Category: Supporting Development

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Beginner’s English for Ukrainian Families

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As part of Scotland’s National e-Learning Offer (NeLO), e-Sgoil are pleasedto offer the following experience for Ukrainians here in Scotland.  Thisopportunity has been created in partnership with Education Scotland andTayside Regional Improvement Collaborative.

We are keen for this opportunity to reach displaced Ukrainian familiesacross Scotland as early as possible and ask that you use your networks andcontacts to share the attached flyers (both English and Ukrainian) anddetails below as widely as possible. There will also be social media postsfrom e-Sgoil that can be re-tweeted and shared so that we can get theinformation to those that would benefit from it.

e-Sgoil will be providing regular online live interactive sessions forimproving the young people and their family’s conversational English – ledby a Ukrainian speaking teacher.  It will bring displaced familiesthroughout Scotland together in an online environment and support them inbuilding a sense of togetherness and community while avoiding socialisolation.  It is an opportunity to share experiences with other familiesabout the benefits and challenges they have faced in their own situationsas well as giving each other practical advice and finding collectivesolutions. Specifically, it may be an invaluable starting point forlearners to gain confidence in speaking English ahead of joining Scottishschools.

What is it?Beginners English online learning sessions with an opportunity to makeconnections and discuss relevant issues in a supportive community setting.

Who is it for?Ukrainian families across Scotland looking to improve their conversationalEnglish, meet other families and support each other.

When is it?Every Thursday – 6:00-7:30 pm starting on 12th May, 2022.

How do families sign up? Email: e-sgoil@gnes.net to receive a link to access the meeting.

How much does it cost?Nothing – it is free.

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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. 

 

 

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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

VOLCANOS – we mixed together baking soda, washing up liquid, food colouring (optional) then adding vinegar we were able to create and volcanic eruption!
Skittle experiment – We were able to use hypothesis to guess what we thought might happen when water was added. We then put our thoughts to the test, finding out what the result would be!
WATER TURBINE – using water and gravity to power a ‘turbine’. It turned itself as the water flowed through.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FORCES – we added washing up liquid and water to our tarpaulin, the mixture of ingredients, combined with a flat surface and a hill made a great combination for some FABULOUS slipping and sliding… we all had great fun testing this experiment out!
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