Good Continuous Provision will not only support adults in observing and interacting with children, it will also help to support and extend children’s learning when they are in play. How our children are making progress through the Areas of Learning can help us in deciding on the Areas of Provision that we are going to introduce into our learning space. With all of the settings that I work alongside, I ask them to talk me through why they have decided on a particular Area of Provision and how they envisage it will support their children’s development. Constant reflection like this means that your learning space will evolve over time in response to the changing needs of your children. Once we … Read More
Are your children ‘School Ready’?
Yesterday I had the great pleasure of being the opening speaker at the National Day Nurseries Association 2018 Conference in Coventry. The NDNA do such brilliant work. It was a privilege to have the opportunity to work with them. My Keynote was called ‘Inspiring Children to Learn’ and my challenge was to try and fit all into 45 mins. Unfortunately, I didn’t manage it. But, we only overran by a little bit! One of the things that I talked about was how we can all work to equip children with ‘School Readiness’, although I am not entirely sure anyone has decided exactly what that is. Here were my thoughts on ‘READINESS’ I reckon if we can create environments and opportunities … Read More
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 … Read More
#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 … Read More