In a time before Covid 19, I asked Mine Conkbayir to write a guest blog post for me from the point of view of the psychological impact that effective and not so effective transitions can have. In these now uncertain times when children will be returning to a very different ‘version’ of school life, it is more important than ever that effective transitions are at the forefront of our thinking. Whether children return before the Summer break or in the Autumn term, it is really crucial that (as much as is possible) the provision they return to is centred on their wellbeing . There will huge uncertainty for children and staff, but it is imperative that we avoid a ‘catch … Read More
(At Least) 50 Fantastic Ideas To Try At Home…Can You Help?
As more people are self-isolating and schools and childcare settings across the world are closing, we thought we would contribute to easing the burden by providing another place you can direct parent’s /carers to for support. We are part of a wonderful, international community of Early Years practitioners who have a wealth of knowledge and a HUGE bank of ideas and activities. So, let’s gather together and share them! As a starting point I am going to use my blog to share activities that can fairly easily be done at home. I’ll gather a collection of ideas each week and post them on the website – with links from social media. If you would like to contribute please email me … Read More
Continuous Provision in Key Stage One Part 3 – Outcomes
I am really pleased that Jo from St John’s C of E Primary has agreed to write me a third blog post. You can find the others here and here. It is great to see a play based approach to learning having such a positive impact. My third blog leads to the subject I am most frequently asked about. A subject which I tend to avoid as it is often steered towards data, data, data…I like to ‘practise what I preach’; value the journey rather than the outcome’, but that is not to say that the children ‘s progress and ultimate end of Key Stage assessments are not too far from our minds as we plan the provision. Outcomes, in the … Read More
Continuous Provision in Year One at St John’s, Bradford – Curriculum Coverage
This is the second blog post from Jo at St Johns Church of England School in Bradford. After the first one here I got lots of questions about curriculum coverage and play. So, I asked Jo to write me another blog post to talk me through how they approach it. Over to you Jo…. One question I am repeatedly asked… ‘How do you ensure you teach all the aspects of the curriculum within a provision based setting?’ The response isn’t always the answer they expect… ‘We don’t!’ Well, when I say we don’t, what I actually mean is that we don’t ‘teach’ it all, in the usual sense of the word. Do we manage to manage to ‘cover’ the curriculum? The … Read More