Babies (0-2 years)
The baby room is carpeted with anti-allergenic flotex with an adjoining area for messy play. There is a separate sleep room decorated in soft colours.
The staff to baby ratio is 1 to 3 ensuring that babies are given plenty of care and attention. The appointed key workers provide physical comfort and care to babies as well as talking, reading, singing and playing with them. We place strong emphasis on heuristic play, introducing babies to a wide range of natural materials, shapes, textures, colours, weights, sounds and scents, to stimulate and develop their senses. Babies can also choose a variety of toys that will develop their hand eye co-ordination.
Individual activities are planned and recorded as part of the 'Birth to Three' framework in partnership with parents. Daily records are kept of each baby's eating and sleeping patterns and nappy changes, key workers discuss with parents at the end of each day.
Toddlers (2-3 years)
At this stage children are becoming more independent and we promote discovery and experimentation with a carefully designed programme of fun activities. We strongly encourage communication, asking questions and initiating discussions with the children, individually and in groups. Activities include:
- Stories and poetry;
- painting, art and crafts, colouring, messy play, sand, water, dough, clay, wood, cooking;
- dressing up, role play, domestic toys and dolls;
- music, singing, dancing;
- building blocks, construction toys,
- daily outdoor activities, balancing, simple gymnastics;
- visits from members of the community such as the police and fire brigade.
Meal times are a social occasion where children and staff sit together in small groups. After lunch the toddlers settle down for an afternoon sleep.
Staff give parents detailed feedback on the toddlers day and keep 'Birth to Three' records of the child's progress, to which parents are encouraged to contribute.
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INTRODUCTION TO BIRTH TO THREE MATTERS FRAMEWORK
The purpose of the Framework is to provide support, information, guidance and challenge for all those with responsibility for the care and education of babies and children from birth to three years. The Framework:
- values and celebrates babies and children,
- recognises their individuality, efforts and achievements,
- Recognises that all children have from birth a need to develop, learning through interaction with people and exploration of the world around them. For some children, this development may be at risk because of difficulties with interaction, cognition and learning, behavioural, emotional and social development or sensory and physical development,
- recognises the 'holistic' nature of development and learning,
- acknowledges, values and supports the adults that work with babies and young children,
- provides opportunities for reflection on practice,
- Informs and develops practice whilst acknowledging that working with babies and children is a complex, no easy answers.
This Framework is intended to be used flexibly, individually and in groups. The principles that underpin the Framework come from a number of sources including representative organisations, leading child care writers, experts and practitioners. They are as follows:
- Parents and families are central to the well-being of the child.
- Relationships with other people (both adults and children) are of crucial importance in a child's life.
The Framework of effective practice
- A relationship with a key person at home and in the setting is essential to young children's well being.
- Babies and young children are social beings, they are competent learners from birth.
- Learning is a shared process and children learn most effectively when, with the support of a knowledgeable and trusted adult, they are actively involved and interested.
- Caring adults count more than resources and equipment.
- Schedules and routines must flow with the child's needs.
- Children learn when they are given appropriate responsibility, allowed to make errors, decisions and choices, and respected as autonomous and competent learners.
- Children learn by doing rather than by being told.
- Young children are vulnerable. They learn to be independent by having someone they can depend upon.
How the Framework is organised
The Framework takes as its focus the child and steers away from subjects, specific areas of experience and distinct curriculum headings. It identifies four Aspects, which celebrate the skill and competence of babies and young children and highlights the interrelationship between growth, learning, development and the environment in which they are cared for and educated.
Child Well-being
The Four Aspects and their Components
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A Strong Child
The Components which make up A Strong Child are:
- Me, Myself and I
Realisation of own individuality including:
- Growing awareness of self
- Realising s/he is separate and different from others
- Recognising personal characteristics and preferences
- Finding out what s/he can do
- Being Acknowledged and Affirmed
Experiencing and seeking closeness Including:
- Needing recognition, acceptance and comfort
- Being able to contribute to secure relationships
- Understanding that s/he can be valued and important to someone
- Exploring emotional boundaries
- Developing Self-assurance
Becoming able to trust and rely on own abilities Including:
- Gaining self assurance through a close relationship
- Becoming confident in what s/he can do
- Valuing and appreciating his/her own abilities
- Feeling self-assured and supported.
- A Sense of Belonging
Acquiring social confidence and competence Including:
- Being able to snuggle in
- Enjoying being with familiar and trusted others
- Valuing individuality and contributions of self and others
- Having a role and identity within a group
The concept of A Strong Child is one which runs throughout the Framework. We all want children to be strong, capable, confident and self-assured. The very early years are extremely important in this respect. Babies and young children need support as they begin a journey of self-discovery from a base of loving and secure relationships with parents and/or a key person. The beginnings of autonomy can be seen in the relationships which exist as babies and young children play and explore alongside a close, attentive, warm and sensitive adult.
In order to become strong, the baby needs a nurturing environment in which their key person plays an essential role. By encouraging and supporting decision-making, empathising and providing opportunities for children, the key person helps them grow emotionally, so that they are able to respond to successes and challenges, know themselves and their own capabilities.
The respect, care, love and emotional support experienced by babies and children helps them to develop emotional safety, trust and a positive self image. Being acknowledged and affirmed by important people in their lives leads children to gain confidence and inner strength. Exploration within close relationships leads to the growth of self-assurance , promoting a sense of belonging which allows the young child to explore the world from a secure base.
A Strong Child explores the ways in which both significant adults and the physical environment have an impact upon children's developing sense of themselves and their group identity, emotional worlds and their relationships with others.
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A Skilful Communicator
The four Components which make up A Skilful Communicator are:
- Being Together
Being a sociable and effective communicator Including:
- Gaining attention and making contact
- Positive relationships
- Being with others
- Encouraging conversation
- Finding a Voice
Being a confident and competent language user Including:
- The impulse to communicate
- Exploring, experimenting, labelling and expressing
- Describing, questioning, representing and predicting
- Sharing thoughts, feelings and ideas
- Listening and Responding
Listening and responding appropriately to the language of others Including:
- Listening and paying attention to what others say
- Making playful and serious responses
- Enjoying and sharing stories, songs, rhymes and games
- Learning about words and meanings
- Making Meaning
Understanding and being understood Including:
- Communicating meaning
- Influencing others
- Negotiating and making choices
- Understanding each other
To become skilful communicator's babies and children need to be together with a key person and others in warm and loving relationships. Being together leads to the wider development of social relations which include friendship, empathy, sharing emotions and experiences and becoming a competent language user. Early attempts at finding a voice are rewarded in a variety of ways, increasing confidence and encouraging children both to extend their range and increase their skills. Learning to make sense of the sounds around is not a simple task.
Babies respond differently to some sounds over others and, from an early age, are able to distinguish sound patterns. They use their voices to make contact and to let people know what they need and how they feel. In these very early years, babies and young children do not merely begin to make sense of what is going on around them and express themselves; they start to learn about 'conversation'. This requires listening and responding appropriately, understanding the importance of paying attention to sounds and language, interpreting non-verbal signals, imitating, repeating and mirroring others.
They learn the 'rules' of communication through making meaning with their key person and with other supportive adults and older children. It is in these relationships that their early attempts to converse are interpreted, responded to and valued.
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A Competent Learner
The four Components that make up A Competent Learner are:
- Making Connections
Connecting ideas and understanding the world Including:
- Making connections through the senses and movement
- Finding out about the environment and other people
- Becoming playfully engaged and involved
- Making patterns, comparing, categorising, classifying
- Being Imaginative
Responding to the world imaginatively Including:
- Imitating, mirroring, moving, imagining
- Exploring and re-enacting
- Playing imaginatively with materials using all the senses
- Pretend play with gestures and actions, feelings and relationships, ideas and words
- Being Creative
Responding to the world creatively Including:
- Exploring and discovering
- Experimenting with sound, other media and movement
- Developing competence and creativity
- Being resourceful
- Representing
Responding to the world with marks and symbols Including:
- Exploring, experimenting and playing
- Discovering that one thing can stand for another
- Creating and experimenting with one's own symbols and marks
- Recognising that others may use marks differently
Competent learners from birth, babies only a few hours old gaze at patterns which resemble the human face in preference to others. They are able to distinguish between things, and show that they like some things better than others. In this way young children learn to discriminate and make connections between different objects and experiences.
Children make increasing sense of the world as connections are made. As babies explore the world through touch, sight, sound, taste, smell and movement, their sensory and physical explorations affect the patterns that are laid down in the brain. Through repeated experience of people, objects and materials, young children begin to form mental images which lead them to imitate, explore and re-enact as they play imaginatively with materials and resources, using all the senses.
As they engage in pretend play with gestures and actions, feelings and relationships, ideas and words, they become increasingly imaginative . Children become creative through exploration and discovery as they experiment with sound, media and movement.
Creativity, imagination and representation allow children to share their thoughts, feelings, understandings and identities with others, using drawings, words, movement, music, dance and imaginative play.
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A Healthy Child
The four Components which make up A Healthy Child are:
- Emotional Well-being
Emotional stability and resilience Including :
- Being special to someone
- Being able to express feelings
- Developing healthy dependence
- Developing healthy independence
- Growing and Developing
Physical well-being Including:
- Being well nourished
- Being active, rested and protected
- Gaining control of the body
- Acquiring physical skills
- Keeping Safe
Being safe and protected Including:
- Discovering boundaries and limits
- Learning about rules
- Knowing when and how to ask for help
- Learning when to say no and anticipating when others will do so
- Healthy Choices
Being able to make choices Including:
- Discovering and learning about his/her body
- Demonstrating individual preferences
- Making decisions
- Becoming aware of others and their needs
Being healthy means much more than having nutritious food and being free from illness. For babies and young children, being special to someone and cared for is vital for their physical, social and emotional health and well-being.
Health and social well-being underpin and determine children's responses to their environment, to people and to new experiences. Emotional well-being includes relationships, which are close, warm and supportive; being able to express feelings such as joy, sadness, frustration and fear, leading to the development of strategies to cope with new, challenging or stressful situations. Meeting children's physical needs is fundamental to their well-being .
Growing and developing children who are physically well will have the energy and enthusiasm to benefit from the range of activities on offer to them. Equally, children who are hungry, tired or uncomfortable will not enjoy the company of adults and other children, nor will they benefit fully if choice of activities is limited or provision inappropriate to their needs.
Knowing when to ask for help, being protected and keeping safe with adult support, ensures that babies and young children quickly become skilful in a range of movements involving both large and fine motor control. In time, they
make healthy choices as they learn about their bodies and what they can do.
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