Consent of the Child

EYFS 2024 > Overarching principles > 5

EYFS 2024 > Learning & development requirements > 1.1 - 1.3

All of our activities in the nursery are ideally carried out with the consent of the child. Whilst it is accepted that a child has limited capacity to agree consent, we firmly believe that when we value the child’s consent, it leads to better educational environment and higher levels of wellbeing.

By respecting the voice of the unique child in all factors that impact their time with us and their education, we nurture children to have the confidence to assert their rights and we continue to value each child's potential.

Procedure (how we put the policy into practice)

By valuing a child’s consent in our daily practice, we ensure the voice of a child is heard and understood. We know that when a child comes through our doors into our nursery, they have limited choices. However, we can still give them plenty of opportunities to make choices and express their ideas and feelings.

We will respect a child having their right to consent respected by:

Support

We will ensure that children in our care have choice and their opinions are valid. This will lead to our children more likely to be open to talk and engage with discussion and be confident in seeking support for their needs to be met. For example, this can be seen when:

• Our teacher asks a child if they need support in an activity they are doing
• A key worker recognises the need to change their key children's intimate care products as they have a close bond with the children and their families
• Children are asked to help our teachers when setting up an area for an activity
• Where a child does not want to go with a teacher to have their needs met, offer them a choice of practitioners to choose from so they have consent in the situation
• If a child has had a toileting accident, understand that it could be an upsetting time for them and the language and interaction with the child at this point could impact their confidence

Consistency

We will be consistent with our children in what they need to consolidate and build upon their learning. Embedding this practice will work towards creating a child-centred approach that leans more towards the children's voice and not the teachers agenda. Although we work with the children's best interest at heart, we also need to respect that children are capable of selecting play to support their own learning needs at that moment.

For example, we can create a consistent environment by:

• Always discussing the care needs of the children with their key worker as they will have the most up to date knowledge of the child
• By sharing with each other each child’s preferences and recreate an approach that will invite that child to work with each teachers
• We model language that the child can relate to and understand
• Always approach a child and ask how their needs can be met in a similar way. This will increase their understanding of their role in the situation better and they will be able to work with their teacher with confidence
• Understanding that intimate care needs to be treated with dignity. By getting down to a child's level and quietly inviting them to come with you to sort their needs, we will maintain their dignity

Reflection

We regularly reflect on our practice in the nursery. This often results in new opportunities for our children to have a choice. We support reflective practice by:

• Our parents are aware of our ethos concerning consent, and look to creating a consistent model for their child
• Talking about what works and what does not work. Having discussions can lead to a change in provision, supporting consent of the children based on reflection
• By sharing our thoughts, we are positively enabling discussion that can lead to the whole nursery becoming more reflective
• Providing training to support the needs of our teachers

Review date: 31 December 2024