Foundation Stage
Personal, Social and Emotional Development
Requirements
Children must be provided with experiences and support, which will help them to develop a positive sense of themselves and of others; respect for others; social skills; and a positive disposition to learn.
Providers must ensure support for children’s emotional well-being to help them to know themselves and what they can do.
What Personal, Social and Emotional Development means for children
For children, being special to someone and well-cared for is vital for their physical, social and emotional health and well-being. Being acknowledged and affirmed by important people in their lives leads to children gaining confidence and inner strength through secure attachments with these people. Exploration within close relationships leads to the growth of self-assurance, promoting a sense of belonging which allows children to explore the world from a secure base.
Children
need adults to set a good example and to give them opportunities for interaction
with others so that they can develop positive ideas about themselves and others. Children
who are encouraged to feel free to express their ideas and their feelings, such
as joy, sadness, frustration and fear, can develop strategies to cope with new,
challenging or stressful situations.
How settings can effectively implement this area of Learning and Development
To give all children the best opportunities for effective development and learning in Personal, Social and Emotional Development practitioners should give particular attention to the following areas.
Positive Relationships
- Form warm, caring attachments with children in the group.
- Establish constructive relationships with parents, with everyone in the setting and with workers from other agencies.
- Find opportunities to give encouragement to children, with practitioners acting as role models who value differences and take account of different needs and expectations.
- Plan for opportunities for children to play and learn, sometimes alone and sometimes in groups of varying sizes.
Enabling Environments
- Ensure that each child has a key person.
- Make sure there is time and space for children to concentrate on activities and experiences and to develop their own interests.
- Provide positive images that challenge children’s thinking and help them to embrace differences in gender, ethnicity, language, religion, culture, special educational needs and disabilities.
- Establish opportunities for play and learning that acknowledge children’s particular religious beliefs and cultural backgrounds.
- Support the development of independence skills, particularly for children who are highly dependent upon adult support for personal care.
Learning and Development
- Plan activities that promote emotional, moral, spiritual and social development together with intellectual development.
- Provide experiences that help children to develop autonomy and a disposition to learn.
- Give support and a structured approach to vulnerable children and those with particular behavioural or communication difficulties to help them achieve successful Personal, Social and Emotional Development.