Tag: play is the way

The importance of high quality gatherings

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 even been heard to say:  “we’re not allowed to have group times!”

Whilst it is true that we should all have moved away from the out-dated practice of sitting young children down in large groups to participate in an adult-led activity for long periods of time; this does not mean that children should never learn in groups.  Carefully planned, playful, adult-led learning experiences are an important part of a balanced approach to quality play pedagogy in our ELC (and early primary) settings.  One of the main differences when thinking about ‘group activities’ is that most  group experiences now are interest based and optional as opposed to key worker groups.

Adult-led experiences in the ELC can be thought of as social “gatherings” where adults encourage children to come together to take part in a specific learning experience.  Social gatherings greatly support social and emotional wellbeing; sense of belonging and cultural identity and the development of important life skills such as turn taking and communication.  They also offer a wide range of different early level curricular learning opportunities too.

Whilst we should be mindful that to best support learning, the general rule of thumb is ‘the younger the child, the more time we should devote to child-initiated learning experiences’; adult-led learning experiences do still have a place.

With the completion of the 1140 hours agenda, our young children are spending more time in ELC settings than ever before.  Add to that the disruption to social lives the Covid-19 pandemic has caused over the last two years and the importance of providing children with these fun, inspiring and motivating adult-led learning experiences through gatherings with their peers becomes an even more important consideration for early years practitioners.

 

It is important to remember that every planned adult-led learning experience we provide through gatherings must remain child-centred and developmentally appropriate for all of the children invited to take part in them!    We must think about who we might encourage to come to each gathering and what knowledge, skills or learning dispositions we want the experience to support or challenge them to develop.  Why will being invited to explore this through a gathering be more impactful than the child-initiated learning they would engage in through freely chosen play?

 

Having decided on the who and the what, we must then think about where and when the group of children will be most likely to achieve success.  E.g. Will this group of children learn this best by gathering outdoors or indoors?  When would a gathering be best timed to support children’s levels of wellbeing? When might their levels of engagement be higher? Will they still have enough time to wallow in child-initiated free play if we hold a gathering at this time?

Lastly, we must also consider the how.  How will we ensure this adult-led experience/gathering is inspiring and motivating; really capturing the children’s attention and sparking their curiosity thus leading to deeper learning and better retention?  Remember, all adult-led learning experiences should take place in short, sharp bursts and “be playful in nature; motivating children to be actively engaged in their learning through the practitioner’s imaginative use of materials, storylines, and hand-on activities which children enjoy e.g. songs, rhymes, games, puppets etc.” (Falkirk Council 2020 quoting DCSF 2009*)

 

A major part of our role as Falkirk Council ELC  practitioners is to inspire young  children, sparking their interest in the world around them  and supporting them to be enthusiastic and motivated lifelong learners.  Let’s continue to use high quality,  developmentally appropriate and playful gatherings as one part of this amazing work.

 

 

In leading gatherings in our settings, we must always remain mindful of Ferre Laever’s theory that a child’s levels of wellbeing need to be high for them to engage effectively in learning experiences.  If we try too hard to encourage, perhaps even cajoling, a child to sit down and stay at an adult-led gathering when they are not ready (either developmentally or emotionally) they will not learn effectively!  Even worse, such practice may lead to children developing the negative view that adult-led learning experiences are uncomfortable, boring, confusing, or upsetting.

* Falkirk Council 2020.  Practice guidance materials for play pedagogy in the early stages of primary school.  Falkirk Early Learning Glow SharePoint – Falkirk Initiatives and Approaches, Play is the Way.

#wonderisers

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