Falkirk Early Learning

Welcome to Term 1 of 2023/24 everyone!  We wanted to take this opportunity to highlight some of the methods our team use to share valuable… Read more

Hello I am Kerry Abercrombie your Curriculum Development Officer – Digital Learning for Falkirk Council. My role is to support education establishments in the development… Read more

Hi, I am Claire Lord, PEYO at Inchlair ELC Centre. In September 2022, our 3 – 5 year olds moved from Larbert ELC Centre to… Read more

At Carmuirs ELC we pride ourselves in ensuring Children’s rights are at the heart of our practice. We have adopted a rights-based approach, ensuring that… Read more

  Everyone has a Voice    Hello! I’m Kimberley Talbot, Senior EYO at Bowhouse ELC. At Bowhouse, we have a commitment to support and enable… Read more

Hi, we are the team at Beancross ELCC. We would like to take this opportunity to share al aspects of our personal plans in digital… Read more

Marvellous Mealtimes Blog Environments Hi, I’m Jennifer Laverty and I’m the SEYO at Avonbridge ELC Class. This blog will explore the journey we took to… Read more

Glendevon Early Learning and Childcare Centre Marvellous Mealtimes “Do It Yourself Deli” Hi my name is Tracey Sharples and I am a Senior Early Years… Read more

Marvellous Mealtime Update As we return from the Easter break and reflect on this academic year, we cannot believe we are in the last term… Read more

Hi everyone 😊, My name is Cheryl Smyth and I am an Early Years Peripatetic Teacher within the Early Years Central Team.  I joined Falkirk… Read more

Hi everyone I’m Elaine Craigen, a peripatetic teacher with the Early Years Central Team. I have worked with Falkirk Council for almost 33 year starting… Read more

Hi, my name is Fiona Pascall and this year, I am the link teacher for Bo’ness, Graeme and Grangemouth ELC settings. I have been a… Read more

Hi, I’m Lynette Wilson and I am a PEYO at Rannoch ELC Centre. Recently I applied and was successful in being awarded £2164.79 through the… Read more

Hello! My name is Helena MacPhail and I am the Nature Play Pedagogue based within the Central Team. I work alongside PEYO Lindsey Thompson, and… Read more

My name is Margaret Aitken, and I am one of the ELC Training and Improvement Officers within the EY central team. I have been in… Read more

Since August 2022 I along with two other colleagues have taken on the role of Marvellous Mealtime Pedagogue. I will be supporting the Denny, Falkirk, Grangemouth… Read more

From the Beginning…….   Hi my name is Nicola McCarter-Gall and I am an Early Intervention pedagogue and part of the Early Intervention Team here… Read more

Hi my name is Elaine Haughton and I am an Early Years Pedagogue with a particular focus on children’s rights and participation. This year I… Read more

A very warm welcome back to the new term in 2023!  We hope you all had an amazing Christmas break and a peaceful start to… Read more

I’m Lysa Thomson and have just started in the new role of Visiting Teacher: Play Pedagogy within the Early Years Team. I’m excited to embark… Read more

I am going to begin by ‘pondering’ over the privilege of having a lead Froebelian role within Froebel in Falkirk. However, for me I am… Read more

My name is Adele McIntosh, I am an Early Years Officer at Denny PS ELC and I have worked here for almost three years. At… Read more

Hi, I’m Louise Harrison, one of Falkirk Council’s team of Pedagogues, and I’m currently based with the fantastic team of practitioners in Bowhouse ELC.  I… Read more

There is already lots of great early literacy experiences taking place within our ELC’s every day. The high-quality spaces, interactions and experiences created by practitioners… Read more

Hello! I am Elaine Haughton and this session I have been supporting Victoria ELC with their improvement journey. Priorities for my improvement work link to… Read more

H, I am Claudette Wright, I am an Early Years Pedagogue (Equity Data Coach). I have recently completed my Scottish Improvement Leader Programme. This has… Read more

Over the last while there has been a bit of a misconception over the ‘value’ or ‘place’ of ‘group times’ within settings.  Some staff have… Read more

Our Journey to 1,140 At Beancross ELC Class, the implementation of 1,140 hours has made a huge impact in our nursery. We have been implementing… Read more

Falkirk Council Early Years Central Team have created a self-led CLPL opportunity for settings to develop their understanding of Natural Numeracy. Accessed via the Glow… Read more

‘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… Read more

My name is Ashley Cupples and I am one of the Early Years Pedagogues within Falkirk. Since beginning this role in August 2018 myself and… Read more

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… Read more

Working over the last two years with so many different settings and practitioners across the authority has shown that there is a real commitment and… Read more

I think we would all agree that term 1 has flashed us by and before we know it, the October Break is upon us. It… Read more

Have you signed up yet for the ASN training “Supporting children with potential ASN in Early Years” which will be held on the inset day… Read more

We are super excited to expand on our very popular ‘Blether sessions’ with the introduction of our new informative ’30 minute updates’ and ‘QI bite… Read more

We cannot believe we are half way through Term 1 already this year #FabFalkirkFolk!  Our team are finding it so wonderful and beneficial getting back… Read more

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. … Read more

  My name is Rachel Keane and I have been teaching within Falkirk Council for 8 years. For the past five years I have taught… Read more

As most of you begin to get ready for the 21-22 session, I am sure Marvellous Mealtimes will be one of the approaches at the… Read more

Over the space of six weeks, Dunipace nursery have been taking part in Claire Warden’s ‘Virtual Nature Schools training’ Cohort 3. The course is completed… Read more

Hi everyone, my name is Paula Buist and I’m the SEYO at Stenhousemuir Primary. I’m really happy to have been asked to share some information… Read more

#Sway7 #SingatHomeFC Let’s get creative and sing into Spring with a wonderful traditional nursery rhyme, our YMI tutor Laura sings “Humpty Dumpty”. Our speech and… Read more

#Sway6 #SingatHomeFC Let’s get creative and encourage as much singing and chatting as we can, our YMI tutors Yorick and Cameron share “Chatter on the… Read more

#Sway5 #SingatHomeFC Team Falkirk as we welcome our children back are we ready to join in to help spread the joy and love of singing… Read more

#Sway4 #SingatHomeFC Team Falkirk- are we ready to join in to help spread the joy and love of singing with our ELC families #SingAtHomeFC?   … Read more

#Sway3 #SingatHomeFC Campaign! Team Falkirk- are we ready to join in to help spread the joy of singing with our #SingAtHomeFC?   As we celebrate… Read more

  We hope you are all safe and well. Things are a little different once again but we are heartened to see teams pull together… Read more

I can honestly say I am absolutely blown away by the commitment and focus our Falkirk practitioners have had in implementing marvellous mealtimes. Just two… Read more

Join in Falkirk with our new #SingatHomeFC Campaign! We know that singing is a valuable experience in ELC. Due to our current circumstances this won’t… Read more

“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… Read more

  After another week of celebrating all things Maths as part of Scottish Maths Week, it is important to think about what’s been achieved. First… Read more

  It’s Maths Week Scotland next week. Excited much????? I’ve always thought about maths and art being connected. Why? Because both disciplines are about noticing… Read more

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… Read more

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… Read more

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… Read more

Our #PlayAtHome week was a huge success and it’s all thanks to YOU! The level of contribution from our ELC settings and primary schools was… Read more

We want to say a huge **thank you** to our ELC and early learning colleagues and families who have supported our CS Comms #AtHome themed… Read more

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… Read more

Alice Grant from the Pre 5 ASN Outreach Service has created a Team which staff can request to join – ‘Early Years ASN Outreach Service… Read more

The EY central team now has a team twitter account @fceyteam to help you find out what’s happening in the world of early learning in… Read more

As a result of school and nursery closure we are aware that as parents you may be worried about how your children will learn over… Read more

STEM in Early Years     A new online CLPL Module focused on STEM in ELC has been launched by the University of West Scotland… Read more

Creating an ‘Environment of Wonder’. St Patrick’s ELC’s journey to developing a quality environment as part of providing 1140hr provision. As a staff team, we… Read more

Experiences which: Encourage the child to wait their turn with their friends, for example, having the patience to wait for a turn whilst sharing the… Read more

“Play is the Way! Come along to find out first-hand how Falkirk teachers and early years practitioners are using Froebelian principles and play-based pedagogy to… Read more

Food Hygiene Refresher Training                                 A small reminder that all Falkirk ELC practitioners whose Elementary Food Hygiene certificate is approaching 5 years old should sign up… Read more

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, without a team who feel valued, feel trusted and feel believed in, a leader has nothing.… Read more

I am absolutely delighted that baking is becoming a core experience for our young children in Falkirk settings. Many of you have locked this into… Read more

Over 30 Falkirk practitioners, half of the audience, attended the Power of Play by Kym Scott, which had been organised by Upstart. Kym’s passion for play-based… Read more

National Guidance to support high quality Outdoor Play and Learning Outdoor Play and Learning is a key priority in our Early Learning Quality Strategy. There… Read more

I know many of you have been keenly awaiting the publication of the Loose Parts Toolkit 2019. Find it here https://www.inspiringscotland.org.uk/publication/loose-parts-play-toolkit-2019-edition/ I am especially pleased… Read more

Welcome to our refreshed Early Learning Blog. For those of you who are frequent visitors to the Blog, I hope you are pleased with the… Read more

    Read more

** This learning resource is available on the National Improvement Hub In Falkirk we can use this resource to support reflective practice and to challenge our thinking as… Read more

Regular engagement in high quality makes the difference between good and great professionals. Our 2019/20 CLPL programme aims to support our educators to deliver the very… Read more

In our Falkirk nurseries,  when practitioners are caring for young children who use nappies, they must have appropriate facilities. These facilities must provide children with a safe,… Read more

Play Scotland have created a new toolkit “Play is key to raising attainment” Scottish Government Play Scotland Toolkit Play Scotland’s Play Types Toolkit is for… Read more

    The new Health and Social Care Standards have now been published and will be rolled out from April 2018. National Care Standards were… Read more

The second Early Learning Leadership Forum was held in Camelon Education Centre on February 5th 2018. A number of guest speakers from within and outwith the authority presented… Read more

On December 5th 2017, we held our first Early Learning Leadership Forum in Camelon Education Centre.  This event was the first of its kind in Falkirk… Read more

The Care Inspectorate has launched a new resource showing how the expressive arts can be used effectively in Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) settings. Our… Read more

  A new resource, the ‘Moderation Hub’, has been launched on Glow to provide practitioners at every level, from every sector, regardless of role and… Read more

The Scottish Government launch  A Blueprint for 2020: The Expansion of Early Learning and Childcare in Scotland: Quality Action Plan Quality Action Plan 1140   Read more

In Falkirk, we recognise that spending time outdoors and particularly in natural environments is good for all of us and especially for children. The Care… Read more

What is it? The Children and Young People Improvement Collaborative (CYPIC) encompasses the EYC (Early Years Collaborative) and RAfA (Raising Attainment for All) programmes. It will remain closely… Read more

All Falkirk Council early years practitioners should have a working knowledge of the Building the Ambition national practice guidance document; which was published by Scottish… Read more

Care Inspectorate have created an on-line support tool called The Hub. The Hub provides ‘one-stop-shop’ access to a range of resources aimed at supporting improvement… Read more