Author: Mrs Pascall

New Resource – Falkirk Early Level Self-Evaluation Audit Tool:Spaces

‘Physical spaces, both outside and indoors, should be constantly reviewed to incorporate a wide range of responsive, familiar, and exciting new play opportunities.

(Realising the Ambition 2020) 

 

 

National guidance and quality framework documents remind us how important it is to regularly reflect on the quality of the spaces we offer our children to support their learning through play.

To help teams with this self-evaluation work, Falkirk Council Early Learning team and NHS Forth Valley Speech and Language therapists have worked together to bring the wide and vast variety of national and local guidance and information available together into one, easy to use, audit tool.

The Falkirk Early Level Self-Evaluation Audit: Spaces tool can be used in both ELC and P1 settings, to support teams with their planning, evaluation, and moderation of high-quality play spaces.  The tool draws on all the resources already available to practitioners in Falkirk, including Realising the Ambition, enabling environments, literacy rich environments, visual communication audit tool, loose parts play, ECERS-E (2014), Kym Scott’s environment audit (2019), Marvellous Mealtimes audit, Falkirk Froebel Family advice etc. It has been split into four sections in line with Falkirk Council’s Play is the Way practitioner guidance about designing environments to support child-initiated learning.

  • Section A – Enabling environments indoors and outdoors
  • Section B – Social Play
  • Section C – Discovery/Investigatory Play
  • Section D – Creative Play

Within each section, some suggestion about areas of provision which might be found in each zone are given but these are given only as a starting guide.  Each setting should design their play spaces in the way which best suits their setting’s vision, available physical space and, the needs and interests of their learners.  Children themselves should play an active, participatory role in designing and improving their play spaces.

Falkirk Council staff and our private partner colleagues can access the Falkirk Early Level Self-Evaluation Audit: Spaces tool by downloading it from the Self- Evaluation for Self-Improvement document store within the Leadership and Management section of the Falkirk Early Learning Glow page.

Play is the Way – Let’s talk about literacy!

In Falkirk, we know that play really is the way for our young children.  By providing lots of opportunities for free play in high quality environments and adopting a playful approach to teaching we inspire, and motivate, our children in their learning each and every day.

Sharing our rationale with families and helping them understand how we use play to support and challenge children to develop a wide range of skills and knowledge is an important part of our play is the way journey.  This blog post from Maddiston Primary School’s P1 staff team shows how they recently helped their families understand how their team’s playful approaches to teaching and learning are supporting children’s early literacy development.

P1 staff team at Maddiston Primary School Claire McGlynn (HT), Diane Russell (PT), Debbie Brown, Helen Chebe and Penny Byrne (CTs),Stacey Anderson (EYO) 

At Maddiston Primary School, we consider sharing the children’s learning with our families to be of utmost importance in supporting children’s holistic development.  This is even more important given the current climate with Covid-19.  Normally, at this point in the school year, we invite the families of our primary one pupils into school to be with the children in the class environment and to share an aspect of their learning in literacy.  With current restrictions, this was not an option so the team decided to create a digital workshop to allow parents a sesne of what the children’s literacy learning looks like in primary one.

Play and playful learning is integral to our practice in P1, and it was important for us that this was the message communicated to parents.  We wanted to show that, although there are teacher led targets and an order of progression, the children are encountering rich, foundational literacy experiences daily through the play environment. The team also wanted to emphasise the breadth of experiences we aim to offer in a variety of multisensory ways, so parents can then better understand how to support their children at home.

From the workshop, we have had really positive feedback from our families and have seen the benefits of sharing the learning in this way.  Families report that they are able to sit and talk with their child about their  learning.  In comparison to the traditional approach of welcoming families into the setting, the team felt enabled to capture more of the children’s learning and explain to families the rationale behind a play pedagogy.  Whilst we recognise that this could have been more explicit at some points in the digital workshop, we are confident that families can see what literacy learning looks like in P1 and that we are conveying the message that ‘Play is the Way’.

Click here to check out Maddiston Primary School’s brilliant P1 Literacy workshop for families.

 

To read more about promoting early literacy through play, Falkirk practitioners can check out the following materials on the Falkirk Early Learning Glow SharePoint pages by clicking on the links below:

Please share  your own playful literacy practice on Twitter using #PlayisthewayFC and #PlayfulLiteracy.  Don’t forget to tag @FCEYteam so we can celebrate and share your fabulous work.

If you are interested in writing a blog post for us to celebrate and share an aspect of the  Play is the Way journey in your own setting please contact Fiona Pascall.

 

 

 

 

Play is the Way- tips and advice for those new to play pedagogy 2

Check out the second of our our blogs for anyone starting out with play pedagogy for the first time, from those who’ve been there before.  This time advice from Frances McMahon who has recently joined the ELC cnetral team after teaching in P1.

 

 

Being a Primary 1 teacher is incredibly rewarding but also exhausting! My number one tip for the beginning of primary one is just to relax and use the first few weeks to focus on getting to know the children. There will be plenty of time for phonics, so this time is best spent making the children feel happy and secure in their new environment by providing lots of undisturbed time for play. Establishing routines early on will also make things easier, as will building in lots of time for tidying and for zipping up 25 jackets!

 

 

I like to use the first few weeks to really get to know the children individually. A play-based environment is perfect for getting to know each child as you can observe and interact with them during play.  Through their play I always learn so much about what the children already know, what they are interested in and what motivates them. I like to note down what I’ve learned about each child in a table as it helps me build a better picture of who they are as an individual and a learner. I make notes about what I’ve learned about their family, their interests, their friendship groups as well as things like if they can write their name, if they have 1-1 correspondence when counting etc. All this information helps me build a more meaningful relationship with the child as I can talk to them about things that are relevant to them and that they are interested in. I can also use this information to adapt the environment to promote and develop their learning further.

 

It is also useful to establish routines early on so children can be confident and independent with things like putting their bags/jacket away in the morning and going to the toilet. It also helps to have all the resources labelled and easily accessible to the children so they can be responsible for bringing out resources on their own and tidying them away.

 

 

 

 

Creating a nurturing environment based on strong and meaningful relationships is always my main priority as children won’t always remember the order you taught them phonics, but they will always remember how you made them feel 😊.

 

 

Play is the Way- tips and advice for those new to play pedagogy

 

My name is Rachel Keane and I have been teaching within Falkirk Council for 8 years. For the past five years I have taught between primary 1 and primary 2. Three years ago we embraced Play is The Way. I thought I would share some of the things I wish I’d known at the beginning of our play journey for anyone who is starting out with play pedagogy for the first time this year.

Environment

Unfortunately no matter how much time and effort I put in to my environment it just would not stay Pinterest worthy! Of course your space should be empowering, nurturing and encourage children to wonder, explore and create but setting tuff trays up every morning with different small world settings can become demoralising when after 30 seconds of the children entering the space, and in the adults eye, it has been completely destroyed! That field made up of dried oats might look like an inviting space for cows to live but to many children in your setting it’s a sensory activity where you dig your hands through it and sprinkle it all over the floor!

Try to keep your provocations open ended. Model to the children what small world spaces could look like and allow the children to explore materials and create these spaces themselves. Not only does this free up your time in morning to complete other tasks but it encourages children to take the lead in their learning, developing motor skills, problem solving and their imagination.

You may find that your classroom very quickly becomes noisy and chaotic, this is children at work. However it is important to set clear exceptions of the space to ensure safety and to allow children to develop responsibility and respect for their environment.

Utilise outdoor space and allow children to participate in play and activities that require space.

Before break time I encourage children to “organise” where they are playing. Lids on pens and glue sticks and a clear path to the door. This allows children to continue their play after break but it also helps to keep the space inviting for other children. Initially, plan your day with additional time to carry out these daily routines and you will soon find the pace picks up. During ‘Tidy Up Time’ tidy alongside the children, modelling where things should go and how the spaces should look.

Child-Led

We know that relationships are important and building good relationships with our young people is vital. Make sure you spend lots of time away from the security of the teaching table and get on the floor with the children, playing and interacting alongside them. Get to know them, their likes, interests and their personalities.

It can be difficult at first to let go of your planning and plan based on your children’s interests, skills and needs. Through interactions and observations you will understand what stage of development your children are at.

Play opportunities allow you to support those still developing early literacy and numeracy skills and also challenge and extend the skills of others. Plan for opportunities to develop fine and gross motor skills, set up provocations and areas to promote literacy, maths and numeracy, sing and read stories and rhymes to help develop phonological awareness and foundational literacy skills. Give children time to build on these foundations before launching into a phonics and reading program.

CPD and Networking

Visit other settings, speak with other teachers and nursery colleagues, attend CPD courses, scroll through twitter, or create a Pinterest or Instagram page for ideas. There are so many experienced and passionate people out there! Being able to visit other settings, borrow ideas and discuss key issues with other teachers continues to be the most beneficial for me.

It can take a while to shift your pedagogical thinking but remember to have fun, ask questions and take your time building up your environment including your children in the planning and development of the space.

And finally…invest in a pair of comfortable shoes!

 

Check out the FabulousFalkirk Initiatives tab above to find more information and links to further support and advice about Play is the Way.

 

#wonderisers

Play is the Way 2020-2021 Update

As we approach the end of a another school year the time has come to look back and reflect on our successes and plans for the future.  What a year it has been!  Despite the challenges of 2020-2021 Falkirk’s ELC practitioners and early primary teachers have again made Falkirk extremely proud with their commitment and passion to driving forwards improvements in play pedagogy.  Below are just a few updates and highlights.

New Support Materials Available

The central early learning team have continued to develop support materials to aid teams and practitioners to develop their own play pedagogy and practice.  This year two new resources have been added to our support materials.

Play is the Way:Getting to where we want to be

In May, we launched a draft of Play is the Way: Getting to where we want to be audit toolkit.  Primary Schools and ELC settings are invited to use this self-evaluation tool to identify where they are now and what needs to happen next. The tool lists a series of features which are designed to help senior leaders and staff teams reflect upon their practice, identify improvement actions and choose the most appropriate support to help them achieve these.  A copy of the audit tool can be found in the self evaluation document store on the Leadership and Management page of the Falkirk Early Learning Glow SharePoint.

Play is the Way: Introduction for families

Our central team have also produced materials to support settings share the rationale behind Play is the Way with families and give examples of what this might look like in practice, particularly in P1 classrooms.  These materials are available as a Sway which can be shared directly with families or as a PowerPoint and accompanying transcript which settings can use to design and deliver their own workshops for families.

A variety of engaging and useful documents have also been created by Falkirk’s Early Years Pedagogues to share some of the key messages from Realising the Ambition: Being Me with families.

All materials are available in the Play is the Way document store on the Falkirk Initiatives and Approaches page of the Falkirk Early Learning Glow SharePoint.

 

Impact of 2020-2021 professional learning opportunities

More than 200 staff members participated in authority run professional learning opportunities about play pedagogy and have been using their learning to improve provision and outcomes for our youngest children this year.

52 P1 and P2 teachers completed a short course with Professor Deirdre Grogan from Strathclyde University to help them embed high quality Play pedagogy in practice in their classrooms.

 

100 ELC practitioners took part in a one-off session with Deirdre where they explored high quality Documentation and Provocations. 

 

 

76 ELC practitioners, P1, P2 and P3 teachers along with early level senior leaders took part in a facilitated team enquiry project supported by online training modules from educational consultant Kym Scott.

 

The projects aimed to provide smoother pedagogical transitions for children as they move from one stage to the next whilst using high quality play and playful teaching to improve children’s outcomes in early literacy and maths.

99% evaluations returned stated that the project had met these aims. There was also a significant increase in practitioners’ confidence in the delivery of developmentally appropriate early literacy and maths learning experiences for young children.  This Sway gives a more detailed report of the projects for those who wish to find out more.

 

What’s coming up in 2021-2022?

  • A feedback session will be held on 8th September 2021 where interested parties can share how they have used the Play is the Way: Getting to where we want to be audit toolkit so far and suggest any improvements for the final draft which will be published by October 2021.
  • The inspiring, Professor Deirdre Grogan will be back supporting improvements to play pedagogy by delivering:
      • Transitioning into Play is the Way.  A 4 part course where Deirdre will support staff teams to develop their vision and rationale for play as well as increase knowledge and understanding about how young children learn and how this can be supported in practice through child-centred play pedagogy.  This course will be repeated with cohort 1 running September to December 2021 and cohort 2 running January to March 2022.
      • Embedding Play is the Way – The Child’s Curriculum. A two-part course for P1 and P2 class teachers where Deirdre will explore how to effectively plan, teach, assess and document high-quality child-initiated learning.
  • There will be another chance for settings to take part in a facilitated team practitioner enquiry project with the fantastic Kym Scott. Further details about this can be found in the Connecting Play Across the Early Level project proposal.
  • Our live Play Pedagogy Network sessions will get back up and running again next year with a focus on sustaining play is the way and securing children’s progress through high quality learning, teaching and assessment.

All our professional learning courses are available on Falkirk’s CPD manager now. Sign up quickly to make sure you don’t miss out on these great opportunities.

 

#wonderisers

Children’s Play

“Children’s play is crucial to Scotland’s
wellbeing; socially, economically and
environmentally. Children learn as they play
and bringing more play into the school day
helps foster children’s natural curiosity and
motivation to learn.”

(Maree Todd MSP,  in Play Scotland’s Playful Pedgogy: a guide to getting started , September 2020)

http://

 

In Falkirk we have embraced play as a vehicle for learning in our early learning and early primary settings for many years.   Our ambition is for children in Falkirk to experience a broad, stimulating curriculum which is informed by their prior learning and interests about the world around them.  As highly skilled practitioners who ask thoughtful questions and facilitate learning with depth, challenge and application we aim to support and guide every child to progress their learning.  We provide a developmentally appropriate approach to teaching in learning; informed by research which shows that young children learn best through play and first hand experiences (Bruce, 2015).    Our Play is the Way approach supports and extends children’s learning by providing them with regular opportunities to:

  • make their own choices and decisions;
  • return to experiences over time to deepen learning and practice skills;
  • discuss thoughts, ask questions and extend their ideas

Adapted from Practice guidance materials for Play Pedagogy in the early stages of primary school (Falkirk Council 2020)

This approach is described in research as play pedagogy and in Falkirk, Play is the Way is our play pedagogy brand.  Through following #playisthewayFC on Twitter, it is clear to see the passion and commitment Falkirk educators have for play pedagogy  and we are so proud of the many inspiring and motivating spaces, experiences and interactions being provided for Falkirk’s children.  Here are just a couple of recent examples from #playisthewayFC.

http://

http://

 

For more information about play pedagogy click on the links in the text above or access Play is the Way – the full story  for more detailed information and guidance (Glow sign-in required to access Falkirk Council materials).

#wonderisers

Launch of New Materials for Falkirk’s ELC Teams

It’s the end of another busy week in Falkirk’s ELC settings and this week’s blog post is about some of the many support materials and CLPL opportunities  which were shared with settings this week.

Early Learning Newsletter  published.

The FCEY central team are excited to be publishing the first newletter for Falkirk’s ELC workforce.  Our newsletter contains snapshots from a few of our #FalkirkWonderisers out in ELC settings and Primary 1 classrooms along with latest news, upcoming events and updates from some  of our professional partners.   Watch out for this term’s newsletter coming soon!

Early Learning Professional Learning Brochure

With these words in mind, the Early Learning team were pleased to launch their professional learning brochure detailing their 2020-2021 CLPL programme.  Falkirk ELC and early primary practitioners can use this brochure to view the fantastic range of CLPL on offer to them in Falkirk this year.  Below is a snapshot of the wealth of opportunities on offer.

Staff Handbooks

The FCEY team have been working hard to produce new and updated staff handbooks to support practitioners working in the many varied roles of our ELC workforce.  The first of these, launched this week are:

  • SEYO handbook
  • Staff Induction handbook
  • ELC Assistant Induction handbook
  • Mentor Guidance handbook

Falkirk Council practitioners can access all  handbooks on the Early Learning Sharepoint on Glow using this link.

Online Training Opportunities

Welcome back to all our #FalkirkWonderisers.  We are so proud to see all the amazing play and learning that has been taking place already in our ELC settings and primary schools.  It is wonderful to see all the smiling faces back in our settings.

For those of you looking to continue your development of play pedagogy through high quality CLPL, we wanted to draw your attention to these upcoming training opportunities from Anna Ephgrave and Deirdre Grogan.

*Update June 16th 2020* Supporting Transitions from Home-Early Years-P1 in 2020.

On Monday 8th June over 50 dedicated early learning and childcare and primary practitioners and leaders came together online to discuss transitions.  We aimed to share ideas about creative ways to support our youngest children back into our settings this year; whether they are returning to ELC or starting ELC or Primary 1 for the first time.  They were ably led and supported in this discussion by Jackie Ballantyne from Education Scotland.

To read a summary of the discussion please click here 

Evaluation of 2019-2020 ELC Thematic Review

Calling all our #fabfalkirkfolk. 

If you can spare a few minutes, please help our team evaluate the 2019-2020 ELC thematic review process by completing a short evaluation form on Glow using this link.

Your feedback will be used to make improvements to the future quality assurance of Falkirk’s Early Learning and Childcare provision and we really appreciate you taking part.

Please note, there are different forms for EYOS, SEYOs and senior leaders to complete as part of this evaluation and you will need to login using your Glow account to access the forms.   They are stored in the folder called “Thematic Review 2019-2020 Evaluation forms”.

The deadline for returning evaluation forms is May 18th 2020.

If you have any difficulty accessing these, please contact Fiona Pascall or Margaret Aitken.