This week I am revisiting a blog post from way back in 2013 that focussed on a method of taking children’s learning journeys into display. It was a really popular post and since then I have seen the display replicated in many different ways on my travels all over the world. Thanks to Ladybrook Primary for being the initial inspiration! At Ladybrook they had a version of this in both Nursery and Reception This is Reception. A large display board has been divided up so that each child gets a large(ish) square. The whole thing was really well thought out from the backing paper to the mounts that the photographs were on. The display starts with a photo of the … Read More
Imaginative Play and the Overhead Projector
In the days before every classroom had a computer, never mind an iPad per child, schools were full of weird and wonderful contraptions to help to make your life more simple. When none of us had even heard of a photocopier we relied on the services of the Banda Generator. A spirit based printing machine that required you to write out your worksheets in special ink, load up a large drum with your master copy and then turn a handle like your life depended on it. Sheet after sheet of purple stained paper would then land in a pile – still wet and reeking of alcohol. Many a morning was spent in ‘the Banda queue’ observing some quite unnerving ‘jiggling’ … Read More
Continuous Provision Planning
Planning for Continuous Provision can be very time consuming and what gets written on paper often doesn’t translate into actual practice. I have been working with a number of schools and settings looking at how they can make their Continuous Provision planning less of a chore and more effective so, I thought I would share what we have been doing in the hope that it might be helpful. I would always start with the question ‘What is Continuous Provision?’ It is not just provision that is continually accessible. It is a selection of resources that have been placed in areas by practitioners that continue the provision for learning in the absence of an adult. Differentiated prompt cards for children to … Read More
Linked Provision
'Linked Provision' is a bit of a hybrid that I first used with a Reception setting to help them to get round their issue of hearing guided readers, without compromising their Continuous Provision. Since then I have worked on versions of it from Pre-School to Year One. So, what is Linked Provision? Well, the clue is in the name… It is provision that you link to a need that had been identified by observation or assessment. I would run it as a daily session – usually at the very beginning of the day. Everyone is engaged in activities that are themed around the identified need. The same activities are repeated every day for a week and the children get to … Read More