How to adopt a holistic approach in the Early Years

Yasmin Darling discusses adopting a holistic approach in Early Years settings. She covers the importance of well-being as a foundation for learning, authentic vision and values, inclusive environments for neurodivergent children, meaningful CPD, and the three Is framework (Intent, Implementation, Impact). She recommedns reviewing whether your vision is understood and actionable by all staff, and implementing low-cost communication and acknowledgement strategies to nurture staff well-being.

Key takeaways

1. Establish a shared, actionable setting vision:
   Ensure the setting's vision is understandable, actionable, and appealing to all staff, not just leadership. Conduct workshops or role-play sessions to bring the vision to life and verify staff can articulate and apply it in practice.
2. Prioritise staff well-being as a prerequisite for child well-being:
   Create nurturing physical and emotional spaces for staff, such as a welcoming staff room, to enable them to authentically support children. Leadership teams must recognise that staff who feel unsupported cannot consistently deliver emotionally enabling environments.
3. Implement low-cost staff acknowledgement practices:
   Introduce regular public recognition of staff contributions, such as a weekly celebration shared via communication platforms with families and colleagues. This can be done at no financial cost using existing software and has demonstrated impact on staff morale and engagement.
4. Replace passive CPD with interactive, role-play-based learning:
   Move away from solely e-learning formats and introduce role play, icebreakers, and peer-led activities to embed policies and values in a memorable way. Rotating responsibility for leading icebreakers among staff rooms increases engagement and builds confidence.
5. Create inclusive environments proactively for all neurotypes:
   Rather than making reasonable adjustments reactively, design environments that are enabling for all children regardless of diagnosed or undiagnosed additional needs. Leadership should become comfortable with neurodivergence conversations so the setting culture normalises open discussion and reduces stigma.
6. Leverage communication platforms for cohesive community-building:
   Use collaborative communication software to share the setting's methodology, values, and celebrations with all staff and families simultaneously, reducing misunderstandings and building a unified setting culture. This is especially valuable when not all staff can be in the same room at the same time.