Step Into Quality

Step Into Quality

Step into Quality is an access route into the Lancashire Quality Award. It provides an opportunity for practitioners to spend focused time looking at what they do everyday and considering which parts work well and which could be improved upon. Step into Quality is underpinned by the principles of the Early Years Foundation Stage and the National Quality Improvement Principles. 

• Environment - the quality of experiences available to children both indoors and outdoors, to support their learning and development
• Interactions - how adults sensitively support children’s emotional well being, are involved in children’s play and learning and extend children’s thinking
• Routines - how daily routines meet the needs of individual children and promote learning and development e.g. welcomes and farewells, snack and meal times, sleeping arrangements, nappy changing and toileting arrangements, registration, assembly and ‘play-times’
• Keyperson - secure attachments are vital to children’s emotional well being. How supportive is the keyperson system and the close liaison with families in order to meet children’s individual needs?
• Parents - relationships with parents from the very first contact until their child leaves the setting, including sharing of information and involving parents in their child’s learning and development
• Leadership and Management - the leadership style of the manager and their effectiveness in creating and supporting a motivated, skilled and cohesive team
• Transitions - sensitive approaches towards transitions in their broadest context e.g. home to setting, room to room, nursery to school, reception to year one
• Learning and Development - observing children playing and being engaged in the process of learning, reflecting, interpreting, gathering and using information to plan appropriately to meet individual children’s needs