Teacher Resilience. Why we should be THRIVING not just SURVIVING!

Alistair Bryce-CleggUncategorizedLeave a Comment

It is that time of year again. The one that should be filled with magic moments and the spirit of joy and good will to all men (and women). In truth, Christmas can be a real time of stress for Early Years practitioners.  There are often huge expectations for them to produce Christmas cards, salt dough decorations, crackers made out of an old loo roll and an all singing, all dancing production worthy of an Academy Award! Whist we could debate at length the educational value to the children of all of the above activities, we need to seriously consider the impact of this extra pressure on the mental wellbeing and resilience of the practitioners. The sad truth is that although the … Read More

If you want to improve your Phonics – SING!

Alistair Bryce-CleggABC Does A Blog, Continuous Provision, Creativity, EYFS Policy and Practice, Music, Nurseries, Phonics, Reading9 Comments

I love a bit of singing in the Early Years. In fact I love a bit of singing in general! A couple of years ago at my boys school Christmas Carol Concert, during a particularly rousing rendition of ‘Oh, Come All Ye Faithful’, my eldest son turned to me and hissed ‘Pipe down Bublé!’ On the whole, regardless of your ability as a singer children will always join you in a chorus of whatever you fancy warbling. Also, there are some brilliant songs out there (have only just got Cauliflowers Fluffy (Paintbox) out of my head!). When I first became a teacher my wife bought me a guitar, I learned 4 chords over the summer holidays and I have never … Read More

Cool Canvas Wooden Lockers GIVEAWAY!

Alistair Bryce-CleggGiveaway73 Comments

To end our week of ideas for your outdoor kitchen I am chuffed to be able to offer you the opportunity to win a set of these GORGEOUS wooden lockers from Oliver at Cool Canvas. To stand a chance of winning, all you have to do is Leave a comment here or under the relevant post on any of my social media platforms (click the icon for a link):         The giveaway ends at midnight on Friday 15th November 2019. The winner will be chosen at random. This is a UK only giveaway (apologies international chums, but those lockers are HEAVY)! Good Luck! Alistair

Texture Kitchen – Mud Paint

Alistair Bryce-CleggABC Does A Blog, Child Initiated Learning, Continuous Provision, Creativity, Environment, Malleable Materials, Mark Making, Messy Play, Mud Kitchen, Outdoors, Texture Kitchen, Texture Kitchen Week of Ideas, Uncategorized4 Comments

In this outdoor painting space, I wanted the children to be able to use all of the skills that they had learned about painting indoors and apply them in a different way outdoors. I used 2 artists easels because they are easy to put up, collapse and adjust. Plus they give the children some experience of the equipment that a professional artist might use. To stand on the easel and hold the paper I had 2 pieces of thin plywood cut to size for me at B+Q. To cover the board, I used lining paper from Wilko’s as this can be as large or small depending on the preferences of the children. To make the paint you will need Bowls … Read More