Within early years settings a child centred approach is so important because it allows children the freedom to explore, experience, ask questions and also make their own choices, even though there are policies and procedures in place to protect the children they still can do all those things just some invention may be needed if their making the wrong choice or doing something negative or that might cause harm to others. Practitioners must always think about child centred approaches when planning things as this will enable all the individual needs and interests of each child to be met. By always having a child centred approach it promotes the rights of the child “The right to life, The right to his or her own name and identity, The right to be protected from abuse or exploitation, The right to an education, The right to having their privacy protected, To be raised by, or have a relationship with, their parents, The right to express their opinions and have these listened to and, where appropriate, acted upon, The right to play and enjoy culture and art in safety.” (28.11.2012 www.savethechildren.org.uk) By also involving the children’s parents and families you can gain a better insight to the child’s interests.
In the placement where I’m based the child centred approach is very important and is carried out in many ways, such as; planned activities such as painting are set out so that children of all abilities can join in, for example bigger paintbrushes will be put out as well as little ones. From this you can also reflect on these experiences by taking pictures then creating “next steps” and “links” to other things so that the child can develop their skills all the time. Also by having free play in an outdoor area where there are bikes and scooters the children can have “freedom” and can choose what they wish to play on it also encourages sharing and independence. There are quite a few theoretical perspectives and current initiatives that have been put forward that link to this and support the child centred approach one being Reggio Emilia “The Reggio Approach is a complex system that respects and puts into practice many of the fundamental aspects of the work of Dewey, Piaget, and Vygotsky and many others. It is a system that lends itself to: the role of collaboration among children, teachers and parent, the co-construction of knowledge, the interdependence of individual and social learning and the role of culture in understanding this interdependence. At the heart of this system is the powerful image of the child. Reggio educators do not see children as empty vessels that require filling with facts. Rather they see children as full of potential, competent and capable of building their own theories.” (13.12.12 www.reggiokids.com)
A recent initiative has been created to ensure a child centred approach is always reached, all professionals must follow it, so that all children can benefit in their learning and development, it is the “every child matters framework” “For children and young people there are five outcomes that are key to well-being in childhood and later life – being healthy, staying safe, enjoying and achieving, making a positive contribution and achieving economic well-being. These five constitute the focus of government attention for all pupils.

There are key areas where practitioners must fully understand their boundaries around children. The first being “confidentiality” Information regarding the children must be kept on a need to know basis and the only exception to this is if the child is in danger. Procedures have been derived from the law that every practitioner must follow to keep all children safe and keep the nursery from breaking the law. “Everyone who collects data has to follow strict rules called ‘data protection principles’. They must make sure the information is: used fairly and lawfully, used for stated purposes, used in a way that is relevant and not excessive, kept for no longer than is