Early years refers to the first five years of a child’s life. Child developmental changes are taking place and they are growing and developing physically, mentally, emotionally and are beginning to acquire skills like competence and eagerness to learn. These changes take place within the home, school and in the community. Providing the right basic care and laying foundations of healthy choices, lifestyles and habits, as well as nurturing and boundaries, is therefore most important throughout this time. As children of this age are unable to make informed decisions alone, it is the parent/guardian’s responsibility to do so. In some cases, failing to provide children with their basic needs and giving them the opportunity to thrive can eventually fall under the umbrella of neglect.
In this section you will find a wide range of resources across early years that will help you to support parents at each stage of their child’s development.
As practitioners working with very young children, you will be aware that circumstances which appear initially to be appropriate for early help can turn out to be more serious, as your work unfolds and you learn more. Likewise, a one-off incident may significantly increase the risk to the child’s safety and require an immediate safeguarding response. Please do continually re-assess children’s situations against the Hounslow Continuum of Need during your work, and consult with the Early Help Hub if you become worried that a more intensive response is required. The resources here are not intended to replace a safeguarding response where children may be at risk of significant harm.
