"Always remember that you're unique Unequalled, uncommon, c'est magnifique One of a kind, quite special and rare Singular, original, not one of a pair Special, the exceptional you embody You're really unique, just like everybody" Anonymous It is no accident that this is one of the first and foremost themes underpinning the Early Years Foundation Stage. Take a minute just to think about five young children you have known between the ages of 0 and 5. What made them pop into your mind? What individual traits and special characteristics made each of those children unique enough to be remembered just now by you? For me, the first child I thought of was my brother aged 4 deciding what he wanted for breakfast one morning. Granddad was babysitting as mum was doing a night shift and wouldn't make it home until 8.30am, too late to take us to school. Mum made porridge with hot milk and sugar for us. Grandad made it with water and salt. When granddad called from the kitchen "What do you want for breakfast kiddiwinkles?" my brother responded "Porrrrr....Weetabix' please." Such quick thinking for a 4 year old and so humorously done It was no surprise that we giggled uncontrollably into some cushions after glancing at one another and knowing in an instant that we both loved mum's porridge but hated grandad's so Weetabix was a good alternative choice that morning! Were you remembering children for their humour, quick thinking, talents, attributes, individual qualities, preferences, behaviour and special times shared with them? Maybe it was a medical condition, their parents, a disability, unique looks or ability in a particular area. Whatever it was that made you single out those children to think about, it highlights their uniqueness. No two children are the same. There are four commitments attributed to the EYFS theme ‘A Unique Child' and these are: 1.1 Child Development 1.2 Inclusive Practice 1.3 Keeping Safe 1.4 Health and Well-Being The child development card acknowledges that babies and children develop in individual ways and at varying rates. It states that every area of development - physical, cognitive, linguistic, spiritual, social and emotional (like so many aspects of the EYFS) are equally important and inextricably interconnected. The deliberate overlapping ages and stages overview card supports recognition of the fact that babies and children mature at different rates and develop in different areas at different times in their lives. We all know that children cannot and do not jump through specific hoops just because they reach a certain age. The learning curve is more complex and the EYFS acknowledges this and actively supports and encourages practitioners to plan developmentally appropriate activities that are both child and adult led. It is perfectly normal and practitioners can relax if a child is excelling in a couple of areas of the curriculum, let's say physical development and communication language and literacy whilst struggling, not making much progress or even regressing in others. A child may come from a large social and communicative family where they are encouraged to talk, and talk is modelled all around them everyday thus making them competent learners in the area of communication language and literacy. Their vocabulary may be good because they are surrounded by talk, asked questions, encouraged to express themselves and are given time to think through and answer on a regular basis. So despite their actual age being 20 months they could be achieving and operating confidently in the 22-36 months stage. But maybe their physical development is not so good because they have a visual or hearing impairment making it difficult to progress quite as well in this area thus needing more support or some intervention. The ‘Effective Practice' sections of the cards give helpful, user friendly, tried and tested ideas of what to do e.g. "Encourage, listen and respond to babies' and children's communications, both verbal and non-verbal' or 'Acknowledge the different ways in which babies and children learn, and be aware that learning is a process that cannot be rushed.' We know that learning is a process that cannot be rushed but in our busy, hectic and time pressured lives do we really allow ourselves the luxury of observing in the most effective sense? How often do you force yourself to sit back and simply allow the children to just ‘be' so that you can enjoy watching them engaging with their learning environment and each other in their own unique way? Too often we have planned and prepared wonderful activities for the children to do and we genuinely want them to enjoy, learn and gain from them as much as we have put into them in terms of thought, creativity, resources, links to the curriculum etc. But we can fall into the trap of being too rushed and prescriptive in how we allow the children to engage with our activity whether it's making a card or completing an imaginary assault course through a jungle with apparatus outside. As we have preconceived ideas about the learning we want the children to gain from these focused activities, the blinkers can unwittingly come down. However if we take time to observe the children engage with resources and activities we have laid out for them, in their own special and unique ways, not only do we enjoy ourselves whilst relaxing into the important role of ‘observer' (arguably the most important aspect of our role) we can be inspired and share moments of awe and wonder as the children spark ideas off in us about further activities to promote their learning which are child initiated and therefore a more powerful learning vehicle. Allow me to illustrate exactly what I mean with an example from my most recent practice. My group were enjoying the topic of ‘Nursery Rhymes' and as part of that week's planned activities we were enjoying an afternoon full of activities surrounding the ‘Ten Green Bottles' song. We started off all together singing/acting out the song where the children took turns to unjumble themselves to make a number line from 1-10 whilst holding a green bottle each with a number written in bold black marker. I could differentiate this by handing the children their particular bottle but then I stepped back and watched as teamwork and negotiating skills helped them to find their right place in the line. Some watched, listened and observed, placing themselves in line correctly without saying a word or by being guided by the more vocal members of the group! Others argued and problem solved vocally or looked to those waiting for their turn sitting on the carpet for guidance. Following this I demonstrated the carousel of activities the children could choose from and move freely between in the afternoon. Table 1 = Mixing yellow and blue Play-Doh to make their own green bottle and scribing their preferred number from 1-10 with a tool on top. Table 2 = Mixing yellow and blue powder paints to paint their own 10 green bottles on a pre-wax crayoned wall done earlier in the week. Carpet Area = 10 real green bottles to order and sort once they had built a wall for them to stand on using wooden bricks. ICT = Number time website 10 green bottle activities and matching pairs games. Water Play (supervised by an adult) = Filling and emptying various sizes and colours of thick glass bottles and plastic ones. Sand Play = as above Table 3 = Focused activity with me. Having coloured, numbered and laminated their 10 green bottles small groups cut theirs out (with training scissors if necessary) and blue tacked to a laminated piece of A3 with their coloured red wall on. After reading, recognising and ordering their numbers 1-5 or 1-10 the children would sing the rhyme whilst acting out the ‘take away 1' part of the song by removing a blue tacked bottle from their wall...it was like their own interactive mini 10 green bottle display. Despite all of the planning and preparation in these activities there was still room for more learning through play as the children enjoyed moving from one activity to the next. I noticed a couple of boys had helped themselves to the peg board coloured counters and were filling up the 10 green bottles with them (to the top) and laughing heartily as they emptied them out! It was not an activity I had planned, they were extending their own learning possibly because what I had set them was too easy. I challenged them to fill each bottle with the correct number of coloured pegs rather than all the way to the top with hundreds and it emerged that one needed support with counting from 7 to 10 but was fine with 1-6 as he had done this repeatedly. One little girl on the Play-Doh table did not want to just make 1 large green bottle so instead used her Play-Doh to make 10 mini green bottles scraping the numbers on with a pencil. Another child had successfully navigated their way onto the CeeBeebies website and was playing a memory game from 1-20...nothing to do with ten green bottles but it reinforced and consolidated the same learning objectives I had planned for whilst also telling me volumes about her confidence and ability with ICT and number. Therefore you can see that children really are unique in the way they learn from you, their environment and each other. What they do can be as inspiring if not more so that what we provide for them sometimes. Considering children's individual interests, favoured communication and learning styles is vital when considering how each child's individual development is supported through all experiences in the setting. Card 1.2 surrounds the diversity of individuals and communities ensuring that they are valued and respected whilst no child or family is discriminated against. The front of the card explains equality and diversity in accessible terms for example highlighting potential developmental risk factors such as, ‘children from traveller communities, refugees or asylum seekers and those from diverse linguistic backgrounds'. The ‘Children's entitlements' box lists in three bullet points that children all have rights and entitlements, should be treated fairly regardless of race, religion, circumstance or ability and finally that all children should be equally valued and listened to in every setting. The final box talks about the importance of early identification of any additional needs of difficulties children may have and that if intervention is required a co-ordinated approach is paramount. The ‘Reflecting on practice' box on the back of the card is particularly good at raising thought provoking questions which help to illustrate in a comprehensible way, exactly what effective practice should look like in terms of inclusion. Inclusion is one of the main areas Ofsted will focus on in the new inspection framework together with self improvement, working in partnership, planning and assessment, the quality of leadership and management with the key question ‘What is it like for a child here?' being asked throughout. So good practice in terms of inclusion could look like a warm smile from the receptionist and staff as parents and children enter the setting, displays of staff photographs so that their roles and names are clear, a welcome board displaying the word ‘Welcome' in different languages and so on. As with all of the cards, the questions asked, ideas listed, challenges and dilemmas raised are not necessarily the only ones you will come across in your particular setting. They are useful pointers and tools to help guide thinking along the right lines and spark off other ideas but they are not meant to be exhaustive or prescriptive in any way. The ‘reflecting on practice' boxes are a crucial part of helping you to prepare for Ofsted as they help to guide in the cyclical and ongoing process of self evaluation. Card 1.3 is all about keeping safe, recognising that young children are vulnerable but at the same time that they develop resilience when their physical and psychological well-being is protected by adults. There is support for helping children to discover and for practitioners to explain boundaries, rules and limits whilst maintaining a healthy balance of reasonable risk taking. Giving children choices to help them feel in control of their play/learning and their day and there's a particularly useful pointer ‘Remember that choices sometimes include choosing not to do something, such as choosing not to join in when everybody else is moving to music!' The 'challenges and dilemmas' box raises familiar tensions ideal for consideration and discussion/debate at staff meetings so that constant reflection on what good practice looks like in your particular setting is evolving. How do you give children that valuable and precious time to think about what they want and to express their wishes rather than stepping in to help by making decisions for them? Reviewing reasons why children are allowed or not allowed to do or have some things and not other things as a staff is good to do on a regular basis especially when new staff join a setting. Too often the reason is because ‘that's the way we've always done it.' Gleaning ideas and opinions from the children to have their voice represented in the rules and regulations of the setting can be very valuable alongside practitioners' and parents' views. You can't please everyone all of the time but if they feel they have had their say and their voice has been heard it can remove barriers and build positive professional relationships. Finally Card 1.4 ‘Health and Well-being' talks about how children's health is an integral part of their emotional, mental, social, environmental and spiritual well-being. Aspects such as sleep, food, water, clothes, a safe environments, healthcare, mental stimulation, access to outdoors and loving relationships are highlighted as being important elements of a child's physical well-being. Perhaps such similarities are why animals and children have a natural affinity for one another. Children can and do learn such a lot from looking after a pet because an animal's basic needs are almost identical to their own needs thus helping to develop a sense of empathy. Belonging, needs and feelings being expressed and met in a loving, safe and warm environment are all key to children developing a strong sense of emotional well-being and having their parents involved as much as possible is paramount. There is a strong onus on how settings reach out to parents and get them involved with their children's learning and Ofsted will most definitely be looking out for this in their forthcoming inspections. Be careful not to muddle ‘informing' parents with ‘involving': there's a subtle but distinct difference. Involvement (coffee mornings, trips, talks, listening to readers, taking an activity, parents evening) goes much deeper than informing (newsletters, information board, flyers, letters home) and truly engages child, parent and practitioner in positive relationships that help promote the fullest learning potential in children because the ‘whole picture' of the child can be seen by all parties concerned with them. The ‘Unique Child' theme illustrates, perhaps better than the other three themes (Positive relationships, Enabling environments and Learning and development), how care and education have been combined with the union of the Birth to Three Matters framework, National Day-care Standards for the under eights and the Foundation Stage now under one umbrella as the Early Years Foundation Stage. Recognising, celebrating and making allowances not only for ‘A unique child' but for a unique practitioner, parent/carer and each other, because we are all ‘remarkable' (as the English dictionary states!) will stand us all in good stead to meet most of the requirements of the new Early Years Foundation Stage.
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