Essay on Early Intervention in Childrens Services

Throughout history we have had people that stood up and fort for young children’s needs and these people have influenced the UK current early years provisions.

Children Act 1989 – Determines the duty of early year’s practitioners to identify and meet the separate and distinctive needs of children and to keep them safe. It initiated the belief that the child ought to be at the centre of planning and that a child’s well-being and safety are vital when judgements are made concerning them. This act also recognises the accountabilities of parents in keeping their offspring safe. In this act there are two particular segments that relate to the duty of local authority with concern to child protection, these are-

8. The role of early intervention models in improving children and young people’s outcomes and life chances (Ref. 1.2, 3.2, 3.3)

Following these proposals from Lord Laming, there have been developments in legislation and policy, which involve children’s welfare, one of which was the Green Paper of Every Child Matters (ECM) (DfES, 2003), a pre legislative document from the government of the day. This built upon existing plans to strengthen preventative services using the four key themes of: support, early intervention, problems addressed in the Victoria Climbie case and ensuring adults working with children are trained. The ECM Green Paper was the basis of a consultation between professionals, parents, cares and children about how the services for young people were working. Following from this, the government developed and parliament passed the Children Act

This Act which is born from parent’s needs has a specific impact on childcarer's practice, but not only, as course handout 1a (2012, p2) confirms This Act is ‘for all those who are responsible for planning, running and using early childhood services’.

The ‘Children’s Act 2004’ was continuously updated and developed into the ‘Children’s Act 2006’. This act states that all settings have to follow the Early Years Framework Stages (which were renewed in 2012). The Early Years Framework Stages (EYFS) is aimed to fulfil the five aims of ‘every child matters’ and the previous children’s act of 2004. The intentions are to achieve these aims by setting standards, promote equal opportunities and through a framework of partnerships, improve quality and consistency and lay secure foundation for all learning and development, present and future. By improving the quality the service and experiences are improved for all children and families. Safeguarding children is a vital part of improving all childcare services/settings.

This influential piece of legislation arose from the Green Paper ‘Every Child Matters’ and identifies five outcomes for all children:

M1 - Analyse how the above policy and procedures help children/young people and their families whilst the child is being looked after.

M1- Discuss how policies and procedures help children, young people and their families whilst the child is being looked after.

Indentify four different approaches to working with children and record these in the table below. Explain how each approach has influenced current early year’s provision in the UK

An explanation of how different approaches to work with children in early years have affected current provision in the UK

The range of Early Years Settings reflects on the requirements of parents and families for their children. Some parents want care for their children so that they can return to work, some may want to stay with their children while they socialise, some may want their children in a setting which offer services aimed at learning, whilst some may want their children to be in a home based environment and some families cannot afford to pay fees for provision. This is why the |Early Year’s sector has various forms of provision to meet the needs of families. Provision include

‘Early years practitioners have a key role to play in working with parents to support their young children. This should include identifying learning needs and responding quickly to any difficulties. Wherever appropriate, practitioners should work together with professionals from other

This assignment will show what services are available in early year’s settings and for young people to support positive development. It will show what assessments we carry out within my setting and I will also critically analyse agencies that are available for referrals, transitions and safeguarding for children and young people.

This essay aims to explore the role of the early years practitioner in planning provision to meet the needs of the child, simultaneously applying theoretical research and professional practice. In addition to this, making appropriate links to the Early Years Foundation Stage and using pertinent examples to support the child’s needs.