EYFS

• Progress check at age two


  A review of a child's development at around 2 years old to celebrate areas of good progress, identify any areas of concern, and help parents understand their child's needs and support development at home
• Purposes of the progress check at age two


  • Partnership with parents
  • Action for every child
  • Early identification
• The progress check at age two aims to:
• Child's key person


  The practitioner who usually knows the child best and should take the lead in completing the progress check
• The progress check at age two must be informed by:
• The statutory requirements for the progress check at age two are:
• Beyond the statutory requirements, practitioners should:
• When preparing to undertake the progress check at age two, it is helpful to:
• The progress check at age two must be undertaken between the child's second and third birthday.
• Rational


  In classical economic theory, economic agents are able to consider the outcome of their choices and recognise the net benefits of each one
• Consumers act rationally by


  Maximising their utility
• Producers act rationally by


  Selling goods/services in a way that maximises their profits
• Workers act rationally by


  Balancing welfare at work with consideration of both pay and benefits
• Governments act rationally by


  Placing the interests of the people they serve first in order to maximise their welfare
• Rationality in classical economic theory is a flawed assumption as people usually don't act rationally
• Example, do they decide what to play with, what to eat and what to wear?
• Between the ages of two and three, does the child start to enjoy the company of other children and want to play with them?
• Watch out for children who get extremely upset by certain sounds, smells or tastes, and cannot be calmed. Also look out for children who seem worried, sad or angry for much of the time. You will need to work closely with parents and other agencies to find out more about these developmental difficulties.
• Around the age of three, can the child sometimes manage to share or take turns with others, with adult guidance and understanding 'yours' and 'mine'?
• Can the child settle into some activities for a while?
• Watch out for children who seem worried, sad or angry for much of the time, children who seem to flit from one thing to the next, or children who seem to do the same thing for too long and become distressed if they are encouraged to do something different. You will need to work closely with parents and other agencies to find out more about these developmental difficulties.
• Look out for children who appear to be overweight or to have poor dental health, where this has not been picked up and acted on at an earlier health check. Discuss this sensitively with parents and involve the child's health visitor. Adapt activities to suit their particular needs, so all children feel confident to move and take part in physical play.
• Effective approaches for helping children with their personal, social and emotional development


  • Responding to children in a steady and reliable way, with emotional warmth and sympathy
  • Encouraging children to communicate how they are feeling, which can be supported by modelling the correct language and labelling the emotion
  • Using stories to explore how others might be feeling
  • Helping children to understand and co-operate with routines and rules
  • Encouraging children to manage 'effortful control' or patience, such as waiting for something they want or taking turns
• Some non-compliance is typical as two-year-olds develop their independence and autonomy. Tantrums, hitting and biting are also common: physical aggression in humans reaches its peak between the ages of two and three-years old. Young children want to express themselves, but they find it difficult. When they feel frustrated, they may express this as a tantrum. As we help children to talk more about how they are feeling, tantrums become less common. It is important for parents and practitioners to respond calmly and be clear and consistent. Children who are treated harshly are more likely to become aggressive.
• Physical activity in the early years


  • Builds relationships and social skills
  • Maintains health and weight
  • Contributes to brain development and learning
  • Improves sleep
  • Develops muscles and bones
  • Encourages movement and co-ordination
• Research suggests that children aged two should spend at least 180 minutes (three hours) per day in a variety of physical activities at any intensity, including active and outdoor play, spread throughout the day – more is better
• Once the progress check at age two is complete, provide a copy for parents and add a copy to the child's learning and development record, put in place any agreed actions to meet the child's needs within the setting or at home, and consider any support needed from other agencies
• It is crucial to ask parents for their informed consent before sharing any information. Informed consent means checking that the parent understands what information is being shared, why it is being shared, who it is being shared with, and what will happen to the information.
• All children have common needs. They need high-quality, emotionally warm care and stimulating early education. Every child's development is unique. At any point in time, a child may appear to be more developed in some areas than in others. Periods of rapid development are sometimes followed by a period of slower development.
• The SEND code of practice requires us to monitor and review the progress and development of every child. We need to be alert to a delay in learning and development or instances where a child may be displaying difficult or withdrawn behaviour.
• Two groups of children can be identified: those who have a significant developmental delay (or in some instances, profound and multiple learning difficulties) and those who present with a developmental delay when compared with their peer group.
• It is important that the progress check at age two assesses children with identified or emerging SEND in ways which take account of the nature of how they progress, do not adopt a deficit model and focus only on what the child cannot do, acknowledge the challenges of a 'spikey profile' that some children will present with, and celebrate the whole child, not just the small, identified steps linked to teaching skills or completing a task.
• Contextual information to consider includes whether the child was born prematurely, has experienced transitions such as foster care or adoption, has experienced an adverse childhood experience, or has had a change in family circumstances.
• SEND support in the early years that has a problem-solving approach at its heart will help identify the challenges or concerns, think creatively about solutions, jointly evaluate the pros and cons, decide on which intervention to try, put the intervention into action, and review the solution after an agreed period.
• The 'graduated approach' involves a four-stage cycle: assess, plan, do and review. This approach begins as soon as the setting identifies a child as needing additional support.
• Early years practitioners are important people in parents' lives. We are often the first people to suggest to parents that their child has a special educational need. How we do that is crucial.
• Needs


  The objectives of the plan, and the approaches that are required
• Review


  The setting and the parent/s meet together regularly. They update each other and review the impact of the additional support. The voice of the child is included in this review.
• Do


  Additional support is provided during the child's session so they can access all the learning on offer (the curriculum). Any one-to-one or small-group support helps the child to gain the skills they need to join in with the curriculum.
• Parents support the plan at home.