20 Minutes to Think About Play…

Alistair Bryce-CleggUncategorized21 Comments

Most weeks I do a lot of talking about play, but this week has been particularly play focussed. I have been working on the final edits for my next book 365 Days of Play which is due out next month. This is a really different style of book for me. It is a collection of thoughts, quotes, facts and ideas all about play. It has been a pleasure to research and collate – an altogether more ‘playfu’l experience than the usual writing and editing process that goes into creating a book! On Thursday I had the pleasure of talking to Gill Jones, one of Her Majesty’s Inspectors and Ofsted’s Deputy Director of Early Education, all about the new inspection framework, a … Read More

Continuous Provision in Key Stage One Part 3 – Outcomes

Alistair Bryce-CleggBoys Learning, Child Initiated Learning, Continuous Provision, Environment, Transition, Writing8 Comments

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

Alistair Bryce-CleggABC Does A Blog, Child Initiated Learning, Continuous Provision, Transition6 Comments

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

Continuing an Early Years Approach into Key Stage One

Alistair Bryce-CleggContinuous Provision, Creativity, Environment, Transition, Uncategorized23 Comments

In the first of three blog posts I have asked Joanna from her  setting in Yorkshire to talk us through her school’s Early Years Approach to Key Stage One.  Why she decided to do it, what she actually does and the all important impact on emotional as well as academic attainment. Over to you Joanna… Our journey started five years ago and we haven’t looked back since. Walking around our setting now, it is hard to believe that we ever worked any other way; the formal classroom layout replaced with quiet nooks, busy provision areas and thoughtful provocations. Children are everywhere… on the floor, on cushions, in pairs, in groups or sitting quietly on their own. Our Key Stage One … Read More