{"id":3195,"date":"2021-06-23T08:00:06","date_gmt":"2021-06-23T07:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fa\/falkirkearlyyears\/?p=3195"},"modified":"2021-06-23T10:24:03","modified_gmt":"2021-06-23T09:24:03","slug":"play-is-the-way-2020-2021-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fa\/falkirkearlyyears\/play-is-the-way-2020-2021-update\/","title":{"rendered":"Play is the Way 2020-2021 Update"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"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.\u00a0 What a year it has been!\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Below are just a few updates and highlights.<\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

New Support Materials Available<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

The central early learning team have continued to develop support materials to aid teams and practitioners to develop their own play pedagogy and practice.\u00a0 This year two new resources have been added to our support materials.<\/p>\n

Play is the Way:Getting to where we want to be<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

In May, we launched a draft of Play is the Way: Getting to where we want to be <\/strong><\/em>audit toolkit.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 A copy of the audit tool can be found in the self evaluation document store on the Leadership and Management page<\/a> of the Falkirk Early Learning Glow SharePoint.<\/p>\n

Play is the Way: Introduction for families<\/h3>\n

\"\"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.\u00a0 These materials are available as a Sway<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

All materials are available in the Play is the Way document store on the Falkirk Initiatives and Approaches<\/a> page of the Falkirk Early Learning Glow SharePoint.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Impact of 2020-2021 professional learning opportunities<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"\"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 <\/em>in their classrooms.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

100 ELC practitioners took part in a one-off session with Deirdre where they explored high quality Documentation and Provocations.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"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.<\/p>\n

\"\"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.\u00a0 This Sway gives a more detailed report of the projects<\/a> for those who wish to find out more.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What’s coming up in 2021-2022?<\/span><\/h2>\n