Implementing Early Years Foundation Stage

The early year’s foundation stage is the law by the UK government, which sets the foundation and framework that indicates the foundation of child development and welfare, especially for those children who come under the age of 5 years. If the child is under the care of any other person except the parents, then it’s the duty of the government under this law to look after all the necessary requirements. The government keeps on the inspection to check the child is being taken care of properly. Specifically, this law deals with two further divided frameworks of childcare. The first one is the Learning and Development area, whereas the other area is educational knowledge.

• The first area of learning and development is regarding the enhancement of social, personal and emotional development along with languages, communication and physical development.
• The second area, which strictly follows education development and learning, focuses on literacy, mathematics, the understanding of the world around the child and arts.
• scope and legal status

The EYFS has set the mandatory framework which supports the legal and scope of this law set by the government. The early years development is widely focused on by this law, which guides the schools and all the other institutes that provide services in the learning and development of children under 5 years. Section 39 of the Child Act of Care of the British Government 2006 provides extensive information on its legal status. The early-year outcomes are the scope of this law, which emphasizes development and learning. The first amendment was done to this law in 2006, and after that, finally, in 2012, it was revised, which gave the principles to follow while implementing this law in 2014.

Structure of the EYFS

The overall structure of this law deals with three core areas: the first one is the requirements of learning and development, the second one is the assessment of the requirements being fulfilled, and in the end, it deals with the requirement of safeguarding the child and its welfare.

• The first one, which is learning and development, has a further seven areas that need to be fulfilled through providing learning of those seven areas. Those seven areas revolve around social, personal and emotional development along with languages, communication and physical development, literacy, mathematics, the understanding of the world around the child and arts.
• The second part of the structure deals with assessment, which provides guidance to parents, practitioners and care programs in recognizing the necessary progress of the child in learning and development. Along with the learning and development, the assessment part of the structure also helps in recognizing the needs and providing support for those needs. During the learning and development stage of the child, all the stakeholders should get information regarding the day-to-day progress of this child so they can know how far it’s going and also whether the provided services are beneficial or not.
• The third and main part of the structure of EYFS is providing welfare and safeguarding the requirements that children need. The most important thing for the child is being secure, safe and healthy. This law not only provides services related to learning and development but also the overall well-being of the children also come under EYFS. There further division of this structural part is child protection and suitable people. When the child is under 5 years old, that child is not aware of how to take care of themselves and the people that the child is surrounded by. It’s the duty of government to properly check and balance these two things which provides the overall wellbeing of the child.

Principle and theme

There are four themes that help and guide through the principles of learning and development of the child.

The following are the principles along with the theme which is the core of EYFS:

• Social, Emotional and Personal Development.
• Physical Development.
• Languages and Communication.
• Understanding the world.
• Expressive design and arts.

The following are the four themes of the EYFS:

• Learning and development.
• Positive relationships.
• A unique child.
• Enabling Environment.

Early years settings are inspected to check their delivery of the EYFS.

Ofsted is the office which is set by the government to provide inspection in checking and regulating the care a child needs by parents and the care provider. The inspections are being carried out by the inspector on a weekly basis to check whether the environment, material for learning and the one who is providing is suitable for the child or not. The goal of these inspections is to achieve the finest care and excellence in the education of the child. While keeping the check on education, the inspector also looks into the personal development of the child because the child will grow into a citizen and lead life accordingly. The nature of the job car you by the inspector is totally independent, and they directly report to parliament to avoid any hierarchy that puts barriers in the job. The following are the responsibilities of the inspector who carries out the inspection:

• The first responsibility is to maintain the schools and other educational institutes which are offering the relevant services.
• The second responsibility is to look after all those people apart from the parents who are providing care to the child.
• The third responsibility deals with reports which they design after the inspection and provides the findings in those reports.
• Making sure that all those services that are being provided to children are suitable for that child or not.
• Provide recommendations to policymakers regarding the effectiveness of the policies designed by them.

Describe how children’s development is assessed at different points

Effective practice is carried out by the authorities in order to check the development of the child in different stages. The core and important step that is followed in every stage is observation; after that, they do an assessment and, in the end, do the planning based on the first two stages. Following are the descriptions of these three stages:

• Observation is being provided while watching the type of care given to the child. Also, by talking to the child through different sets of questions that are being designed and taking notes of those conversations.
• Those notes that are being taken through observation and conversation will be further assessed in this stage so that the inspector can decide whether the needs of that child are being fulfilled or not. They identify both the positive and negative aspects so that corrective actions can be taken.
• The third and last stage, which is being used in different stages of assessment, is planning. After the second stage, the planning is done so that the corrective actions for the betterment of the child can be achieved by a set of goals of EYFS.

2.1. EYFS safeguarding and welfare requirements

The learning and development goals can only achieved when the child is healthy and safe. The individual needs of the child are their security and well-being, and meeting those needs is crucial and mandatory, as directed by EYFS. There are two most important parts: are protection of the child and the surroundings of the child, whether the child is with suitable people. This involves the inspection of both the homes and schools in which the child is being taken care of while its learning and development are being achieved. The further description of both the points are as follows:

• The life-threatening circumstances of the child should be reported, whether it’s in the home or anywhere the child is present. Not only is the child being secured from those threats, but also the investigation goes under the inspection of those people who had created those circumstances.
• The suitable people clause involves the eligibility of those people who are giving the necessary care to the child. The requirement of the roles for concerned people is being looked after at this point. The assessment is done not only for the teachers but also the parents are being assessed that whether they are suitable for providing the care a child needs in the early stage of learning and development.

2.2. Explain the rationale behind the safeguarding and welfare requirements

The early age experience of the child has outcomes later in the life of that child, not just in personal experience but the educational employment life also being affected through the health and social behavior of that child. According to researchers, the first three years of the child influence the most in the life of a child, so it is mandatory by the law to protect and provide all necessary requirements to fulfill the learning and development outcomes.  The strong actions and acts during those first three years have given positive results, and the reason for creating EYFS is to protect the child during those years. The environment in the home comes first during those years. The assessment is done on the parents and all the people the child is surrounded by in the home.

2.3 -Evaluate the practical implications of the safeguarding and welfare requirements within the EYFS

The advancement of technology has still not been considered in this law. The most important implication is the usage of mobile phones, which is still under research studies to know the impact on the learning and development of children. The usage of these technological gadgets is widely being considered and under the argument that the usage is good or bad for the child or not. The technology skill of the child is being seen as a good sign in education, but the health implications can’t be ignored because the gadgets badly on the health of small children. The other implication is faced in the assessment of safeguarding the child because it is hard to know what is being taught to the child, and this can be manipulated by the people surrounding that child. The criteria for checking and inspection should be more advanced.

3.1 -Describe the scope of the areas of learning in the EYFS

The scope of learning under the EFYS is divided into two parts, which further have seven key points. The first area of learning and development is regarding the enhancement of social, personal and emotional development along with languages, communication and physical development. The second area, which strictly follows education development and learning, focuses on literacy, mathematics, the understanding of the world around children and arts. The following are the principles along with the theme, which is the core of EYFS: Social, Emotional and Personal Development; Physical Development; Languages and Communication Literacy; Mathematics and Understanding the world; and the seventh is Expressive Design and Arts. The following are the four themes of the EYFS learning and development: Positive relationships, a unique child and an Enabling Environment.

3.2 -Evaluate how the four specific areas of learning relate to the three prime areas of the EYFS

The four specific areas that are also being discussed are literacy, mathematics, world understanding and arts. The three primary areas are personal, social and emotional development, and physical and communication development. The first four are related to the later three primary areas and play a great role in both stages. The learning comes from the stability in the emotional and social behavior, whereas the four areas help in giving stability in the primary areas.

3.3 -Facilitate play activities for a given child that allow opportunities for the prime areas of learning

The suggested areas of play for the children for their learning and development, specifically for the prime areas, are indoor and outdoor activities which help them learn by getting along with other children, give them the skills, and help them learn through the mistakes and risks involved in both types of activities. The activities also involve learning to be active, interacting, communicating and experiencing different ideas that come into their minds. Sports help in developing their personal, physical and communication development.

3.4 -Use observations of a given child’s development to plan for progress within the EYFS

The progress in the learning and development under the EYFS is a very important step that should be taken consistently, or else the goals will not be achieved. The observation phase is being discussed earlier, which provides the knowledge and method of using the observation method. Effective practice is carried out by the authorities in order to check the development of the child in different stages. The core and important steps that are being followed in every stage are observation, after which they do an assessment, and in the end, the planning is based on the first two stages. The description of the observation is being provided while watching the type of care given to the child, also by talking to the child through different sets of questions which are being designed and taking notes of those conversations.

Support children’s progress towards EYFS outcomes, progress and planning (Conclusion)

The outcomes of this law are not identified specifically by the life of a child later in life, but the government assessed it through the recommendation given by the inspection through notes and observation. The framework, principles, themes, and primary and core stages of learning are important in the early age of a child. The design of this law should consider the advancement as the days go by with technology and changes in the environment. Those children who come under the age of 5 years. If the child is under the care of any other person except the parents, then it’s the duty of the government under this law to look after all the necessary requirements. The early years development is widely focused on by this law, which guides the schools and all the other institutes that provide services in the learning and development of children under 5 years. The overall structure of this law deals with three core areas: the first one is the requirements of learning and development, the second one is the assessment of the requirements being fulfilled, and in the end, it deals with the requirement of safeguarding the child and its welfare. The goal of these inspections is to achieve the finest care and excellence in the education of the child. While keeping the check on education, the inspector also looks into the personal development of the child because the child will grow into a citizen and lead life accordingly. The nature of the job car you by the inspector is totally independent, and they directly report to parliament to avoid any hierarchy that puts barriers in the job. The core and important step that is followed in every stage is observation; after that, they do an assessment and, in the end, do the planning based on the first two stages. The learning and development goals can only achieved when the child is healthy and safe. The individual needs of the child are their security and well-being, and meeting those needs is crucial and mandatory, as directed by EYFS. There are two most important parts: the protection of the child and the surroundings of the child, whether the child is with suitable people. This involves the inspection of both the homes and schools in which the child is being taken care of while its learning and development are being achieved. According to researchers, the first three years of the child influence the most in the life of a child, so it is mandatory by the law to protect and provide all necessary requirements to fulfill the learning and development outcomes.  The strong actions and acts during those first three years have given positive results, and the reason for creating EYFS is to protect the child during those years. The environment in the home comes first during those years. The usage of these technological gadgets is widely being considered and under the argument that the usage is good or bad for the child or not. The technology skill of the child is being seen as a good sign in education, but the health implications can’t be ignored because the gadgets badly on the health of small children. The other implication is faced in the assessment of safeguarding the child because it is hard to know what is being taught to the child, and this can be manipulated by the people surrounding that child. Plays for the children for their learning and development, specifically for the prime areas, are indoor and outdoor activities, which help them learn by getting along with other children, give them the skills, and help them learn through the mistakes and risks involved in both types of activities. The activities also involve learning to be active, interacting, communicating and experiencing different ideas that come into their minds. Sports help in developing their personal, physical and communication development.

References

NEAUM, S. (2010). Child Development for Early Childhood Studies. London, SAGE Publications.