What do you get if you cross and egg with a laminating pouch?

Alistair Bryce-CleggUncategorized10 Comments

It is that time of year again – get your laminating pouches at the ready! This is an Understanding the World activity that I guarantee you and your children will LOVE! All you need is some laminating pouches, an iron, an ironing board, some A4 paper and a few random objects. ( You can also use hair straighteners instead of the iron – just make sure the temperature is right!). Now, most of you will have spent many a happy hour slaving over (and probably jamming) your laminator making various labels and resources. Well, today you are going to give the laminator a rest and seal your pouches by hand using an iron. The reason that we want to seal … Read More

A Key Stage 2 Teacher in the Early Years.

Alistair Bryce-CleggChild Initiated Learning, construction, Continuous Provision, Outdoors, Uncategorized1 Comment

This week I have a guest blog post from Kirsty Cooper who is the Headteacher of Grayrigg CE Primary School and also teaches in Key-Stage 2 …I will let her explain… A Key-Stage 2 teacher in the Early Years. First of all, I should tell you all a little about my school. We’re a small (but growing) school on the outskirts of Kendal, not far from the Lake District, in a very beautiful location.  I’m the Head Teacher but have a 0.7 teaching commitment, which basically means I teach every morning and two afternoons. I actually teach the KS2 class which we know as the Oaks – so why am I writing a guest blog for the lovely Alistair? The … Read More

Continuous Provision in Year One at Peckover Primary School

Alistair Bryce-CleggContinuous Provision, Transition, Uncategorized11 Comments

This week I have got a guest blogpost from Lucy and the team at Peckover Primary School all about how they have successfully taken a Continuous Provision approach into Year One. Over to you Lucy… Year 1 Continuous Provision – Our Journey at Peckover Primary School Three years ago we started our journey to develop an early years approach of continuous provision into Year 1. Believe me, as a team this wasn’t a light hearted decision and we knew it would be a risky challenge, but we recognised that something had to change to support the needs of our children.  The formal pedagogical approach of teaching (children sat at tables all day) that we had, was not supporting these children, … Read More

Social Media #KeepingItReal

Alistair Bryce-CleggUncategorized2 Comments

#KeepingItReal Social media is a funny old place isn’t it? I try to use the various platforms to interact with fellow Early Years practitioners in a constructive way as well as sharing what I’m up to over the coming months. For the most part I find it positive and a really nice way of connecting with people. One of my favourite formats is Instagram – there seems to be more of a community feel to it and (generally) less negativity. If you follow my Instagram feed you’ll know that every Tuesday I hand my account over to someone else working within the world of Early Years. We’ve had contributions from teachers, home schoolers, nursery teams, childminders and playgroups. We’ve also … Read More