The Early Years Foundation Stage structure actually establishes standards for the care, development, and learning of young children aged from the birth to five years old. It is a requirement that all schools and the Ofsted-registered Early Years givers should follow the Early Years Foundation Stage framework. Generally, the procedures and policies of the Early Years Foundation Stage framework are incorporated in institutions, such as nurseries, pre-schools, maintained & non-maintained schools, childminders, and school reception classes. Consequently, the Early Years Foundation Stage structure encourages an incorporated strategy to the early learning, development, and care. This means that it offers educational standards that cater for the needs of all the distinct Early Years’ children within the institutions. Moreover, the Early Years Foundation Stage structure provides all the practitioners with a collection of similar principles and obligations in order to offer early education and childcare events to all the young kids.
The Early Years Foundation structure is highly effective because it establishes a culture of collaboration and cooperation among the individuals required to enhance education to the young children. The Early Years Foundation Stage structure not only offers working procedures and policies for practitioners, but also provides confidence among the parents that quality education will be offered to their children regardless of school. As stated earlier, the Early Years Foundation Stage structure ensures that similar statutory obligations and principles are incorporated in the child’s learning and development events. It is also significant to realize that the government’s Childcare Act has been currently updated as of 1 September 2014 (Moyles 2007).
Generally, the Early Years Foundation Stage structure focuses on offering stability and quality in all Early Years’ areas. The child’s early years is a highly critical stage and requires quality learning and consistency. Still, the structure focuses on offering a secure background for all kids in order to acquire effective progress through life and school. Education in the early years is quite crucial because it establishes a form of stable structure, especially mentally, which is helpful in the future levels of education. This means that quality education in the early years establishes a firm foundation for the later years of education (Millam, 2011). Still, Early Years Foundation Stage structure is at offering effective collaborations amid distinct practitioners. Subsequently, collaborations and cooperation amid practitioners is highly effective in quality provision. Commonly, they share information and experiences that aid them in catering for the early years children. The Early Years Foundation Stage framework also focuses on establishing collaborations amid the practitioners and parents or caregivers. Cooperation between professionals and parents is highly effective because both parties have information and experiences with these children. Parents are well acquainted with the behaviour of their children, thus they should share with practitioners in order to provide quality provision. On the other hand, the practitioners learn certain behaviour from the children, and they could also share with the parents.
Basically, the major aim of this collaboration and cooperation is quality provision. Furthermore, the Early Years Foundation Stage structure also focuses on the equality of chances for all the children in the early years. Children have a right to acquire education from their early age. Therefore, the framework was developed in order to standardize quality education offered to children in the Early Years Foundation Stage. Early Years Foundation Stage structure focuses on minimizing lumbers, such as irrelevant guideline and paperwork, in order to provide sufficient time for the practitioners to support and concentrate on children. Actually, it is required that the Early Years’ givers should accomplish the Early Years Foundation Stage profile for every kid in the ultimate term of the year, in which he/she becomes 5. Subsequently, the major reason is to offer a precise evaluation of each child at the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage (Nurse 2009).
The Early Years Foundation framework ensures effective practice in quality provision. This means that the framework emphasizes on the fact that all the children should acquire optimum assistance from their parents in the Early Years Foundation Stage. Apparently, effective practice in the Early Years Foundation Stage is commonly achieved through the collaboration of adults in order to offer support in the children’s learning, play, and development. It is important to recognize that the Early Years Foundation structure performs through particular themes and principles in order to provide stable and effective experiences to the children outside their homes. The themes involved in the Early Years Foundation Stage structure include unique child, positive relationships, enabling environments, and learning & development. As stated earlier, the collaboration of parents and practitioners is actually effective in the quality provision. It can be considered as the most significant technique because their contribution makes an enormous difference to the kids’ development and learning. A unique child is one of the themes in the Early Years Foundation Stage structure. It actually focuses on the child as the most important element in the entire Early Years education structure.
Basically, each child in the education system is unique, and is steadily learning with great resilience, confidence, capability, and self-assurance (Beckley, Elvidge, and Hendry 2009). It is important for the practitioners to observe and comprehend every kid’s development and learning in order to evaluate its progress. Actually, evaluation of every child’s learning and development enables practitioners to plan for other steps. It is highly significant since learning becomes efficient and orderly in a manner that is comprehensible for a child. Moreover, the practitioners are expected to enable children and infants to establish a positive logic of their culture and distinctiveness. As stated earlier, each child is unique and has his/her own identity. The professional should support the child in understanding his/her identity in order to enhance on the use of potential and talent. Still, the child should have an opportunity to learn about his/her background or culture in order to enhance the understanding of his/her identity. It is also significant for the practitioner to realize if there is requirement for additional support. Commonly, the additional support could come from parents or other practitioners. Basically, parents understand their children very well, thus they would offer sufficient information regarding them. Therefore, the cooperation of parents and other practitioners is highly effective for quality provision. Moreover, the practitioners can get extra information from other practitioners that would help in handling the child.
The practitioners or caregivers have an obligation to enlighten the child on the significance of equally valuing and respecting other children and their families (Louis 2009). This promotes harmony among the children, thus boosting their learning and development. Furthermore, it is very important for children in the Early Years Foundation to experience safety during their learning. Security ensures a calm environment that makes the children assimilate learning and development in an effective manner. The learning environment, such as classes and playing fields of these children should be highly secure in order to offer effective learning and development. The children at the Early Years Foundation Stage are highly active and like playing around. It should be ensured that the leaning and playing environments of these children are safe to avoid physical injuries that would interfere with their development (Basford, 2008).
Still, positive relationships contribute to the effectiveness of the Early Years Foundation Stage framework. Basically, children at the early years require highly effective emotional development. Actually, positive relationships within the children’s environment enable them to build strength and independence. Importantly, positive relationships are warm and caring, and actually they establish a sense of belonging. Through positive relationships, children are able to relate effectively with the people around them. This means that a child at this young stage is able to identify with the family members or those in his/her environment calmly and rationally. The child actually learns how to relate warmly with family members or people around. Warm relationships, especially between parents or other family members, enhance responsiveness and sensitivity to the requirements, interests, and feelings of the child. For instance, parents that are able to relate and coordinate effectively are able to attend to the needs and interests of the child. All children require attention and care from the people around them, especially those providing care to them. During the learning and development process, these children make efforts to acquire information and skills required. They need motivation in order to continue enhancing on their acquisition. Basically, this means that positive relationships should illustrate support of their efforts, strength, and independence from the people around them, especially their parents. For instance, parents can portray their support by monitoring their children’s homework or learning activities at home (Dubiel 2014).
Still, the practitioners can illustrate their support by helping children in difficult situations, correcting them when they fail, and applauding them when they pass. This form of support enhances a sense of worthiness within the child. Subsequently, families that are united provide a good environment for learning and development of a child at the Early Years Foundation Stage. Emotional needs are actually extremely crucial for positive development of children, especially in the transition years and future life. Warm relationships, especially in the family setting, enable the members to support strength, independence, and efforts of a child. Still, it is significant to develop stable, effective, and clear boundaries. Children at this early age require establishment of an effective structure that will stabilize their form of socialization. The child is able to understand and differentiate right and wrong actions, and consequences involved in all actions. Furthermore, positive relationships establish attachments, which are the emotional connections created between these children, caregivers, and parents. These positive relations are also built on the concept of a key individual relationship. This means that a child should have a very caring individual who is close to him/her. A child requires having a key individual that he/she trusts adequately in order to provide an effective avenue of communication and confidence. This means that the child should have someone to share his/her interests and needs. This commonly functions effectively if the child is offered care outside of home. Moreover, a key individual, such as a childminder, offers a reassuring connection with home in order that the child can deal being separated from special individuals, such as his/her parents. Basically, these attachments are very significant emotional bonds that have great contribution to the learning and development of the child. Clearly, effective learning and development based on positive relationships initiates relationships of the key people in his/her life. Positive relationships are expected to begin within a home setting (Curtis & O'Hagan 2009).
Still, enabling environments is also one of the themes in the Early Years Foundation Stage structure. Consequently, young children in the early years develop, play, and learn effectively in enabling environments. These enabling environments are perceived to be those that their events respond to the children’s personal needs, and a steady collaboration amid parents and practitioners. Initially, it is significant to realize that enabling environments appreciate all the people involved in the learning process. These environments actually provide motivating resources, which are sensible to all the children despite their backgrounds and cultures. The enabling environments also offer loaded learning chances via playful teaching and play (Duffy 2006). The practitioners are expected to be very creative in planning playful learning activities that suite children’s mental capabilities. Still, these playful learning activities should be effective in acquiring developmental and learning goals. Furthermore, these children at the Early Years Foundation Stage learn more through exploration and taking risks. During the play activities children learn a lot through performing tasks on their own. Intrinsically, they are obliged to try new diverse things in order to broaden their fascination. Practitioners and caregivers should ensure that the learning environment of these children is secure. Learning and development is the last theme in the Early Years Foundation Stage structure, and it illustrates that children learn and develop in distinct ways. It also shows that the structure encapsulates learning and care of all children, including those that have special educational requirements and disabilities. Basically, professionals offer learning to children through challenging playful chances across the major and particular areas of learning and development. The learning and development activities in this framework foster active learning. Mostly, this involves the mode of individual learning for the children, and they perform these learning and play activities on their own. They experience numerous activities during the play, and they are exposed to more exploration on their own. During these learning and play activities, children are able to develop creative and critical thinking, which is very crucial for their mental development. The learning and development of children keeps improving, and it is revealed through their activities, such as reaching out for things, standing, and labelling. The major areas in learning and development are inclusive of communication and language, physical development, social, personal and emotional development. The particular areas involve mathematics, literacy, expressive arts, and design (Palaiologou 2013).
Generally, the Early Years Foundation Stage structure is inclusive, and it illustrates an equal value and respect for different people in the society. The framework emphasizes on the equal involvement and treatment of all children regardless of their religion, races, and capabilities in accessing learning opportunities. Early years education is very crucial and it is offered at a very critical stage of human development, therefore children in difficult environment conditions should acquire special attention to ensure quality provision. There are many difficult circumstances that actually affect the development and learning of children in the society, such as poverty, malnutrition, diseases, and wars (Sheppy 2008). The Early Years Foundation Stage structure focuses on ensuring a stable and healthy development mode to all children at a delicate stage so as to mould people that can contribute positively to the society.