Unit 7

• General roles within the early years


  • Manager
  • Deputy manager
  • Room leader
  • Key person
  • Early years practitioners
  • Cook
  • Cleaner
  • Early years teacher
  • Early years practitioner
  • Teaching assistant
  • Childminder
  • Nanny
• Private nursery


  Roles: Manager, Deputy manager, Room leader, Key person, Early years practitioners, Cook, Cleaner
• School nursery class


  Roles: Early years teacher, Early years practitioner, Key person
• Crèche


  Roles: Early years practitioner
• Childminder


  Roles: Early years practitioner
• School reception class


  Roles: Early years teacher, Early years practitioner, Teaching assistant
• Playgroup or pre-school


  Roles: Early years practitioner
• A nanny might work within the early years but would not be attached to a setting as they tend to work in private households
• Responsibilities of each role

  • Line managing and supervising other staff
  • Overseeing day-to-day running of setting
  • Recruitment and training of staff
  • Reporting safeguarding concerns
  • Care and education of children
  • Monitoring progress of specific children
  • Liaising with families
  • Ensuring needs of key children are met
  • Reporting safeguarding concerns
  • Supporting children in a similar manner to an early years practitioner
  • Providing care for children in their home
  • Providing education
  • Household chores
• Clearly defined roles and responsibilities

  • Ensures everyone knows what they are expected to do
  • Prevents confusion
  • Ensures all children's needs are met
  • Enables setting to run more smoothly
  • Prevents delay in duties being completed
  • Provides justification for different pay scales
  • Encourages ownership of the role
• Key responsibilities for everyone

  • Provide high quality care and education
  • Keep children safe
  • Support healthy development
  • Promote holistic development
  • Work in partnership
• Keeping children safe


  • Prepare and maintain safe environment
  • Complete risk assessments
  • Work in partnership
  • Provide supervision
  • Follow policies and procedures
• Supporting healthy development


  • Provide access to healthy snacks and water
  • Support wellbeing
  • Create opportunities for exercise
  • Plan and support transitions
  • Implement hygiene and health routines
• Promoting holistic development


  • Plan age and stage appropriate activities
  • Talk to children
  • Offer ideas and encouragement
  • Create an enabling environment
  • Observe and assess learning
  • Plan based on children's needs
  • Adapt activities, resources and environment
• Working in partnership


  • With parents/carers
  • With external professionals
  • Participate in teamwork
• If responsibilities are not implemented, it can have a significant impact on children, their families and other people working within the early years
• Partnership working


  Different services and professionals working together to meet the child's and/or family's needs
• Internal and external partnerships

  • Internal: early years practitioners and child's parents/carers
  • External: most professionals other than early years practitioners
• Scenario 1: Candace resists bedtimes


  Internal partnership initially, may need external partnership if advice doesn't help
• Scenario 2: Bibek has difficulty pronouncing sounds


  External partnership with speech therapist, internal partnership to implement activities
• Scenario 3: Mindy is fussy eater


  Internal partnership initially, may need external partnership if advice doesn't help
• Scenario 4: Megan returning to mother after foster care


  External partnership with social services and family support, internal partnership to monitor progress
• Barriers to partnership working

  • Poor communication
  • Lack of time
  • Difficulty finding suitable venue
  • Difference of opinion
• Barrier: Time


  Make appointment with parents at specific time
• Barrier: Communication due to English as second language


  Use visuals, gestures, written information to support spoken language
• Barrier


  Communication due to English as a second language
• How to overcome the barrier

  1. Have a pair of gloves and a hat to show the parents to support the spoken language

  2. Use gestures to support spoken language (for example, shiver to show that you are cold and mime putting on gloves and a hat)
• Barrier


  Difference of opinion and opposing views
• How to overcome the barrier

  1. Sit down and discuss this with the parents and see if you can reach a compromise such as allowing Jaxson to have a small portion of food with the other children so that he can still have his main meal with his parents

  2. You need to have built a trusting relationship with the parents if you are going to discuss this amicably as they may see this as you disagreeing with their parenting style
• Barrier


  Access to a meeting due to travel and suitable venue
• How to overcome the barrier

  1. Identify if there is a more suitable venue that would accommodate everyone involved

  2. If some people are still unable to attend due to travel issues, explore the possibility of having an online meeting instead, via an internet supported platform
• Ways that an early years practitioner can support effective partnership working

  • Build a trusting and respectful relationship with the parents/carers
  • Listen to other people's opinions and respond in a respectful manner even if you disagree with them
  • Avoid using technical language in meetings and reports where there are people who would not understand these terms. For example, parents/carers might not know what the EYFS is
• Ways that an early years practitioner can support effective partnership working

  • Be prepared for discussions – make a list of pros and cons for your suggested approach and try to find ways to overcome the cons so that you can justify your approach to others
  • Be punctual to any meetings and do not cancel unless it is unavoidable
  • Ensure that you always put the needs of the child ahead of anything else. Remember the Children Act 1989 said that the welfare of the child is paramount
• When partnership working is effective, it is beneficial not only for the child and their family, but also the early years practitioner
• Benefits of partnership working for children

  • Supports child-centred practice that meets children's holistic needs
  • Ensures supportive intervention is made when a child is not meeting age-expected milestones
  • Promotes safeguarding to ensure that children are protected from harm
  • Provides consistent care, giving emotional and physical security
• Benefits of partnership working for families

  • Gains support from practitioners with a different perspective or experience
  • Ensures shared goals can be achieved and everyone is united in approach
  • Builds trust so that information can be shared to support the child
• Benefits of partnership working for early years practitioners

  • Has access to advice and information which will inform the planning of activities and routines to promote children's development
  • Builds trust and creates a supportive relationship where information can be shared
  • Supports shared goals, and everyone can work to their strengths and support each other
• If partnership working is not effective, it potentially impacts on the child, their family and the early years practitioner
• Impact of non-effective partnership working on the child

  • They may not have their needs met that could negatively affect their learning and development
  • It could confuse the child so that they do not understand what is expected of them if people say different things to them
  • They may not be safe if multi-agency working is not effective
• Impact of non-effective partnership working on the family

  • They may lose trust and respect for the people involved in the partnership
  • They may be upset or angry that their child is not having their needs met
  • They may have to take additional time off work or away from their normal daily routine to attend additional meetings