Task 2
The client group that used my EYP were children 4 -7 year of age as it is an infant school. The school had a mixture of both male and females of different ethnic background, religion, educational need and ability. In the group I was allocated there were some children that had just turned 4 who therefore had a lower ability to the children that had just turned 5. There was a mixture of both boy and girls in all the classes. There was a range of different religions and ethnic backgrounds such as Muslim, Asian, Jewish etc. There were some children with disabilities and health issues that needed extra help with things but were treated the same as everyone else. There were very few children with physical disabilities such as Cerebral palsy but there was child with Epilepsy.
I am going to focus this part of my investigation on the needs of the children that attend Chalkwell hall Infant School. My client group has needs related to health, social, and developmental care. When I visited Chalkwell Hall Infant school I was able to observe how these needs were met within the service by observing the children in reception. The children in reception were aged 4-5 years. This was their first year at Chalkwell Hall.
Physical needs
The children in reception are given a healthy snack of a fruit or vegetable and milk or water in the morning between 10:00-10:30. They then have a healthy balanced lunch that can be in the form of school dinners, packed lunch or the children can have lunch at home. To ensure that the children's packed lunches are healthy children are not allowed to have chocolate bars and any food containing nuts to ensure that children with nut allergies are not affected. They also provided special lunches if needed for children with allergies such as milk allergies or cultural differences (Muslims don’t eat pork). The school provide this nutrition for them to make sure that they are healthy now and establish good habits for the future. Children need food to keep their blood sugars level so they can concentrate, this way they learn better. Eating little and often helps keep a child’s energy and concentration even. Too much sugar and a child may be hyperactive and find it hard to concentrate. Too little and they may feel irritated and find it hard to concentrate.
The school makes sure the children are in a workable environment by making sure that the school stays at a comfortable temperature so the children are not too cold or too warm as this can make them distracted and uncomfortable (this temperature is normally between 16 -20 Degrees Celsius). This supports their health and aids learning because they're not having to think about being too hot or too cold.
In order to keep the children safe and out of harm's way the staff complete risk assessments to make sure the classroom environment is safe. They also complete risk assessment forms for school trips, PE in the gym and outside games and also clubs etc. They also have staff training days where they inform staff on what action to take in an emergency like a fire or an accident between students etc.
The children have PE three times a week to increase their physical ability, health-related fitness and enjoyment of physical activity so that they can be physically active in later life. It also improves children's muscular strength, flexibility and body structure. It helps develop motor skills, which allows them to safely partake in physical activities. It provides a wide-range of developmental activities for all children. Physical education can be a major force in helping a child socialize with others successfully and provides opportunities to learn positive people skills. Being able to participate in dances, games and sports is an important part of peer culture. It gives children the opportunity to set and strive for personal, achievable goals.
(http://www.aahperd.org/naspe/publications/teachingTools/whyPE.cfm)
The children at Chalkwell hall infant school spend time in the garden and during PE, break and lunch time. They improve gross motor skill when they practice running, jumping and climbing. They also have lots of different activities using their hand and this improves their fine motor skills. They have frequent writing, drawing and small activities such as peg games and activate throughout the day. The children have free flow at points during the day where they are allowed to play with toys and choose the activities they want. By giving them choice the school is helping them to become independent and so supporting their emotional development.
Intellectual needs
The children are stimulated to learn through a hands on approach which involves them being physically involved in activities. The children's interests are incorporated in their learning such are cartoon characters and popular children film characters. Teachers are encouraged to use creative visual aids and resources such as pictures, videos and songs.
The children are provided with learning opportunities during role play for progression in physical, social and emotional development. It can also enhance their creative development depending on the theme.
The children have consistent learning opportunities during free flow and break and lunch time where they can develop speech and language through imaginative play.
Some creative activities include story time sitting on the hop spot (the red part of the carpet), conscience alley where the children are given scenarios and asked question on what someone could do, songs and games to help the children remember what they are taught and drawing where the children can let their imaginations run wild.
The children learn how to communicate with others and what language to use when talking to others through role play, circle time and short activities which involve different games. The children also have talk partners to improve their thinking and understanding skills.
The children learn how to make their own decisions during play (free flow) as they have to choose what activity they want to do. During lessons resources are put out for the children to choose.
There are constant activities provided for the children to increase their understanding of numbers and counting such as mental maths, the number fun song, small maths inputs every day, role play and the garden area has number tiles which they can play on.
Social and emotional needs
To ensure that there is some communication between parents or carers and teachers, parent teacher meetings are arranged monthly by both the parent and teacher. If the parents are not seen for a few months the teacher arranges a meeting for the parent and informs them about it.
The children are taught about controlling and expressing their feelings through circle time where they focus on the children's needs and address any problems the children may have. They also have bubble time where the children can stick their name on a board in order to speak to the teacher alone for 5 minutes.
The children develop an idea of self-concept through interaction with other children. They also have circle time, as they grow they develop a more secure understanding of themselves.
The children are involved in many types of play such as solitary play, dramatic play, imaginative play, socio-dramatic play, co-operative play, social play, fantasy play constructive play, and physical play. Play theory states that by the age of 4 children play cooperatively and this is demonstrated at Chalkwell hall for example when a group of children were involved in fantasy/creative play. I observed them being animals and organising amongst themselves how they would play out a story or a TV program they had watched. They still engage in solitary play but this they use for activities which require concentration for example constructive play when using Lego. Sometime when playing on their own they like having adult help.
Learning social skills and acceptable behaviour is developed through various types of play and interaction with adults and children. Adults model the correct social behaviour that the children observe and copy.
To make sure that children mix with others they have free flow so they can interact and build friendships, confidence, self-esteem, communication and language. During this time they are allowed to freely wonder into any of 4 reception classes. They also have talk partners, lunch time and break time, and outdoor time in the garden.
The children are encouraged to dress themselves in order to develop their independence. They are also encouraged to go to the toilet by themselves and are also given the responsibility of handing letters to parents and teachers. They choose their own game and activities during free flow as well.
So that the children develop a sense of security in school both the parents and the children have meetings with the teacher to make sure they know who to go and talk to when they are in trouble. The children only have one particular class that they use which they know as their secure place. They also have circle time to make sure that they know this. There is also consistent communication and positivity in body language and facial expression to make children feel safe and happy.
Social needs are unique to every individual child therefore are met in different ways.
Health and social care needs
The school also makes sure that the children’s health and social care needs are met by making sure the children keep fit during PE and they all participate and they also make sure that the children have their snacks this keep the children healthy. The school also make sure that if a child has a medical condition that they have a health care plan and if they have medication that they have permission from the parent to look after it for the child, meeting their health needs. The school also meet the children’s social care need by making sure that the children wash their hands after using the toilet and also if a child wets themselves then they would make sure that that child has clean clothes on and not leave them in their wet clothes.
Summary
Overall I think that Chalkwell hall met the children's needs well because they were always supervised during all activities and class work. This was to make sure that no-one got hurt throughout these times and if they did they were attended to immediately. The children were fed in the morning, at lunch and during free flow so that they could stay focused during their short lessons and were not hungry and distracted by this. They also had short lessons to keep them engaged during the lessons.
I believe the school also provided the children with the opportunity to develop in all areas (physical, emotional, intellectual and social) because they had a lot of short activities during the day to keep them engaged and learning to the best of their abilities as children have very short attention spans therefore need to be kept active. Shorter lessons and activities prevent children from fidgeting and getting fussy from having to sit down for too long.
I will research how they work with other services to meet my client's needs.
Schools and nurseries have to work with other professionals and service to meet specific or all children's needs. Some schools cannot meet all their children's needs alone as they do not the right facilities needed to meet them. This is where working with other services comes in. Chalkwell Hall Infant School work with services such as school nurse, GP/practice nurse, speech therapist, educational psychologist, social workers, social services, hospital doctors and nurses and specialist schools (to meet autistic and mentally or physically disabled children's needs). School nurses offer a range of services such as carrying out developmental screenings, undertaking health interviews and running immunisation programmes. They check over the children's hearing and eye sight to make sure that the children's development and learning is not affected.

Case study Samuels story
Samuel attended nursery full time and started school in September. Samuel has severe motor delay and some speech difficulties. The report from his nursery said that he enjoys listening to stories and joining in with rhymes.
Chalkwell worked with his nursery before he came to Chalkwell to find out how they helped him. The nursery practitioners used pictures and photographs to label resources and to provide instructions for Samuel to follow, for example when washing hands after using the toilet. Chalkwell decided to provide some picture labels to help Samuel.
The Nursery also worked closely with a speech and language therapist and an occupational therapist to ensure that Samuels's individual needs were met. Samuel's teacher and the SENCO (special educational needs coordinator) met with both therapist who modelled how to work with Samuel and showed the correct way of supporting him as well as offering ideas and resources.
Samuel was also well supported by a teaching assistant when at Chalkwell who was able to give him individual support.

This case study illustrates how Chalkwell worked with three other services to meet Samuel's needs. It also shows how they provide equality for children.
Equality does not mean treating every child the same it means giving each child the chance to achieve the best they can. All children have slightly different needs. Adults who work with children must observe each child to work out how best that child can be helped to develop. For example a child that can push him or her-self along on a push and ride toy may be ready for tricycle. By watching children play practitioners can help children develop new skills.
Equal access means each child gets the chance to do things. Finding something difficult or having a special need should not stop a child from joining in and taking part.
It also gives equal access by not making a difference between boy and girls toys. Boys should be able to play with dolls etc. and girls should be able to kick balls play with cars.
(Cited in Caring for Children by Penny Tassoni published by Hienemann)
Diversity
Diversity is about making people feel welcoming and included regardless of their background, where they come from, their culture, their religion, their physical appearance etc. It means recognising and accepting difference for example it mean making sure that a person in a wheelchair can use public transport and can join in the netball game. It also means remembering that there are people with other religions such as Jews and not to say 'merry Christmas' but 'happy Hanukkah'. This show people that you care enough to remember who they are and how they live. Many schools have policies regarding diversity, equality and inclusion. At Chalkwell they make sure all the children are treated equally and fairly regardless of these differences. They make sure that children who are from different cultures and have days they celebrate that we may not usually celebrate are acknowledged. The school gives them time during their RE lessons to describe how the child celebrates their day and the whole class then helps that child celebrate their day.