Quality in Early Years Settings: More Than Standards, A Commitment to Children

When we talk about quality in early years settings, it’s tempting to focus only on checklists and compliance forms. While regulations are important, they only touch the surface of what truly makes an experience high-quality for young children. Real quality is not about one standard—it’s about how the environment, relationships, learning, and values come together to shape a child’s earliest educational journey.

As an early years consultant, I am tend to emphasize that quality is experienced day in and day out in the everyday, repeated contact between children and adults, in families' feelings of belonging when they are in a setting, and in the care and thoughtfulness of the curriculum that promotes learning and play. This article addresses the areas of quality, how crucial they are, and how early years practitioners can move beyond compliance to introduce real excellence to practice.

1. Health and Safety: The Basis of Trust

No child can learn, discover, or flourish unless he is safe. Health and safety are the basis of quality —without them, nothing else in education can take root. This includes clean environments, clear child protection procedures, and secure buildings.

But quality settings go beyond a safety inspection minimum and first aid. They offer climates in which children are emotionally safe, knowing they will have needs met regularly and with care. For example, when a teacher drops down to reassure a child who is scared during drop-off, that reassurance is constructing safety culture just as much as the locked gate outside.

2. Learning and Curriculum Experiences: Play- Based Learning

One of the most fundamental questions that need to be asked by educators is: What type of learners are we preparing for the future? The response lies in the nature of the curriculum.

In early childhood education, an excellent curriculum is not one that in some way simulates school readiness through rigid lessons or worksheets. Instead, it honors play, curiosity, investigation, and imagination as the routes to learning. Children have a natural desire to learn, and the curriculum needs to foster that inner energy.

For instance, building a tower using blocks by a child is not just involved in fine motor skills but also in mathematical problem-solving and thinking, and persistence. A well-designed curriculum recognizes such moments as learning opportunities and extends them intentionally rather than breaking them up with contrived exercises.

High-quality settings also ensure that the curriculum is inclusive, culturally responsive, and flexible enough to react to the stage of development of each child. This balance of structure and freedom is what will help children thrive.

3. Educator Expertise and Qualifications: Skilled Practitioners, Reflective Learners

No matter how well the curriculum is planned or how current the setting, the standard of a setting also depends heavily on staff qualifications. Decades of research have confirmed that highly qualified staff lead to better outcomes for children.

Highly qualified staff:

• Know child development very well.

• Observe children well and use observation to inform planning.

• Know when an individual child needs more support or challenge.

• Have the capacity to reflect on their own practice in order to continue to develop.

Qualifications are only the half of it. Quality settings invest in continuous professional learning, so staff remain learners in their own right. Workshops, coaching, reflective practice groups, and peer observations keep teachers upskilled and inspired and informed about best practice. Staff culture for lifelong learning therefore becomes a quality mark in this manner.

4. Environment and Resources: Spaces That Speak to Children

Children learn from their environment. The physical space and materials of an environment convey to children what is valued. Is autonomy encouraged? Can children explore freely? Do they see themselves reflected in the materials around them?

A quality environment is not measured by how expensive the toys are, but by how rich and accessible they are. Open-ended materials such as wooden blocks, fabric, natural materials, and loose parts allow for imagination and problem-solving. Thoughtfully designed spaces have space for movement, collaboration, and peaceful reflection.

For example, a cozy reading nook with soft lighting and cushions will encourage a passion for literacy, and a mud kitchen outside will open boundless creativity and social play. When the environment is thoughtfully designed, it is a quiet instructor, learning alongside children through discovery and exploration.

5. Relationships and Interactions: The Heart of Quality

At its most basic, quality in early years is relationship. Warm, responsive, and respectful relationships between adults and young children are the foundation of everything else.

Consider the contrast between an adult hurrying to zip a child's coat versus one where the adult shows the child how to do it herself, being patient and supportive, and offering praise for effort. The second interaction promotes independence, resilience, and confidence.

Research shows that child-adult interaction is the strongest predictor of successful child outcomes. Homes and settings that place a high value on caring relationships foster settings in which children feel heard, respected, and motivated to learn.

6. Family and Community Engagement: Extending Quality Beyond the Classroom

Young children do not learn in isolation; they have families and communities. Good settings recognize this and actively engage families as collaborators in their child's learning.

This can be achieved in many different ways:

• Regular contact with parents about their child's progress.

• Involving families in events, workshops, or projects in class.

• Respecting cultural heritages and incorporating them into the curriculum.

When parents are welcome and included, children feel school-home continuity and learn more profoundly. Beyond parents, building community partnerships—maybe libraries, museums, or local services—enrich children and their networks.

7. Measuring Quality: Beyond Compliance and Inspections

Regulations and inspections are required to achieve baseline quality, but they are not the same as a snapshot in time of quality. True quality is lived daily, not shown to an inspector.

High-quality settings use self-assessment strategies, reflective practice, and facilitated feedback to continually assess and develop. These activities allow teachers to see what works, where there are gaps, and how practice can alter. Most importantly, these measures capture the lived experience of children and families—not just the paperwork.

8. Inclusion: Quality for Every Child

Perhaps above all else, the most defining trait of quality is inclusion. A genuinely high-quality setting will ensure all children—regardless of ability, background, or need—are made to feel valued, respected, and included.

This means providing additional support for children of determination, adapting surroundings for children who experience speech or developmental delays, and making transitions easier for children. But it also means developing a culture where difference is not just tolerated but welcomed.

Inclusion should never be an add-on or an independent "initiative." It is the very essence of what ensures a setting is of high quality. A valued, seen child is a child who can thrive.

Conclusion: A Living Commitment

Quality in early years settings is not static. It cannot be achieved once and for all; it is a living, breathing pledge that requires thought, responsiveness, and enthusiasm.

And lastly, quality is not decided by reports or policies, but by the everyday experience of children:

• Are they loved and safe?

• Are they engaged and curious?

• Are they proud of what they can do?

• Do their families feel included and respected?

When the answer is yes, we can be sure we are touching real quality. For early years professionals, the challenge—and honour—is to prepare environments in which every child's talent is encouraged and every family feels respected. That is excellence

May Zalat

Inclusion Director - Kids First Group