Caring in a crisis

This is a clear concern for each child’s own personaldevelopment but could also have wider repercussions when these children move on to Reception year at school.

In the early years, many educators are seeing the impact of these events, particularly the pandemic, as we see a growing word gap in some children. This is a clear concern for each child’s own personal development but could also have wider repercussions when these children move on to Reception year at school.

Many experts are worried that the gap between disadvantaged children and their peers has widened since the pandemic as children’s learning opportunities during this period were predominately influenced by their home environment. Disadvantaged children were more likely to live in overcrowded and noisy homes, often without the same access to the internet, technology, books and other resources.

It is estimated that more than four million children in the UK are now living in poverty. Alongside the impact of the pandemic, early educators should consider how they can play their part in supporting families who may be experiencing difficulties.

It is widely recognised that children living in poverty are more likely to:

• have poor physical and emotional wellbeing
  
• experience mental health problems
  
• underachieve at school
  
• have employment difficulties in adult life
  

Good early years provision can have a positive impact on a child’s learning and development, narrowing the gap and ensuring that children are ready for the next step in their learning.

The Alliance has been working with Somerset County Council to support early educators. We provide support to help early years educators provide appropriate early intervention by offering guidance and delivering training. We focus our efforts across three key areas: ‘school readiness’, children for whom English is an additional language (EAL) and children’s mental health and wellbeing. These are all areas in a child’s life that have been identified as being pivotal to their future development.

Early responses from our colleagues in Somerset have been very positive as we have been able to visit many providers across the local area. We have listened and responded to their questions and worked together to take positive next steps for their children and families.

We have been considering the government’s 2021 publication, The Best Start for Life: a Vision for the first 1,001 critical days. This outlines a vision for brilliance in the early years, following a child up to their second birthday. It underpins the healthy, playful interactions that an infant needs to thrive. The key message is that the first 1,001 days are essential for children’s development and help set the foundations for their lifelong emotional and physical wellbeing.

To date we have delivered four successful training sessions across the county and linked with other professionals, creating a network of the contacts and services that early years educators can access. Sometimes the conversations are simply about reassuring a setting that they are doing the right thing. Other times it requires a deeper discussion, pulling together expertise from our network across the county. We have so many exciting plans for Somerset where we will continue to develop our services and make a real and positive impact to those children, families and settings that need it most.