Nana’s Manners – Cutlery Giveaway…

This year at the Childcare Expo I had the GREAT pleasure of meeting Kathryn from Nana's Manners and having a really good look at her ergonomically designed cutlery. I remembered watching her on Dragon's Den and thinking it was a really good idea and I was right! Kathryn has given me THREE sets of cutlery and Conversation Cards to giveaway. Info about how to enter is at the end of the blogpost but here is a bit more info about Nana's Manners cutlery.   As teachers, we fundamentally know the importance of looking at the world through a child’s eyes and the value in giving them the tools they need for their current stage of development. I taught in Primary...

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Filed under: Giveaway

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...

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Filed under: Child Initiated Learning

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