2.2  Unique individuals in a shared community

An early years setting is a community of children and adults sharing their environment and resources in the same space. You need to ensure that everyday activities that are part of being in a community, such as eating together, meet the unique needs of all children and that they feel included.

Consider the following activity, which shows how accommodating additional needs regarding food and eating can become part of everyday practice.

Figure 2.2  Children eating together

Activity 2.2  Making inclusion possible

Timing: Allow 10 minutes
By signing in and enrolling on this course you can view and complete all activities within the course, track your progress in My OpenLearn Create. and when you have completed a course, you can download and print a free Statement of Participation - which you can use to demonstrate your learning.

Feedback

To summarise, there isn’t one right answer but several different approaches that can be taken. What is important is that Alistair works with the children and other practitioners, as well as other significant staff such as the cook (if there is one) and parents to identify what he can do to ensure the party is a happy celebration for everyone.

You may well have thought of other ways that Alistair could approach planning the party.

The next section looks at play and looks at ways that you can make play as inclusive as possible for all children in your setting.

2.1  The difference between ‘access’ and ‘inclusion’

2.3  Inclusive play