and child protection component to your work, and this is one of the most important roles.

In England, you must meet all the safeguarding, welfare, learning and development requirements set out in the statutory requirements for the early years foundation stage (EYFS). This includes having and following appropriate policies and procedures.

Other responsibilities, depending on whether you are running your own business, include:

• Registration – early years settings need to be registered with Ofsted in England. If you are employed, your employer should already be registered. If you are setting up your own nursery or childminding, in most cases you need to register with Ofsted Early Years Register. You are required to register if you are paid to look after children for over 2 hours a day in England, but refer to this link to see a list of exemptions. Even if you are exempt from registering it can be beneficial to do so, as it enables your customers to claim childcare benefits and you to get a Childcare Business Grant if you are setting up your own business.  If you work in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, you will need to explore registration and early years requirements at the respective bodies of Education Scotland, Care Inspectorate Wales or Early Years Teams Northern Ireland.
• Admin – accurate child records need to be kept (with appropriate data protection measures), and in England Ofsted need to be notified of any changes, such as staff members or hours of operation.
• Health and safety– the premises must be suitably safe with appropriate risk assessments in place. In England, you must report any serious incidents to Ofsted.
• Legal requirements – such as public liability insurance, and the appropriate business insurance to drive with children in your car who are in your care (if required).
• Advertising – if you have your own business.
• Nutrition – you will need to provide nutritious, healthy snacks and/or meals to children. Importantly, you must be aware of dietary requirements and allergen sensitivity.
• Training – you should be proactive in your own training so you can continue to provide children with a great environment to learn and play. This includes keeping up to date with statutory requirements, safeguarding legislation and any relevant local authority specifics. If you are employing people or recruiting assistants to help you, you are responsible for ensuring they are adequately trained.

Being an early years practitioner is an incredibly rewarding job where you can have a direct impact on a young child’s start in life. There is also never a dull moment and you will find yourself smiling or laughing a lot! Hopefully you now have an understanding of the skills and qualifications required to be an early years practitioner, and how to progress your career.

Further Resources:

• Promoting Positive Behaviour in Early Years
• Keeping Children Safe in Education: Key Changes
• Volunteer Roles in Schools: What Are the Requirements?
• Interview Questions for Teachers
• Professional Development in Early Years Education
• Alternative Careers for Teachers
• Online Safeguarding Courses

The post How to Become an Early Years Practitioner appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.