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Everything posted by Jules
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Kathryn Solly wrote this article for Early Education recently - it has some excellent reasons why the outdoors will be the way forward now more than ever (might be helpful for the grant application?) and also under the 'Practical' heading the are a couple of little gems of ideas. Good luck! 😊
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Hi JoB and welcome to the Forum! Thanks to Dennie and Mouseketeer for sharing their experiences of using Tapestry in their settings. One thing I always notice is how different settings are and how they use Tapestry in a variety of ways to suit what works for them, their staff, children and families. I just wanted to say hello, and also link you here to the Tapestry Tutorials page, which might be helpful as you think about what would work best for your setting. Hope to hear from you again soon. 😊
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Narrative observations In Part 1 of this series, we looked at definitions and descriptions of narrative observations and how they can be used to describe the learning and development of children. There is often confusion around the nature of observations; how many to do, what they need to contain, how they can be shared with parents and carers and how they can be used to plan effectively for each child. Over the last few years in Early Years, the practice of recording a limited number of quality observations has taken a bit of a backseat. Teachers and practitioners have been moving towards regular, quick observations (many of which are repetitive and don’t say anything new about the child) alongside the practice of ticking statements of expected learning outcomes. It is quite common for teachers and practitioners to ask on social media platforms ‘How many observations and assessments do you do for each child, each week?’ As if the number of observations and assessments has anything to do with the quality of the experience children have in their early years setting, or their learning outcomes. Reams of spreadsheet data has not helped to ensure all children do well in their early years. In fact, quite the opposite. Dr Julian Grenier, author of the new Development Matters, has stated in a vodcast with the Foundation Stage Forum that enormous amounts of data is meaningless to staff and parents and creates ‘an awful lot of work for not a lot of outcomes for the children’. The new Development Matters, he says, offers staff the opportunity to ‘rethink the balance of what we’re doing and make sure we’re putting our efforts where they really need to be.’ With the new EYFS and associated Development Matters guidance, along with clear messages from Ofsted and Dr Grenier, we now have the opportunity to review our methods of observation and assessment, and make them work for us, our colleagues, our children and our families. So we must make sure that any observations and assessments we make of our children are manageable, useful and do not take excessive amounts of our time away from the children. As Dr Grenier says, ‘Let’s put our efforts where they’re going to make a difference, which is in the direct work with the children. It’s the playing, it’s the conversations, it’s helping children to learn something new, it’s the respectful partnership with parents’. If you’re working with colleagues to try a new narrative approach to observations, it might be helpful at first to look at each area of learning individually. In this article, we’ll be looking at the three Prime Areas. Although children learn simultaneously across the seven areas, it’s helpful to look at the areas individually to work out what we’re looking for in a quality observation. Whether you are working with the existing 2017 version of the EYFS programmes, or are early adopters of the 2021 version, you can still use the following suggestions because they are based on open-ended questions to guide you in thinking about the child’s learning and development. The questions are not based on any predetermined learning intentions or targets. Using open-ended questions to help you observe your children will encourage a narrative approach, resulting in an observation unique to each child. No longer will you or your colleagues be writing ‘Sam happily joins in with nursery rhymes and songs’ and ticking the associated statement. Your observations will be detailed, exact and informative, for both you and the child’s parents and carers. And importantly, the information will give you something to plan with, to build on the child’s learning. When you’re observing a child, think about one or two of these questions below - maybe even print them off and have them close by as a prompt. For each section, the earlier questions are generally more suited to babies and very young children, and the later questions for older children within the EYFS. But don’t let this stop you from using them freely. There are no right or wrong questions to answer; these are just prompts to help you and your colleagues think about what you’re looking for when you’re observing children. There are no age-bands to worry about - if you see a question that interests you, with a particular child in mind, then that’s the one to go for. Communication and Language The EYFS 2017 version states: Communication and language development involves giving children opportunities to experience a rich language environment; to develop their confidence and skills in expressing themselves; and to speak and listen in a range of situations. The new 2020/21 version states: The development of children’s spoken language underpins all seven areas of learning and development. Children’s back-and-forth interactions from an early age form the foundations for language and cognitive development. The number and quality of the conversations they have with adults and peers throughout the day in a language-rich environment is crucial. By commenting on what children are interested in or doing, and echoing back what they say with new vocabulary added, practitioners will build children's language effectively. Reading frequently to children, and engaging them actively in stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems, and then providing them with extensive opportunities to use and embed new words in a range of contexts, will give children the opportunity to thrive. Through conversation, story-telling and role play, where children share their ideas with support and modelling from their teacher, and sensitive questioning that invites them to elaborate, children become comfortable using a rich range of vocabulary and language structures. Listening, attention and understanding How do they respond to different sounds, e.g. speech or music? How do they react when they hear their own name or to familiar phrases such as, "Where's Mummy?" In what ways do they like to explore? When do they gaze at faces or copy facial expressions or movements? In what circumstances do they pay attention and concentrate? In what ways do they respond to others' body language? When do they recognize or are calmed by a familiar voice? How do they demonstrate their enjoyment of sounds, stories, rhymes and songs? How do they show you they are listening attentively? How do you know they are understanding a story read or told to them? What is their understanding of single words, two-word utterances, or more complex sentences? When and how do they follow directions? How is their understanding of simple concepts developing, e.g. big/little? How do they respond to instructions, or to 'How', 'What' and 'Why' questions? How do they engage in dialogue with others? What strengths do they have in understanding more complex ideas and concepts? Speaking How do they gain attention and communicate their needs? Can you give examples of their speech or gestures? Which familiar words or expressions are they using? What is their understanding of people or things that are not present? When do they use changes in pitch, intonation or volume? How do they use language to express their feelings and thoughts? How do they use talk to organise themselves and their play? In which situations do they initiate a conversation? In what ways are they using newly learned vocabulary? Which stories and rhymes are favourites? In what ways can they use talk to connect ideas or explain their own? How do they use talk to disagree with an adult or a friend? How do they anticipate the future and recall the past? How do they use language in imaginary and role play? How do they use questions or comments to clarify their thinking and develop understanding? In what ways do they suggest or explain ideas or concepts? How do they use talk to help work out problems? How do they use talk to explain how things might work or why they might happen? How do they talk about and retell stories? Personal, social and emotional development The existing framework says: Personal, social and emotional development involves helping children to develop a positive sense of themselves, and others; to form positive relationships and develop respect for others; to develop social skills and learn how to manage their feelings; to understand appropriate behaviour in groups; and to have confidence in their own abilities. The new 2020/21 framework says: Children’s personal, social and emotional development (PSED) is crucial for children to lead healthy and happy lives, and is fundamental to their cognitive development. Underpinning their personal development are the important attachments that shape their social world. Strong, warm and supportive relationships with adults enable children to learn how to understand their own feelings and those of others. Children should be supported to manage emotions, develop a positive sense of self, set themselves simple goals, have confidence in their own abilities, to persist and wait for what they want and direct attention as necessary. Through adult modelling and guidance, they will learn how to look after their bodies, including healthy eating, and manage personal needs independently. Through supported interaction with other children they learn how to make good friendships, co-operate and resolve conflicts peaceably. These attributes will provide a secure platform from which children can achieve at school and in later life. Managing feelings and behaviour, self-regulation When and how do they demonstrate a range of emotions, e.g. pleasure, fear and excitement? How are they calmed, or are able to calm themselves? In what ways do they show an understanding of their own feelings? Which objects, actions, or activities soothe them when they are feeling tired, stressed or frustrated? How do they find solutions to conflicts? How do they control their immediate impulses? In which situations do they take turns or wait for what they want? How do they demonstrate an awareness of others' feelings or needs? In what ways do they display their growing sense of will and determination, and how do they respond to appropriate boundaries? How do they use questions to clarify their thinking and develop understanding? How do they demonstrate their understanding of possession? How do they show care and concern for others? In what ways do they demonstrate their understanding of right and wrong? How would you describe their behaviour? How do they demonstrate an increasing capacity for self-regulation with /without adult support? Self Confidence & Self Awareness, Managing self How do they respond to your voice, actions, body language and eye-contact? How do they demonstrate that their own voice and actions have an effect on others? How would you describe their levels of confidence and assertiveness? How do they express their needs, views and feelings? How do they express their preferences? How do they demonstrate their growing independence and positive self-image? In what ways do they set themselves tasks or goals and work towards them? How confident are they to try new activities? To what extent and in which situations do they follow instructions? How do they show perseverance if some activities pose difficulty? How do they cope with transitions? How do they express discomfort, hunger or thirst, or anticipate food routines? In what ways do they demonstrate their developing ability to engage in eating and drinking, or assist during nappy changing or toileting? How do they cope with new social situations or experiences? In what ways do they see themselves as a valued individual? Can you describe their level of independence in dressing, undressing, and personal hygiene? In what ways have they demonstrated resilience? What is their understanding of the effects of activity on their body, or of good practices in exercise, eating, sleeping and hygiene? Building Relationships How do they respond to affectionate attention from a familiar adult? How do they gain attention and communicate? How do they show interest in people and activities, and explore new situations? How are they learning to make relationships? In what ways do they notice or talk about differences between people? Can you describe ways in which they play cooperatively with other adults and/or children? How do they show concern for others? How are they learning to share toys, take turns, and negotiate with others? In what ways do they demonstrate a sense of community? Physical development The existing EYFS framework states: Physical development involves providing opportunities for young children to be active and interactive; and to develop their co-ordination, control, and movement. Children must also be helped to understand the importance of physical activity6, and to make healthy choices in relation to food. The new 2020/21 framework says: Physical activity is vital in children’s all-round development, enabling them to pursue happy, healthy and active lives. Gross and fine motor experiences develop incrementally throughout early childhood, starting with sensory explorations and the development of a child’s strength, co-ordination and positional awareness through tummy time, crawling and play movement with both objects and adults. By creating games and providing opportunities for play both indoors and outdoors, adults can support children to develop their core strength, stability, balance, spatial awareness, co-ordination and agility. Gross motor skills provide the foundation for developing healthy bodies and social and emotional well-being. Fine motor control and precision helps with hand-eye co-ordination which is later linked to early literacy. Repeated and varied opportunities to explore and play with small world activities, puzzles, arts and crafts and the practise of using small tools, with feedback and support from adults, allow children to develop proficiency, control and confidence. Gross motor skills How do they respond to sounds, sights, and objects? In what ways are they gaining control of their body? What evidence can you see of their increased strength? Which toys or resources do they take pleasure from? What can you say about their positional awareness? How do they demonstrate an interest in sensory experiences? How do they demonstrate their increasing confidence in experimenting with different ways of moving? In what ways are they demonstrating increasing skill in coordination? When do they demonstrate increasing skills of balance? How can you describe the various ways they move energetically? In what ways are they showing increasing independence in personal care and hygiene? In what ways do they show an increasing control over objects? Do they demonstrate different physical skills indoors and outdoors? In what ways do they negotiate space and obstacles? How do they demonstrate agility? Can you describe their level of skill with throwing and catching a ball? How do they demonstrate core muscle strength? How do they demonstrate repeated patterns or sequences in movement? In what ways do they demonstrate increasing understanding of the need for safety and managing risks? Can you describe how they use a range of large and small apparatus? How do they demonstrate an understanding of the factors that support good health? Fine motor skills Which materials or objects do they like to explore? How do they manipulate objects or materials? How do they make choices in tools and techniques? In what ways are their skills developing in mark-making? How do they use a range of small tools, including scissors, paint brushes and cutlery? Can you describe their fine motor skills? How skilled are they in holding a pencil effectively in preparation for fluent writing? In which circumstances do they show a preference for left or right hand? Remember the guidance available to you, among others, is the revised EYFS which becomes statutory in September (2021), the new Development Matters, and Birth to 5 Matters. In the next article of this series, we’ll be looking at prompts for writing narrative observations in the Specific Areas of Learning in the EYFS. And you can find Part 1 of the series here.
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I’ve been working in early years for around 13 and a half years now. The journey thus far has been nothing short of a roller coaster. From working as a nursery nurse, to becoming an early year’s practitioner and even a nursery manager, to care worker, support worker, youth worker, play worker, mentor, to now - owning my own award-winning childcare service. None of this would have been possible if it wasn’t for the various teams and managers I worked alongside over the years. Journey thus far I walked into a nursey at the age of 19 with barely any knowledge of child development or nursery life and no relevant qualifications. Just an interest, big heart and support from my mum who helped me find the job and the amazing manager who gave me the role. This all makes so much sense now - I am a big believer in the old African proverb: It takes a village to raise a child. The village I came from, aka home, prepared me to go out into the big wide world and find my feet, and that particular manager had faith in me, to let me enter her village and learn life whilst caring and teaching life to little souls. In my universe, life always comes back full circle. That opportunity changed my life. This is something I’ve always known, but as I’m typing this it’s really hitting home that I have now reached here … ‘humbled’ is an understatement. But what I learnt in those early days at that nursery turned out to be the foundations of an extensive and heartfelt career in Early Years, one that I’m nowhere near finished with. Heartfelt Practice This is where I learnt good practice, were I learnt about partnerships with parents and how to build healthy and secure child-adult bonds. I didn’t realise then how much it would mould me into the man I am today. It was at that first setting as a nursery nurse 13 years ago that I realised childcare was one of my many vocations. And it’s the children I have cared for over the years who have taught me the most about myself and about my work. Hence, 13 years later, I can confidently say that children are the best teachers. I’ve worked in various nursery settings and even managed to get a Level 3 in Childcare and Development along the way. And as the years passed, I have worked in every possible role you could think of in a nursery setting and with all age groups. Over Time I worked in various settings in and around London, building up a strong repertoire with families across London, especially North London. That’s how Jossy Care came about - babysitting for families from these settings until I got so inundated with requests it gave me the premise to become a Manny. Which I did 3 years ago. But going back a bit further in time, as well as working in nurseries, I ventured into care homes and youth work and that’s where my skill set widened, my heart got bigger and my knowledge grew. Jossy Care So, 3 years ago I became self-employed with a business idea I’d devised over 10 years ago when I created a business card for babysitting. This has now become my own registered childcare service, that I have managed to take around the world, win an award for, break stereotypes and change the narrative for us men in childcare. I devised the term childcare specialist due to my practice and approach being different to most Mannie’s and Nannies. It’s a mix of all my experiences in different care-based settings and roles imbedded in one. As we all know, you can’t approach every child the same way because they are all individuals, regardless of age, gender or race. Well, I hope you know. Heartfelt approach My practice and approach with children is extremely heartfelt and curated to the child’s individual needs, personality and abilities. When I say heartfelt, I mean, soft, patient, child led and full of love. Which allows me to build healthy bonds with them, allowing them to feel secure and at the same time create a safe space. This is something I think all humans need – animals need it too. I have been privileged enough to be in a position where children can let me into their worlds and spaces and build safe spaces with them, whether it be new-borns, toddlers or teens. I just may have the best job in the world. Being a Manny has enabled me to do this more wholesomely and given me time to reflect on my practice. Reflection allows me to hold space for myself, grow, pour back into myself, and still be able to help these little souls have full cups of joy. Love got me here So yes, my experiences thus far have been nothing less than beautiful, life changing and real. Being a man in this field has also added to my journey. Not everyone has accepted it, but over time that has taught me to accept people and respect their views even if they aren’t aligned with mine. Parents have been totally supportive of me being a male nanny. I have always felt this comes from the passion I share for their children. Love see’s love, and who better to see it than a parent watching their child have secure attachments whilst in a safe space with someone who cares about them as much as they do. I’ve been able to do this while staying professional and building healthy relationships with these families. As for love... If I did not have the right amount of love in me, I wouldn’t be able to put love into what I do. It’s the honest, raw emotion children show that has taught me so much. Being able to embrace my own emotions has helped me to support children to learn theirs over time. That’s me being present and showing up for them. I believe if I can’t do that for myself, I can’t do it for anyone. Children do not need fake love or bad energies around them. Men in childcare Children need to see men be vulnerable and emotionally available. They need to see that men can be soft and that men can deal with emotions, so they grow up having varied experiences that represent the world they are in. It is the same for race. We need to make sure that children are exposed to all cultures regardless of their environment, because representation matters, and children need to see positive representations of all races, especially ones that represent them. Race and gender This makes my position in life and work a unique one: a black male childcare specialist. Let’s normalise this because I know there’s more men out there like me in the industry and world who children could learn from and relate to. This has made my role more important, breaking stereotypes, cultivating change and raising awareness, be it gender equality or race equality…. I say this due to me being the minority in classrooms and the nanny world for both my gender and race. We need the childcare industry to reflect every culture and gender on an equal level. I think this is possible if we all keep trying to change the narrative and stand up for what is right. Our children need to see us doing so - it is paramount for the next generation that we break the silence on both issues and keep up the good fight. We can learn how to do this from children, they don’t judge, they embrace and love one another regardless of gender, race or inequalities, especially at nursery age. I let children lead in play and development because I know we have so much to learn from them. My experience has shown me I need to be in-tune with children, letting them show me what they need and don’t need. As adults, we complicate nearly everything. Let’s take a leaf out of the children’s book and learn to love without condition or premise. This is what Jossy Care is about - fighting gender and race equality via the work I do every day. This journey has been a long one, but the journey continues. Where to find Joss: www.Instagram.com/jossycare www.facebook.com/jossycare2 www.twitter.com/jossycare www.Youtube.com/josssimmonsthebrand www.jossycare.co.uk
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How do I talk about race with children in the Early Years setting?
Jules posted an article in Teaching and Learning
In this current social climate, the subject of race cannot and indeed should not be avoided. There has been an outpouring of cries from Black and allied communities across the world to protest the need to recognise that Black lives matter as much as non-Black lives. The systemic and direct treatment of Black people both here in the UK, and across the pond in the USA, has sent ripples of devastation and there is a distinct sense of mourning and collective trauma as we all look at the state of the world. Localising this collective trauma to the UK means that as a society we cannot afford to ignore the statistics that show that Black and Brown communities have been disproportionately impacted by COVID as well as the MBRRACE-UK Saving Lives, Improving Mothers’ Care report which highlighted that “Black women are five times more likely to die as a result of pregnancy than white women”. These statistics show a deeper fracture with regards to racial inequality than British society would like to admit. With rebuttals such as “All lives matter” and that issues of racism are not as bad as in the U.S, it seems that Black and Brown communities are constantly being gaslighted into believing that everything is in their imagination and that the delineations of what racism actually is have been set by white people who would never have been on the receiving end of this particular type of discrimination. Anti-racism work has had a resurgence and it would seem that since the findings of Sir William Macpherson’s report in 1999 which showed evidence of systemic racism being present in all institutions, namely the Metropolitan police, nothing much has changed. We are still seeing statistics which show a higher proportion of Black men being targeted for stop and search and a higher number of Black people dying in police custody. But how does all of this feed into education, I hear you ask, and more specifically Early Years education? Well what is key to remember here is that the children that we care for are a part of these communities and families. They are impacted by the wider traumas of the societies that they are a part of, and the intersections of where their identities sit mean that the Early Years workforce must be equipped to not only be familiar with these wider issues, but also not shy away from how these things become an integral part of an anti-racist practice that must become embedded within Early Years practice if we are really going to commit to being part of the solution, and not the problem. I am somewhat spirited by what I am seeing by way of dialogue being opened up with regards to anti-racism within the Early Years sector, but I am not under any illusion. There is still an enormous amount of work to be done and many have been doing this work in the sector long before me. As a former nursery manager who worked for sixteen years managing one of three settings owned by my mother who has had her businesses since the late 1980’s, I have first-hand experience witnessing the systemic racism of the local authorities and the regulatory bodies. I recognise that other Black owned nursery settings who came before my mother such as Marcus Garvey Day Nursery which was run by the Harambee Housing Association in Birmingham also had similar experiences. The work of activists, Early Years trainers and scholars such as Dr Stella Louis, Jane Lane, Laura Henry, Professor Iram Siraj OBE, Haki Kapasi and Babette Brown to name a few have done and continue to do “the work”. It is not lost on me that anti-racist work in the Early Years is legacy work which we will not see in our lifetime. I know that the foundations of work done today will pave progress for tomorrow. Over the past 4 months I have developed an online platform utilising the medium of social media, predominantly Instagram. My handle, The Black Nursery Manager has become an extension of my anti-racist training and consultancy business which focuses specifically on the Early Years sector. I have noticed that in that relative short time I have curated nearly 5k followers, predominantly white and predominantly women who are either parents or people who work within the sector. They have been eagerly consuming the content that I provide which ranges from infographics that give guidance about how to make role play spaces more inclusive to reflective quotes which probe for deeper discussions in the comments. The most noticeable measure that I have used to gauge the impact of my work, has been that many of those people are booking on to the webinars I have been creating and delivering over the past 4 months, and the demand and feedback has been incredible. I am able to clearly see that there is a shift happening in the consciousness of white practitioners to want to, in the words of writer Emma Dabiri “ move their allyship into coalition” and implement practical changes in their educational environments to ensure that the antiracist thread is running all the way through the fabric of their practice. One of the most common questions I am asked on my platform is how to open up conversations about race with children under 5, and of course this is very expansive and hinges on a range of factors including what is the race of the child?, what is the race of the adult?, what is the relationship between the two? But for the purposes of the readership of this publication I am going to provide some guidance in the form of 4 tips aimed at white practitioners for pre-school aged children 3 to 4 years old: 1. Children are inquisitive You work with children, so it is no surprise to you that they are inquisitive by nature and they always want to know why? As tiresome as the repetition of this simple question may be, we must equip ourselves with some response and that may be one of two things. A directive for them to go and investigate to find out, for example: Child: “Chloe, is that water warm or cold” Practitioner: “Put your hand in and find out” or it might be: Child: “Chloe, why is your skin pink and my skin’s brown?” At this point what is your response? As a range of things go through your mind it may totally shock you and you become flustered but it is precisely at this point that you must answer this with the ease you would as if it was the question about the temperature of the water and your response must be calm, casual and positive. For example: Practitioner: “Well, in the world there are lots of different skin colours they are all really lovely! Some people are brown, some people are pink, some people are darker brown” And in line with being in the moment I would use this as an opportunity to go to your resources and start an extension activity for expressive arts and design. A simple self portraits activity. We will explore this more in tip 4. 2. Exercise your anti-racist muscles If you, as a white practitioner, are not personally equipped to talk about race then you are not going to be able to bring anything by way of preparation to the setting. Your anti-racist muscle needs to be exercised and this is where your own CPD comes in. Read, read, read and read. There is a range of material that has been produced for you to access as well as courses to attend (my own for a start on the 26th October) but you must be engaged with this material to strengthen your practice. Some of my top recommendations would be How to Be an Antiracist- Ibram X.Kendi The Good Immigrant – Edited by Nikesh Shukla This Book is Anti-Racist – Tiffany Jewell White fragility – Robin Di’Angelo 3. Move away from perfectionism In her book, Me and White Supremacy, Layla F. Saad talks about perfectionism and the desire to always get things right when it comes to talking about race. Do not let your fear of getting things wrong silence you into not having conversations about race, because it is the most dangerous thing to do, especially when it comes to addressing racist incidents. Whether that be with co-workers or between the children, you cannot afford to turn a blind eye because you’re scared of getting it wrong. Here’s a secret…we all get things wrong because we’re human but getting things wrong and being corrected is an integral part of learning. After all this is what we encourage children to do, make mistakes and learn from them. That is the same stance that you must take when it comes to anti-racism, and if a Black or non-Black person of colour corrects you on terminology do not move into a state of fragility, accept it, correct it and move on. 4. Use your resources Inclusive and diverse resources that reflect the society and world that we live in are an integral part of any Early Years environment. Of course, your anti-racist work does not start and end with having a few Black dolls but think carefully about how those Black dolls are played with by the children and observe how often they are selected, think about how you as a practitioner model playing with those dolls. Dr Stella Louis talks about how we must move past noticing and into observing, as noticing is passive and means that we miss the small things that are a big part of how children are making sense of the world. When we observe we pay close attention to the many small things that children do and are able to assist them and extend their learning opportunities based on what we know they are showing us. This is the start of something as a seismic shift is happening within our society. Time has been halted for us to a degree as the lockdown season has forced us to stop and take note. Let us not waste this opportunity in the Early years to be better and do better by those children who need our understanding, advocacy and a real and deep consideration of anti-racist practice. You can sign up to Liz's course, mentioned in the article, following the link here. -
One of our new articles for October, by Liz Pemberton, asks us to think about how we talk about race with young children. Are we prepared for their curiosity? Are we educating ourselves and doing the anti-racist work ourselves so that we can be prepared? Are we ready to keep learning and growing from our own mistakes? The article has links to Liz's course, and recommendations of books to read.
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Welcome Rachel! Mouseketeer is so right about professional judgement - you know your children and this is the key to good observation and recording. In the new Development Matters, published in September, it says to 'think about whether this assessment will be useful' - so are you about to make an observation, or record an assessment, that will help you know that child better, and tell you what experiences they need next to support their development? As we work to add the new Development Matters statements to Tapestry, we are looking to the ethos of this guidance - that it is not a series of statements to tick. Instead, we'll be offering a way of tagging observations with a variety of options, such as the area of learning. This will allow teaching staff to filter and review observations for each child, or group of children, within a given area of interest, eg 'Reading'. You might find it useful to use the tagging feature on Tapestry to highlight certain areas within observations. This tutorial talks you through how you can use this feature. You can also just select the age band rather than tick statements on Tapestry, as Mousketeer mentions. Mouseketeer also says that you will find your own way to use Tapestry that works for you. I think this is very true, so many settings use Tapestry in different ways to suit them and their children. I hope this helps. 😊
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We asked Julian Grenier, author of the new DMs, and Ofsted's Gill Jones and Wendy Ratcliff back to answer some questions asked by Early Adopters. We recorded this as a Q&A podcast. You will hear them discuss assessment, how to evidence children's learning and how to approach your SLT to talk about data gathering. We hope you find it useful. Do let us know what you think, whether it chimes with your thinking, or if you have any other questions.
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About the Role of a SENCo The role of a Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo) is always interesting and impossible to explain succinctly. Everyone has an idea about the role of a teacher but that’s only a small part of a SENCo’s job. The breadth of the role is specific to the school you are in and the needs of your children. Relationships are key to the role (as with teaching) but for a SENCo the reach is wider: you need to develop positive relationships with the children, staff, parents, outside agencies, governors, and leadership teams so that you can achieve and maintain support for children. In the early days I also learned that part of my role was to manage expectations for children, parents and professionals. At this point I have a big confession – I am a rescuer. If I can see a way of making things easier for someone, I will do it. This is how I became so interested in Special Needs. I was fascinated by how I could help this group of children to achieve, to discover their barriers and help to overcome them and to celebrate with them when they did well. However, as SENCo I soon realised people come from many directions. Some staff expected me to teach all the SEND children or to have interventions that removed them from class; some children expected me to be with them all the time and struggled to share that time with others; some parents expected their child to have every intervention possible and to get an EHCP. And I really don't like disappointing people. The biggest part of my job was to develop relationships with our whole school community, to be visible, and to chip away at misconceptions; to deliver workshops and CPD for all staff to explain our provision and my role within it; and all the while continuing to nurture those core relationships. As a rescuer, I find it challenging to maintain a strategic view, but this is a crucial part of the SENCo role. We need to have a clear vision for SEND children in our schools. This means having an overview of the interventions in place and their impact; monitoring progress of individuals; maintaining the SEND register so that we can target the interventions effectively; having oversight of the budget; planning professional development around SEND; providing progress data and analysis to the Local Authority and Governors (and OfSTED when they visit); keeping up to date with statutory paperwork and making all the necessary referrals; supporting teachers to implement programmes or recommendations from outside agencies; and developing consistent transition routines for our vulnerable children. It is a broad and varied role, which is why it is important to maintain that strategic view for your school. There are also the hands-on and practical elements: supporting colleagues with specific needs; ensuring the ‘assess, plan, do, review’ process is happening; working with parents and staff to make EHCP applications; responding within timescales to consultations; liaising with parents and providing support for parents; liaising with outside agencies; being in the playground to meet and greet children and provide soft starts to manage transitions; leading small interventions and assessments: maintaining the staff appraisals process for support staff; ensuring there are consistent visuals being used across the school; and providing SEMH support (THRIVE) for children and staff. Since 2014, SENCos are required to hold a professional MA level qualification, involving research and two academic papers, which I completed in March. That’s how my role looked before March 2020. What happened in Lockdown? In 48 hours, this was all turned on its head. Face to face relationships with outside agencies, each of them reeling from the changes, were now conducted at arm's-length through phone calls/ virtual meetings. These agencies took the opportunity to catch up on report writing and send them to me, and I learned how to ‘Zoom’ and ’Skype’ so that meetings with the Local Authority could still go ahead and new EHCPs could be issued. I phoned and emailed children and families, inviting them in as part of our vulnerable group and planning the additional support they would need. I completed risk assessments for children in school or at home and provided information to the Local Authority and DfE on which children were attending and what actions we were taking to encourage those who weren’t. I continued to write referrals and collated information on any Mental Health and Wellbeing support available to parents, posting it on our website and emailing it to families. I responded to emails from parents, many of whom were experiencing high anxiety and finding the situation very challenging, offering them daily support. I worked with SLT to coordinate the staff team effort to stay connected to our children using video and postcards. With some vulnerable and Key Worker children in school, we covered staff breaks, did the admin in the absence of office staff, staying open over the holidays so there was provision in place for the children who needed it. Parents, children, and staff were scared. My role was to reassure, to let them know ‘we are still here’ and offer consistent, calm support. As we welcomed more children back to school, I was involved in the planning of the additional safeguards, routines and signs for everyone to follow. We set up the school during the May half term to ensure everything was ready for the increasing number of children and staff on site. Our staff have been amazing, and my Head and Deputy have been strong and supportive in their relentless determination to do the best we can for our children. Our Deputy learned how to set up a blog for our school community and we all learned to ‘Loom’ to put the content on so children could see us and stay connected. The announcement of the wider opening brought its own challenges. It raised expectations of parents, who are living in challenging circumstances, with their SEND children at home. Despite everything we had done, some parents were frustrated when we couldn’t meet their expectations. Not all schools were able to open to Yr6, Yr1 and Reception and Nursery children and meet the social distancing guidelines. Some parents were anxious and didn’t want their children to attend, and some parents were simply exhausted and needed to vent. For many families, the pandemic has highlighted the lack of resources in SEND nationally and they needed someone to talk to. But there were some truly golden moments: children who flourished in the small group situation in school, parents who really appreciated how hard our staff were working; ‘Kindness photos’ sent in by families to cheer people up; sometimes just the cheery waves and smiles from everyone in school as they navigated the madness. September 2020 and beyond... Although it has been a steep learning curve, we were in a good position for September. We had to think creatively about our transition processes. We sent photos, inviting children (who weren’t attending) in after school to have a tour of the school and see all the changes and posting welcome videos from new teachers. More was done in the week before the children returned to nurture those relationships. Whole school opening brings its own risks because of the number of people on site. However, we have developed plans in line with guidance, including staggered starts, ends and breaks. Cleaning regimes were all in place for term 6 so this is becoming the norm for staff, and more children will become involved. It will be a team effort, and our whole school community will need to work together to keep each other safe. Communication will continue to be vital in managing the emotions of families, which range from thinking all the safeguards are ridiculous to wanting really strict safeguards in place. The most important part of welcoming our children back is making sure they feel safe. We know they won’t be able to learn without this. This is particularly important for our children with SEND who may communicate their fears in very different ways, and our team are alert to this and focused on wellbeing. Children need space to air their worries and experiences in their own way when they are ready. My team and I are in the playground in the mornings and provide soft starts for those who need it. I am also maintaining contact with children who are not able to return. We now have an established online system and we post weekly videos for those children based around THRIVE activities. Creativity and gratitude are so important to the recovery process for the whole school community. We have a real opportunity to continue to build on the relationships we had to nurture in different ways during lockdown. We know we can adapt and rise to the occasion. The Autumn term will be busy, but never dull!
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Labels are certainly useful. Baking a chocolate cake would be slightly hazardous if we did not know which tin contained the cocoa powder and which one the gravy browning. The results could be deadly if the local pharmacy received all their drugs in unlabelled boxes. Labels can be very powerful, especially when linked to clever marketing. It always fascinates me that some young children who show no interest in text or any signs of readiness for reading can often recognise words such as McDonalds or Tesco. Labels can be dangerous. As adults we often trust sources of information when they have particular labels on them and this can lead to trouble when these labels are used by fraudsters. Labels can be mysterious. How often do we long to see what is behind the fence of an area labelled keep out? How much do we long to know the content of a letter or document which is marked strictly confidential? Labels can be life-saving. None of us would readily open a container labelled as hazardous waste. It keeps us safe to have a swimming pool labelled at points with its depth. Labels can be comforting. Many of us stick for years to the same tried and tested brands and panic when they are no longer available. It can raise our confidence levels at an event to be wearing a particular brand of clothing that we think suits us. Labels are, of course, linked to our use of language and are very influential. From professionally created brand names to the everyday use of adjectives, labels can shape how we use and think about things. Think about a street where two families live next door to a household with three large dogs. On one side the adults describe them as ‘lovely dogs’ and are happy to let their children stroke them and throw toys for them to retrieve. The neighbours on the other side have little experience of dogs and they tell their young children to keep away from the ‘scary dogs’. The young children of that family are nervous about walking past the house and cower when the dogs start barking. Both families are describing the same dogs, but the children will grow up with different views not just of their neighbours’ dogs, but very possibly of all dogs well into their lifetime. Labels, however, are not only applied to objects but very often are applied to people – sometimes by themselves and sometimes by others. Sometimes these labels are applied intentionally and sometimes unintentionally but they will influence how others perceive us and how we feel about ourselves. Labels can improve our self-confidence or can weigh us down with depressing baggage. Those of us who work with young children need to bear this in mind on a daily basis. Young children are impressionable and some of the ways we think about ourselves as children are extremely difficult to reframe as we get older. It is very easy to inadvertently label children as we speak to colleagues and, while we may not apply this labelling directly with children, it will impact the way we work as a team, communicating with them and their families. Whilst it is important to be careful about the language we use with and in front of children, we are also in a position where we can encourage them to take on positive labels for themselves and discourage them from taking on board the negative. As children we would recite the old adage, ‘sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me’, but I think we all realised, deep down, that this was not true. It is misleading and we should never under-estimate the effect that words can have. One of the labels that I carried around for a very long time was ‘accident prone’. It still follows me today, just a few weeks ago on a family walk my mother was trying to make my son feel better about breaking something by telling him how many cups and glasses I broke as a child. As I developed through adulthood I gradually began to realise that this was something that did not really define me. The label had led to the idea becoming a self-fulfilling prophesy. I began to understand that small accidents and incidents that would have been forgotten if they happened to someone else began to become part of my story and narrative that backed up the ‘clumsy’ label. As an educationalist I came to understand that all children can have periods of clumsiness as they grow and develop through different phases. As an adult I wasn’t particularly prone to breaking things and could work, decorate, sew and play sports with adequate control and dexterity. I would like to point out that this label was never applied to me in a cruel way and was part of humorous family conversations. However, I do think that on reflection, there are things that I am slightly hesitant about carrying out and things I am nervous about handling because of the long term impact of being labelled ‘accident prone’. On the other hand, there have been times when I have used this part of my narrative to my advantage in training or social situations. When I have needed an amusing anecdote about myself, it has come in handy to quickly be able to recall when I fell in a coal hole, almost sunk a boat and accidently drilled a hole in the classroom table! I am concerned at some of the labels that are being used for children and young people in the current crisis. I am worried that being described as the “Covid generation’, the generation who need to ‘catch up’, or the group who ‘missed school’ will impact on how they perceive themselves as learners. I am not saying that the pandemic has not had a detrimental impact on the education of our young, but I am certain that, with the right support, the experience of these past few months does not need to define who they are and what they can achieve. We somehow need to help them to look at what potential they have and not focus solely on what they have missed. We need to find a rhetoric which motivates them to identify and seize the possibilities and opportunities in life. Using appropriate labels to describe groups of children and learners has always been problematic, precisely because we want to avoid a situation where it leads to them feeling like they have failed in some way or are not as successful as others in their peer group. Terms such as ‘remedial’ and ‘lower set’ have been replaced with phrases such as ‘catch up’, ‘closing the gap’ and ‘support groups’. Nonetheless, I think we need to ask ourselves constantly whether the language we are using is still suitable. In the early years many of us have used the term ‘emerging’ rather than ‘below expected’ because it feels kinder and indicates that progress is being made. However, after a while any phrase begins to carry with it connotations, and we need to re-evaluate the words we use on a regular basis. In my view, the standards agenda that has been prominent in our education system has led to an increase in negative labelling. Testing and measuring at the level that currently happens encourages competition and leaves us trying to find ways to describe those who are reaching goals and those who are not. As the EYFS undergoes reform, I very much welcome the move back to trusting professional judgement and the move away from reliance on data driven assessment. This will take time to embed, and practitioners will need opportunities for excellent professional development to build both their understanding of child development and confidence in their own judgements. It is my great hope that the early years sector will become awash with professionals who are experts in observational assessment and who are able to identify the amazing things that all children can do. On reflection, whilst the use of appropriate and positive language matters greatly, it is not going to make a difference on its own. With a real change of viewpoint and approach we can give all children the support needed to achieve, not by looking at what they can’t do, but by looking at each individual and recognising their differing strengths and starting points. We can then build on what children know and introduce them to new ideas, skills and knowledge in a timely manner which is appropriate to their own rate of growth and development. Surely, this could put us in a position where we are not spending as much effort struggling to find words or phrases to label those who do not meet the requirements of the standard norm and instead dedicate that time to truly enriching the lives and educational experience of this ‘covid capable-generation’. Leslie Patterson Educational Consultant Finding the Magic in the Early Years
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Hi millhill, Helen, Director and co-founder of Tapestry, has written an article about the opportunity for change provided by new ELGs and new DMs. Thank you for giving some more feedback about how you would like to see the new DMs added to Tapestry. I've included this in our collection of responses to feed into our discussions about how to do this. It really is helpful to hear all the different thoughts that educators have. Following discussions with the education team, the Tapestry developers are busy working on this. We appreciate that users are keen to have something to work with as soon as possible. Once we have added them, we will let everyone know, in our newsletters, as well as on our social media platforms. Take care.
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Remote Learning For Reception Children
Jules replied to MrsWatts's topic in Practice and Provision: General issues
Hi MrsWatts, and welcome to the FSF! I'm not currently teaching (although I have been a Reception teacher) and I appreciate the challenges being faced by teachers now. I wanted to point you in the direction of the infographics page on Tapestry.info. These are activity suggestions based on the Prime and Specific Areas of Learning, created by the education team here and designed specifically for parents to access at home, using what they have around them. We began making them during Lockdown, so there is quite a library now, and we are continuing with monthly ones from now on. They are pitched roughly at pre-school, but lots of the activities on each infographic have suggestions for those at a later (or earlier) stage of development. You can send these to families at home via Tapestry or whatever communication platform you're using, and encourage them to have a go, and record using photos, or whatever method they have available to them - and you could then print any learning they share. The point that you make about lots of families not having a printer is a really important one. Equality of provision is key - and also incredibly challenging to provide when faced with on and off home learning. I hope you find a solution for the children in your class. -
Vodcast about the new Development Matters
Jules replied to Jules's topic in Foundation Stage Forum News
Hi LKeyteach - sounds like you are approaching the new DMs just right, having a read through and thinking about it now, in preparation for using it next year. I completely understand this enormous challenge - knowing that good quality CPD is needed but struggling to fund it. And as you say, it isn't just the cost of the course, but potential cover back at base. There's a recent article on the FSF by early years consultant and trainer Jenny Barber which is about CPD. I'm linking it here in case it is helpful. We're also hoping Jenny will do a podcast with us soon - so watch out for that one. Take care. -
Points progress explained
Jules replied to VanessaBrooks's topic in Practice and Provision: General issues
Hi and welcome to Tapestry and to the FSF! You'll find lots of advice and people to share stories and ideas with here. I thought I would link you to the Tapestry tutorial for the points progress screen. The scores you see on this page are calculated as the number of 'jumps' between age bands and/or refinements a child has made between the two terms you have chosen to compare. For example if a child moves from 30-50 Emerging to 30-50 Developing, this would be a points progress score of +1. The tutorial has some screen shots in it which explain it a bit better! Please pop back if you have any other questions - or do also message the support team at customer.service@eyfs.info 😊 -
Happy to oblige finleysmaid! And Panders, you ARE perfect! Happy Friday!
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Ahhh yes, only being able to access something like Reflections via the browser does make it tricky if staff tend to use the app version. Adding things to the app is always on the list for Tapestry. In the meantime, having a false child is a very clever way to go! 😊
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If you would like to know more about the new Development Matters then do watch this vodcast. You will see a short presentation by Dr Julian Grenier who led on the new DMs. He shares the ethos behind it and how it can support early years educators. You can use this discussion area to unpack the vodcast, share your thoughts and ask some more questions.
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Whilst Deputy Head teacher at Cherry Garden School, for children aged 2-11 with complex support needs, I coordinated the creation of a new approach to assessment in the school. One of the keys to the new concept was that everyone working with the children in the school should have a solid understanding of early child development. The caveat to this is that when working with children with learning differences, we hold in mind that they don't necessarily learn skills in the same way as neurotypical children - it is very important that we are aware of this. We produced a one page ‘Branch Map’ for each of our curriculum areas (in line with the areas of learning from the EYFS). These maps gave our staff an opportunity to quickly assess a child’s current learning level, as well as guide the setting of appropriate next steps. They looked like this: The maps were organised into up to ten branches which corresponded to typically developing ages in months: The different colours on each map denoted ‘strands’. So, in our combined CLL map the strands were: · Language and Communication · Attention and Understanding · Reading · Writing The maps took 2 years to develop and we involved the whole school team in tweaking and improving them over this time. Once introduced, we felt that the maps had a significant impact on the way that we approached planning and assessment in the school, and ultimately the process felt altogether more child centred. There was no expectation that a child would develop in a typical linear fashion. Each child’s map could look entirely different from their peers – but the knowledge of early child development would help all our teachers and support staff in their practice. Once we had completed the six main Maps, we began work on some ‘supplementary’ maps linked to communication books, symbol exchange, transitions, and the MOVE programme. These were all ideal considering the approaches we used in the school. Whilst working at Cherry Garden School I had floated the idea of a ‘Play Development’ Branch Map to run alongside the others, but it is only in recent months that I’ve had the opportunity to create it. The concept of the Play Map isn’t necessarily for assessment or for setting next steps – the intention is to inform practitioners. Just as a knowledge of early child development supports educators who are working with children with learning differences and disabilities, so an understanding of different stages of play and the order in which play generally develops informs and scaffolds provision. It is crucial to be aware that the milestones in the document may not be appropriate for all learners - not all children play in the same way, and we must ensure that all play is valued and recognised. The branches on the Play Map correspond to the same stages of development as those pictured above. I would be really interested to hear feedback on this document, as I would like it to be as helpful as possible. There were several drafts and tweaks made along the way and I’m sure there might be differing opinions on where certain milestones have been placed - as we know, child development is not an exact science. If you do have any suggestions for improvements, please email me: stephen@eyfs.info and I will consider any comments! You can download the pdf of the Play Development Branch Map below: Play Development Branch Map Final.pdf
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In my experience, one of the most significant mistakes we can make when teaching ‘mathematical’ concepts to our youngest children is to push forward with counting before a child is ready. This can be even more profound if a child has additional support needs, and it can be magnified further if the process is formalised and children are expected to evidence their knowledge on paper. Although ‘Mathematical Development’ is an appropriate term for early thinking and problem-solving skills, I prefer to label this area ‘Cognition’. I think it helps practitioners working with our youngest children or those with additional support needs to consider more than just counting in their setting. Mistakes aren’t exclusive to number – on one standout visit to a nursery I was surprised to see that a pre-verbal three year old, who was yet to show any interest in other adults or children in his setting, was sat at a ‘workstation’ completing an inset puzzle hand over hand. To be fair to the setting, they were just following the advice of an advisor. In the first year of a child’s life, or for a child with significant additional support needs, it is my belief that treasure baskets are a great place to start. These baskets are collections of (preferably) natural materials that aim to fully engage a child’s senses. Babies benefit hugely from handling, sucking, shaking and banging these objects – which in turn helps them to learn about weight, size, shape, texture, sound and smell. The key to a successful treasure basket is to stimulate the child’s curiosity – here’s some examples of items that you might want to include (it’s important that you consider your actual basket carefully as well – natural, sturdy, flat bottomed): · Pine cones · Spoons · Small rolling pins · Wooden egg cups · Natural loofahs · Curtain rings · Pastry brushes · Cotton reels As with any area of teaching and learning, it’s very important to reflect on what is working well with the basket and which items are particularly interesting to your child. Refresh the basket regularly and adapt it to best suit the needs of your little one. It should be easy enough to find appropriate items for your baskets when you’re out and about (forest and beach walks can be ideal). Shops that sell items you might use in the kitchen or even hardware shops can be great too. If you prefer, there are companies who put together baskets for you – one company I’ve used is Sensory Treasures (https://sensorytreasures.co.uk/) – they asked about the type of items I was looking for and made me up a personalised basket for my baby – which she loved. If you’re considering using treasure baskets with children with physical support needs you will need to think about access. It might be hard for the child to lift their hands over the rim of the basket and into it to explore – it could be that you look for baskets that aren’t so deep, or even have one edge lower than the others. Heuristic play is a concept that links closely with treasure baskets and was a term coined by child psychologist Elinor Goldschmeid, in the 1980's. It describes the activity of babies and children as they play with and explore the properties of 'objects' from the real world. It is brilliant for developing creativity and expression but also develops ‘thinking’ skills that are crucial in early maths. As an added bonus, it helps in developing those all-important fine motor skills. It is likely that some of the items you would use in a treasure basket might also feature in a set of heuristic play objects. Try to have increased quantities of individual objects – so several corks, or a set of curtain rings. With heuristic play it is also useful to add some containers and larger objects to increase the creative possibilities. These might include: · Cardboard tubes · Mug trees · Metal bowls · Muffin tins These larger objects give children the opportunity to start considering a very important concept – ‘One to One Correspondence’. This concept can often be the bit that’s missing if your child is struggling to grasp counting later on. It is the ability to match one object to one other object or person. A good indication that a child has understanding of one to one correspondence further down the line is that they touch each item only once when counting them (matching each item with a numeral). There are a variety of play opportunities that provide children with a chance to practice this. Egg boxes or muffin trays are perfect – putting one item in each of the sections. Mug trees are also great – hanging one curtain ring on each branch, or not – whatever takes your child’s fancy! There are lots of other engaging opportunities to think about one to one correspondence in day to day life. The majority of young children love to ‘help’ with jobs, and a great one for supporting early maths concepts is setting the table. 1. Each chair needs one table mat in front of it 2. Each mat needs one fork on it 3. Each fork needs one knife with it 4. Each mat needs one glass on it 5. Each glass needs one (biodegradable!) straw in it……. Baking is also a brilliant opportunity for considering one to one correspondence – each space in the muffin tin needs a cake holder. Each cake holder needs a dollop of mixture. Once the cakes are out of the oven – each cake needs a cherry on top. Activities like these are good for establishing an understanding of something that’s vitally important – the meaning of one. If a child doesn’t understand what one means then there is little point in even considering trying to teach what two, three, four and five are all about. A useful way to address this is to provide opportunities for children to make choices between ‘one’ and ‘lots’. Rightly or wrongly this type of thing works particularly well at snack time! It might be raisins, or segments of an orange, or slices of apple. I’ll leave it to you to consider more motivating choices if your child isn’t a fruit lover! There are obviously also lots of opportunities during play sessions – loose parts play is perfect – as always, I’d advise considering as natural an approach as possible. Shells, pebbles, conkers, acorns, pine cones, corks…. the list is endless. Selections of containers that look and sound different will be helpful – metallic pans/colanders are ideal. I’ll finish by sounding a word of warning: don’t get too hung up on ‘testing’ your child’s understanding of these early mathematical concepts - let them play! Your use of developmentally appropriate mathematical language and the way that you play and explore yourself will be just what’s needed. They will show you that they understand when they are ready – and then you’ll know it’s time for the next step.
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What is the MOVE Programme? The MOVE Programme (MOVE) is an activity-based framework that that uses the collaborative approach of education, therapy and family knowledge to teach disabled children the skills of sitting, standing and walking. Started in the 1980s by a US special needs teacher, MOVE has a 40 year history of raising expectations and improving quality of life for disabled children. In the UK and across Europe, the programme is coordinated by the charity MOVE Europe. MOVE is built around 6 steps that are used in all aspects of a child’s life, throughout their day, by all of the people that work and live with them. The 6 steps of MOVE 1. Assessment - What skills does the individual already have? 2. Goal Setting - What achievements would make the biggest difference to their life? 3. Task Analysis - What skills are needed to get there? 4. Measuring Prompts - What support is needed now? What equipment do they need? 5. Adjusting Prompts - How will we reduce the support to achieve the goal? 6. Teaching the Skills - How do we incorporate practices into everything the individual does? This collaborative approach allows the MOVE team to work together to integrate the child’s goals into their daily activities. By providing regular opportunities for skills practice, MOVE enables disabled children to achieve mobility goals that have a profound positive impact on individual quality of life as well as family life. The child and their family are always placed at the centre of MOVE and it is their goals that are worked towards. Visual overview of the collaborative approach, with the child and their family at the centre – based on a school setting Who uses it? 1,050 children in over 120 settings are currently using MOVE in the UK with thousands more benefitting from the MOVE ethos. MOVE Europe delivers training and provides ongoing support to early years settings, mainstream and special schools as well as physiotherapy teams and Health Boards. We work closely with the organisations we train to achieve the best possible outcomes for the disabled individuals using MOVE, and we receive some amazing feedback: “Our pupils are more proactive, confident and social because of the MOVE Programme.” – Class Teacher, London “MOVE makes a huge difference to our students’ mobility, behaviour, access to community and family life.” – Physiotherapist, Edinburgh “MOVE provides a variety of different opportunities to learn valuable skills and reach personal goals.” – Therapy Assistant, Derby How do we know it works? Published research literature supports the effectiveness of MOVE (see details at the end of this article) but we also regularly receive stories from schools and parents that show the real impact that MOVE has on disabled children and their families. Here, Jo shares the MOVE story of her 6 year-old daughter Milly, who has Downs Syndrome, faltering growth and a visual impairment: “Before Milly started on the MOVE Programme, her overall mobility was very limited; she couldn’t walk unaided, she could only stand for a few seconds and her muscle tone was very poor. Reaching basic milestones was challenging and we weren’t sure if she would ever walk or stand properly. However, once Milly began MOVE, we instantly saw a dramatic change, not only in her posture and strength, but also her muscle development. Most of all her confidence grew, which gave her the ability to learn, play and interact with her sisters at home and her peers at school. I can honestly say every moment of every milestone has been overwhelming. In all aspects of her life, Milly has gained so much from MOVE; from being able to sit and be seated, to walk with support, then walk unaided, and now moving onto stairs & steps. Milly can walk into school, walk out in the Christmas play and she loves the fact that she can do it! She is now a more vocal and independent child. I cannot begin to express how much this has positively impacted our lives; it’s something that we thought may not have been within our reach. It seems so easy to say eventually it would happen, but for us it was uncertain and we were fearful of not having the right help and direction. Of course, we do our best as parents at home, but the using the MOVE Programme at school is the reason our daughter is able to be free in life, music and movement.” Cherry Garden School have also shared this amazing MOVE story video with us. Watch Ibrahim’s amazing progress to independent walking: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sp0ogt9_lOY For more MOVE stories, check out our website linked below! How can you get involved? At MOVE Europe, we are committed to improving the lives of disabled children through learning independent movement. If you would like to experience the benefits of bringing MOVE to your organisation, please get in contact with us on move@enhamtrust.org.uk. Additionally, you can find more information on our website: https://www.enhamtrust.org.uk/move, Twitter (@MOVEprogramme) and Facebook (/MOVEprogramme). Here at the FSF and Tapestry, our SEND Advisor Stephen Kilgour is pleased to announce that Tapestry are going to be adding a brand new MOVE Branch Map to their Cherry Garden Assessment Framework. The Branch Maps provide a flexible, child centred approach to assessing children's progress, and allow for linear as well as lateral progress to be celebrated. The MOVE Branch Map was developed by Cherry Garden School which is an Outstanding school for children with complex learning needs in the London Borough of Southwark. The school have been using the tool within Tapestry to evidence and demonstrate the amazing progress that their children have made, and now MOVE would like other settings to benefit from the work that has taken place. If you would like the MOVE Branch Map turned on for your setting, you will first need to contact MOVE who can then inform Tapestry that you are a MOVE setting.
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Makaton is increasingly being used in Early Years settings across the country. ‘Something Special’ on CBeebies helped to bring the language program to the mainstream when it began in 2003, and it has increased in popularity ever since. Makaton was developed way back in 1972 when Margaret Walker conducted research which led to the design of the Makaton Core Vocabulary. One question I have often heard asked is ‘what is the difference between Makaton and Sign Language?’. Annette Butler (2018) summarises this well: “Makaton is designed to be used to support spoken language... Makaton is often used alongside speech to help aid children and adults with communication. It is common for people to eventually stop using signs as their speech develops. British Sign Language (BSL) is a language with its own structure and grammar and uses hand signs, body language, facial expression and lip patterns. It is the language used by the deaf community in the UK and, as with any spoken language, is constantly evolving. The signs used in Makaton are taken from Sign Language and, as Sign Language differs from country to country, so does Makaton. However, unlike Sign Language which has regional variations and dialects, the signs for Makaton will be the same throughout the country.” The thing about Makaton that always seems so effective to me is that it provides further scaffold in a child’s journey to formal verbal communication. When a child is learning new words, whether that child is typically developing or not, additional support like a picture or photograph can be so helpful (think flash cards). Makaton is a different, highly portable way of providing an additional ‘visual cue’ to a child. It is such an effective method that many parents of young babies now attend ‘baby sign’ classes to enable more effective communication and understanding. In my role as a SEND Advisor, I visit mainstream nurseries and reception classes in the North East of England and it now seems to be more common for teachers to be using Makaton with their entire group. This has sometimes been triggered by a child who has additional support needs joining the class, or possibly this was the trigger last year, but the school have decided it is valuable to continue with the approach. The children in the groups I have visited who are using Makaton seem so engaged and enthused by the addition of the approach, and it helps them to communicate more effectively with peers who have speech and language support needs. As the Makaton signs have a lot of commonality with British Sign Language, it is also a highly valuable life skill to know some key words. So far, so good, but here’s my personal issue: I’m just not very good at it! I worked in a specialist school for children with learning differences and disabilities for 11 years, but for the entirety of my time there I was the butt of everyone’s jokes when it came to my signing (especially as for 7 of those years I was the Deputy Head!). I dreaded learning the annual Christmas song in our whole school staff meetings as the entire school would tend to focus on my lack of ability and chuckle their way through November and December. I received as much training as anyone else, participated in countless refreshers, watched my expert colleagues, but I always ended up feeling a bit useless at it! I have pretty much always been comfortable with the basics, I know all the letters so that I can greet any of the children, and am confident with your pleases, thank yous, good mornings and sorrys (usually reserved for apologising to teachers through windows when I was dragging a member of their team away to cover elsewhere!). But I am open to a bit of self-reflection, so here are the reasons why I think I am not the world’s greatest Makaton signer: · As with any area of learning, some people take to things better than others. My most challenging subjects when I was at school were always the languages (including English!). I have always felt much more comfortable with learning (and teaching) Maths and Sciences. · The old adage ‘use it or lose it’ is very relevant when it comes to Makaton. In my first few years as a teacher in a specialist school I didn’t incorporate enough Makaton signing into my classroom. I was generally teaching in classes with very active, autistic children with significant learning differences. I focused most of my time on symbol exchange and rightly or wrongly considered that Makaton wasn’t as high a priority for my learners. Once I became Deputy Head teacher I spent much less time with the children on a day to day basis and this also affected the regularity of my signing. The best advice I can give to people who feel in a similar situation is to try to make the learning of Makaton as fun as possible. In the last few years at my school, our refreshers were generally themed, so we’d have quizzes and competitions that were often very competitive, and therefore usually hilarious too. This different approach helped me to see that I knew more than I realised, and the sessions themselves were memorable so I absorbed more of the new signs I was learning. If you are committed to using Makaton in your setting, I would recommend looking out for any Level 1 training that is taking place in your area. This is usually a one day course that covers the first two stages of vocabulary. If you are just wanting to dip your toe in the water to start with, then there are so many handy resources online. You could visit the Makaton website: https://www.makaton.org/ Or take a look at their YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/makatoncharity . The beauty of the approach is that even if you aim to learn one new sign a day, you will add to your communication skill set significantly. A great way to introduce Makaton to children is through songs. Singing Hands are a duo who have lots of videos of familiar songs and nursery rhymes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/SingingHandsUK . And they'll even come and perform at your setting if you get in touch with them.
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Relatively soon after I started working at Cherry Garden School, in approximately 2009, we had an INSET day with a focus on Intensive Interaction. Dave Hewitt OBE (then just plain old Dave) came to deliver the training and tell us about the approach he and his team developed in the 1980s whilst he was Principal of a school for children with complex support needs. I was instantly struck by the simplicity of the approach and it was at this point that I began to think more about how working with children with additional support needs, and the need for a sound understanding of typical development in very young children, go hand in hand. The concept is based on the interactions that typically take place between a mother or father and a baby in the first 12 months of a child’s life. New parents don’t often attend training on how to interact with their new arrival, it is something that comes very naturally and invariably isn’t even considered as something special. If a baby gives eye contact, we naturally smile and attempt to prolong the engagement. If a baby makes a cooing sound, we make that sound back. If they then respond further, we continue to copy their sounds in an effort to establish turn taking. These simple, and usually unconsidered actions from a parent/carer, are hugely important building blocks for future, more formal, methods of communication. If you consider the expectations for an ‘adult’ conversation, they are based on the same principles as those we start learning in the first few months of our lives: we look at a person when we’re talking to them, preferably making eye contact; we listen and respond once the other person has finished talking; we show engagement in what is being said; and we use facial expressions and gestures to embellish our spoken word. The thinking behind the Intensive Interaction approach is that children with particular additional support needs may well have missed some of these key milestones in the development of their communication skills. Some children might be very withdrawn and show little interest in other people. To the child, other people may not seem useful or interesting. It is the role of the communication partner to become as interesting, engaging and useful as possible. To do this, it is necessary to draw on the natural skills that the vast majority of us possess and to communicate with the child on a level that is appropriate to them. Just as with a young baby, this often starts with adjusting your proximity to the child and mimicking some of their sounds or gestures. The intention here is to grasp a child’s attention. I particularly like the analogy of becoming the perfect ‘cause and effect’ toy. We need to consider how we can become the most interesting ‘object’ in the room. In my experience, Intensive Interaction can be an amazing tool to use, and at Cherry Garden School, we would often film a ‘session’ at the start of the school year and then again in January. The difference in the child in the second video was invariably significant. The child would show more interest in the adult and their faces would be so much more animated and happier. The beauty of the approach is that it can take place anywhere, and the only required resource is yourself. Often the best interactions can take place at the times you would least expect to see ‘learning’, for example whilst getting changed in the bathroom (changing times are a particularly great time to observe interactions between a parent/carer and baby – the positioning allows for amazing eye contact and playfulness). It is important to say that Intensive Interaction isn’t for every child. Children who are wrongly considered to have profound learning differences because of a significant physical need can find the approach patronising. Other children may dislike having their sounds and actions imitated, although from my experience of working with children with complex additional support needs, this is very rare. The other point to note is that newer staff members can sometimes find it challenging to remove their inhibitions and be truly playful and childlike with a pupil in a classroom environment. This invariably passes with time, especially when they see the new responses and interest they are gaining from the child in question. To summarise, I would highly recommend that any nursery/school practitioners who are working with children with significant learning differences take the time to consider using this approach. I would also advocate staff members spending as much time as possible considering developmental milestones that young children typically meet and in which order. To have this knowledge can be very powerful and can support educators in finding gaps in learning as well as setting appropriate next steps. The Cherry Garden Branch Maps for CLL and Mathematical Development may prove useful in this regard, and are free to download here. The first 12 months are covered in Branches 1-3. For more information on Intensive Interaction, you can visit their website.
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What are the Cherry Garden Branch Maps? A new assessment tool developed by the namesake school (an outstanding specialist school in London for children with severe and complex support needs). The maps organise key milestones that you would expect to find in a typically developing child from birth to 5 years, with additional bridging branch maps for a level expected in Year 1. The aim is to provide practitioners with a straightforward overview of a child’s current level and support them to set appropriate next steps. What makes them different to existing assessment models? The maps are intended to be child-centred documents that allow for a flexible approach to assessment – moving away from previous models where the expectation would be that a child makes typical ‘linear’ progress. A child’s learning journey can follow its own unique path, and the straightforward organisation of milestones means that adults can see if a child has missed a key step that is holding them back from moving forward. How can using the Branch Maps enhance parental engagement? Cherry Garden School’s initial concept for their assessment system was for an interactive Cherry Orchard that parents/carers could explore to investigate the learning of their child. Once they had completed the writing of the developmental documents, they joined forces with Tapestry to make this idea a reality. Tapestry have brought the concept to life, creating an attractive, interactive orchard that shows multimedia evidence of a child’s learning. How does the Cherry Orchard show progress to parents? There are two key visualisations in the Orchard. For a child whose support needs are less complex/severe, their cherry tree grows and leaves are added as they secure understanding. A parent can click on leaves to see evidence of learning. The tool allows a user to take snapshots at any time to make comparisons in the future. A child will have their own learning tree for each main curriculum area. What about progress for children with the most profound needs? The second visualisation type in the Orchard is a flower. The flower’s interactive petals grow as a child gains understanding, but they also deepen in colour as a child generalises skills. It is important for learners with the most significant support needs that we celebrate this ‘lateral’ progress and help parents to understand the learning that has taken place. A parent can click on a petal to see evidence of learning. Summary The Cherry Garden Branch Maps from Tapestry provide schools with a child centred, flexible approach to assessing children with learning differences, which is proven to enhance parental engagement in a child’s learning. They: · Provide teachers/support staff with key milestones in typically developing young children. · Demonstrate not only linear but also lateral progress – perfect for children with complex support needs. · Enable parents to explore and understand their child’s learning through a unique Cherry Orchard visualisation. If you are a setting that uses Tapestry then you can enable the Cherry Garden framework by following this tutorial. There are also tutorials on the Cherry Garden Orchard, Strand Scores, Cherry Garden Term Progress, and Cherry Garden Targets Progress. For any further tutorials, take a look at our Tutorials Page. You can download the Branch Maps free of charge from the links below: The branch maps must not be used for commercial purposes or included in digital software other than Tapestry. Copyright remains with Cherry Garden School and The Foundation Stage Forum. PSED Branch Map Feb 2022.pd CLL Branch Map Feb 22.pdf CLL and English Bridging Map Feb 2022.pdf MD Branch Map Feb 22.pdf Mathematical Development Bridging Map Feb 2022.pdf PD Branch Map Feb 2022.pdf UW Branch Map Feb 2022.pdf EAD Branch Map Feb 2022.pdf Communication Book Branch Map Feb 2022.pdf Symbol Exchange Branch Map Feb 2022.pdf Transition Branch Map Feb 2022.pdf This document shows how the Branch Maps correlate with the EYFS and P Scales: Cherry Garden Branch Map Assessments Conversions.docx