Early Years for Children in Care

1. Early Years for Children in Care Delivered by Liz Norton EYFS Strategy Manager and Diane Rideout EYFS Quadrant Team Leader

2. Starting Out Right: early education and looked after children • High quality early education makes a difference to children’s outcomes throughout their time at school and beyond. • This study revealed a consensus that looked after children need ‘the same as other children, but more so’ from their early education provider. This means that many general aspects of good practice, particularly around child-centred education and adequate levels of staffing, are important for this group. • It recognised that they have greater needs in a number of areas. These include intensive personal, social and emotional support as well as additional time and attention for their individual needs, which may be challenging or difficult to manage. It was also recognised that LAC may have specific learning or health needs … and may need extra support to engage them in learning.

3. Packing a suitcase

5. Early Childhood Experiences • When babies and young children get the nutrition, nurture and care that they need in their early years, their brains and bodies grow and develop well. • These children quickly learn that the world they have been born into and the people in their world are safe. • This sense of safety allows them to grow, develop, and learn and to attach to and trust in others. • When things do not go well for babies and young children and they don’t get the things that they need in their early years, their brains and bodies are flooded with trauma, fear and stress hormones, which significantly affect their growth and development. • These children have a sense of danger and fear, which can hinder all areas of the children’s development. It impacts negatively on the children’s capacity to grow and learn, as well as hindering their attachment to and trust in others.

6. The role of the adult in Supporting Children in Care • Plan for effective Transitions. • Be sensitive to Child’s needs. • Understand Child’s stage of development. • Identify any barriers to learning or gaps in development. • Plan interventions that will accelerate child’s learning. • Plan learning environment that meets the needs of all children, including Child in Care. • Ensure there are clear rules and routines. • Ensure consistent responses. • Ensure feedback is positive and highlights what has been achieved and how to improve.

7. ‘Playful Teaching’ • Practitioners should:- • Provide enough time for children to develop their ideas. • Engage in activities alongside the children. • Model appropriate language. • Ask open-ended questions. • Be flexible when children follow their own agenda.

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9. A rich learning environment The learning environment needs to be planned and organised to : • reflect all 7 areas of learning • Support children’s interests • Challenge children to investigate, enquire, explore and be curious • Attract and motivate children to participate • Ensure resources are accessible • Ensure children are fully involved in caring for the environment and resources and contribute to the organisation of it • Include a wide range of supportive displays including interactive displays for children to explore.

10. Playful adult-planned activities e.g. teddy bear’s picnic for numeracy skills Children working hard at their play, deeply involved, with effort, energy and purposeful intentions Short planned activities e.g. listening group Children choosing work-like activities e.g. cooking Children in flexible, free-flow play for its own sake Children and adults working together to create props and resources for play

11. Planning for the Child in Care • Identify particular gaps in learning, areas of difficulty and possible reasons for lack of progress. • Identify Interventions/Actions to address lack of progress. • Involve foster carers in decisions about Intervention. • Ensure Intervention is time-limited with clear intended outcomes and regular monitoring to check impact on pupil progress. • Ensure liaison between class teacher and adults delivering additional support • Remember the age and stage of the child • .

12. Planning for the Child in Care

13. Personal Education Plans (PEP1) What makes a good PEP for a child in Early Years? • PEP gives a clear insight into the child’s educational development and needs. • Transitions are planned and documented to support the child’s developmental needs. • If the child’s development raises concerns there is clear evidence that appropriate actions/ interventions are in place that clearly focus on accelerating child’s learning. • Children’s development is in line with Development Matters or their development has accelerated. • Identified actions/ interventions match learning needs. • The child’s voice is recorded and there is evidence that it is fully acted upon through next steps and adult actions. • All aspects of the PEP are completed in detail. • Pupil Premium/ Early Years Pupil Premium is evidenced and shows measurable impact on development.

14. Ofsted - Early Years • Teaching in the early years should not be taken to imply a ‘top down’ or formal way of working. It is a broad term that covers the many different ways in which adults help young children learn. It includes their interactions with children during planned and child-initiated play and activities: communicating and modelling language, showing, explaining, demonstrating, exploring ideas, encouraging, questioning, recalling, and providing a narrative for what they are doing, facilitating and setting challenges. It takes account of the equipment adults provide and the attention given to the physical environment, as well as the structure and routines of the day that establish expectations. Integral to teaching is how practitioners assess what children know, understand and can do, as well as taking account of their interests and dispositions to learn (characteristics of effective learning), and how practitioners use this information to plan children’s next steps in learning and monitor their progress.

16. “Lucky children often have access to varied experiences that are accompanied by adult involvement. They may have been taken to a museum or art gallery or have fed the ducks in a park.” Penny Tassoni Reducing Educational Disadvantage: A Strategic approach in the Early Years

17. What could you do to support a child in care in your school to be a “lucky” child?