Personal Care Guidance
Guidance for practitioners
This is more likely to be successful if there is a clear, consistent policy that is understood by all members of staff.
We encourage the use of this guidance in Oxfordshire to support practitioners in the provision of personal care for children in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). The guidance is intended to be used by providers of early education and of childcare for older children, including schools and settings. We suggest that providers use the material to develop their own policy on personal care.
The EYFS Statutory Framework emphasizes the importance of ‘equality of opportunity and anti-discriminatory practice, ensuring that every child is included and supported’. The following four guiding principles are endorsed in the framework:
- every child is a unique child
- children learn to be strong and independent through positive relationships
- children learn and develop well in enabling environments, in which their experiences respond to their individual needs and there is a strong partnership between practitioners and parents and/or carers; and
- children develop and learn in different ways and at different rates.
This guidance has been re-written to help you to observe these principles for all children attending your school or setting. This should provide you with evidence for Ofsted that you offer fully inclusive provision.