INTRODUCTION
This reflective journal will aim to critically evaluate the effectiveness of establishing a planned change within the Nursery environment and show the impact this has on the staff, parent and child.
The author of this reflective log is currently working as a Senior Early Years Practitioner (S.E.Y.P) within the Maintained nursery school. Through this role the author is also a member of the senior management team, which consists of the teacher and head teacher. It is through this management role that the author finds the importance of open communication with the team and other members of staff imperative when instigating and reflecting on new governmental proposals and guidelines laid down by both the governors and the head teacher. Daly, Byers and Taylor (2009) discuss how through consultation, support and guidance is given to the staff, helping to support the role of the individual. However O’Neill (2003) warns of how the impact is determinable only by the individuals’ commitment to the process.
THE EARLY YEARS SETTING
The nursery shares a site with both a children’s centre and primary school. ‘Inclusive’ fulltime provision is provided for sixty, three to four year olds, 23% of which have special educational needs. Tassoni (2003) defines inclusion as the importance of automatically providing for the need of the individual.
The nursery cohort was found to be predominantly white with only 5% with English additional language. The nursery serves an area with high numbers of unemployed or low wage/unskilled families (BBC,2010) and high levels of socio-economic deprivation (SED). At 48%, the nursery had a higher than national average of children on free school meals (DFE,2011.
Furthermore it was found that 61% of...
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...was inconsolable and sobbed. He hadn't had any tea the night before – only a pack of crisps. Instances like this show the level of need." By Amelia Gentleman.
Reflection
On reflection the author found that although the change needed to be made was to impact greatly on the morning routine, with careful planning and strategies to promote clear communication throughout, negativity was kept to a minimum.
Shcens three stages of change could be found throughout the process resulting in the restructure of the day due to the successful introduction of the breakfast club which through refreezing is now an embedded part of the school day. However though a small amount of negativity was met, it was found through concise communication and empathy towards all concerned, in addition to clear leadership by example, many obstacle were overcome resulting in a positive outcome.
Upon reflection of Module QF5000 I have improved my ability to work collaboratively, acknowledged my own management style, made changes to both my own practice and my setting and contributed to the continuous professional development of my colleagues. I have learnt that my strengths are organisation and leadership and that public speaking is an area I would like to improve upon. My ability to reflect has facilitated change that will ultimately improve my practice as an Early Years Practitioner.
The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) was implemented in England in 2008 and applies to all children aged 0-5. This new curriculum combined existing government ideas regarding the care of under 5s including the 'Every Child Matters' (ECM) policy: children's services have to respond to 5 outcomes for all children from birth to 18: being healthy, being protected from harm and neglect, being enabled to enjoy and achieve, making a positive contribution to society, and contributing to economic well-being. The statutory EYFS document stated a need for a 'coherent and flexible approach to care and learning' (DfES - Department for Education and Skills 2007; cited in Palaiologou, 2010, p.11 ), and ensures a quality experience for children regardless of the pre-school setting. EYFS and its direct predecessors were introduced based on the realisation that quality of teaching and management of schools play a central role in children's quality of learning, not socio-economic and educational background, as was previously thought. Pre-school education was seen as a method of helping children 'break the cycle of deprivation' (Baldock, 2009, p.20). However, research by Potter immediately prior to the inception of the EYFS concluded that due to 'insufficiently rigorous conceptual underpinnings, particularly in the area of language and communicatio...
In this reflective analysis of NAEYC Standard three, Observing, Documenting, and Assessing to Support Young Children and Families, I will first reflect on my growth, as an early childhood professional, during my course of study. Secondly, I will address my strengths related to the standard and discuss areas in need of further professional development. Finally, I will outline my goals for future growth and development. Early childhood educators demonstrate professional competence by understanding the role of assessment and the various methods of assessing student learning, including observation, documentation and standardized testing. These assessment strategies, along with partnerships with parents, can support students in their development and growth, by informing instruction and evaluating instructional practices.
Robins, A. and Callan, S. (2010). Managing Early Years Settings: Supporting and Learning Teams. London: Sage.
When selecting childcare for your child the foundation of early learning has offered some tips that they believe will be helpful in the process. The foundation says that parents have always known that good early experience was important for their child. Now scientist and researchers are confirming how critical these first years of life are to your child’s healthy development (Selecting child care, 2002). Because the brain matures in the world rather than in the womb, the brain growth and development of infants and young children is deeply affected by their earliest experiences. In a childcare environment the relationship your child has with the caregiver will also affect how that child feels about himself and the world around him and as he grows up (Selecting child care, 2002). I ...
In a firm, management and leadership are important and needed. Leadership and management are similar. Actually, leadership and management are totally different. The leadership would influence the firm. The leader would have difference leadership styles to lead the subordinate.
The goal of having an inclusive child care setting is that it will succeed, helping each child to grow in every way possible. General Child care settings and inclusive ones are not too different. In order for a child care program to succeed, it must have certain components in it. I consider the staff to be the most important element they are the once that make the big differences. It is their demeanor that set the stage for inclusion. If the staff consist of people that are passionate about making inclusion work they will be positive to the settings that they are in and look at everyone with a smile, they will be willing to fit the needs of each individual child. It is not a one size fit all when working with children with disabilities we as staff must be creative in finding things that work with each child. In this setting being a team
...lighted this feature because I value respect and feel that a very important aspect of working with children is engaging their families which invites opportunity for respect to be demonstrated. Dietze & Kashin (2012) explain the importance of engaging families when they state “Including the input of others is essential in a reflective practice and families have a right to be included” (p.411). In one of my placements I saw the positive impact that including a parent had on a young boy when his mother came in to read a story to the. The boy’s self-esteem seemed to increase and could be seen in the way that he beamed the whole time she was there. This experience highlighted to me the importance of family involvement in an early childhood program. These three highlighted statements all reflect values that are important to me and which are important parts of my practice.
Presently many of us have learned that managers are primarily administrators who have learned to write business plans, utilize their resources and keep track of progress. We must learn that we are not limited by job title, and that means we can utilize our management skills in any position that we are in. We must also know that we can use our leadership skills in the same situations. On the other hand we have also learned that leaders are people who have an impact on those that surround them. The main difference that separates these two roles is that management is a function that must be utilized in any type of business, and leadership is the relationship that the leader has with his followers, which in turn can motivate and energize the organization.
but instead the nursery becomes a more important and prominent role in the kids’ lives than their
Demonstrate a strong understanding of current Australian early childhood education and care reform agenda in Australia since 2007. The Australian ECE and care reform agenda was initiated, in 2007, due to a concern for the wellbeing and increasingly poor outcomes for children in several key areas. Evidence confirmed the importance and impact of a child’s health, well-being, development and learning in the early years, therefore the need for an NQF and NQS was initiated. The impact of social change over recent decades has shown families struggling to function and aid in their child’s development.
Inclusion is the main issue within the inclusive learning environment, if a child doesn’t feel included within their environment then their learning will be effected by this. The Oxford English Dictionary defines inclusion as “the action or state of including or of being included within a group or structure” (Oxford English Dictionary 2011: Inclusion) This means that every child should feel involved and included, no matter of there different learning abilities or levels. This can mean children who have special educational needs, such as dyslexia, physical disability or metal disability. Inclusion should provide opportunities for all children, no matter of their age, race, gender, disability, religion, ability or their background, to be involved within their learning environment. Each child should feel like they belong and feel like they are...
Observation is important as the practitioner can find out what the child is interested in and what motivates them to learn alongside their progress and how they behave in certain situations, additionally at the same time it identifies if children need assistance within certain areas of learning or socially (DCSF, 2008). Furthermore the observations check that the child is safe, contented, healthy and developing normally within the classroom or early years setting, over time the observations can be given to parents as they show a record of progress which helps to settle the parent and feel more comfortable about their child’s education. Observations are not only constructive within learning about an individual child, they can be used to see how different groups of children behave in the same situation and how adults communicate and deal with children’s behaviour (Meggitt and Walker, 2004). Overall observations should always look at the positives of what children can complete within education and not look at the negatives and all observations should become a fundamental part of all practitioners work alongside reflection (Smidt, 2009).
Inclusion has become increasingly important in education in recent years, with the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act being passed in 2004 to ensure equality in our system. In summary, inclusion is the idea of there being no child...
There are many documented theories about early childhood development, contemporary research still concurs with some of these theories. It suggests, however, that we should be thinking more holistically, taking into consideration; respect for diversity, the wider community and equity, play based curriculums, intentional teaching and ongoing reflective practices when planning for optimal educational experiences for children (Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, 2009). I acknowledge that ongoing professional learning and reflective practices are a key element of the Early Years Learning Framework (DEEWR, 2009). I accredit working and collaborating with other teachers, families and local communities collectively contribute