Centre News – Page 22 – Colquhoun Park Early Years Centre

October 1, 2021November 11, 2021

Childsmile

We are excited to report that we will be restarting tooth brushing in the centre again within the next few weeks 😁

The benefits of toothbrushing at nursery, alongside friends, is that it is a fun and social experience and encourages children to have a positive attitude to toothbrushing. Research shows that the introduction of universal nursery toothbrushing has had a positive impact on children’s oral health, reducing the number of children presenting with decay by the time they begin school.

Next week we will be offering experiences throughout the playrooms designed to promote their awareness of good

oral health and prepare the children for the reintroduction of toothbrushing in to their daily routine.

Please remember to complete and return your negative consent form by the 5th of October if the DO NOT wish your child to take part in the toothbrushing programme.

I have attached a link to the Childsmile website if you require more information.

Childsmile Information

August 30, 2021September 2, 2021

Emotional Wellbeing & Involvement

As reflective practitioners it is important that we ensure all of our learners are accessing the very best out of our environment. We aim to meet the individual needs of all our children using a holistic approach to their social, emotional, physical and cognitive development.

In order to assess ourselves, our activities and our environment it is important that we look at our delivery critically, acknowledging area for improvement, where we can maximise the engagement and early years experience for your children.

Ferre Laevers – Emotional Wellbeing and Involvement Scale

Using the Leuven Scale for emotional wellbeing and Involvement we carry out up to 3 class screens a year. During these screenings we are observing children’s emotional wellbeing and engagement.

The Leuven Scale is a five-point scale that allows early years practitioners to measure children’s ’emotional well-being’ and ‘involvement’ – two vital components of learning, development and progress in children.

The Leuven Scale is a form of assessment created by Professor Dr. Ferre Laevers, director of the Research Centre for Experiential Education based in the Leuven University, Belgium. Laevers states “children in a high state of ‘well-being’ are like ‘fish in water’. They are comfortable in their environment, confident and eager to experiment and explore. Whereas, children with low levels of well-being often appear frightened, anxious and dependent, making it hard for them to learn in a sustained way and explore their potential. Similarly, high levels of ‘involvement’ – characterised by curiosity, fascination, deep satisfaction and a genuine interest in what they are doing – is an indicator of ‘deeper-level’, meaningful learning”.

Further information on the leuven scale and how it can inform planning and experiences in the early years can be found by clicking here.

July 26, 2021July 26, 2021

STEM in the Early Years

What is STEM and how do we support it in the early years?

At Colquhoun Park EYC we understand the importance on igniting children’s natural interests, by ensuring we give them plenty of opportunity to experience, explore and experiment.

Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics based activities (STEM) give children the opportunity to work collaboratively building on communication, problem solving, critical thinking, hypothesis and much, much more. By creating opportunity in the early years for children to build these skills we supporting our future scientists, technologists, engineers and mathematicians to lead the way in innovations.

Some examples of how we incorporate STEM into our learning