Jules

This is the second of two articles about one nursery's experience of an Ofsted inspection with the new framework. You can read part one here, which explains the preparations being made by the team in their daily practice and discussions, leading up to the moment the phone call came at 12.20 on a Wednesday lunchtime early in the Spring Term. This is where we rejoin Rebecca and her team! Pre inspection afternoon The management team took time to complete a full ‘walk through’ the nursery – front to back, inside and outside. We had a close eye on presentation and took the opportunity to clear away/tidy extraneous items. First impressions count and we knew that we would be quizzed on everything we had ‘out’ in the nursery, so we made sure everything was in the right place and ready to go. We checked that all our statutory documents were securely displayed (Ofsted cert, insurance docs). We didn’t want to risk a breach of requirements due to poor Sellotape! All staff were able to review their key children’s records making sure they had important details to hand. This was mostly an exercise in reassurance, giving staff the opportunity to have ‘on paper’ what they generally keep in their head in case their mind went blank when they were nervous. As manager, I downloaded a few of the tracking screens I use on a daily basis so that I would have assessment data at my fingertips if I needed it, guarding myself against a ‘Wi-Fi’ issue on the day. Of particular importance were the summative screens for this term as I use these in my cohort tracking and so have data and explanations going back 5 terms. Staff also agreed with each other what the groupings for the inspection day would be and what activities/resources they wanted (so that there was a broad range of things for the inspector to see that reflected our ‘usual’ provision and also so that staff knew they would have the equipment they needed). We made sure that our Tapestry details were up to date and reflected our knowledge of children’s age/stage at that particular time (rather than within a longer assessment period, as this would be covered in our cohort tracking). Before staff went home (and people didn’t stay after their expected finish time) we made sure everyone was clear about what they were doing, unqualified staff felt confident and were ‘buddied up’ and all staff were working in areas where they felt happy and relaxed. We also asked that our ‘work experience’ student didn’t come in – not because she wasn’t valued but because she was being closely supported by senior staff and they felt they had a lot to think about and would not be able to give her the focus they would like to on the day. Statutory policies were collected together and staff quickly read them through to be sure they felt confident talking about them. I made a quick Q+A sheet for all staff, reminding them of key policy headlines. Staff took the ‘crib sheet’ home if they wanted to. The management team reread the setting’s development plan and the management action plan – we knew we would be talking about this at length so we wanted to be sure we felt confident. Finally, we used Tapestry to let parents know about the inspection (this is a requirement) and we took the opportunity to ask them to email in anything they wanted to tell the inspector about our setting. I sent parents the section of the inspection handbook that detailed the judgement on partnerships with parents. It was vital that parents knew this was important and that they knew what the questions from the inspector would be. This is the Tapestry message I posted: Hello Everyone! We have just had a phone call informing us of an Ofsted inspection tomorrow, we are obliged to tell you that it is taking place. In addition to informing you, we are asked to give you the opportunity to give feedback to the inspector about the nursery. If you have points you would like to share with the inspector they will be used to "contribute to judgements about how well the provision works in partnership with parents to support children’s learning and development, and the promotion of their well-being". This means you might want to comment on how you settled your child when they started, how you talk to staff about your child, how you know how your child is getting on at nursery (e.g at drop offs, pick up, through Tapestry etc). If you would like to speak to the inspector she will be here from 8am, or you can leave a note for her marked for her attention. Alternatively you can put a comment on Tapestry or drop us an email. The consequence of this was that we received 10-15 long emails from parents which were to be given to the inspector. On the day, these proved to be massively important for two reasons: firstly, it boosted our confidence to know that our parents fully support us and appreciate everything we do for the children; and secondly, they showed the inspector from the start that this was an area of our provision that was extremely strong. The day of… Having not had a huge amount of sleep, the team gathered early. The inspector had said she would be with us at around 8am. By 8.30 she had arrived and ‘we were very much off!’ We started with a brief discussion of how the day would map out and we were told that if there were things we wanted the inspector to see then she should be told and she would move to see them. We identified a few things that we felt we wanted her to observe, trying to select staff at different stages of their training, a range of age groups and a range of activities. The arrangements we had planned the previous day were helpful as staff knew what they were doing and were mentally prepared. Once this program had been explained I went to each room and let staff know approximately when the inspector would be with them – it was important that they didn’t feel they had to be ‘on parade’ all day. I also told them about going to get the inspector if they wanted to show something off. I reminded everyone too that questions from the inspector are not a Mastermind quiz: they could help each other out, fetch policies and explain, show documents that they find useful – be ‘a team’. Afterwards, staff told me that this really helped. While I did this the inspector was watching children arrive and introducing herself to staff. It helped that the inspector was smiley and personable and worked hard to put everyone at their ease. The next task was to show the inspector round. Under the ‘old’ framework this ‘tour’ was more to do with familiarising the inspector with the setting. Under the new framework it is a ‘learning walk’ and an opportunity to show, explain and justify absolutely every aspect of the provision. Our setting is quite big so we did it twice – the first time was more of a ‘whizz round’ explaining how and why the rooms and staff are organised as they are. During this walk we discussed how we manage transitions into nursery, between groups and to school. We discussed how staff are deployed in each room and how different qualification levels work together. We discussed free-play, free-flow and focused activity times. We discussed mealtimes and the provision of self-care spaces. You’ll notice that I used the word ‘discussed’ a lot here. It was very much that – throughout the inspection we discussed as professionals the decisions we had made, why we had made them and how they had impacted on the children in our care. We talked about how we tried things and changed things and reflected on our provision. It was seen as a strength (in our subsequent feedback) that we were always evolving, reviewing, adapting, watching and evaluating to be sure that we are meeting the children’s needs. As a manager it was exhausting but exhilarating to be able to explain our philosophies and demonstrate how and why we do things. Following the first quick walk through we had a more intense tour of each room looking closely at how staff were working with the children, what equipment they were using, how resources were stored, what was available for children to freely choose and use. Some challenging questions about CoEL came in here as we discussed the continuous provision resources we have out. During this second walk through I made sure that I explained how were had interpreted Cultural Capital in our setting, by showing a display of all our community visits with children the inspector could see and talk with in the setting (so, not something we had done once, years ago!). I made sure that I brought up the 3 i’s and explained how we, as a team, had worked together to reach a point of confidence in all staff. I showed her our development plan and our staff meeting notes to demonstrate the ongoing nature of the work. I raised them myself to show the inspector that my knowledge is current, relevant and working for the benefit of the children. I found out afterwards that all the things I raised with her as having been part of a collaborate process with the team were ‘checked out’ with individual staff of differing qualification levels to make sure what I had said was correct. We spent a long time in our gardens discussing the developments we had made since our last inspection. The development of the outside area was a recommendation from last time. I explained the training that staff had had and the inspector told me that she had seen the videos I had posted on our nursery Facebook page. I was pleased that the inspector had done her research before coming to us. During this time we were interrupted by staff wanting to show the inspector their activities – one wanted to show off a new yoga initiative she was introducing across the nursery. Another wanted to show their ‘Risk Rangers’ work they were doing in the pre-school room where we are helping children to manage their own risk by being able to confidently identify what might go wrong. Incidentally, both of these activities were ‘name-checked’ in the final report, much to the delight of the associated staff! One important part of the inspection is the ‘Joint Observation’. This observation, involving the inspector and the setting manager, can be of any member of staff doing any activity. It is an opportunity for the inspector to evaluate the effectiveness of the manager. Looking to see how well the manager can identify 'outstanding', 'good' or practice that 'requires improvement', the inspector will discuss afterwards how practice could be improved, staff developed, children better ‘planned for’ etc. We had already decided to observe an outside planting and growing activity. Following the activity we discussed the staff member’s use of open and closed questions, their responses to children’s ongoing learning and her ability to plan ‘in the moment’ as particular learning points evolved. Following this busy morning I met with the inspector for a ‘what have we seen so far?’ conversation. This was a crucial part of the inspection for me. It really gave me a chance to know exactly what the inspector was thinking and what we needed to be sure to demonstrate and discuss in the afternoon. I left this meeting with a list of things I wanted to remind the staff about so that they could be sure to show them during the afternoon. Among the things I asked the staff to make sure they were showing were how we support children’s problem solving skills and critical thinking. Knowing that the inspector felt she hadn’t seen enough evidence to make a judgement in this area was really helpful – it gave us the opportunity to ‘tweak’ our afternoon activities to ensure that we were giving the inspector a picture of everything we do. The meeting also let me know which children the inspector had been ‘tracking’ and so gave me time to organise time away from their group for the respective key people and also gave me time to sort their records ready for discussion later. The inspector then took a short lunch break. Despite us offering her a space in the nursery to use, she went and sat in her car. This gave everyone a chance to prepare themselves for the afternoon. At the busy end of lunch / going home / arrival time the inspector positioned herself in the centre of the nursery and watched as we did what we always do in terms of parent handovers and welcoming children in. As in a ‘normal’ nursery day I was answering the door, and a grandparent I didn’t recognise came to collect his grandchild. As per our policy I didn’t let him in and went to find the child’s key person to confirm their identity. All this under the inspector’s nose. When we did let the grandparent in he was a bit cross that we’d not given him immediate access, but we followed our policy and explained to him why and that the safeguarding of the children was paramount. He went home a bit grumbly. It wasn’t quite the smooth ‘change over’ that I would have hoped for and I knew it would be discussed at the manager’s meeting. For the next couple of hours the inspector spent her time in the classrooms talking to staff and children. Reports from all staff were very similar and the following themes were discussed: · How staff planned for their key children and decided what to do next (the 3 i’s question!) · Staff knowledge and understanding of safeguarding – both signs, symptoms, nursery policy, reporting arrangements and Prevent · Staff wellbeing – workload, management support · Behaviour management – how our policy worked in practice and how it was adapted for children of different ages · Reflective practice, CPD and support for further qualifications The inspector talked to children about their play and asked them about being at our nursery: the ‘what’s it like to be a child in this place?’ question. The inspector then asked me and my co-manager to walk through the nursery together again and she asked questions about how resources were stored and presented to children, how routines were managed and how staff were deployed. Again, this was a discussion and felt like an opportunity to explain our philosophy. Mid afternoon was the ‘Leadership and management meeting’. My co-manager and I sat with the inspector and discussed the full extent of our provision. We made sure we had all our documents to hand and our Tapestry pages ready to discuss. In the meeting we went back over many of the points we had already touched upon during the day and we were able to use our paperwork to ‘back up’ and evidence what we had been saying. We were asked to discuss any safeguarding referrals and the inspector reviewed our documents. We spoke at length about our cohort tracking – how we did it, why we did it in the way we did and how we used it to plan interventions and monitor progression. When we were talking about this I used my Tapestry tracking screens to show how observations linked to assessments, which linked to further observations or Reflections. The inspector was impressed by the way in which we ‘joined up’ the information about each child, whether that was from parents at starting, baseline assessments, snapshot observations or longer more focused observations. She asked in-depth questions about the SEND support we have in place and asked detailed questions about additional funding and how it is used. She asked about complaints we had received and any notifications we had made to Ofsted since our last inspection. We had had a complaint made about us and the inspector looked closely at how we had managed it. It had been a complaint about an accident and the inspector looked at the notes from the related meetings, the risk assessments we had completed after the event and the policy and procedure changes that had been put into place as a consequence. She was happy that we had managed the complaint appropriately. My co-manager is also our SENCo and DSL and she was ‘quizzed’ about referrals she had made and how we work with outside agencies. The situation with the grandparent at lunchtime was discussed at length and the inspector listened as we explained about our safeguarding policy and our duty of care. She asked us if we thought our staff team would feel similarly confident to challenge a grandparent on the doorstep and we said that we were sure they would – she agreed with us and told us that actually she had already asked them! At the end of the meeting we were asked if there was anything else we felt we needed to tell the inspector or show her – we asked for a few minutes just to chat together and go through the inspection handbook to make sure we felt we had covered everything. The inspector was happy to give us this time. And then feedback … “I’m delighted to tell you that you have maintained your outstanding judgement” I didn’t really hear anything after that! The inspector was on site for 9 hours …. Reflecting on the experience This was my fifth early years inspection as an owner/manager and it was by far the most challenging. It was the 'discussion' nature of the inspection that was so challenging – and that was definitely a good thing. Throughout the inspection we had the opportunity to share, explain, justify and evidence everything we do. Staff felt fully involved and were very much part of the process rather than just being ’on display’. That we involve staff in all decisions, cascade training and involve the whole team in reflective practice made the process very much easier. All the staff understand and contribute to the philosophy of our setting and this was a shared inspection during which everyone was keen to show off what we do. We have already got an action plan to take us through to the next inspection … onwards and upwards!

I often listened with jealousy when my partner and friends talked about working from home - later starts, pyjamas all day and constant coffee breaks sounded amazing (insert winking emoji here). Alas, being a classroom teacher, I never imagined a situation where working from home would ever be a possibility let alone a long-term reality. Well, what do you know? It became real very quickly and taught me a great deal about how I teach and how my pupils learn. I am a subject teacher at an independent prep school (I say as I duck to avoid the rotten fruit). I have a sad feeling that “normal teaching” is a long way off. Teaching remotely doesn’t look like it will need to happen in September but it could well be required in the future. I know teaching remotely doesn’t look the same for everyone, but we should all be open to new ideas and strategies and also, where possible, use our own and others’ experience to prevent some easy to make mistakes and time-wasting misconceptions. My pupils are fortunate enough to use tablets and having used these tools for 4 or 5 years both the pupils and staff are comfortable with them. The value of having access to and effective use of technology was totally underestimated when we transitioned from classroom to remote teaching. Long before the lockdown, my classes and I were, when appropriate, sharing resources, editing and annotating activity sheets and providing marking and feedback using this technology. The key change brought about by the pandemic is the way we, as teachers, “transferred” our subject knowledge to the pupils - enter Zoom. Zoom was quickly agreed by our SMT to be the tool that would link our teachers and pupils. Providing “live” or real-time lessons for our pupils was initially considered a logical, appropriate and achievable platform for delivering lessons and as we embarked upon lockdown just before the Easter holidays. That is how remote learning would look. Easter was spent watching YouTube tutorials for Zoom and trying out the functionality on friends and families. However, pretty quickly we came across a number of serious barriers… Live lessons (LL) that mimic the timetable would mean our pupils would need to be on their screens for 6 or 7 hours a day. Similarly, our teachers, many of whom look after children or loved ones, would be expected to be tied in for a similar chunk of the day. (Imagine a parent with two young children trying to deliver 5 different hour-long live zooms every day) Sticking strictly to a timetable isn’t possible for all families and if pupils are prevented from accessing the LL they should not be disadvantaged by missing it. Security on these LL was discovered to be a concern - fortunately we were not affected. While some staff still did LL, most opted for pre-recorded lessons (PRL) instead (without wanting to talk too much tech, Zoom is well known as a live, conference call style platform, but it also allows users to pre-record a chunk of video which can then be saved and shared with the intended recipients - pupils in this case). This system meant the work for the week ahead would be shared via an online platform by 8am on Monday morning. Pupils were encouraged to do English when English appeared on their (revised) timetable and History when it was supposed to be History. At these times, teachers were “online” to respond to questions, offer feedback and handle (m)any technical issues. No live video was expected here. We did, however, explain to parents and pupils that they could do the sessions when it suited them and their family best - we aimed to prioritise flexibility. These are a few (but really significant) advantages of opting for PRL... PRL provides freedom for pupils and their families. Some pupils chose to wake early and do 4 or 5 hours of work so that they were done by lunchtime. Families also had the freedom and autonomy to take a “staycation” or day out so remote learning took a back seat; however, knowing what work had been set meant it could be done in advance or when they returned. We really wanted families to do this. In the weird circumstances of the pandemic, making the most of the weather, precious family time and managing anxieties were all aspects of lockdown we didn’t want to clash with LL. The PRL was (and still is) always available. Pupils could re-watch, rewind, pause the video explanation until their understanding was solid. These videos are available over the summer for pupils to access for reinforcement and recap if they require them. Pupils could self - differentiate by choosing the pace with which they covered the new material. Following on from above, PRL unintentionally became a bespoke revision resource. Teachers have the freedom to work in their own time. The well-being of teachers around the country is something I predict will have suffered immensely over the last 3 or 4 months (and continues…). PRL can be created in the evenings, when children are asleep, using a couple of hours on the weekend or whenever it suits the individual. Opting for this strategy, teachers could manage their homelife, care for loved ones and even leave the house for a few hours to exercise or enjoy the sunshine with their family (perhaps like those with numerous other occupations were able to do). Why are Live Lessons in demand (and by whom)? We did parental, pupil and staff surveys every few weeks during the summer term to gauge what we were doing well and what we could improve. The majority of pupils and staff preferred PRL: reasons for these choices included better understanding, greater progress and more flexible learning styles. When parents showed a preference (sometimes an irrational demand) for LL, their explanation was along the lines of… “online lessons tied their children down and gave them the freedom to do some meaningful work” - there was never a mention of the learning being better due to LL. Government, too, criticised (mainly state schools) for not providing enough LL. Perhaps the government and parents who harbour frustration at the lack of LL feel that if teachers aren’t teaching live, they are having a late start, sitting in their pyjamas and having constant coffee breaks. I can see why many (non-teachers) hold the assumption that LL will be better than PRL, but the evidence suggests otherwise. What have I learnt? Pre-recorded videos are going to become a regular addition to my lessons even when I return to classroom teaching. With a short 5-minute explanatory video, I have provided a resource that can be watched at various speeds and numerous times (differentiation). Additionally, it can be shared with pupils and parents to assist those children who require scaffolding and support at home. It also doubles as a revision tool to use before assessments or at the end of a topic. PR videos can replace my usual explanations in a lesson. Explanations that go off on tangents and get derailed by an unconnected question or incident of poor behaviour. These explanations are “lost” as a resource once they leave my mouth (sometimes thankfully). While pupils watch these videos, it will also provide 5 minutes for me to visit the students, check homework was completed, offer help or assistance while the others are engaged. Chunking is key. I progressed to recording my videos in sections; asking pupils to pause the video, read a resource, complete a short task and then un-pause once completed (the different times pupils take to follow these instructions links to the differentiation mentioned above). I found an obvious improvement in levels of quality and completion rates when compared to a 10- or 15-minute video without obvious breaks and intervals. With a LL or even in real time in the classroom, when I move on with the lesson there will inevitably be pupils who have not finished the task. Delivery makes a big difference. Having taught for 12 years, I’d never seen myself teach. Watching some of the PR videos demonstrated obvious things that I was great at, but also habits and idiosyncrasies that must decrease the effectiveness of my teaching. It felt like personal CPD. In the classroom I would normally give so much guidance and support that almost all pupils submitted the same work - how boring. Seeing the natural variation and the different interpretation of my activities was refreshing and it meant marking and feedback was more enjoyable. I will save so much paper in future. In conclusion, the pandemic shocked us all but it had its silver linings. In over a decade of teaching, I never grew as much or thought as creatively as I did in the weeks we were locked down. It’s easy to worry excessively about the pupils who did not “engage” fully in remote learning. This will have an impact especially on pupils who rely on schools as a safe place, for structure and for something as simple as a healthy daily meal. But it mustn’t be forgotten that over 13 years of school, missing one term amounts to around 2.5% of an education. As passionate and devoted teachers, we should be confident that, with the incredible creativity and progress we have made due to the pandemic, we can not only catch up the missing 2.5%, but we can actually surpass it.

I have worked in Early Years education for nearly 30 years now and this has never been my favourite time of year. Whilst I love the smell of Autumn in the air and the idea of new beginnings and fresh starts, I like it better when there is a routine. When everyone is settled in and we all know where we are at! In staffrooms across the land, the weekly cost of the tea and coffee fund has now been agreed (any milk other than cows…bring your own), everyone has promised not to leave their dirty cups lying around and a new dishwasher rota with passive aggressive undertones has been laminated and sellotaped to the wall (much to the caretakers ongoing angst and disgust), with everyone secure in the knowledge that they will ignore it! But, this year there has been more than the usual feeling of anxiety about going back to work. This is not about ‘getting back to normal’ it is very much about finding that new normal in a landscape that seems to be forever changing. What is recommended today might change tomorrow. We are going to have to be more flexible and adaptable than we have ever been, not only around the learning provision that we are creating for our children, but also in respect of our own thinking and relationships with each other. With lots of aspects of the ‘familiar’ in terms of what we do and how we do it, we are starting from a point of ‘unfamiliar’ and that can cause anxiety and uncertainly. But it is also an opportunity to use this discomfort, as a moment to reflect and re-examine our practice, change it up and make it better not just for the period of the pandemic, but long term. It is rare in the sort of work that we do with children that we have the time (or the energy) to stop and re-evaluate and challenge ourselves about why we do what we do, but if we are looking for any positives to come out of the Corona pandemic, the opportunity to re-evaluate our practice is one of them. The Early Years is built on a foundation of play based learning. Play is the most important and effective tool that we have to enable the children that we work with to become the best that they can be. We talk a lot about the ‘uniqueness’ of children and creating ‘individual’ learning journeys that reflect specific interests of the children in our care, but often this individuality can be squeezed out of our day to day practice by the demands of ‘everything else’. Practitioners that I work with are often put under pressure to ‘teach’ in a way that is not developmentally appropriate for the children they are working with, using more formal methods of delivering knowledge that put children off rather than engage them. On the whole, children are curious and active investigators of the world that they inhabit. It doesn’t take much to actively engage them at a deep level if the environment and resourcing is appropriate. High levels of engagement will result in high levels of wellbeing, progress and attainment. Low levels of engagement result in low level wellbeing and low levels of progress and learning. They also encourage children to develop negative attitudes to learning, which once in place are very difficult to change. As adults our job is not just to deliver facts that we think children need to know, we are the co-constructors of children’s learning. Learning together should be a partnership, a carefully balanced process that is based on the most appropriate way for children of this age and stage of development to learn…play. We want children to have some ‘agency’ in their own learning. This means that they have the opportunity to be independent learners. Using the environment and resources as a vehicle for gathering knowledge and experience as well as incorporating some positive risk taking. For this to happen we need to take cues from our observations of children’s habits, preferences and behaviours in play rather than just our topic planning. Children also need time to play that isn’t restricted by an overly rigid timetable. An environment that is based on skill development and experience, rather than one that is based on topic or theme will provide the best opportunities for engagement. Lots of children really enjoy engaging with a topic, theme or story when an adult is involved in leading the learning. But they often struggle with keeping that high level of engagement when they are playing in the environment with no adult to support them. For this reason, keep any topic or theme (if you have one) to adult led sessions and occasional provision enhancements. I try and make the areas of provision linked to skill development. If children are working in the malleable materials area then I want them to experience lots of skills related to materials of different malleability like, rolling, squashing, imprinting, coiling, modelling, joining, cutting… If they can experience them through their own interests rather than an ‘activity’ that everyone has to do, then they are more likely to engage, learn and retain the information. So rather than everyone making a coil pot for a Diwali candle – whether you want to or not – I would fill my malleable materials area with resources that enabled children to experiment with rolling and coiling. What they make is immaterial, it is their processing of the experience that is important. I would still talk to the children about Diwali, read stories, show artefacts and share experiences. But having to make a coil pot for a tealight doesn’t demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of any aspect of Diwali, so why require children to do it? If they decide they want to make a coil pot, then absolutely let them make one. If they would rather make a MASSIVE snake and they are using all of the same rolling and coiling techniques, then why not? When I think about how my practice has changed over the last 30 years, this move from ‘activities’ and ‘topic’ planning to skills and experiences was by far the biggest and most uncomfortable shift in my thinking. But it is the one that has made the most significant impact on me as a practitioner and the potential for children’s learning. Now that we are thinking about creating a Covid safe environment, an approach that is more skills and experience based rather than activity based lends itself to this sort of planning. Many settings have reduced the number of areas of provision that they have made available for their children and also had to think again about some of their resources. If you are creating an environment that constantly reflects the needs of your children then you will be observing, reflecting and then making sure you establish areas of provision that will support and extend children in their future learning. A good question to ask yourself (and your team) is ‘why have you chosen those areas of provision?’ Are they based on assessment, observation and children’s interests or do you have them because you have always had them or because they are linked to your topic or theme? Once you have established which areas of provision have the potential to really engage your children in their learning, then you can start to think about the resources that you put into each area. To help practitioners think about resourcing, I often get them to refer back to the Characteristics of Effective Learning. These characteristics should underpin the resources that you have in place and will help to ensure that they are not too narrow or topic focussed. So, in any area that you set up, do the resources allow your children to play and explore? In simple terms, do the children want to play with them? Are they interested? Also, is there potential for them to explore their learning. Are the resources open ended enough for different children to interpret in different ways? If they are too narrow, then it is unlikely that the majority of children will want to engage with them. Do your areas of provision promote active learning? We ideally want spaces where children will want to engage and keep trying, even when things get tricky! Once again, if the resources in the areas that you create are linked to interests and exploration then children are able to interpret them in ways that link to their own unique preferences. And finally, do your areas of provision create opportunities for children to be creative and critical thinkers? These are areas that support children in being solution finders, strategy developers and encourage resilience. If an area of provision has only one possible outcome or requirement like ‘make a jungle mask’ or ‘paint a self-portrait’ then we are limiting the possibilities of exploration, problem solving and strategising (not to mention engagement). If instead children are encouraged to ‘cut, stick and join’ or ‘paint using a variety of media and tools’ we open up endless possibilities for learning. We are unique people, working with unique children in some very unique circumstances that are going to test our ingenuity, creativity and resilience. There will undoubtedly be lots of challenges ahead but we must also look out for the opportunities to use this disruption to our normal practice to re-evaluate what we do and improve it.

The homework debate has taken a back foot lately, considering that nearly all work has been homework for the last few months. Or “home learning” or “remote education” or whichever phrase you prefer. But as children return to school the traditional idea of homework will become a reality again so let’s take some time to think about it. In this article we will discuss the pros, cons, and efficacy of homework. Do I have to? In 2018 Damien Hinds outlined his position on homework: “Just to be clear: schools are not obliged to set homework, and some don’t. But when schools do set homework, children do need to do it. We trust individual school head teachers to decide what their policy on homework will be, and what happens if pupils don’t do what’s set. Policy and approach won’t be the same in all cases. Autonomy for schools, and the diversity that comes with it, is at the heart of this government’s approach to education.” This falls into the category, along with so many other things, of the government telling schools to do what they think is best, which on one hand is great. Every school and every child is different so I can’t think of a way a universal, statutory homework policy would work for everyone. However, this approach naturally creates a divide and makes it difficult to get a consistent picture of what educators should be doing and what works best with regards to homework. Will it help? Before talking about what homework works best, we need to discuss if homework even works at all. This article written by Youki Terada, explains the difference in the efficacy of homework on various age groups. The general trend being the older the person, the more useful homework becomes. However, setting too much homework and the associated risk is a factor for all ages, particularly for young adults in high school. Another supporting piece of research for this argument comes from the Education Endowment Foundation which states, “There is a relatively consistent picture that pupils in schools which give more homework perform better, although for primary age pupils the difference is small. However, there are only a small number of studies which have investigated whether this relationship is due to the homework itself, rather than other school factors” This article in The Guardian further exemplifies the difference between homework for primary school children and secondary school children. Professor John Hattie says the effect homework has in primary schools is negligible but makes a bigger difference for secondary schools. So, is it worth the hassle for primary school teachers? Another interesting thing Hattie says is, “The worst thing you can do with homework is give kids projects; the best thing you can do is reinforce something you’ve already learned.” I’m not sure I agree entirely with this, at least from my primary school teacher perspective. Homework can be a good method for reinforcing some previous learning. However, if you consider the average classroom, you have three broad levels of ability: the almost cliched ‘lower, middle, upper’. Realistically, we know each of these categories has their own subcategories. Like your “low-lows” and your “upper-middles”. So, for a piece of homework to be effective in reinforcing something, it still needs to be pitched at the correct level and scaffolded in some way. Especially since you may not know how much support they will be getting at home. How many iterations of this homework are you going to make? Each additional one takes up more time. Time that could probably be better spent planning work to do in the class or running an intervention session. On the other hand, a “project” can mean many things. In my practice, a homework project was based around a topic that was relevant at the time, had a much longer time limit and was more open ended in how it could be completed. An example would be the World War Two project: I set this halfway through the topic to be completed at the end (so around 6 weeks to complete it). The instructions were simple “create something relating to our World War Two topic.” We talked about a few ideas before we went home that day and I could see the children were already excited to get started. This “project” allowed them to use their imaginations and practice a skill they knew they were good at and wanted to use. Some made sculptures, some wrote stories. One child wrote a song and performed it in front of the class! When I set this project, I didn’t set it to fill any gaps in their knowledge or raise their history score. I set it so they could have some freedom in their own learning. Give them an opportunity to manage their own time. Take ownership over it and create something which gave them a sense of pride. All parents were involved in some way or another, and because this was a homework project, they got to see their child working passionately on something. Perhaps what Hattie was saying is that projects with no prior context, where the child has no solid ground to start, are not helpful. There I agree wholeheartedly. Whatever work you set needs to be set in a foundation otherwise it is very shaky ground for the child. Will it hurt? Another criticism of homework is that it actually widens the gap between higher and lower attainers. Generally speaking, it’s your higher attaining students who will be receiving more help from adults, have access to better resources and spend more time when doing homework. If the only reason you are setting homework is to raise academic performance, then this isn’t the group that needs targeting. It’s your lower attainers who would benefit from the extra help. But is homework the best way to provide that extra help? I think in primary school, we shouldn’t be seeing homework as a tool to raise academic achievement. I don’t think the possible risks, pitfalls and time constraints make up for the reportedly small difference it can make. But that’s not to say it should be abolished completely. I think there are a lot of benefits to homework, we may just need to shift the focus of it slightly. Another practical reason why it’s hard to “fill gaps” of learning with homework is that these “gaps” often present themselves on the day of teaching. This is also when you want to try and fill the gap, so it doesn’t carry on and disrupt future learning. But when is the teacher supposed to plan and resource this homework so it can go out at the end of that day? Parental involvement is key. And I don’t necessarily mean parents sitting down with their children and going through the homework every time. In my eyes, one of the most important reasons for setting homework is to give the adults at home another opportunity to be involved in their child’s learning. This involvement can range from checking over the homework and providing some positive reinforcement to sitting down and working through it together. Either way, it can help communicate to them what their child is learning and at what level. What the child is really good at and what they need to improve on. Basically, some of the things you try and squeeze into the 10-minute parents’ evening window, twice a year. Additionally, as well as the research which shows the little impact homework can have for primary aged children, and the risk of widening gaps, and the inherent strain it puts on practitioners, there is worrying evidence to suggest the damaging effects it can have on young people’s mental health and well-being. This report from the Ofsted Parents Panel finds that the stress homework causes is overwhelming and becomes detrimental to their health, self-esteem and confidence. A headteacher in this article from the Telegraph thinks homework and class learning working in tandem with one another can help to develop children’s independence. While I agree, as with all other work it would come down to the individual child. Depending on the content, frequency, difficulty, relevance - and a host of other factors - homework could easily become alienating for a child and detrimental to their confidence. Here is a quote from the article: “The experts disagree on the impact of homework on a child’s wellbeing. On the one hand, Balfour argues that homework encourages “independence and confidence” and “that sense that they can do it, and that their point of view is a valid one”. This may be true in small doses, but are children being asked to do too much homework at a young age? If so, there could be implications for a child’s mental health. “Too much homework, too much pressure, will have an impact on self-esteem: ‘Am I good enough? Can I keep up?’” Dr Fine explains.” What now? It is important for practitioners and SLT to know they control how it should work. They know their children and families best. So, here’s your homework: start with the “why?” Why are you setting this homework in the first place? Is it to fill gaps? Foster life skills? Engage parents? Once you know that, you have a foundation. A strong ground on which to move forward and decide how best to help your children. Your deadline is just before you sit down to plan your next homework activity.

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

The past few months have been a whirlwind, causing a myriad of emotions often in a single day. However, we are entering a period of reflection that is guiding us in moving forward in our work with young children. I have had several conversations recently with managers and practitioners about what they feel they have learnt about their practice and provision, in the light of having had to make changes as a consequence of COVID and government guidance. The positives are very much focused on key carer attachment, settling, and emotional well being of the children. Settings found that operating in 'bubbles' enabled practitioners to get to know the children much better and be more effective in supporting their individual needs. Although 'bubbles' are no longer needed, many are going to take forward the lessons learnt from the experience. There was concern about settling children, with parents required to drop off at the entrance to the setting. However, time and time again settings have said ‘you know what, it is actually better!’ They have identified that this is because children don’t have anxious parents hovering around them, they come into a room that is calmer, where the sole focus is the children and not the parents too. Many settings are now looking at different and more purposeful ways of engaging with parents. In relation to settling, it has been found that for babies of around 7-8 months and older it has been much harder. These babies have only experienced being at home, and to suddenly find themselves in a nursery, with the sensory overload that can bring, has been overwhelming. The timing in their development stage also coincides with the stranger anxiety babies begin to develop at around 8 months of age. What can our training focus on? Children's emotional well-being As well as reflecting on what we have learnt from our own settings, it is critical we look at the bigger picture in terms of the experience of lockdown and how it has, in some cases, impacted on children and families. We are all aware of the discussions and concerns about the socio-economic impact. In a webinar on 23rd July, Alison Morton Head of Policy at the Institute of Health Visiting, spoke about the secondary impact of COVID19 on babies and young children and the emerging need of families who have become vulnerable as a direct result of the pandemic. The secondary impact included: · Mental health – stress/anxiety (of the child and/or parent) · Loneliness · Couple conflict · Domestic violence and abuse · Alcohol consumption · Food poverty · Increased unemployment · Child protection/ child in need – increase in safeguarding referrals. What immediately struck me about this list was how it reflects many of the risk factors associated with emotional resilience. This knowledge needs to inform how we move forward, our awareness levels and related training needs. We need to be equipped to support the children in our care effectively. Everything I have just mentioned connects together to give clear direction for potential training and training that will be seen as necessary. A focus on emotional well being/ emotional resilience will mean we are supporting children in the best way possible. Much of this we do as part of good practice, however as the discovery made through the 'bubble' system of stronger key carer relationships shows, there is always room to develop and improve. Emotional resilience is built on protective factors. Whilst families play a key role in promoting these protective factors, the early years setting is additionally significant. It is therefore essential that early years practitioners have a clear understanding of their role in supporting emotional resilience by being aware of the risk factors and the protective factors, and how they themselves make a difference to the children. This knowledge can be provided through training which needs to be linked to a focus on children’s emotional well being as well as reflection on how to support children’s positive self esteem. If training isn’t an option, reading on the subject can be equally helpful, followed up by sharing thoughts and reflections with others. Reflecting on Play and the work of experts As I reflected on the settling of the babies who had lived much of their life in lockdown, I revisited the work of the wonderful Elinor Goldschmied. I recalled this quote, which to me has always been very powerful: “We can never remind ourselves too often that a child, particularly a very young and almost dependent one, is the only person in the nursery who cannot understand why they are there.” This statement seems so relevant for babies who have only been at home, with limited socialising. There has been a shift in their experiences so there needs to be a change in our approach and practice. Elinor Goldschmied’s pioneering work focused primarily on children under three, including the key person system. She is also responsible for introducing treasure baskets and heuristic play. Training to enable understanding of her research and work is always valuable, now perhaps more so than ever. We can’t think about children without considering the significance of play. Play is essential for children to make sense of things. They use play, especially play in the home corner and role play, as a means to unravel, pull apart, re-experience and understand their world. At a time when the world has changed for all of us, play becomes even more significant for children. Many settings have described children exploring and reflecting issues connected with the pandemic in their play, giving staff an insight into their thoughts, understanding, fears and anxieties. Perhaps now is a time for us to remind ourselves of what their play tells us about children and to revisit the findings of the key exponents of the importance of play, such as Froebel and Isaacs. Staff well-being and understanding Mental Health As well as thinking about children, we need to also think about ourselves. All of us have experienced something extraordinary and our ability to cope and be resilient has been tested. It is therefore essential that managers and leaders in settings feel able to support their staff teams whilst also supporting each other. There are lots of resources out there to help you to help yourself and others, such as www.mind.org.uk. and www.acas.org.uk .Training courses can be beneficial as well. On their framework for positive mental health at work, ACAS state that if employers are visibly committed to positive mental health, if managers are informed and open to conversations with their staff and if individuals are self aware and ask for help when needed, a shared goal of positive well being and productive workplaces can be achieved. That isn’t going to happen overnight and there needs to be a process and understanding by all for it to become embedded. Again, whilst this has always been important, it is now even more so. Mental health is something we all have. When we enjoy good mental health, we have a sense of purpose and direction, the energy to do the things we want to do, and the ability to deal with the challenges that happen in our lives. Our mental health doesn’t always stay the same, it can fluctuate as circumstances change and as you move through different stages in your life. Accessing training to support mentally healthy workplaces is valuable. Consider undertaking mental health first aid training, or training to enable you to become more mental health aware. Anti-racism and unconscious bias We must all address diversity in our settings and think about what anti racist practice looks like in the early years. It is very easy to be complacent and think it is something ‘you do’, but it is something that needs to be embedded in your setting's ethos and culture and in your own life. How is diversity reflected, how is it understood, how do you know when to challenge and how to challenge? Training will help you to understand more fully and examine unconscious bias. Whilst everything I have mentioned has been in relation to our pandemic world, it is not new: it has always been important. In the light of this, we should not overlook the regular 'run of the mill' training to develop and support practice, and the benefit of training needs analysis, looking at what else is currently flagged in our settings. Training is about reflection and self-development. It is about challenging yourself to know more, to do better and to be more effective in your role. Out of necessity some working practices have had to change. A positive of the pandemic may well be that we begin to appreciate these changes will ultimately improve our practice. This positive needs to be taken forward, so that we begin to look more closely at other aspects of practice and continually strive to improve. Training is a tool that can help us to take these steps forward. The second positive take away is realising that we should reflect on every aspect of our practice, including those areas we don’t feel or realise could change for the better. Perhaps you can begin by asking the question 'is this being done in this way for the child or for some other reason?' and see where that takes you. Now is the time to reflect on how we can change and adapt practice. Change and adaption have become part of our everyday life and our minds are more attuned to the processes involved; and that can only be a good thing.

It's life but not as we know it We are emerging from life under lockdown and gradually reacquainting ourselves with the routines and habits that we were accustomed to before COVID-19 took a global hold. The education of more than 90% of the world’s children has been disrupted by the pandemic (World Economic Forum, 2020) and while some children are back at nursery and school - and are happy to be so, how far have you been permitted to prioritise children’s emotional wellbeing? The raft of guidance documents issued, while understandably focusing on hygiene and safety to minimise the ongoing threat of COVID-19, are underwhelming in their emphasis on the need to safeguard and promote children’s emotional wellbeing and development. Each child will still be dealing with the stress of this ongoing crisis differently, largely depending on their family’s unique situation and how effectively their parents have contained their anxieties, emotional lability and consequent changes or regression in behaviour. While the likes of the Department for Education (DfE) and Ofsted continue to perpetuate a culture that focuses on academic outcomes and ‘catching up’ during this time, children’s emotional wellbeing will inevitably suffer. Head of Early Years at Bertram Nursery Group, Ursula Krystek-Walton, has been pivotal in embedding self-regulation policies and approaches across their 42 settings, recently creating a post-COVID Self-Regulation Support Plan for children, which is proving highly effective. She told me: Children’s capacity for resilience is swiftly becoming apparent - many practitioners are reporting ‘amazement’ at children’s ability to happily and confidently settle back into the nursery routine. This is mainly a result of our sole emphasis on children’s emotional wellbeing. Emotions – the good, the bad and the ugly Emotions are not fundamentally ‘bad’ or negative - they are essential to our survival, enabling us to identify potential threats in our immediate environment, to make swift decisions in difficult situations and to connect with those around us. Yet emotions tend to be viewed as the poor relation of intellect, due to occasionally causing children and adults alike to act before they think. We all recognise the role of emotions governing our upstairs, rational brain: when making a decision, we might ‘go with our gut’, when we are faced with a challenge or embroiled in conflict with colleagues or friends, we tend to talk of ‘feeling sick with worry’ or having a ‘knot in our stomach’. This is no coincidence given that many of us tend to intuit by following our ‘gut instinct’. During these moments, we are actually receiving signals from our gut – commonly referred to as the second brain. Our gut contains approximately 100 million neurons, communicating with our brain to inform our feelings, mood, stress levels, motivation and higher cognitive functions – all part of EI. (Carabotti et al., 2015). Children who frequently complain of having ‘tummy aches’ and ‘headaches’ may in fact be experiencing feelings of anxiety, insecurity or stress, but some children cannot readily identify it as so, which is why our knowledge of the individual child and their experience of COVID-19 and lockdown is critical. Prioritising time to develop and extend emotional vocabulary is therefore vital in equipping children to exercise self-regulation, build resilience and emotional intelligence. The image below depicts the vagus nerve (yellow) which is one of the biggest nerves connecting the gut and brain and is important in the gut-brain axis and its role in stress. Source: Nicolle R. Fuller/science. The role of emotional intelligence (EI) What if we could enable children to harness the power of emotions to their advantage? In his seminal text, Emotional Intelligence. Why It Can Matter More Than IQ, Goleman (1996: 4) emphasises the advantages of tuning into our emotions: Our emotions guide us in facing painful loss, persisting toward a goal despite frustrations, bonding with others. Each emotion offers a distinctive readiness to act; each points us in a direction that has worked well to handle the recurring challenges of human life… Our emotional repertoire thus becomes imprinted in our nerves as innate, automatic tendencies of the heart. Importantly, the emotional repertoire Goleman speaks of, can be a force for good or bad, depending on children’s formative experiences and relationships. The legacy of COVID-19 cannot be immediately fully understood, particularly the impact of trauma and its long-term implications on children’s wellbeing and behaviour. By embedding the five aspects of EI into your daily practice, you can support children to better understand their own emotions and the emotions of others, as well as building their resilience (Shanker, 2019; Siegel, 2007; Goleman, 1996). Remember, just like SR, we are not born with EI, rather it is nurtured through daily interactions and developed over time and with much practice. The five aspects of EI are depicted below: When we break down each of the five aspects, their links to the EYFS become clear: · Self-regulation – controlling own feelings and behaviours, self-soothing, bouncing back from upset, thinking before acting, curbing impulsive behaviour, concentrating on a task, ignoring distractions, Persisting in the face of difficulty · Self-awareness – recognising own emotions and drives, understanding the impact of own behaviour on others, understanding that how they see themselves may be different from how others see them, recognizing own strengths and challenges · Empathy – understanding the thoughts, feelings, and experiences of others. The more adept children are at empathising, the better they can control the signals they send others · Social skills – using effective communication skills to get on well with others, building and managing relationships · Motivation – persisting in the face of difficulties, having a positive attitude and a growth mindset about their learning and abilities. Negative and traumatic experiences inhibit motivation. It is important to note that self-regulation (SR) provides the foundation of EI and that both do not ‘just develop’. SR is wholly dependent on co-regulation from the beginning, in the form of ever-evolving healthy and secure attachments and responsive interactions that model SR in line with the child’s age and understanding. Once a child can self-regulate, they become more adept at applying the core aspects of EI. SR cannot be achieved via an arbitrary tick-box exercise – as is now laid down as part of the revisions to the EYFS. Developing the five aspects of EI in children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) requires abundant focused time and effort, as some children with ADHD, autism and non-verbal learning disabilities (NVLD) may need extra help learning to recognise and respond to others’ emotions. This can be achieved by modelling empathy in the moment, supporting children to recognise the messages from different types of body language, facial expressions and tones of voice and knowing what each means, facilitating lots of role play to help children imagine and understand how another person feels and playing games that help children to tune in to how expressions, body language and tone of voice can show how someone feels. Pause for thought: How will you build EI in children with SEND in your setting? Discuss a plan of action with your team. How to Build EI Moving Forward Settings have quickly adapted to make their environments physically safe by adopting a regimented approach to regular handwashing and disinfecting all resources as well as maintaining social distancing. Let us take a moment to reflect on the importance of ensuring the following are also high up on the agenda in your provision: Prioritise children’s emotional wellbeing Children’s emotional wellbeing must be the priority. Research continues to demonstrate the detrimental impact of stress and anxiety on neuroplasticity, learning ability and creativity (Porges, 2017; Siegel, 2016; Cozolino, 2013; Immordino-Yang and Damasio, 2007). Children under chronic stress exist almost exclusively in their ‘downstairs’, emotionally reactive brain and hence cannot access their ‘upstairs’ rational brain and use the executive functioning skills that are necessary for learning. Do not be afraid to go off timetable while you and the children reacquaint yourselves with the new ‘norm’ – this includes not wasting time trying to ensure children ‘catch up’. Head teacher at Low Hill Nursery School, Natalie Showell, is unequivocal about the positive impact of adopting a trauma-informed approach: Wellbeing is at the heart of what we do and the choices we make, in terms of what is best for the children and staff. Adopting this approach has meant that our school was already operating in a trauma-informed way. This approach to the curriculum has stood us in an excellent position as we began to welcome more children back to our setting. The school is in one of the most deprived areas in the country, but in my opinion, it is full of amazing children and families who thrive through our approach. The children have been displaying some big emotions and need these feelings acknowledged and not dismissed. Staff are skilful in the way they interact with children and how they respond when a child becomes dysregulated. Connect to calm After months away from the setting, children will have missed the company of each other and their trusted adults. Re-establishing connections with each child by making time for talking, playing and being together, with no pressure of a prescribed curriculum will thus need to underpin your setting’s approach. An effective key person system will prove vital in helping children to maintain a sense of equilibrium and to express their thoughts and feelings while knowing they will be listened to without judgement. Mindfulness and yoga are also effective ways to decrease cortisol activity and reduce stress levels. Encourage children to take risks and encounter challenges There is understandably much fear around health and safety as a legacy of the pandemic but we must not lose sight of the importance of encouraging and enabling children to try new experiences, to ‘get stuck’ and to take risks. The benefits are manifold, ultimately creating a growth mindset alongside building tolerance for uncertainty, confidence, independent thinking, motor skills and perception. Close collaboration with all parents Many parents have done their best to home-school their children while simultaneously managing work commitments. Due to the diversity of experiences during the pandemic and lockdown, some parents may be feeling less resilient than others. Ensure you connect with each family to offer reassurance about their child’s wellbeing and development and possible concerns over regression, supporting them in line with their unique needs. A consistent routine Routines are vital in achieving and restoring a sense of security in children, especially as children have had disrupted routines and experienced consequent feelings of uncertainty and confusion during lockdown. Talking to children about their new routine and why it is in place will help them to understand what is happening and why. One childminder explains: The children in my care are embracing the routine, they, as a lot of us, have been winging it each day. The structure of routine is reassuring for a lot of them (and me). Keep it small Keeping groups of children as small as possible can help to minimise anxiety in some children while reducing the risk of infection. One practitioner explains: I work with reception children but ours have loved the small bubble of around eight. Children who usually struggle emotionally are thriving. They are all happy and have learned lots whilst being home - the learning has not stopped. Constant communication with parents and role play have been key. ‘Name it to tame it’ Coined by the eminent psychiatrist, Daniel Siegel, naming it to tame it is integral to EI. It is the action of naming the emotion, the experience or the person that is causing feelings of dis-ease, to help diffuse its intensity. By enabling children to use this simple strategy, their emotions can inform them and not overwhelm them. The key here is working with children to initially notice that they are having a strong emotional reaction, before describing/naming it. Children will be eager to talk about what they have been through these past few months – using these moments to develop their emotional vocabulary and self-awareness will be essential. The great outdoors The transmission of the coronavirus is significantly lower in outdoor spaces and enables practitioners to be more creative in the teaching and learning opportunities they provide, while children reconnect with nature. Learning outdoors also increases feelings of wellbeing while significantly improving personal, social and emotional development. One practitioner describes how they eschewed the indoor learning environment post-COVID-19: We closed down our indoor nursery and moved it all outdoors, creating individual outdoor classrooms, so the children’s new base is completely different to what they were used to before returning, but they are all embracing it and thriving! High EI provides the foundation for good health and success in all areas of life and is a necessary precursor to academic achievement. Let us use the backdrop of this global pandemic to make children’s emotional wellbeing the priority – the rest will follow. Dr Mine Conkbayir’s new self-regulation app is now available to download for FREE on Google Play here. The app provides simple, scientifically proven ways to help children/teenagers prevent flipping their lid and find calm.

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.

The Bossy Book (This is the bossiest book in the world)

For Year 6s, the journey down the rabbit hole used to be relatively straight forward. They’d relax for a while on the comfortable primary school bank, the magical promise of ‘Year 7’ would catch their eye, and after feeling dizzy from the whirlwind of the SATs, eventually they’d arrive at secondary school with a thump - the excited, light-headed kind! Usually, at this time of year, secondary school teachers and leaders have been inundated with information that allows us to shape our understanding of the new arrivals. SATs scores have been released, ‘get to know me’ transition booklets have been passed on from feeder primaries and, for the luckiest ones, some Year 6s have already met their new tutors and teachers and spent the day together. I know in my own setting, I relished the ongoing discussions with feeder schools, looked forward to receiving their summer homework and could confidently ensure our opening week of English lessons were pitched perfectly thanks to a mixture of SATs results and a summer baseline test. In fact, year after year, our transition curriculum was only getting stronger and the proof was truly in the smiles on our Year 7s’ faces. However, what fun would a journey be without an obstacle or two? This year, the alarming obstacle arrived in the form of COVID-19. The then... A flashback to September 2019 would take you to a time when all was well. Our new pupils would join us and, after asking “Can I decorate my book?” or “Are you sure I can write in pen?”, they would begin their life as a real Year 7. They would then delve straight into the fantastical world of Myths and Legends or attempt to defy typical conventions of fairy tales and create a ‘Practical Princess’ tale of their own. However, as much as we relished the satirical voices they were developing (and we were not sure if it was thanks to our English lessons or the sass that comes with secondary school), we felt that something was missing. The writing skills being showcased in these opening units were exactly what we wanted to cover: ambitious vocabulary, synonyms and antonyms, varied sentence starters and types, and accurate punctuation. Yet one thing we were noticing was that the length of these writing pieces was short, very short. I soon realised that we were actually only halfway there with our transition unit - the skill focus was correct - we just needed a way of slowing it down and allowing the students to really showcase themselves at their best - the way they would have in KS2. For some, alarm bells might be ringing as it could appear like a step backwards, or ‘dumbing down’ the learning. I can assure you it was not; it was more like pushing them out of their comfort zone while keeping one foot firmly in it. Then, as if by magic, our transition unit ‘The Lost Land’ (version 1) was born. Our Lost Land transition unit was centred around the idea of students creating their own ‘lost land’, allowing their imaginations to run free, and bringing this to life with a series of pieces of writing. Each week would have a different skill focus, writing style and famous examples to steal from. In week 1, the students could be focusing on colour imagery and describing a setting, and in week 4 they might be using their imperatives and time adverbs to instruct someone on how to slay the dragon! This all culminated in the students choosing their favourite 4 pieces, redrafting them until they were happy, and presenting them in a typical primary school style. *The style that all parents dread that involves anything from paint and paper mache, to liquid latex and red nail varnish! The now… Just as I felt we had developed the transition unit to out-transition all transition units, COVID- 19 arrived. I was suddenly aware that our long feared enemy, ‘summer learning loss’, had instantaneously become even greater, and I was left trying to find the answer to what COVID 19 + summer learning loss might truly surmount to. Eager to ensure that my department was doing everything we could to make the transition as smooth as possible, and also very aware that I did not have all the answers, I reached out to a group of people who I can always rely on - Tweachers - aka, teachers on Twitter. The response was overwhelming, and I was inundated with a range of feedback from teachers across the UK. Of course, the tricky thing with transition, and the even trickier thing with this period of home learning, is that we are less sure than ever what the learning gaps will be. Some teachers replied with very specific skills such as sentence structure, grammar and literature analysis, others felt the gaps would be more holistic such as stamina, and a few of the lucky ones were convinced that there would be no lost knowledge or skill at all. Beyond the responses themselves, the analytics of this tweet told me just how important the need to delve deeper had been. With over 40,000 impressions, 6,000 total engagements and nearly 4,000 people expanding the tweet to see the replies for themselves, I had clearly unlocked a secret room. (To unlock the secret room yourself, click here.) This feedback allowed me to take a step back from our original transition unit and examine it with a fresh pair of primary-informed eyes. As our school typically teaches English in ability based sets, the lack of SATs or baseline has meant that we are going into September with mixed ability grouping and then organising our baseline and learning groups two weeks later. Now, of course this is less than ideal, and therefore, was the first thing I needed to attack. With the idea of pupils potentially experiencing upheaval two weeks into their secondary school experience, it was important for me and my team to do whatever we could to support them from the classroom, and from this we produced ‘The Lost Land’ (version 2!). We immediately decided to slow down our unit even further, and rather than each week being based on a different form of writing, we would spend the very first two weeks just on one. To support this even further, and to ensure that all students were getting the same scaffolding and support regardless of class, we designed a booklet which they would eventually take to their ‘real’ English teacher. In doing so, we are also hoping to replace the ‘Here’s my best work, Miss!’ folder experience that was stolen from them at the end of term. The future.. That’s transition sorted then, right? Not quite. What about the transition from overindulging all Christmas to having to be alert and disciplined in January? Or the transition from being a ‘newbie’ Year 7 to preparing for your end of year test that determines your Year 8 set? Of course, transition typically refers to the short period of time, perhaps covering June - December, where Year 6s are handed the little golden key to the stomping ground of secondary school. But it’s important to note that the 2020/2021 cohort are like no other. These children are not only transitioning from primary school, they are also transitioning from home learning, from lack of closure, from loss of routines, and some, from grief. Transition has had an upgrade and now needs to span further than the typical 6 or so weeks given to it at the start of an academic year. With the feedback from my online peers still in my mind, I wanted to find a way that once they progressed through the Year 7 journey of Fairy Tales, Poetry , The Unheard Voices of Shakespeare and Bad Girls of History, that time was still dedicated to building their stamina, particularly in the units that are heavily weighted in the pool of analysis. To combat this we are introducing a fortnightly ‘big write’, with minimal rules, completely unrelated to the curriculum topic, but simply a time for them to be free and practise the art of drafting and redrafting. As an Accelerated Reader school, we also want to ensure that we do everything we can to keep the reading momentum going. The dip in reading and the stagnation of reading age has been widely reported on, with the most recent 2020 Renaissance What The Kids Are Reading publication reporting that from Year 6 to Year 7 the average number of books read dropped by 12 per year, and then as they enter year 8 it drops by another 5. Unfortunately, with the uncertainty around how schools will be able to use their libraries and the sharing of books, this isn’t a straightforward task either. However, until we have more clarity on this, we are still making steps to keep the reading stamina and love alive. Alongside our fortnightly English lesson that is solely dedicated to reading, we are implementing a tutor time reading programme, further spurred on by the research that found “reading two challenging novels over 12 weeks helps weaker pupils make 16 months' progress”. We are also attacking our novel units differently - preloading with 2 to 3 weeks of pure reading and discussion, and then going back to explore the key themes and characters chapter by chapter. Of course, this plan isn’t final, and we can’t promise to have all the answers, but we can promise to make the journey down the Secondary school rabbit hole as pain-free as possible!

I am guilty of significantly over-using a word in the course of my professional life - engagement (or engaged). I don’t feel particularly bad about this – I’m just aware people probably think my vocabulary is very limited! I honestly don’t think there’s a more important word in learning (or in work for that matter). I believe anyone is likely to have a better, more productive learning experience when they are truly engaged. We’ve all been in lessons or training that have felt like the exact opposite. I remember attending one particular three-day course where I literally tallied each minute of the final day on my complimentary notepad with my complimentary pen. I would have rather been anywhere else – suffice to say I didn’t feel the materials on that day were particularly relevant to me. Typically developing children of preschool age are at an amazing stage in their learning journey. There shouldn’t be anything formal in their education they need to get concerned about– they are only limited by their imagination. It is our role to capture their imaginations, to engage them completely, when it comes to the world of reading and, in particular, storytelling – ‘spinning a yarn’. This is not to say that there aren’t lots of opportunities to start discussing initial letter sounds, or to gauge a child’s understanding by asking certain questions – but as with anything we do in the early years, this should be considered on a case by case basis. I’ve spoken in an earlier article on pre-reading ideas for very young children, about the importance of the interaction opportunities that story time provides. For babies and children with significant learning needs, the physical closeness and warmth of sharing a ‘story’ is hugely important. Providing a level of cosiness continues to have value when settling down for a story with a preschooler - and it is a cosiness that many adults still desire when they settle down with a book. It doesn’t have to be this way but my first bit of advice for lighting the touch-paper for a brilliant story session would be to consider this carefully. A quiet space and whispered words can be so powerful. There are a million amazing books out there for all levels of learning – but often the best responses come from stories that have never been written down – because you are making them up as you go along! The concept is simple – the likelihood is that the three or four year old who is currently snuggled up to you is someone you know pretty well. You know what makes them laugh. You know what they talk about all the time. You know what makes them excited, you even know what might seem a bit scary to them. If you play your cards right, for the next 5-10 minutes this little one will be hanging on your every word as you spin your yarn. Even if the cards you play don’t quite hit the mark, we learn from their response and we take our story down a different path (just like when we set up an activity that goes ‘unexpectedly’!) Admittedly the thought of doing this strikes fear into some people: ‘I could never do that!’ being a response I’ve had more than once. Like most aspects of living or working with preschoolers, it’s important that if at all possible, you forget the fact that you are a grown adult with any ability to feel embarrassed. When you do this and tune in to the child, then everything becomes a lot easier and more natural. So, where do you start with your yarn? Here’s a couple of ideas that tend to work well: “You’ll never guess who/what I saw yesterday…….” “You won’t believe this……” (especially when followed by “no, I can’t say”.) Or just a simple “I’m going to tell you an amazing story”, or the classic “A long, long time ago….” It works particularly well if the subject matter is something that is topical – maybe you’ve been to the beach that day – sounds like a pirate story could be coming, or maybe one about The Fastest Crab in the West? Once you get going it can be almost as much fun for the storyteller! Sometimes the best stories are told on location – I think a walk through the woods is a perfect time to tell a tall tale. You are surrounded by a wealth of starting points – it could be the giant rock you find, or the strange shaped tree. Just be careful it doesn’t get too scary! Story telling can also be a helpful distraction. Most of us have been in the situation where a preschooler is really struggling to move on from an emotional moment, and the tears just won’t stop flowing. Once it’s become apparent that on this particular occasion a cuddle just isn’t going to sort the problem, then why not try a silly story. Last week when my son had a bump and struggled to stop the waterworks, it was a pumping purple hippo who went past the window that turned the tears into giggles. One of the best bits of introducing storytelling, is when the child turns the tables and gets the confidence to tell you a tale of their own. Invariably it will take a very similar format to your stories, but just be a bit more ridiculous – and of course the child will find their own stories ten times funnier. As long as you are engaging the child you are with then you’re doing something right. To give a preschool child a love of story telling will hopefully mean that reading becomes a lifelong pleasure. And there’s no need to stop when they start school – I know children who are 9 or 10 who still love to snuggle up to Grandad to hear all about knights in shining armour. Why not try spinning a yarn next time you have a spare five minutes with a little one? You never know, you might be the next Julia Donaldson!

As thoughts turn to a new school year, KS1 teachers stand at a crossroads. With the world still in unprecedented turmoil, teachers are faced with decisions about whether to travel in the direction of education policy, or to follow their own principles. Schools have been shaken up. They have looked at education differently. They have been faced with altered priorities. So now is a great time to challenge the status quo in schools and to ask - is there a better way of educating children in KS1? Is there a better way of managing the transition of children as they move up from the EYFS? Countless children will enter Key Stage 1 in September 2020 only having spent half of their school year in their Reception class. Many may have been in school for part of that time but not engaged in all aspects of the EYFS curriculum due to other priorities. Because of the ongoing consequences of lockdown, there has been an entirely appropriate focus on children’s personal, social and emotional needs. For some, this focus has been seen as an unwelcome deviation from the more formal aspects of schooling, resulting in demands that teachers offer a ‘catch-up’ curriculum. But I believe it should be seen as a welcome reminder that unless we offer experiences to children that foster their wellbeing, then their learning will always be hampered. So what experiences nurture wellbeing? What experiences do 5, 6 and 7 year old learners need in order to thrive? Research tells us that when experiences are developmentally appropriate (Copple and Bredekamp 2009) when they are meaningful (CODC 2018) and when they are enjoyable (Pritchard 2018) then, not surprisingly, children will engage with them more readily and learn from them more effectively. Despite the current tenor of the KS1 curriculum, at this age what is developmentally appropriate, what is meaningful and what is enjoyable is very often initiated by children and not by teachers (Fisher 2020). So why aren’t such opportunities a requirement in every KS1 classroom? Even the new EYFS Reforms (DfE 2020) barely mention play and it is a long time since it was mentioned in any policy documentations for KS1. Yet we know that children aged 5-7 still love to play. We know that given any freedom – on holidays, on family outings, at the supermarket checkout – they will find resources and spaces that allow them to explore, investigate and disappear into imaginary worlds. But does this mean that play warrants a place in the KS1 classroom? I believe it does. Yet in too many schools, play and child-initiated learning are left at the KS1 classroom door. This is a result of misunderstandings on the part of those who see play as merely recreational or ‘a waste of learning time’. Yet this is so misguided. Children’s enjoyment of play means it is highly motivating which, in turn, encourages greater concentration and perseverance (White et al. 2017) as well as deep level involvement (Laevers 2000). These are executive functions of the brain (Whitebread 2016) that research suggests are more reliable indicators of academic success and emotional wellbeing than a range of other abilities including early literacy (McClelland et al. 2013). And play offers KS1 children even more. Through play they develop attitudes, skills and understandings that can never be as readily achieved through adult-initiated activity. Skills such as using their initiative; creating and recreating scenarios and experiences; finding new strategies; collaborating and negotiating. Neil Carberry, Director for Employment and Skills at the CBI says: ‘Business is clear that developing the right attitudes and attributes in people – such as resilience, respect, enthusiasm and creativity – is just as important as academic or technical skills’. These attitudes give children a sense of agency over their own learning which in turn creates self-confidence as a learner – taking an active rather than a passive role in the process. And play offers children control. The control to set their own goals and objectives and not become dependent on teachers, the control to chose how to go about the process of learning and not be concerned with outcomes, the control to be inventive, creative and daring, without fear that this might be ‘below average’. In a world affected by Covid-19, control is what many of us crave. Play is not sufficient on its own of course. There are many aspects of the formal KS1 curriculum that play does not teach (Fisher 2020). Skills such as handwriting, phonics and place value. But even here, play is often underestimated. Although play may not teach certain skills and knowledge, it is often the activity in which these are consolidated. Play offers children a safe space in which to experiment, to try out, to practice, to rehearse and repeat. Children will often take something learned in an adult-led situation and become more confident by playing with the skills and concepts taught, in ways that help them make meaning and become more proficient. Research reminds us that when experiences are repeated in this way, neural pathways are created in the brain (Conkbayir 2017) which in turn strengthen the connections between what is new and what is already established. So much more important for young children than rushing ever onward to Next Steps. As well as enjoyment and motivation, play offers KS1 children opportunities to learn and develop life skills. The first of these is flexibility. All that is certain about the future is its uncertainty, and play teaches children to deal with uncertainty in creative ways (Mardell et al. 2019). Because children are motivated to achieve whatever goals they have set themselves (Whitebread 2012) then this sense of agency liberates them to make mistakes without fear, to try alternative, creative solutions, to tear up an idea (figuratively) and simply start again. All of these dispositions will enable a child in the future to have the ‘blue-sky’ thinking so beloved of business and to develop what Alan Sugar refers to as ‘thinking on your feet’ (Sugar 2005). The child of the future will also need to interact skilfully with others. Not simply to sit next to them, but to work with them, negotiate with them and create solutions with them. In play, KS1 children usually choose with whom they collaborate. They see the purpose and the benefit of creating play scenarios together, frequently drawing on the ideas, the knowledge, the skills of their peers to help them achieve their own planned outcomes (Broadhead 2004). And so we return to wellbeing. Play supports the foundations of children’s wellbeing for life (Howard and McInnes 2012; Allee-Herdon et al. 2019). Researchers have discovered strong statistical correlations between some of the most vulnerable children in our schools and their level of risk when play is absent from their lives and from their learning experiences. In school, it is too often the case that the children who need play the most are those who experience it least – sometimes because they ‘haven’t finished their work’; sometimes because they are removed from playful experiences in the classroom to be tutored in an ‘intervention’ to improve specific skills. It is easy to see how the lack of high-quality play in KS1 classes compounds the academic, behavioural, and social-emotional challenges in school for the most vulnerable children (Weisberg et al. 2013). Because of the impact of Covid-19 there will be many more children this September who are vulnerable and in need of play to help them make sense of their experiences and give them back some control over their lives. Indeed, as the pressure of the external outcomes-driven school agenda increases, all children - more than ever – will respond positively to times in their day when play allows them the freedom, the control, the release to do what they choose to do and to follow their own interests and ideas. Sriram (2020) writes that the first critical period of brain development begins around age 2 and concludes around age 7 and that this period offers ‘a prime opportunity to lay the foundation for a holistic education for children’. He suggests that to maximise this critical period we should encourage a love of learning, focus on breadth instead of depth and pay attention to emotional intelligence. Play offers children the opportunity for all of these. I believe that Covid-19 has re-awakened the educational world to some of these issues. So how might teachers in KS1 respond? Firstly, many teachers have gone above and beyond in finding ways of making the return to school enjoyable for children. There are copious articles, blogs and webinars all exhorting schools (e.g. Moylett 2020) to tune into children’s needs before rushing them into the taught curriculum. Putting children before goals, targets and data should always be the driver for school development. Then, fears around the transmission of the virus have taken more and more teachers (and children) out of doors, to find out – if they did not already know so – about the many and varied benefits of learning away from tables and chairs, in a learning ‘environment’ that is full of natural learning opportunities, provided free of charge with instantly disposable resources. KS1 children enjoy taking their learning outside and much of what can be unpalatable at a desk can be made playful and fun in the outdoors. Then, also, relationships between adults and children have shifted. Many teachers have found themselves able to spend more time with smaller groups of children and (re)discovered the joy of interacting in a less hurried (even if extremely challenging) school day. They have been able to tune in to what children are feeling and thinking in order to make plans for the days that follow that are relevant and meaningful in the here and now, rather than taken from plans constructed many weeks or months previously. And lastly, the pandemic has torn up the terror that is the school timetable. So much of what makes learning lack meaning for young children, so much of what makes it disjointed and muddling is caused by the rigidity of timetables which are like they are because it’s how they’ve always been. Covid-19 has meant that in many schools playtimes have been scrapped. Assemblies have been scrapped. And teachers as well as children have come to appreciate how much they are held to ransom by the school bell and how much more relaxed they are when the ebb and flow of learning is in the teacher’s hands. We must reflect on what we have learnt about our children, how they learn and where they thrive. A developmentally appropriate KS1 pedagogy should ‘build on’ the very best of Foundation Stage practice, not be constantly concerned with ‘getting ready for’ the end of the key stage. That KS1 pedagogy should offer a balance between learning that is led by adults and learning that is led by the child. Both have much to offer, but one without the other is impoverished practice. Adult-led learning without child-led learning privileges the children who relish the more formal situation, who rush to sit at the front of the carpet with their backs straight and their hands up. But, in a developmentally sensitive KS1 classroom all children have the chance to shine and thrive. So that if den-building is your forte rather than calculation, you have a chance to show what you can do and where your talents lie. We must not let policy and dogma wreck the image children have of themselves as learners, not just for now, but for the rest of their learning lives. Never has there been a better time to review KS 1 pedagogy and to campaign for ‘early childhood education’ in this country to embrace KS1. Covid-19 has given us all another view of schooling, learning and education. Let’s take this opportunity with both hands and change things for the better. Julie Fisher is the author of ‘Moving On to Key Stage 1: improving transition into primary school’ (Open University Press 2020). This articles contains extracts from her book recently published in its second edition. The book not only offers theory and research underpinning developmentally appropriate practice, but also offers a range of practical strategies and case studies to give teachers ideas and encouragement to develop this approach.

As an ex-year six teacher, I can’t help but feel heavy of heart at this time of year. The latter half of the summer term were some of my favourite times as a teacher and that is due, in large part, to transition. This is a historic year for our year 6s, who will be moving on to secondary school in September without experiencing a “proper” transition. T-shirt signing, class assemblies, celebration assemblies, school trips, residentials, picnics, BBQs, open days, secondary school visits – all these traditional activities to help with transition were all either cancelled or modified this year. Transition at any point is an incredibly important part of any child’s school life. It provides closure for the previous year, as well as helping to prepare them for the next step in their education. But it isn’t just the children who are affected. Their parents, their communities, the year 6 teachers, the year 7 teachers, are all feeling the effect. Conversations I have had with secondary schools implied it was a difficult situation for all. The teachers and staff struggled with not meeting children face to face. The yearly “handover” meeting with year 6 teachers was done online which, while a good alternative, comes with its own drawbacks. Secondary schools are faced with a very different September than they are used to. It’s difficult to gauge the impact this will have on children because this is the first time this has happened. It’s easy to think the children don’t know what they’re missing. But many have siblings who have had the opportunity to do these activities in the past, and they will have observed previous year groups celebrate their moving on, and no doubt some kids will be feeling hard done by. So, what are schools doing to mark what will be an extraordinary year, and to help aid transition for our year 6s? Speaking to my former year group partner, the answer is… as much as possible. We spoke about how strange this will be for the children, teachers, and parents alike. Moving from “little school to big school” can be an emotional journey for parents, too. And transition is as much for them as anyone else. The most important thing was getting them all together in some way. Most of the children haven’t been at school for nearly 4 months. Most of them haven’t been able to see their friends over that period. And togetherness is a key part of year 6 transition. In most cases these children have been in the same class for 7 years, and now they will be put in different classes with people they don’t know, in different schools that are in different areas. Celebrating the time they spent together is a crucial part of moving on and preparing. So how do you foster togetherness in a world urging distance? Luckily, restrictions are beginning to lift so schools are in a better position to plan things than they were two months ago. We always used to host an end of year gathering for our year 6s. All parents and adults were invited, we would cook a BBQ and play games on the field. Teachers from other year groups would even come and say goodbye and steal a burger from the grill. So, I was thrilled to learn this would still be going ahead on the children’s last day. Of course, they would be adhering to current social distancing guidelines. Contact games wouldn’t be going ahead and the BBQ is replaced with a “bring your own picnic”. But the event still prevails! Brighton and Hove have organised a city-wide day in September for all year 7 children to return to primary school. Hopefully at this point we will be in a much safer position so that day will be a chance to do the things we couldn’t do this summer. My previous school plan on doing their annual BBQ on this day as well as gathering the pictures and video footage that go on the end of year DVD, a traditional parting gift from the staff and a treasured keepsake for the families. The phrase “better late than never” seems to really apply during this time and I think it’s really important to not let these gestures slip past us. The other thing we used to do at the end of term, which I’m sure a lot of you are familiar with, is the end-of-year show. Now, considering a fraction of the children are in school at any given time, this has been impossible. Some things just can’t be modified to work in this situation and it’s easy to get hung up on that. But I have heard and seen so many wonderful things that schools and communities are doing this year. It really pays testament to everyone’s ability to be flexible and caring. Transition isn’t confined to just schools. In lots of places, this time of year is a community effort. In Lewes, where Tapestry and FSF HQ is based, they have had an annual arts project called Patina (Parents and Teachers in the Arts) for the last 18 years, which culminates in a children’s parade around town. In the weeks prior to this, local artists go into schools and work with children on decorating costumes and floats based on a yearly theme for the parade. It’s been a rite of passage for generations of local year 6 children, their town celebrating them and wishing them well for the next stage of their lives. Sadly, a lot of this had to be changed this year. No visiting artists in schools and no parade, but the community still showed great spirit and rallied together to give the children what they deserve. They made well wishing videos and organised toilet-roll-tube-based art activities the children could do from home. Another great example of our ability to adapt during this time. I have found it so easy to get caught up in all the things we can’t do at the moment. But energy is better spent on the things we can do! You don’t need to start from scratch here. Take what you have always done and adapt it. Or look at this time as a good opportunity for change. You might come up with something this year that you will end up doing for the rest of your career.