Critically discuss the beliefs and social and political influences that have shaped contemporary service provision for children and young people

This essay will give information about different pieces of legislation including Education Act (1944), The Mary Warnock Report (1978), and ‘Every Child Matters’ (2003). The essay is also going to discuss The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) 2007.
In May 1940 Britain had been at war and shortly after Neville Chamberlain who was conservative Prime Minister was forced to resign due to the lack of confidence in his party. He was later replaced by Winston Churchill. In October 1940 Herwald Ramsbotham who was president of the Board of Education, met with senior officers to discuss the Prime
The Early Years Foundation Stage was introduced in 2007 and was made compulsory from 1st September 2008. This was then revised in 2012. The aim was to set the standards for learning, development and care for children from the ages of birth to five years. This piece of legislation is in place to help children achieve the five ‘Every Child Matters’ outcomes which were listed above. The EYFS does this by setting the standards and making sure that all children are achieving whilst they are in the care of the setting and makes sure that the children make progress and that no child gets left behind (Department for Education, 2012b). The EYFS addresses equal opportunities by making sure that every child is included and not left out because of their: ethnicity, culture or religion, gender, home language or family background and any learning difficulties the child may have or their ability. The EYFS aims to create the framework for partnership working. They do this by working with the children’s parents and professionals and they pass on information between the settings that the child attends. The EYFS also improved the quality and consistency for children by getting rid of the existing frameworks, and providing the basis for the inspection and regulation regime. Finally they laid a secure foundation for future learning, this meant that the child care practitioners were planning to meet the individual needs of the children. They also carried out regular