Implementing the Early Year Foundation Stage Framework across the Early Years Sector - Essay Example

Implementing the Early Year Foundation Stage (EYFS) Framework across the Early Years Sector Introduction TheEarly Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) 2012 covers children from the time that they are born until the end of the reception year and is aimed at the proper learning and development of the child. It endeavours to ensure that the children develop well and are healthy as well as safe through teaching and experiences that avails to the child a wide range of skills for progress in school and life. This framework is based on four principles that involve unique child on which resilient and self-assured individuals are brought up and positive relationships that support children to be independent. It also involves having enabling environment where the experiences and opportunities are tailored to meet the individual needs of the child and lastly the learning and development which must appreciate that a child learns in different ways and rates (Standards & Testing Agency 2014, p.4). The Early Years Foundation Stage Framework avails to professionals a set of common principles and commitments aimed at delivering early education to children in a quality manner and gives childcare experiences that are expected of all children. The framework majorly gives confidence to the parent that whichever place they choose for the early education of their children they are assured that the same principles and commitments provided by the British law shall apply to the experiences of their children in terms of learning and development. The EYFS 2012 emphasizes the need for professionals to spend enough time in interacting with the children in order to promote skills that may help the child be creative think critically and know how to communicate and develop language at an early stage (Soni and Bristow 2013, p.41). It also encourages the parents to e more involved in the development of the child and to give insights on how they can support the development at their respective homes as well as the early identification of the needs of the child that may require special attention or the involvement of healthcare providers. It also aims at equipping professionals with the knowledge of how they can share the progress of children between the ages of two and three and how to refocus the learning and development of children still at the early foundation stages. The aforementioned are assessed through the important areas of learning that address learning and they include personal, emotional and social development as well as the specifics when it comes to the literacy, mathematics, design and expressive arts and understanding of the world. The EYFS also aims at helping professionals to assess the end of reception year through a specified profile against the fewer early learning goals while at the same time helping them make a judgment at the end of the reception year in terms of how the children participate in active learning, creative and critical thinking and play. Meeting the Individual Development and Learning Needs of the Child As already mentioned, the key function of the Early Year Foundation Stage is to help in the learning and the development of the child before they reach the reception stage. These are divided into four core stages known as the prime areas and the four specific areas whereby the prime areas are communication and language, physical development and personal, social and emotional development (Palaiologou, 2010, p.33). In order for learning and the development of the child to be successful, it is important that there is a careful assessment and observation as well as use of information provided by the parents to aid the child in the desired results. The special areas are looked at as the child grows in confidence and has mastered the abilities that are desired at the prime areas but if there is cause for alarm at these prime areas, the parents, teachers and the caregivers will be required to give an approach on how to support the child. Further, the learning of the child should include playing and exploring (Andrews, 2012, p.154) which requires that the child investigates and experiences things, active learning that requires that the child concentrate and overcome difficulties as well as e creative and think critically. The EYFS (2012) provides a framework that includes a majority of the learning and development needs of children and includes the individual needs of every child despite the challenges that may meet. In meeting the individual needs of the child in terms of learning and development, it is important that he professionals understand how certain children demonstrate attainment at the level at the end of the EYFS and how to capture those deemed as emerging. In dealing with children with special needs and disabilities such as special educational needs and disability in terms of physical, emotional, sensory aspects, it is important that the communication between the professional and the parents to the child is strong in order to clearly know the learning and developmental needs of the child. The professional must know the preferred mode of communication of the child whether it is talking or speaking and be alert whenever the child is demonstrating attainment in any manner such as the use of signs or symbols. In children whom English is not the language used at home, the professional will be required to find out the prior language of the child and his experience or any education elsewhere and this can be easily found from parents. The professional will be required to inform the parent to the child that home language of the child is likely to help him learning English more easily and be able to know and understand what he is being taught as a way of learning and development. The reason for this is that children must be accorded the opportunity to engage in activities and first-hand experiences that are not solely dependent on English as a language of instruction and are therefore implored to involve in language that they know and are comfortable with. Children from minority groups must be supported by the professional who must listen and respond in a manner that shows that they understand their feelings and their confidence. Impact of Transition upon Young Children It is important to note that transition of children should always e seamless and the practitioners involved in EYFS should always endeavour that they work together to ensure that the experiences of the children and their development during the penultimate years are valuable. This stage is also important as it prepares the children in their impending move from one stage to another and it is imperative that the practitioners build on the principles and the approaches encapsulated during the early year foundation stages (Fisher 2010, p.44). This is in line with legislation that requires the professionals to have an accurate outcome that embody the characteristics of effective learning and that the EYFS should aim at ensuring that there is a holistic evaluation of the learning and developmental needs of each child during the transition period. Also, professionals must operate in an environment that best supports them in giving the desired care to the children in line with the needs of their families before they enlist the services of the protection agencies (Munro 2012, p.17). The EYFS should support the transition of children from the pre-school age to the school age and includes different types of transitions which may be horizontal in nature, transition from caregivers, transition from nursery provision into reception class and transition from reception into the first year. The 2012 framework provides that the transition from the EYFS into the primary curriculum has got great challenges especially to those that are involved with the care of the four and five year olds (Brooker et. al, 2010, p.50). In handling of transition, additional information should always be considered together with the EYFS Profile outcomes in order to ensure that that the communication between the EYFS and the staff that are handling the first year are meaningful for the successful transition of the child. This may require a variety of learning levels and growth that can only be built over time through observation and contact with the child and continuous assessment of his learning and development. In dealing with children with special needs and disabilities, the practitioner may have the records from professionals who are not necessarily within the setting to inform them of the assessment and the transition processes (Roffey and Parry, 2014, p.27). There is also need to provide other information centred on the twenty items that are listed in the EYFS Profile for a successful transition and an easy journey for the child based on understanding, planning and implementation. Policy, Practice and Legislation and its Influences on Early Years Provision Usually legislation that affects the early childhood comes about due to the activities of the government and is enacted to control and shape the expectations within the learning and development of children during the early years. The legislation may however be affected by the beliefs and practices about the best approaches to the early years learning and development and may play a role in the development of policy that affects a larger population. The early years policy may be part of a wider mandate and may be designed not just to achieve the goals of learning and development in children but also that of parents and the caregivers or the teachers who must ensure children’s learning is progressing well (Hutchin 2013, p.144). The legislation and the policy may also be shaped y the work of the professionals, events in the course of giving care to the child or flaws and inadequacies that may exist in the legislation as given out to the members of the public. Professionals are therefore required to recognize that legislation and policy can be understood from the point of view of individuals and how they understand the legislation as enacted with the early years in mind but that which can be changed depending on the practice of those concerned. This means that professionals can disagree with particular legislations if they believe that there is a different approach that they believe to be more viable which clearly shows that policy and legislation can be changed over time as the practice and beliefs about the needs of the children change over time (Kay, MacLeod-Brudenell and Brudenell n.d, p.350). For instance, in the United Kingdom, there has been a debate on whether children should continue starting their schooling at the tender age and this brings serious problem as concerns the early years policy. Currently, the key influences on policies touching on policy regarding early years include the desire by the government to reduce the exclusion of persons on the basis of their social status and poverty by providing children and families with early years services to improve healthcare, educational attainment as well as economic security. (Kay, MacLeod-Brudenell and Brudenell, n.d, p.351). This calls for researchers to examine the policies and the legislations critically on how they are effective in supporting the children in early childhood and make a determination whether the policy outcomes have positive impacts on the children. Assessment, Recording and Reporting Methods in Early Years Provision Through the EYFS (2012), effective assessment involves analysis and reviewing of what is known about the learning and the development of child so that the person makes informed decision of the progress of the child and take the necessary steps to meet them. The assessment may include formative assessment which is based on observation, videos, photographs or the drawings by the children as well as information derived from parents in order to inform daily planning (Jarvis, George and Holland 2013, p.150). It also includes summative assessment which involves the summary of all the formative assessment that has been carried out over a long period of time and enumerates the achievements made by the child (Great Britain 2008, p.71). This EYFS Profile involves the summative assessment that has been completed by the practitioner at the end of the EYFS and makes a summary of the progress of the child towards the attainment of the early goals. The EYFS Profile may also be formative in that it guides or informs as well as guides the medium-and long-term planning carried out by the teachers and the parents to support and extend the learning of the children as they move from one stage to another in their learning (Standards & Testing Agency 2011, p.16). However, the EYFS 2012 framework allows the professionals to utilize their own personal records and evaluation to compile a report for each child as long as it is consistent with the early learning goals and objectives as provided by the EYFS 2012. This is done by undertaking the EYFS Profile for all children of the desired or appropriate age and assessing them through observational assessment against the scales provided by the framework and recording them in accordance with the scores attained by each child. Also, there is the Assessment and Reporting Arrangements booklet that gives out the statutory and ways of reporting under the EYFS 2012 and the information concerning arrangements on how the reports can be submitted to the relevant local authorities. References Andrews, M. (2012). Exploring play for early childhood studies. London, SAGE/Learning Matters. Brooker, L., Rogers, S., Ellis, D, Hallet, E., & Roberts-Holmes, G. (2010). Practitioners experiences of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Department for Education. Fisher, J. (2010). Moving on to key stage 1 improving transition from the early years foundation stage. Maidenhead, England, Open University Press. Great Britain. (2008). Testing and assessment: third report of session 2007-08. London, Stationery Office. Hutchin, V. (2013). Effective Practice In The Eyfs An Essential Guide. Maidenhead, McGraw- Hill Education. Jarvis, P., George, J., & Holland, W. (2013). The early years professionals complete companion. Harlow, England, Pearson Education Ltd. Kay, J., MacLeod-Brudenell, I., & Brudenell, C. (n.d).‘Evaluating Early Years Policy and Legislation’ Heinemanns Advanced Early Years, 2nd edition, 348-391. Munro, E. (2012). The Munro Review of Child Protection : progress report : moving towards a child centred system. Department for Education. Palaiologou, I. (2010). The early years foundation stage: theory and practice. Los Angeles, SAGE. Roffey, S., & Parry, J. (2014). Special needs in the early years: supporting collaboration, communication and co-ordination. London: Routledge Soni, A., & Bristow, S. (2013). The EYFS: am I getting it right? : how to evaluate your setting and decide what needs changing. London: Featherstone Education. Standards & Testing Agency. (2014). Early Years Foundation Stage Profile Handbook. Available at: www.education.gov.uk/assessment Standards & Testing Agency. (2011). 2012 early years foundation stage : assessment and reporting arrangements. Available at: http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/12363/1/assessment%20and%20reporting%20arrangements%20%20%20early%20years%20foundation%20stage%20profile.pdf. Read More