Sand Tray Inspiration…

I have been in Leicester City all of this week finishing a year long project looking at  effective EYFS practice and its impact on progress and attainment. It has been great to see some of the amazing things that the children have achieved. I was talking (a lot) about the importance of sand and water play in EYFS and beyond and how it can be a vehicle for unlimited learning. It can be really easy to get 'stuck' when it comes to provision for these areas that takes learning forward rather than children just ending up doing the same old thing. Well, here is a bit of sand/texture tray inspiration from one of my favourite blogs. If this doesn't want...

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Filed under: Boys Learning, Child Initiated Learning, construction, Continuous Provision, Creativity, Environment

#Insta Early Years!

This week I have been writing a blog post for The Foundation Stage Forum about theory and practice and the role that the internet and social media play in both supporting and hindering us in our quest to get it right. The advent of Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook and blogs has made a whole world of thoughts, ideas and opinions accessible in a way that they never have been before. It has also opened up the perfect world of the #InstaActivity or the 'Pinterest worthy' post. Worlds where beautiful resources in perfect settings lie untouched by children that make us feel inadequate! These posts can be brilliant for ideas and inspiration as long as we recognise their purpose and not just how gorgeous...

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Filed under: Child Initiated Learning, Continuous Provision, Environment

Transition into Key Stage One – A Blog and a Webinar…

I have got a 'Transition into Key Stage One' Webinar coming up at 8pm on 23rd May, you are all welcome to join me... (all details here).  As this is the time of year that lots of Reception and Year One teachers are thinking about Transition - here is a repost of a blog I wrote last year.' When I tried to get to the bottom of what the people who were trying a play based transition were finding hard, they were all pretty much in agreement. Lack of EYFS knowledge Lack of equipment/resources Lack of additional adults Lack of support Unrealistic expectations To be fair, if you not quite sure what you are supposed to be doing, you haven't got...

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Filed under: Transition