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 allow our children to explore literacy through their play in lots of different ways. We know that children learn best exploring through play however some literacy skills do need to be explicitly taught and encouraged by an adult. It is important that children receive a mix of child led, adult initiated and adult led playful experiences to develop their early literacy.

This blog will focus on ideas for high quality adult -led literacy experiences (gatherings). Gatherings should be tailored to the specific needs and interests of the children in the setting and be playful and optional. For more information on gatherings please refer to this useful blog The importance of high quality gatherings – Falkirk Early Learning (glowscotland.org.uk).

The following are some ideas for adult led gatherings to develop children’s core literacy skills:

Concept of print

• Read a story – point to and talk about the different features of a book, model how to hold a book and how we read from left to right and top to bottom. Encourage children to explore turning the pages and point to pictures and words. Ask questions about the story, ask them to predict what will happen next.
• Introduce different types of books e.g., books with different textures and colours, picture only books, flap books, fiction and nonfiction etc. Talk about the similarities and differences.
• Go on a hunt for different types of print around the setting or when out on a community walk try to spot environmental print (e.g., road signs, shop names etc.)
• Involve them in making diary/floor book entries to record what happened that day/ what they are learning about.
• Helicopter stories – children act out their own stories.
• Repeated stories – telling the same story daily/ a few times a week. The children can begin to act out these familiar stories and orally retell them.
• Props, puppets, story spoons/ stones etc. to encourage acting out and retelling of stories.

Phonological awareness

• Sing songs and rhymes – make up your own songs and rhymes together. Have a song of the week similar to repeated stories.
• Read books that rhyme and have children say the last word in the sentence.
• Clap out syllables in words and names.
• Card games to match or pair pictures of objects that rhyme.
• Play ‘I Spy’ – ‘I spy something beginning with the sound s’ or ‘I spy something red.’
• Go on a sound hunt within the setting or out on a walk to find words/objects starting with different sounds/letters.

Oral Language

• Retell stories and act out stories.
• Songs and rhymes.
• Invite children to talk about their day/ what they enjoy doing
• Start a topic of conversation you know children are interested in or have experience with to encourage lots of talking.
• Use props/ puppets to encourage language.
• Ask open ended questions during stories and conversations.

Fine and Gross motor skills

• Have a gathering outside to use the loose parts to build dens/ create obstacle courses etc. to encourage lots of running, jumping, and balancing.
• Playground games – Hopscotch, Tig, Simon Says, throwing and catching games, moving like different animals/ modes of transport etc.
• Sing active songs e.g., The Hokey Cokey, If You’re Happy and You Know it, I’m A Little Teapot, Hop Little Bunnies, 5 Little Monkeys, One Finger One Thumb etc.
• Do yoga together or dance.
• Play instruments together/ Make instruments to play.
• Group art/craft activities that encourage cutting, mark making, collage, painting etc.
• Threading/lacing/ sewing activities.
• Board games/ jig saws/ card games.
• Cooking and baking activities to encourage chopping, stirring, spreading, squeezing etc.

This is not an exhaustive list of ideas to develop early literacy skills within ELC’S, please feel free to leave a comment of any other adult led literacy activities that have worked well in your setting or tweet about them.

For more ideas on how to develop early writing skills specifically please see this blog Playful Writing in the Early Years by Frances McMahon – Falkirk Early Learning (glowscotland.org.uk)

For more information on how to develop core literacy skills please refer to the Foundational Literacy training which can be found on Falkirk Early Learning – CLPL and Local Information (sharepoint.com)

Frances

 

Hi, my name is Lisa Boa and I have been an Early Years Pedagogue with Falkirk Council since April 2020. In August 2021, I was successful in being seconded to Falkirk Council’s new Early Intervention Team.  I am passionate about Getting it Right for Every Child, ensuring children and families get the right help, at the right time, from the right people.  A huge part of my new role is fostering and developing inclusive and equitable spaces, interactions, practices, and initiatives.  For me it’s all about reflecting on our values, visions, and practice.  We need to reflect upon and ask the why/ why not questions, tune into our children, analyse our observations and create supportive environments.  We also need to consider meeting children’s individual needs by ensuring a right-based approach which helps to celebrate diversities, cultures, and uniqueness.

 

My Early Intervention Role and Responsibilities include:

• Pedagogical support to ELC teams, childminders and partner settings regarding inclusive experiences, spaces, and interactions. Coaching and mentoring, supporting with implementation of strategies and identifying and supporting training that may be helpful.
• A point of contact to source information on partnership agencies, what they can offer, referral processes and contact information.
• Supporting the delivery of family work, including the set up and facilitation of Falkirk’s Peep network.
• Supporting the connection of Falkirk’s SEYO’s that are supporting under 3’s. Encouraging the sharing of best practice and identification of training needs.

As a team we are continually using the model for improvement to measure and analyse the impact we are having.  It is important to us, as an Early Intervention Team that we have direction and clear aims to work towards.  Our aims for this year are:

• By June 2022 the CARE group will allocate the best support and interventions at the right time, to 100% of the referrals discussed by the group.

So far: Vicki and the CARE Group have supported 53 children and families through a variety of early support and interventions. Positive feedback about the group has been given from a wide range of partner agencies.  I was delighted to read the positive outcomes within the reviews from parents/carers and support services; “I think the intervention/extra support will make an incredible difference to this family”, “I appreciate the time you have taken to consider this referral”, “The impact that it will make to the family will be of great support and allow them to get back on track”.

 

The Childcare Allocation, Review and Evaluation Group (known as the CARE Group) is a multi-agency group, which is led by Falkirk Council Children’s Services.  The group allocates support to children and their families during the Early Years.  If you would like to know more about the CARE Group, the leaflet can be found on the FC Glow website or contact Vicki Muir.

 

• By December 2021, 100% of establishments with a Scottish Government funded PEEP trained practitioner, will have led at least one PEEP session and gathered feedback using the evaluation tools

So far: 71% of Peep trained practitioners have delivered a Peep session through SWAY, virtual online sessions, outdoor sessions and 1:1 sessions.  Remember you don’t need to be Peep trained to deliver family learning sessions they can comprise of varying experiences; rhyme times, Bookbug, storytelling sessions, outdoor play and stay, buggy walks, walk and talk, sharing link resources through social media and so much more.  Learning from and with our parents/carers and creating those invaluable relationships are key to providing the best opportunities for our little people to be the best they can be.

 

• By June 2022, 40% of targeted ELC practitioners will have developed their confidence and knowledge of ASN, reducing the requests for exceptional SfLA hours by 30%

So far: 60% of our nurseries have attended the in-service training.  44% of the practitioners that attended the training have increased in confidence and knowledge in supporting children with ASN.  We have also had good examples of the impact the training has made on practitioners’ practices eg. creating team agreements around consistent language and strategies, child behaviours changing because of strategies suggested at the training and the benefits of open and honest dialogue within teams.  I would also like to thank our colleagues in Inclusion & Wellbeing and Aberlour for the fantastic input they provide at the training, they are invaluable.  If you haven’t already signed up, please sign up for the May In-service, it is one of Falkirk’s BIG priorities this year and has had great feedback.

 

By Lisa Boa

 

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 the school and ELC improvement plan. This year for the ELC there is a focus on children’s emotional well-being and how this is supported by the environment, improving children’s progress in literacy, and ensuring children’s learning is visible and their voice is heard.

 

During session 20-21 ELC children were supported to manage their emotions by building on and expanding emotion word vocabulary. This session, practitioners continue to support children to explore and manage their emotions. Children are encouraged to resolve conflict through restorative approaches, and the team are working together to develop cosy and nurturing spaces. It is essential that practitioners provide an environment for children that supports their emotional wellbeing. Children need positive and nurturing relationships. They engage in learning experiences best when they are feeling calm and alert and should be encouraged to self-regulate with the support of an adult. The environment plays a fundamental part in supporting children’s emotional wellbeing, as sometimes very small changes can have a huge impact on children’s experiences.

 

 

Children should be at the centre of how we practice. It is important that we follow their lead in planning for their development and learning, focusing on what matters to them. Through participation, children acquire skills, build competence, extend aspirations, and gain confidence.

The ELC are on a journey to make children’s learning visible through documentation. Practitioners need to be able to truly listen to children through their observations, involvement, and interactions. The team are also recognising the UNCRC articles when planning for experiences and spaces. There is a focus on the importance of listening to children’s voice and documenting what matters to them during interactions, the experiences offered, and spaces provided both indoors and out. By making learning more visible, families can play a greater part in the everyday life of the ELC setting and their child’s learning.

I’m sure by now that most of you are aware of how highly I value the importance of repeated reading with young children. To help to improve literacy outcomes for children the ELC have significantly reduced the number of books on offer at story area, offering eight core books over the year. Through this, practitioners will support children to further extend their vocabulary and ability to recall and retell a story. Along with EYO literacy champion we have engaged in collaborative working with link Speech and language therapist Iona Smith to develop a user-friendly vocabulary toolkit. I look forward to sharing this more widely once data has been gathered, analysed, and evaluated. The concept of repeated reading is shared through home links with families and a SWAY was created to highlight to parents the importance of reading with their child. Home links help to ensure there are increased opportunities for children to engage with the same story, across both the ELC and home setting, with an adult.

Working with families is such an important part of the work that we all do in early years. Over the past couple of months, I have been in contact with the Hospitality Business Development Manager for Forth Valley College. We have been exploring the possibility of eventually being able to utilise one of the rooms within the college to work with a small group of children and their families. I am delighted to say that this partnership journey with Forth Valley College has commenced. Watch this space!

 

By Elaine Haughton

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 given me the in-depth knowledge of Quality Improvement Science and, has given me the opportunity to cascade this across Falkirk. My role is a newly established role. I currently support 10 local authority ELC settings and, support the learning/implementation of Quality Improvement Methodology universally across Falkirk’s networks.  I am a data/ quality improvement methodology enthusiast.  Quality Improvement methodology is a fantastic tool to support and ensure equity within our settings. This is something that seems ‘daunting’ to begin with however, this the tools within QI are extremely simple and effective. We are all in this journey together.

 

Quality Improvement Methodology

Quality Improvement Methodology is a fundamental aspect to improving outcomes for children and ensuring equity across our ELC settings. Quality Improvement Methodology is often looked at as the job of those in senior leadership positions, however, finding the magic within this methodology and using this effectively within your setting, at all levels, makes a huge difference! Being creative with the tools, and finding the ones that work for you and your setting, this is what makes the difference.

Ensuring Equity

We hear the word EQUITY flowing around often but do we know what equity really means and, do we know how to really embed this within our settings, to ensure the very best outcome for or children and families who require this this most? The most important part of your jigsaw is ‘understanding and identifying’. You must be able to identify where your equity gaps are, and who is most affected by these gaps. Often these gaps aren’t always clear, we need to construct a contextual analysis, to really get to know our children, families and communities.

 The Equity Leads Quality Improvement Group

Our Quality improvement group is now 5 months in. I support 10 ELC leadership teams, who are embarking on their QI journey. I visit these settings every 3 weeks. We also have our networking group where we come together as a team to discuss all things quality improvement every 2 weeks. We are embarking on our in-depth QI training, with support from the Scottish Government. Our 10 settings are Abbotsgrange ELC, Borrowstoun ELC, Camelon ELC, Kinnaird ELC, Langlees ELC, Larbert ELC, Myotview ELC, Parkhill ELC, Woodburn ELC, Woodlands ELC. These teams have been invested and dedicated throughout the whole project. They have shown commitment and the enthusiasm in learning how to utilise these tools to support equity and excellence within their settings. All settings have an equity based quality improvement project up and running, impacting positively on our children and families who require this the most.

Universal Quality Improvement/Equity Support

Quality Improvement and Equity should be at the forefront of everything we do. Would you like to learn new skills, collaborate with other QI exerts and begin to unpick a range of outstanding tools, which will help you improve outcomes and ensure equity within your setting?

Come along to our Quality Improvement Bite Size Blethers. These will provide you with the learning, development and networking opportunities to build skills, knowledge and confidence, enabling these are held on a monthly basis. It is just 30 minutes which consists of an informative PowerPoint, a relaxed discussion, examples of effective QI practice and relevant tools which you can adapt within your setting.

Microsoft Teams, Falkirk Early Years Blether Platform and CPD Manager (4pm-4:30pm)

Twitter: @MisswrightEY

What an adventure we have had promoting Marvellous Meals throughout our nursery. Over the past year, COVID-19 has put us all through the ringer and challenges through mitigations made snack preparation, baking and making quite difficult. Staff looked over risk benefits for these opportunities and experiences for our children, and managed to let the children be involved through some activities. Since returning in August 2021 for the new session, I wanted Marvellous Meals to be fully embedded into nursery life and to allow all of our children (0-5 years) to be involved in experiences that would benefit all developmental areas. COVID-19 is not going away anytime soon, but the impact this has had on our children through areas such as literacy and numeracy has been fundamental. So, along with the team, we wanted to make a huge difference to our children’s learning.

  Toddler Room 

During the summer we audited our environments throughout all our playrooms and dining room. We redesigned these areas to make them cosy and natural by ordering wooden benches and tables, having cosy areas beside family walls and making the environment look more home like. To outline the journey for each room in the nursery, I drew up an action plan, which has been discussed and implemented by staff. I have taken the staff on the journey of Marvellous Meals by discussing Larder orders, spaces, changing snack to breakfast in the morning and providing the children with a ‘free flow’ lunchtime. Staff discuss snack options with the children and each day they have made or baked something. Staff have changed their own mind-sets and thinking around Marvellous Meals opportunities.

 

   3-5 Room 

Staff have been fully supportive of the Marvellous Meals Approach and have actioned a lot of the elements quicker than any of us could have imagined! Consultations with staff and our families, through questionnaires and Y charts have set our Marvellous Meals Values for Myot View. We wanted everyone’s views on what our values should look, feel and sound like to ensure these experiences and opportunities for our children would be purposeful and meaningful.

 

Babies

We are so proud of our journey so far, the impact that this has had on our children has been amazing while watching them grow and develop through their self-help skills, independence, confidence, early literacy and numeracy skills and most importantly having lots of fun!

Thanks for taking the time to read our journey!

Vikki White

Principal Early Years Officer

Myot View Early Learning and Childcare Centre

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 Share Point its aims are to help settings think about their spaces, experiences, and interactions to develop children’s mathematical understanding. Numeracy and maths is much deeper than counting and recognising numbers. The course takes you through Penny Munn’s maths pyramid for babies and young children and helps you consider how to ensure the spaces, experiences and interactions are developmentally appropriate and purposeful for all learners.

  

 

The second part of the course focuses on the Key Concepts of Numeracy and Maths and breaks these concepts down with lots of examples of how these can be promoted in your setting. Throughout the course there are opportunities for you to reflect as a setting and there is an audit to accompany this course which can be used to gain further insight into how your setting promotes these concepts.

Section 3 explores intentional pedagogy, planning to support young children’s early numeracy and maths development. Through core provision, continuous provision, and core experiences it considers what opportunities for high quality interactions, experiences and spaces children have within a setting to develop young children’s numeracy and mathematical skills and understanding. This section also explores maths through stories.

To further support this CLPL we will also be holding a Blether Session based on the course on Wednesday the 23^rd February. This is an opportunity to meet with other practitioners and share ideas, thoughts and practice based on elements of the course.

For further information please contact Rachel Keane (Course Organiser).

I am particularly passionate about writing through play, so much so that my dissertation for my MEd is on playful writing and how it can promote children’s voice and develop their love and identity as a writer. Writing allows children to communicate their interests, ideas and thoughts with others and allows them to express themselves in print. Writing and play go hand in hand as they are both ways children socialise and interact with others.

 

I have had the privilege of visiting many different settings over the past few months and have seen lots of great writing through play opportunities woven throughout the indoor and outdoor spaces. Many settings are already providing lots of mark making opportunities and experiences for children to use writing resources and materials in authentic and purposeful ways.

 

Writing is one of the trickiest things a child will learn to do. The physical act of writing is only one aspect of the process. Children need to able to generate ideas, draw on a bank of vocabulary, understand the many different forms and purposes of writing as well as have the fine and gross motor skills required to hold a pencil.

 

Before children even put pen to paper it is our job to help them develop the skills, characteristics, and attitudes to become a successful writer:

 

• They need to develop fine and gross motor skills; hand-eye coordination; visual memory; alphabetic knowledge; and an understanding of the concept of print.
• They need a well-developed expressive language; an understanding of purpose and audience; an ability to generate and structure ideas; a bank of vocabulary to draw upon; one- to- one correspondence between words and print; and knowledge of the features of different forms of writing (e.g. stories, lists, letters, cards).
• Children also need opportunities to develop confidence, resilience, perseverance, creativity, and motivation to help them through the difficult process of becoming a successful writer.
• Children need certain executive cognitive functions such as the ability to stay focused on a task and the cognitive flexibility to be able to shift between all the processes involved in writing.

 

 

Luckily our Early Years environments already provide many play experiences that develop all these skills. In addition to providing mark

making opportunities there are lots of things you do every day that are helping children develop all the necessary skills:

 

• Lots of talk to develop vocabulary
• Songs, rhymes, dancing
• A literacy rich environment – books, storytelling, environmental print
• Scribing children’s stories/drawings for them (helicopter stories).
• Arts and crafts to develop creativity, imagination, fine motor skills,
• Imaginative/dramatic play – acting out stories and experiencing how writing materials are used in real life
• Puzzles and games – to develop perseverance, problem solving and fine motor skills
• Risky play – climbing, jumping, balancing to develop gross motor skills
• Sewing/weaving – to develop fine motor skills, planning and creativity
• Block play – drawing plans and blueprints and it also helps to develop symbolic play which is a skill needed for writing as the letters symbolise their thoughts in print.

And many many more…

We want to develop young writers who carry their love and confidence as a writer throughout their lives and we can do that by having less of a focus on letter formation and more focus on all the other skills required.

Play is the perfect context to nurture the cognitive, physical, social and emotional skills children need to develop as confident writers. So, keep on doing what you’re doing 😊.

Frances x