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
Good Level of Development – A National Picture.
This week I launched a project that I am doing in the North West of England in conjunction with our Ofsted Big Conversation steering committee. The idea for the project came about after Ofsted released their findings in relation to the number of children who achieve a Good Level of Development (GLD) at the end of the Reception year. This is their Good Level of Development by Local Authority map for 2017/18. You can find it here The North West region, where I live and worked for my entire teaching career, has a high number of Local Authorities where the attainment of GLD is in the lowest National band. The idea of the project is to provide some really cost … Read More
Best iPad Apps for Early Years
I often get asked if I can recommend any good apps for iPads in Early Years. There are a few that I have come across that I have listed below, but I thought it would be a better idea if I asked you what you (and your children) like and then we can all share. I know you can do a google search for Early Years Apps and you will get hundreds, but lots of them are dire! It is much better to buy on a personal recommendation. There are (unsurprisingly) lots linked to Literacy and Numeracy, I would be really good to find a few more that were linked to the other areas of learning. If you have got a good … Read More
Hierarchy of talk in Early Years
I spend a lot of time talking about the importance of talk in Early Years. It really is the key to effective learning and personal development in children. Yet, quality talk development is often missed out or overlooked by pressure to show attainment in other areas. The ability to talk is simple enough for most children but how they talk and what they talk about is a far more complex thing that needs to be effectively modelled and regularly practised. Such is my passion for the importnace of talk I was asked to write ‘Get Them Talking, Get Them Learning’ where I am able to take a more in-depth look at some of the more common types of talk that … Read More