K2D59 – Ways in which the physical environment in which you work meets the children’s physical, social, emotional, language and intellectual needs and takes into account their different genders, cultures and ethnicity, needs and abilities.

How to create a setting that supports children?

Write a brief description of how you achieve the following within your setting.

Divide the setting into areas so that children can experience a variety of activities.

• 1. Messy area which includes painting table, water play, Gluing, sticking, modelling and play dough table.
  2. Reading area.
  3. ICT area.
  4. Home corner.
  5. Puzzle and game table/snack table.
  6. Drawing and cutting table.
  7. Group area for story time, show and tell, singing etc.
  8. Kitchen area.
  9. Loft.

• Provide space between the activities for children and adults to move freely.

• 1. All areas within the setting have adequate space between for access.

• Carefully place activities to promote development.

• 1. Home corner area, promotes communication, negotiation, sharing and socialising skills.
  2. Messy area develops hand to eye co-ordination, fine motor skills, mathematics in water play, creative, communication and personal and social development.
  3. Reading area develops communication, literacy, concentrating and listening skills.
  4. ICT area promotes language and literacy skills, mathematics, fine motor skills in dragging and clicking the mouse, sharing, socialising skills, concentrating and listening to instructions.
  5. Loft area helps develop physical skills.

• Ensure access areas are clear.

• 1. All equipment is safely stored in correct cupboards etc.
  2. All chairs are pushed under tables or stacked away.
  3. All children help to tidy away toys in correct storage boxes or cupboards at ‘tidy up time’.
  4. All fire exits are clear.

• Encourage independence.

• 1. All children are encouraged to hang their own coats up and to try and put their coats on by themselves.
  2. All children are encouraged to go to the toilet and wash their hands by themselves.
  3. Outside area to explore new physical skills such as climbing, riding a bike etc.

• Ensure surfaces are safe and washable.

• 1. All snack tables have wipe down table cloths.
  2. Messy area has mop for any spillages.
  3. Separate mop for cleaning toilet area.

• Celebrate diversity.

• 1. Celebrate different themes such as Easter, Christmas, diwali and hindu festivals, Chinese new year and may day etc.
  2. Planning activities, books and crafts.
  3. Children’s show and tell group times.

• Ensure areas for display are visible and accessible to all the children.

1. Displays of children’s finished work within nursery and main school’s corridors.
2. Toys set up and arranged or planned activity such as painting, all equipment out ready for use.

• Provide opportunities for a link between home and the setting i.e. a home corner.

1. Home corner which includes ovens, kitchen equipment, washing machine, food, tea set and table, ironing board and clothes, baby dolls and cot etc.
2. Kitchen area to make and try different foods (normally to take home after session).
3. Rugs and soft chairs.
4. Dressing up clothes.

• Ensure the outdoor environment is an extension of the indoors, i.e. painting, stories, etc, can be conducted outside.

1. Large sand pit.
2. Water play area.
3. Toys include cars and garages, construction toys such as lego, mobilo etc.
4. Chalks for chalking on the concrete.
5. Dressing up clothes such as helmets, doctors kit etc.
6. Painting area.

• Ensure outdoor surfaces are safe and varied.

1. Risk assessments in place including children to adult ratio.
2. Regular safety checks.
3. Appropriate age related equipment and toys.
4. Soft padded area for boisterous play.
5. Sheltered area for different weather conditions.

• Provide safe paths for bikes, etc, as well as visible areas for children to play quietly.

1. Safe paths for bikes and designated area for cycling.
2. Sand pit area.
3. Carpet area for construction toys etc.
4. Wendy house.
5. Designated area for climbing.
6. Area for water play.
7. Garden area for digging and planting.

Accessible: all children, regardless of any special needs, can use the environment.  This means that a disability or special need does not prevent them from benefiting.

K2D68 – The way children’s needs change as they develop and how to make the environment appropriate to the ages and stages of development of the children.

How to make the environment appropriate to the ages and stages of children’s development?

Consider the different types of equipment, activities and how the environment needs to be adapted as children grow.

Seasonal Display within Reception class:-

Using a display board and table I directed several small groups of children in making a new ‘summer’ display within the reception area.

I encouraged the first group to use their imagination to draw a summer time picture using pens and chalk.  I asked the children to think about summer time and what it means to them and to think of objects they could draw to represent summer. I then mounted all finished work and attached it to the display board.

Working with the second group of children using coloured card and pens, the children made flowers and a sun which they labelled and cut out. Finished work was also mounted onto the display board.

Finishing off the display with the third and last group of children, the children drew different insects, ladybirds, butterflies, bees and caterpillars using coloured pens and crayons and carefully cutting out their finished work.   The children also labelled the different insects and helped me decide where to mount them on the display board.

The whole display was finished off by adding a bucket and spade, shells and pebbles, model snail, worm and bee, clay strawberries which the children had made previously and some factual books.

K2D72 – How to display objects in a stimulating and interesting way for children.

K2D74 – How the values and principles of the sector can be reflected in the environment.

How we display within your setting?

• On Display boards in the main corridors of the school.
• Photographs.
• Display tables in the main corridors of the school.
• On the classroom’s walls.
• Themed displays of projects/topics.
• On a washing line across the classrooms.

How do you make the displays interesting and stimulating within your setting?

• Mounting work on brightly coloured paper.
• Naming and labelling work either with bold print or children’s own hand writing.
• Making the display bold using varied textures.
• Using brightly coloured backing paper on wall mounts.
• Using themed work together in the display.
• Using different mediums such as fabric, play dough, cardboard models and everyday items as props.
• Ensure all displays are neat.
• Use stencils and have bold headings.
• Laminate finished work.
• Use visual displays.

Dietary needs/allergies:-

• Ensure that the school has considered the needs of food-allergic children and has developed appropriate procedures.
• Ensure that affected children are not unknowingly exposed to food allergens like nuts and seeds during schools hours.
• The school must extend these procedures to breakfast and after school clubs and any trips organised by the school.
• The school must consider the needs of food-allergic children when teaching the Food Technology.
• Ensure the school has close contact with parents to understand what could trigger the allergic reaction, severity of reaction, daily management and emergencies procedures ensuring that you have accurate records.
• Ensure that all fully trained members of staff are aware of where the child’s medication is kept in case of emergencies.
• Ensure all members of staff are aware of the food groups that can cause allergic reactions such as Wheat, Rye, Barley, crabs, Prawn, lobster, Fish, Peanuts, eggs, milk, tree nuts, strawberries and kiwi fruit etc.
• All staff must be confident in having the knowledge and skills to care for food-allergic children.
• The school must have adequate insurance.

The school must also take into account special dietary needs of children from different cultures, religions, backgrounds or illness that required certain food types.

• Working closely with parents and having accurate records.
• The school must consider the needs of children with special dietary requirements when teaching Food Technology.

All members of staff should be aware and fully trained of dietary needs especially of those children with illnesses such as diabetes, celiac, lactose intolerant etc.

Aspects of children’s development

K2D43 - The Importance Of Play

Why is the role of play important in development?

• Improves language and communication skills extending vocabulary.
• Produces outcomes such as sharing, taking turns and cooperation.
• Improves hand to eye co-ordination.
• Improves eye to foot co-ordination in physical play.
• Develops self confidence and self esteem.
• Reinforces early reading skills.
• Develops interaction and socialising skills.
• Learning through new experiences.
• Extends creative and imaginative development.
• Children become more independent.

What types of play do you provide for the children in your setting?

• Role play (home corner).
• Dressing up.
• Cooking.
• Painting, drawing, modelling and sticking.
• Outdoor physical play, climbing, stepping stones, crates, barrels, Wendy house, hoops, sand pit, gardening, balls and bikes.
• Water play.
• Puzzles.
• Dancing, singing and rhyming.
• Bricks, mobilo construction cubes and lego.
• Trains and tracks, cars and garages.
• Animals and logs.
• Dolls house.
• Play loft.
• Story books and audio books.
• Simple computer programmes.

How do you ensure that your setting provides the different types of play?

• By ensuring that the correct supervision is in place.
• Creating different activities for children to free play that would involve minimal adult intervention.
• Having structured play by controlling the resources available and participating in the play.

What may you have to take into consideration?

• Ensuring they have age related games.
• Any special needs.
• Safety of the children.
• Abilities of the children.
• Individual child’s needs.
• Expectation of the activities.

How do you do this?

• Planning daily activities.
• Planning themed topics.
• Safety and supervision of children.

K2C2 – Why it is important to give all children the opportunity to be heard and how you do this in a group.

K2C4 – Why it is important to give children sufficient time to express themselves in their own words.

What activities could you provide for a group of children to enable them to speak out loud?

• Group time show and tell.
• Group lead activities.
• Group reading story time. Encourage younger children to spots letters they recognise or to perform jolly phonics actions (such as first letter of their name) or to retell the story.
• Individual reading, speaking about what or who they enjoyed in the book, predicting ending of the story.
• Home corner, encourage children to role play, share and socialise with peers.
• Singing and rhyming, recognition of song or rhyme repeated patterns and actions.
• Outside play.
• Use puppets to retell story or in a game.
• Cooking, ask them to name the ingredients, talk about the processes and ask them to predict the outcome.
• Craft, encourage children to talk about their drawing or model, how they made it, what is going on in the picture, what different materials did they use.

Why is it important to give children sufficient time to express themselves in their own words?

• Showing our understanding and respect.
• Giving children confidence and self esteem.
• Encouraging independence.
• Children can express their feelings and views.
• Encourages socialising skills.
• Gives children choice.
• Showing we understand their needs.

K2D3 – An outline of how children’s communication skills develop within the age range 0-16 years.

Communication Development 0 – 16 years

What do we mean by the – Pre-linguistic Stage?

0 – 3 months

• Reacts positively and prefers main Carers voice.
• Makes cooing sounds and gurgles when happy or in response to speech.
• Cries when upset, wet, tired and hungry.

3 – 6 months

• Responds with obvious pleasure such as chuckles, laughs and squeals.
• Vocalizes delightedly and tunefully to self or when spoken to or pleased using babbling sounds or “da da, goo, der, adah” sounds.
• Cries when uncomfortable or annoyed, but can be comforted.

6 – 12 months

• Vocalizations contain most vowels and many consonants such as “dad dada”.
• Shows that they understand several words in usual context such as own name, family names and familiar objects.
• Comprehends simple instructions associated with gesticulation such as waving ‘bye bye’, ‘clap hands’ or ‘pointing’.

Linguistic Stage

12 – 18 months

• Communicates with between 2 to 10 recognisable words to the main Carer.
• Imitates speech heard and uses short phrases such as ‘mummy gone’.
• Attempts to sing and jabbers loudly, freely using wide range of different pitch.

18 months - 2 years

• Puts two or more words together to form simple sentences.
• Uses between 50 to 200 recognisable words.
• Constantly repeats words and learns at least 10 new words.

2 – 3 years

• Starts to ask many questions beginning with ‘what’, ‘where’ and ‘who’.
• Carries out simple conversations and has a larger intelligible vocabulary.
• Begins to recognise plurals correctly such as ‘dog(s)’, ‘cat(s)’ etc.

3 – 4 years

• Knows and understands several nursery rhymes and songs.
• Asks many questions such as ‘why’, ‘when’, ‘how’ and ‘who’.
• Speech grammatically correct and intelligible to strangers.

4 – 8 years

• By 5 years old their vocabulary is about 5000 words and their speech is fluent.
• Enjoys telling and repeating jokes.
• Begins to define their language and use more complex sentences.

8 – 16 years

• Fluent language, reading and writing skills.
• Language is fully developed and they are able to converse in larger groups.
• Able to use complex sentence structure.

K2D46 – That children develop at widely different rates, but in broadly the same sequence.

K2D47 – A basic outline of the expected pattern of children’s development.  The pattern of development includes the order or sequence in which development takes place and the rate of development:

Pattern’s of children’s development

K2S1118 The legislation, guidelines and policies which form the basis for action to safeguard children.

Children’s Rights:-

Every child and young person has rights, no matter who they are or where they live.  These are enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of a Child, based on the world’s first declaration on children’s rights.

• Every child has an inherent right to life.
• Right to a name.
• A Nationality.
• The right to preserve their own identify.
• Every child has the freedom to think.
• Every child has the freedom of speech.
• Every child has the right to freely express their view.
• Every child has the right to be heard in all decision making that affect them.
• Full and harmonious development of his or her personality.
• Every child should have the right to know and be cared for by their parents.
• Grow up within a family environment, in an atmosphere of happiness, love and understanding.
• Every child has the right to a safe and secure environment.
• Every child has the freedom of equality and solidarity.
• Clean water.
• Food.
• Clothing.
• Shelter.
• Warmth.
• Every child has the right to an Education.
• Access to Health care services / medical treatment.
• State support for the child’s family.
• Protection from exploitation.
• Protection from violence.
• Protection from neglect.
• Protection from abuse.
• Protection from discrimination.
• Social and cultural rights.
• Legal protection, before as well as after birth.
• Mentally or physically disabled child has the right to enjoy a full and decent life, in conditions which ensure dignity, promote self-reliance and facilitate active participation in the community.
• Disabled child has the right to special care.
• Every child has the right to benefit from social security.
• Freedom to recreational activities appropriate to age range.
• No child should be subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, neither capital punishment or life imprisonment without possibility of release. (below eighteen years of age).
• No child should be deprived of their liberty.