Pre-Birth to Three guidance (2.3 - Education Scotland

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14 Getting it right for every child It is the responsibility of every citizen in Scotland to support children to thrive so that they grow up as healthily and happily as possible. All work with and for children should be underpinned by the core components,values and principles of Getting it right for every child (Scottish Government, 2008). This national approach (often referred to as Getting it right) supports staff working with children in Scotland to improve their wellbeing and life chances. 2 Getting it right is the methodology which should be used to implement the three policy frameworks referred to earlier in this section. These frameworks support agencies as they strive to work together to ensure the best outcomes for every child, whatever their background or individual needs. Getting it right and the policy frameworks also support adults working with children to take forward the values, purposes and principles of Curriculum for Excellence 3–18. The Getting it right approach is about service providers working meaningfully with parents, adopting flexible approaches to fit individual circumstances and appreciating that everyone involved with children and families has an important contribution to make, particularly the children and families themselves. Getting it right is founded on 10 core components, which can be used by all those working with babies and children as they play their part in making sure that Scotland’s children are healthy, achieving, nurtured, active, respected, responsible, included and, above all, safe. These are the eight Well-being Indicators, which are used during the assessment and planning process, and are illustrated in the wellbeing wheel below. The Well-being Indicators are the basic requirements for all children and young people to grow, develop and reach their full potential. Getting it right wellbeing wheel The wellbeing of children and young people and their ‘well-becoming’ in the future are at the heart of Getting it right. 2 See section on Partnership Working PRE-BIRTH TO THREE: POSITIVE OUTCOMES FOR SCOTLAND’S CHILDREN AND FAMILIES INTRODUCTION
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE EARLY YEARS The Importance of the Early Years Babies are born with a predisposition for learning. They are naturally curious about the world around them and especially the people who engage with them. Whilst babies are eager to learn and make sense of the world, they require positive and consistent relationships to support them in this journey. Babies are ‘programmed’ to look to other people to help them make sense of their world. 3 Brain Development: Making and Shaping Connections As a result of advances in technology and neuroscience more is known about the brain now than ever before. It is known that every baby is born with a unique personality and an adaptable brain, which has a high degree of plasticity, and which is ready to be shaped by relationships and experiences (Balbernie, 2001). It is estimated that, at birth, a baby‘s brain contains thousands of millions of brain cells and some of these are already connected and communicating. Babies start to learn in the womb, particularly in the last trimester. They are born able to recognise familiar sounds and they have already developed some taste preferences. Research has also shown that external influences such as the mother’s emotional experiences during pregnancy can affect the development of the baby’s brain (O’Donnell, O’Connor and Glover, 2009). Forming and reinforcing connections are the key tasks of early brain development. It is the early experiences and developing relationships that cause the connections in the brain to increase rapidly. By the end of the first year, with appropriate care and support, babies vastly overgrow the number of connections they actually need. This is to enable them to test billions of different connections or ‘neural pathways’ for every action they take. Particular experiences determine which permanent connections are made in the brain and which are no longer needed. In this way, an important process of elimination begins towards the end of the first year as the baby’s brain starts to prune itself, thus creating the most efficient structure to suit the environment and culture. This brain development takes place through interactions with others, being active and involved, and learning through exploration and discovery. As babies and young children revisit and practise skills and language, they return to previous connections or pathways in the brain. Every time the pathway is revisited, it is strengthened and the link speeds up. Kotulak (1997) suggests that the principle ‘if you don’t use it, you lose it’ is as true for cognitive skills as it is for muscles. The result is that the strongest pathways survive, whilst those carrying no signal wither and die. 3 See section on Attachments WWW.LTSCOTLAND.ORG.UK/EARLYYEARS 15
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Page 5 and 6: Contents Ministerial Foreword 7 Int
Page 7 and 8: MINISTERIAL FOREWORD Ministerial Fo
Page 9 and 10: INTRODUCTION Introduction There is
Page 11 and 12: INTRODUCTION Many countries are loo
Page 13: INTRODUCTION Recognising that all a
Page 17 and 18: USING RESEARCH TO INFORM PRACTICE U
Page 19 and 20: FOUR KEY PRINCIPLES FOR BEST STARTS
Page 27 and 28: NINE FEATURES OF THE KEY PRINCIPLES
Page 29 and 30: ROLE OF STAFF Role of Staff Staff w
Page 31 and 32: ROLE OF STAFF Key Person The key pe
Page 33 and 34: ROLE OF STAFF Reflection and Action
Page 35 and 36: ATTACHMENTS Attachments Responsive
Page 37 and 38: ATTACHMENTS The National Scientific
Page 39 and 40: TRANSITIONS Transitions Transitions
Page 41 and 42: TRANSITIONS • being closely obser
Page 43 and 44: OBSERVATION, ASSESSMENT AND PLANNIN
Page 49 and 50: PARTNERSHIP WORKING Partnership Wor
Page 51 and 52: PARTNERSHIP WORKING Partnerships Ac
Page 53 and 54: PARTNERSHIP WORKING Reflection and
Page 55 and 56: HEALTH AND WELLBEING Health and Wel
Page 57 and 58: HEALTH AND WELLBEING The Scottish G
Page 59 and 60: HEALTH AND WELLBEING Case Study - H
Page 61 and 62: LITERACY AND NUMERACY Literacy and
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ENVIRONMENTS Environments The envir
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ENVIRONMENTS Environments and Resou
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ENVIRONMENTS Case Study - Environme
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PLAY Play For many years, there has
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PLAY Planning and Supporting Play B
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PLAY Play and Risk Opportunities fo
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PLAY Case Study - Play Joe is 28 mo
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REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING Refe
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REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING Podm
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Learning and Teaching Scotland The
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Pre-Birth to Three guidance (2.3 - Education Scotland

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