High-quality early years provision does not operate in a vacuum, and the way in which practitioners plan, implement and monitor curriculum frameworks is crucial.
This aspect of practice, along with the ways early years practitioners work in partnership with parents and carers and other agencies, is covered in the early years mandatory unit 1 of the new Level 3 Diploma for the Children and Young People's Workforce - (EYMP1) Context and principles for early years provision.
This unit is fundamental to a practitioner's ability to work effectively, as it puts their setting's ethos and approach in context. It introduces learners to the different approaches adopted by settings such as Reggio Emilia, High/Scope, Montessori and Steiner, and shows how these have influenced early years provision across the UK.
Younger recruits to the early years sector can find dealing with parents daunting. This unit helps them to develop both the confidence and strategies to cope, especially with people who are reluctant to participate or even worse.
It requires them to understand the barriers and challenges that prevent some parents and carers from becoming involved in partnership working with the setting, and explain various ways that these can be overcome. It develops the theme further by requiring the learners to explain strategies to support carers who may react positively or negatively to partnership opportunities.
It also introduces learners to multi-agency working, which again can be challenging for new practitioners who are still finding their feet and are unsure of the roles and responsibilities of other professionals and how they can work together.
Maria Culshaw from the Lister Steps community nursery in Liverpool, who is taking the diploma, says she finds the unit very informative. 'I found this unit really interesting, and of course, we will have to see how the guidelines for the EYFS change.
'On partnership working, I found it amazing to see how big the multi-agency group is. It was enlightening to see how many professionals are out there to help children on a day-to-day basis - even children without specific difficulties.
'We have a sensory room. Two of the staff went on special training and shared what they had learned, and we had someone in to advise us on what we needed, which was invaluable.'
Mrs Culshaw welcomed the opportunity to access other people's advice to enhance her ideas. 'All the children enjoy and benefit from using the sensory room,' she says. It is a lovely calm area. It is really useful to be able to go in there with a small group or have a one-to-one with a child without any intrusion.'
Lister Steps manager Judy Worrall particularly likes the way the unit gives learners a good grounding in multi-agency working. 'We were part of the pilot for two-year-olds and the children came from families where there was a real need. So we worked closely with the local Sure Start. We had some very young parents who needed a bit of help with parenting styles.
'This unit introduces the Common Assessment Framework, which is fairly foreign to parents and pretty new to practitioners. We work closely with health visitors and the child protection team. Everyone is working together to focus on the child.
'Maria has been on placement in our play group which meets in the middle of the day. We relaunched it in response to parents' needs. For them, it fits in with end of the school day and helps the children start getting ready for school. It is aimed at meeting children's social needs.
'Maria is a key worker for a child and would be involved in these multi-agency meetings. She is the one who knows the child better than the others, as she is the one who does the assessments and observations.'
UNIT REQUIRES RESEARCH
As with every other unit in the qualification, EYMP 1 poses several challenges for new practitioners and a key one is the requirement to provide environments to support and extend children's learning. The learner has to prepare an area within the setting and explain how the environment meets the needs of individual children. This will involve some careful thought on the part of the learner about how they would set up an area in response to their observations and assessments of individual children, rather than just going along with the status quo.
Mrs Culshaw says, 'The unit looks at the environment you provide, and this is something we have been putting into practice. We gained a grant and have developed the outdoor area with input from the children. Our approach is very much child-led.
'We have now achieved free flow from indoors to outside and we have created the space in the way the children wanted. It is all very natural. We acquired some logs they can sit on or climb on and there are some smaller ones they can roll so they can look underneath and explore and investigate. We have spades and tools available, but often the children like to use twigs to poke about and dig. It is all about exploring and investigating.'
As part of their studies for this unit, learners will also need to think about how the Early Years Foundation Stage framework is implemented in their setting and about how the six key areas are being met at their setting:
1. Meeting the diverse needs of children
2. Partnership working
3. Flexible provision
4. Play
5. Quality improvement
6. Transition, continuity and coherence.
Mrs Worrall says the new qualification tests learners. 'I think it gives them a more thorough grounding and I prefer it, as it goes into things in more depth. It involves more work and interaction with colleagues for the learner. We had trainees under the Train to Gain programme who did not have tutorials or one-to-one time.'
She adds, 'This qualification is a step back in the right direction. I have noticed how the trainees are now always coming in to the office and asking questions. They are asking about the policies and procedures and doing a lot of research for their assignments. Previously the trainees were just required to answer a couple of quick questions. They now have to do the work, experience it and research the questions for their assignments.'
TOP TIPS
Gill Mason, enterprise director for Vauxhall Neighbourhood Council, specialising in training and education for the Children's Workforce, recommends:
- Explore different approaches to early years practice that have had influence on your setting. If you are unfamiliar with an approach - say, Montessori or Steiner - see if you can arrange to visit a local setting, rated outstanding by Ofsted, using that approach so you can see how it is put into practice.
- Understand the purpose and principles of early years frameworks, and make sure you keep abreast of the changes that are coming in.
- Explore how to implement early years frameworks.
- Make sure your child development knowledge is up-to-date.
- Understand effective partnership with carers in early years settings, communicate regularly with parents about their child's needs and ask for and listen to feedback.
- Build up your contacts with other agencies.
LEARNING OUTCOMES OF EYMP1 CONTEXT AND PRINCIPLES OF EARLY YEARS PROVISION
- Understand the purposes and principles of early years frameworks
- Be able to provide environments within the work setting that support and extend children's development and learning in their early years
- Understand how to work in partnership with carers
Part 6, in Nursery World 9 June, will look at core unit 'Understand how to support positive outcomes for children and young people'
