Tag: Leadership

Resources to Support Outdoor Play and Learning

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 are a number of important national guidance documents to support this area of priority. It is really important that pedagogical leaders and teams are conversant with the main messages in this guidance.

Care Inspectorate has been in touch to say that every setting will receive a hard copy towards the end of July of the Space to Grow Indoor Outdoor Settings guidance. In the meantime you can access the document here via the Care Inspectorate HUB.

It is really important that we are all clear on what it is to be an indoor/outdoor ELC settings. This definition from the guidance is very helpful,

“An indoor/outdoor setting is a premises-based setting where the scale and quality of the outdoor space is appropriate for enhancing the child’s quality of play and learning experiences. High quality natural outdoor space combined with high-quality indoor space and quality opportunities and experiences for children are all taken into account when considering the number of children the setting is registered for. Both the indoor and the outdoor area must be accessible to the children 100% of the operational times. An indoor/outdoor setting will take account of the practices of a solely outdoor or satellite setting.” (emphasis added)

Page 8

We are absolutely delighted that our very own Nethermains Nursery Class is featured in the document (pages 29 & 30). If you are interested in finding out more, do not hesitate to contact Ashley Cupples, EY Pedagogue.

Page 26 gives practical hints and tips on what practitioners need to consider before embarking on establishing an indoor/outdoor approach.

The resource should act as a tool to be used in conjunction with:

Space to Grow

Out to Play

My World Outdoors

Practice Note: Early Learning and Childcare: Delivering High Quality Play and Learning Environments Outdoors

New SSSC Learning Resources to Support Early Learning Workforce

The SSSC has launched new learning resources to support early learning and childcare workers

The free digital resources can support our Falkirk’s EYC staff in continuing to develop good practice  within the areas of:

  • Observing children
    This online practice simulator allows workers to observe children at play while in different workplace settings to help them develop observation and recording skills, which play a key role in early learning and childcare.
  • Child development
    This app is an essential reference for early years practitioners in Scotland containing important aspects of national guidance and a mix of information and real world activities to support practice.
  • Mentoring for early learning and childcare services
    This app will help you implement a mentoring programme in your early learning and childcare service. We’ve designed it to help your service reach its potential and to support the continuous professional development of workers.

Early Learning Leadership Forum – February 2018

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 on a range of positive approaches to supporting themes 3 and 4 of QI2.3 from HGIELCC.  Thanks again to all those who came to share their good practice.

Falkirk Council staff and employees from our private partners can now access some of the presentations on our early years Glow page http://tinyurl.com/y7yr939f (Please note, you will need your Glow login details to access these materials).

New Support for Leaders of Early Learning in Falkirk

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 and it was great to see managers from all of our different EYCC settings coming together to discuss delivering the ambition for all of Falkirk’s bairns.

Falkirk Council and our private partner employees can access the Powerpoint and handout materials on our early years Glow page http://tinyurl.com/y7yr939f (Please note, you will need your Glow login details to access these materials).

Moderation Hub launched

 

A new resource, the ‘Moderation Hub’, has been launched on Glow to provide practitioners at every level, from every sector, regardless of role and remit, with a package of support for all aspects of the moderation cycle. It is a virtual learning environment providing:

  • Professional learning on moderation (in the form of presentations and discussion/workshop tasks)
  •  An in-depth look at each step of the moderation cycle
  •  A one-stop shop for key documentation (including quality assurance and moderation documents and self-evaluation proformas)

The moderation cycle, which replaces the NAR flowchart, outlines each stage of the moderation process and enables practitioners to develop a shared understanding of standards and expectations in the broad general education.

In Falkirk, we would expect all of our practitioners to engage in this moderation process to support them to arrive at valid and reliable decisions on learners’ progress within the levels of a Curriculum for excellence.

 

Moderation Hub