Professional Practice in Teaching: EYFS and Ofsted Standards

This essay delves into the realm of professional practice within early childhood education, with a specific focus on the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework and the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted). It examines how these regulatory bodies maintain and enforce professional standards within the field, ensuring quality care and education for children from birth to five years old. The essay evaluates the functions of EYFS, highlighting its role in establishing shared principles and commitments for early education providers, including nurseries, kindergartens, and childminders. It further analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of the EYFS framework and Ofsted's inspection processes, emphasizing the importance of safeguarding vulnerable children. The discussion encompasses the professional standards expected of early childhood educators, the inspection procedures conducted by Ofsted, and the impact of these regulations on the quality of early years provision. The essay also identifies areas where improvements can be made to enhance the educational experiences and outcomes for young children, emphasizing the importance of inclusive planning, employee responsibilities and the protection of children.

Running head: PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE IN TEACHING
PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE IN TEACHING
Name of the Student:
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Introduction
Early childhood education is a broad term that is used to signify any form of educational
or learning program that aims to serve children during the foundation level of their lives. Early
childhood education comprises of several number of activities and knowledge that have been
outlined to support in the cognitive as well as social growth and development of kindergarten
goers before they begin their elementary education (Long 2013). The paper will intend to focus
on the specific discipline that is early years of practitioners and further examines the ways Early
Years of Education Stage (EYFS) and Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services
and Skill (Ofsted), the most popular regulatory bodies of early education, seek to maintain its
professional standards. The paper further evaluates the functioning of the EYFS and the way it
ensures its practices in order to maintain across the profession standards. In addition to this, the
assignment will identify the strengths and weakness of this organization, which facilitates in
safeguarding the vulnerable children. The paper will further elaborate the professional standards
of EYFS and give a relevant explanation of the ways it maintains its standards to bring
improvements to its operations.
Discussion
The role of Early childhood educators have gained immense recognition as one of the
most effective means of enhancing the value of life for children as well as their families and the
society as a whole. Early childhood educators support teaching by offering activities and
materials that young learners find engaging and further facilitate the children to recognize their
own queries despite of elderly assistance. As teachers play a significant role in nurturing the
intellectual as well as social and psychological development of children during their influential

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stages, the early childhood educators thus play a chief role in determining the future prospects of
children from their foundation level. The EYFS has established the standards for the learning,
growth and care of children from birth until the age of 5 years. All educational organizations that
deals with children and registered with Ofsted early years children education providers adhere
the EYFS framework, that involve childminders, kindergarten, nurseries as well as school
reception courses (Gov.uk 2018). The EYFS however applies to schools along with early years
suppliers in England. THE EYFS focuses on specific areas of learning namely, communication,
linguistic, physical surroundings, literacy, analytics, comprehending the society, communicative
art and design.
Ofsted has firm belief in elevating the standards of children in order to improve their lives. The
organization had its establishment initially in 1992, as the regulatory office for standards in
Education (Gov.uk 2018). This organization is known as an autonomous, non-ministerial
administrative department that reports directly to the Parliament. The organization however is
accounted for examining and regulating education as well as induction for children and young
people. - (Ouston, Earley and Fidler 2017). The organization operates the inspection on several
schools, early teaching education as well as skills training. It has immense contribution on the
services of children in local regions and further examines services for child protection and
childcare.
The EYFS framework aids an integrated approach to foundation level learning and
concern. It further provides all professionals a well-established set of shared principles,
ideologies and commitments in order to deliver valued early education as well as childcare
knowledge to all children.

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EYFS’s framework has been considered as mandatory for all early education providers in
England functioning from 3rd April, 2017 has maintained schools, non-maintained schools ,
independent education institutes along with all provider on EY catalogue with an early years
childminder institutes (Gov.uk 2018). Ofsted along with other inspectorates of self-governing
schools have regarded to the EYFS in operating investigations and report on the assessment and
standards of provision. Ofsted further publishes the inspection reports at the official website of
EYFS. Ofsted has been executing its regulation in order to accomplish the excellence and merit
in the domain of early education and teaching for the children and further improving their levels
of standards and their lives. EYFS follows a properly structured framework, which is valid for all
its inspectors who perform the investigations in the early years of education and social care.
Ofsted provides certain appropriate code of conduct whereby the inspectors with the highest
specialized standards and follow a properly structured code of behaviour with whom they
encounter during their operations (Young 2017).
 The officials will examine in a neutral manner, with utmost impartiality and exhibit the
values and ideals followed by Ofsted.
 Proclaim all actual as well as alleged disagreement of interests and does not possess any
genuine or perceived relationship with the resource that could destabilize the aims and
objectivities of the organization (Goepel 2014).
 The inspectors report their inspection with utmost honesty and transparency with
courtesy, dignity as well as understanding.
The Care of Standards Act 2000 has been successfully reassigned for the regulation as well
as assessment of provision for exercising childcare and development from the localized
authorities headed for Ofsted (Page 2013). The responsibility in order to create a nationalized

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regulatory body, which in amalgamation with other governmental and aided functions would be
able to improve the size of Ofsted that originated in 2001, along with the formation of the
organization,’sorganization’s Early Years of Directorate (Grenier 2016). This organization had
effectively achieved the knowledge in the assessment of early years of teaching during the past
five decades. Ofsted Inspections and its dogmatic activities have effectively reinforced the
domain of preschool education, which has been an effective expansion and value enhancement in
the domain of early years of teaching, and education.
The Nursery Education sanction has introduced two significant conditions structured in
order to secure the increased levels of standards and improved value provision for nursery
children (Earley, Fidler and Ouston 2017). In the process of assessing the financially aided
nursery provision, this regulatory body has inducted and acclaimed a new team of more than
1500 registered nursery inspection officials and has assigned them to operate to the competitive
tender with the employment of various external contracts management official (Pugh and Duffy
2013). Ofsted has established the quality levels, skilled and retrained inspection officers and
further pursued low level terms and conditions.
THEhe EYFS has been focusing to offer quality as well as consistency in all
groundwork level of settings, in order to facilitate an effective advancement and further ensure
that no child is neglected (Gov.uk 2018). EYFS further concentrates on a secure foundation stage
through learning and progress opportunities, which are executed concerning the requisites of
each child and are evaluated and reviewed at regular intervals.

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It is immensely vital to identify the strengths and weaknesses of Nursery Education
Scheme in order to enhance the value of the academic provision and further aid the children to
accomplish the Desirable consequences for the learning processes of the children by the age of
five. The benefits of the educational provision facilitated in the social and personal growth of the
children.
 The programme introduced for their growth and enhancement strengthens various aspects
of the provision. Several productive opportunities have been offered to the children in
order to initiate their own actions and further choose further materials to develop self-
reliance (Peckover, Smith and Wondergem 2015).
 According to Wood (2016), a new and improved curriculum strategy is acceptable
whereby daily as well as weekly plans are documented in general terms such as
‘Montessori’ and the employees plan the activities of the children in an informal and
familiar manner.
There are few areas of development where the educational provision can execute its efforts.
 The provision lacks an inclusive and detailed planning system which should include the
six major areas of learning along with the enviable process of learning consequences with
the principles and guidelines of Montessori.
 There is a lack of employee responsibilities and deployment, which must be indicated.
Ofsted in relation to the vulnerable and deprived section of children and young people
has adopted the connotations which are used in exercising the Children Act 2004 along with the
Department for Education (DFE) regulation document that is Working Together in Safeguard
Children (2013) (Tuck 2013). This regulation characterizes the protection and endorsement of

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children and youth’s welfare through safeguarding children from various situations of
maltreatment and abuse. It further prevents the destruction of the physical condition and
development of the children and certifies that children are developing in various situations
consistent with the regulation of safety and taking proper action in order to facilitate the best
effective outcomes for children (Ball 2016).
The EYFS specifies needs and requirements for learning and development and further protecting
and promoting children welfare. The learning and development requirements of EYFS primarily
envelopes the areas related to learning and development that alter the activities and knowledge
for early education learners in all foundation level environment (Gov.uk 2018). The aim of
EYFS is to offer productive assistance to children towards recognizing their own skills and
expertise at the conclusion of the academic year whereby the children complete 4 years of their
age.
EYFS further guarantee that it accomplishes all the responsibilities in order to perform in
amalgamation with others to protect and support the welfare and development of the children as
well as young population (Gov.uk 2018). However, this would further facilitate in order to bring
righteousness and justice of crimes, which are performed, against the children. Several
responsibilities and accountabilities are hence been achieved by Ofsted through effective
regulation such as childcare settings and social development and execute any action to
necessitate the safeguard of children.
This organization has a broad sphere of activity and responsibility and further possesses
a broad array of assessment and investigation, which thereby encompasses certain structural
framework that facilitates in safeguarding children. These children primarily belong to the

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vulnerable and marginalized sections of the society (Gov.uk 2018). Thus requires a properly
structured framework to protect these children. It further propagates the learning from
assessment and inspection consequences and from crucial case reconsiderations in which the
firm has taken active role in recruiting staffs. Such a structure will maintain the role of the
organization as knowledge development institute with a focus on persistent improvements that
incorporates the ones who belong to the marginalized segments, the vulnerable children in
particular (Cullingford 2013). Ofsted has undertaken few of the cases of its assessment
procedures in affiliation with other inspectorate to protect the vulnerable children. In various
circumstances, the organization establishes its leadership expertise while working with other
officials, which further effectively facilitates the development of children.
Several factors can be associated to the inspection of children’s services in order to identify the
strengths of the Ofsted.
 The regulation of working in cooperation to protect children has valuable and steady
leadership technique in order to establish a notion for services that has expressed increased
level of aspirations for the vulnerable as well as youth population in order to make a strategic
precedence (Klerks 2013).
 This regulation further aids an increased conclusion for annual supervision on the health and
welfare assessments of children whereby it signifies in accomplishing the minimum rate of
national average along with other authoritative powers in order to meet high rate of
successful inspection of vulnerable children.
Certain disadvantage and limitations while performing authoritative functions can be identified
while considering the areas of development that involve enterprising a more detailed analysis of

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necessitate that further embraces certain specific requirements of the vulnerable and exposed
group of children.
 The regulation for safeguarding the vulnerable children possess a low level monitoring
and investigation of the physical as well as mental health requirements of the children
who belong to the several vulnerable sections of the society (Jones and Tymms 2014).
Such a group comprises of children with certain form of disabilities especially as they
experience the developmental phase of growing to adulthood.
 The aforementioned regulation of safeguarding children lacks of properly structured
planning, assessment and support for the children during the early phases of learning
(Baxter and Clarke 2013).
 The operations exercised from this regulation have been unable to produce effective
consequences especially in the case of protecting the children.
Conclusion
Therefore, from the above discussion it can be demonstrated that Ofsted has effectively
worked in order to seek to maintain and sustain the professional standards of the discipline of
early year of practitioner. The paper has evaluated the ways Ofsted has performed in order to
improve the lives of the children by shedding light on the background of the organization. The
paper has further highlighted areas of the code of conduct that Ofsted standardizes in order to
increase the growth of the inspection officials. In addition to this, the assignment explores the
framework, which the organization adheres to in order to enhance its professional standards by
further identifying the areas of strengths and weaknesses of the regulation. This paper also

9PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE IN TEACHING
highlights another regulatory factor that ascertains the protection of children belonging to the
vulnerable section of the society.

10PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE IN TEACHING
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