Cache Research Task

Criteria 1 It is important for practitioners to identify children’s care and learning needs in a setting, there are many reasons for this. Firstly, is to promote development. Some children develop and learn faster than others and it is partly our responsibility to ensure all children’s needs are cared for no matter what stage of development they are at. We can do this by carrying out observations; these help us to identify the exact learning needs of children. They can show us clearly what stage of development each individual child is at, we would compare each child against milestones for that age and stage of development and then we can begin to plan to meet the learning needs of certain children who are not meeting milestones and also plan to accommodate for those children who are over excelling the milestones. Children will develop better if there are adequate numbers of staff/adults present, taking into account the correct staff ratios for each particular age of children. Practitioners should be aware of current frameworks and legislation and how to meet the requirements of those, so it is important to identify how these aim to meet the care and learning needs of all children. The statutory framework in Northern Ireland is The Revised Curriculum from foundation to key stage 4. On their official website http://www.nicurriculum.org.uk/about/ the department of education state that the revised curriculum aims “to meet the needs of young people, society, the economy and environment in the 21st Century”.

The Revised NI Curriculum clearly sets out the areas of learning for foundation stage on their website http://www.nicurriculum.org.uk/foundation_stage/areas_of_learning/ ; there are six areas of learning comprising: "Language and Literacy, Mathematics and Numeracy, The Arts, The World Around Us, Personal Development and Mutual Understanding Physical, Development and Movement." By clearly defining each area of learning it is easier to identify which areas