Author: Eva Wilkinson

decorative header image of front cover of story book featuring a cartoon bear standing in a primary school classroom

Cy Bear at School – Keeping Safe and Secure Online

Introducing a brand new first concept storybook raising cyber security awareness for younger children aged 4-7 years. 

In today’s digital world, learning how to stay secure online is just as important as staying safe in the real world. 

Just as children learn to lock their doors at home, they can also learn how to “lock” their digital spaces. “Cy Bear at School – Keeping Safe and Secure Online” is packed with clear explanations, colourful storytelling and engaging hands-on invitations to explore play and learn together. 

“Passwords have been the cornerstone of online security for decades, helping to protect our digital identities and sensitive information from unauthorised access.” – National Cyber Security Centre.

This bright, friendly storybook introduces children to the importance of securing devices by highlighting where teachers use passcodes and passwords in a primary school setting.  

Through simple language and fun illustrations, Cy Bear helps children understand the importance of strong passwords and good digital habits – turning every child into a Cyber Security Hero!   

Join Cy Bear and his best friend, Cy Bee, on a buzzing adventure through school as they teach the basics of cyber security.   A fun, friendly story that turns every child (and bee!) into a real Cyber Security Hero! 

As a gift from the Scottish Government, each Primary One child in Scotland will receive their very own copy of “Cy Bear at School – Keeping Safe and Secure Online” in August 2026 and will have the opportunity to join in live read alongs, (delivered by Education Scotland) with their class throughout 2026/27. 

Browse the webinar calendar to find a suitable read along date/time and join with your class. There are AM and PM options, ASN and GME too Upcoming Webinars – DigiLearn. 

Everyone can access an online copy “Cy Bear at School – Keeping Safe and Secure Online” on Parent Club Scotland: Tips for creating strong passwords to stay secure online | Parent Club.

 

ELC Digital Award Professional Learning Network

This 4 part professional learning network is for ELC practitioners working in ELC settings in Scotland who aspire to become DSAS awarded settings with the new Digital Learning Through Play in ELC Award. You can join any or all four sessions.

  • Guided by Education Scotland’s Digital Team and supported by ELC practitioners in Scotland, already awarded, you will work through the award framework to make quality improvements in digital learning in your ELC settings
  • Collectively, the group will explore each area of the DSAS Framework for ELC and investigate where digital technologies provide opportunities to design unique learning spaces outside and indoors, (enabling children to play and learn with and through technology) and be guided on how to evidence this.  
  • You will be invited to join (optional) a Teams site (Glow log in required) to discuss/share/ask questions with the group in between webinars.
  • You will receive a link to join the meetings via the email you use to sign up. This will be a Team meeting link (no Glow log in required). Please use your organisation/ELC setting/local authority email address.
  • At the end of the program settings can opt to apply for award validation via DSAS.

 

Session 1 – Leadership and vision. 25/9/25  3.30-4.30pm

Session 1 sets the scene by supporting you in the creation or to review your Learning with and Through Technology strategy. You will identify actions for/from your improvement plan and determine how success will be measured.

Sign up here

 

Session 2 – The use of digital technology within your curriculum. 30/10/25  3.30-4.30pm

Session 2 brings us together to explore pedagogy and what a considered, developmentally appropriate approach to technology, (that works for your learners) looks like in your setting. We will also touch on different formats to digitally gather evidence.​

Sign up here

 

Session 3 – Your setting’s digital culture.  27/11/25  3.30-4.30pm

In session 3, we will consider our role in using technology, how we model this and the opportunities for colleagues and parents/carers to learn about the advantages of digital technology and how to support children’s digital wellbeing and explore experiences safely and securely. We will also highlight possible areas of concern and discuss when we might choose to not use digital technology.

Sign up here

 

Session 4 – Professional development & resources and infrastructure. 29/01/26  3.30-4.30pm

In the final session, we will bring the fourth and fifth sections of the framework together to think about our own learning and how we prioritise this to keep up in our ever-changing digital world​.

Sign up here

AI generated image of pre school children playing with loose parts and small globe lights in a play room

Light as a Loose Part.

When you think of loose parts, do you ever consider light up resources? 

Small, inexpensive, battery operated torches, touch lights, string lights? 

 

The Thrive Outdoors Loose Parts Play Toolkit explains the origin and theory of loose parts, making reference to Simon Nicholson’s research from 1971; The Theory of Loose Parts: How NOT to Cheat Children. 

Nicholson believed moveable materials that can be constructed and taken apart, create limitless possibilities for creativity, central to loose parts explorations. 

He described loose parts as ‘variables’ and provided examples such as materials and shapes; smells and other physical phenomena, such as electricity, magnetism and gravity; media such as gases and fluids; sounds, music, motion; chemical interactions, cooking and fire; and other humans, and animals, plants, words, concepts and ideas. With all these things all children love to play, experiment, discover and invent and have fun. 

The ideas of variables become tangible outdoors and indoors, in both natural and artificial light. Nicholson shares the dynamic interaction between children and the loose parts, the landscape, elements, and seasons, fosters a constantly evolving and growing play environment.  

In his theory, Nicholson illustrated also variables as naturally occurring and disappearing phenomena like water, ice, snow, shadows, cobwebs, dappled light and rainbows.  

Loose Parts Play Toolkit

Related reading:

Blog post by TTS – Importance of Light and Shadow Play in the early years. 

In this TTS article, you can read about the benefits of light and shadow play. Through this intrinsically motivating force, children develop spatial awareness and actively learn about shapes, sizes, and dimensions, cause and effect and the wonder of experimenting with moving objects in front of a light source to change the shadow it creates.

Importance of Light and Shadow Play in the early years

 

Blog post by TTS – Bringing joy through light By Ben Kingston-Hughes. 

In this second TTS article, the author Ben Kingston-Hughes describes how light can bring unique moments of joy and explains how we respond and pay more attention to things that fascinate us. 

Kingston-Hughes illustrates that through shadow explorations, children being to recognise that shadows are bigger the nearer to the light source, and how innately mathematical and simple shadow play with children can help embed complex scientific concepts, whilst providing them with joyful explorations.  

The value of sensory play to developing brains cannot be overestimated and our early explorations with light and shadow are a wonderful way to embed sensory play into our settings. 

 Bringing Joy Through Light

 

Book – Exploring Natural Connections with light reflection and shadow Halton, Treveon, Buchan. 

After chatting to Niki Buchan at a recent practitioner festival about the power of light in children’s scientific investigations, I was very much inspired to purchase a copy of this book she co-authored, to deepen my understanding of the interplay of light and materials and to to learn how children explore light interacting with different objects. 

You can read accounts of many different experiences, (clearly illustrated with photographs), where children are learning about concepts of light, reflection and shadow,  transparencies and translucency.  The book also highlights the affordances of light tables and light boxes, which in turn can create various visual and stimulating sensory experiences. It also shows how bringing digital and non-digital resources together,  to explore how they connect and interact, is both an inviting and intriguing experience. Children can literally be immersed in their own explorations and investigation. 

Natural Learning Educational Consultancy

 

Additional related links: 

Please feel free to share your thoughts on this topic via this Microsoft Form

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Images in blog post belong to post author. 
image of a toddler pressing the buttons on the LED panel of a washing machine

First of its kind study focusing on digital experiences of children under three years old.

Sharing our reading with you……  The two-year Toddlers, Tech and Talk study, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, was conducted by researchers from Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) in collaboration with Lancaster, Queen’s Belfast, Strathclyde, and Swansea universities. The study examined how technology, such as Amazon Alexa and Ring doorbells, influences early talk and literacy among 0- to three-year-olds in various communities across the UK.  Although some argue that children under three should avoid screen time entirely, studies have shown that digital technology can provide significant developmental benefits for young children.

Read about the research methods, study findings and access publications and media coverage here: Toddlers, Tech and Talk

Or alternatively you can skip to the key findings and recommendations here:   Policy Summary

What are your thoughts on the policy recommendations? In particular;
  • National early years curriculum frameworks, safeguarding guidance and related policies should be rescrutinised to take account of very young children’s rights to digital media access and healthy use.
  • Investment is needed in the ECEC sector to ensure high quality training and continuing professional development in the use of digital media in early childhood, including liaison with families.

Please feel free to share your thoughts via this Microsoft Form

Post image is not associated with the study.
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How Eildon West is Transforming Teaching with AI.

In the Eildon West Cluster in the Scottish Borders, we’ve been exploring how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can support teachers in their daily work. Through a series of Continuing Professional Learning (CLPL) sessions, created by Suzanne Pritchard and Krista Ainslie,  we’ve been learning together about how AI tools can make teaching more productive, creative, and accessible for all learners.

Our Learning Journey

Our journey began with a simple goal: to understand how AI could genuinely make a difference in the classroom. Each session has been designed not only to introduce tools but to explore how they can be adapted to real-life teaching scenarios.

AI for Productivity: We kicked off by diving into tools that can make a teacher’s day easier. Imagine cutting the time spent on lesson planning or analysing assessments by half. Tools like Microsoft Co-Pilot and Magic School AI have shown us how to generate tailored lesson plans, automate feedback, and even speed up administrative tasks like email correspondence. Teachers shared how these tools helped free up time to focus more on their students rather than paperwork.

AI for Creativity: Here’s where things got exciting. We explored Adobe Express to create stunning visuals for lessons and LM Podcasting for turning ideas into engaging audio content. Teachers experimented with these tools to transform lessons—whether by creating bespoke graphics for a science unit or crafting podcasts for history projects. The creativity unleashed during these sessions was infectious, with everyone sharing ideas and inspiring one another to try something new.

AI for Accessibility: One of the most inspiring parts of our learning journey has been seeing how AI can break down barriers for learners. Tools like text-to-speech, automatic translation, and differentiated resources showed us how technology can make education more inclusive. During one session, teachers used AI to quickly adapt materials for learners with additional support needs, creating materials that catered to a variety of learning styles and abilities.

Some AI Tools We’ve Tried

As we’ve started incorporating AI into our practices, we’ve experimented with a range of tools, including:

  • Magic School AI: A tool for simplifying tasks like lesson planning and grading.
  • ChatGPT: Helpful for generating ideas, simplifying complex concepts, and drafting resources.
  • Adobe Express: Perfect for creating visuals and multimedia content.
  • Microsoft Co-Pilot: Streamlines tasks across familiar platforms like Word and Excel.
  • Quizlet & Quizizz: Tools for gamifying assessments and creating tailored study materials.

What We’ve Learned

Our sessions have shown that AI isn’t about replacing good teaching—it’s about supporting & enhancing it. From saving time on administrative tasks to opening up new possibilities for creativity and accessibility, AI can help teachers focus on what they do best: supporting learners to be the best that they can be.

We’ve also found that effective use of AI requires collaboration and sharing best practices. Writing clear prompts, adapting outputs to fit specific needs, and understanding the ethical implications of these tools are all essential parts of the process.

Looking Ahead

AI is developing at a rapid rate and our work with AI is just beginning. While we’ve already seen the benefits it can bring, we’re also aware of the need to keep learning and adapting as the technology evolves. By sharing our experiences, we hope to encourage more conversations about how AI can fit into the everyday reality of teaching, here in the Borders and the world beyond.

If you’re interested in learning more about what we’ve been doing or have ideas to share from your own experiences, we’d love to hear from you. Let’s keep learning together.

Krista Ainslie – krista.ainslie@scotborders.gov.uk, gw09hillkrista@glow.sch.uk

Suzanne Pritchard – spritchard1@glow.sch.uk

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Digital Evidencing of Self-Evaluation in Tweedbank Primary School ELC.

Tweedbank Primary ELC was one of the first ELC settings to be awarded with the new DSAS Digital Learning Through Play Award in ELC, earlier this year. In this blog post, Early Years Officer Amy Simpson shares a practice highlight on the whole team approach to digitally evidencing key identified areas for improvement, at Tweedbank Primary ELC.

 

Our aim is to ensure self-evaluation is an ongoing, enjoyable and collaborative process.

Previously, we used a physical floorbook to document our self-evaluation, using HGIOELC and Care Inspectorates Quality Framework.

We used this alongside our Nursery Improvement Plan to focus on key areas of development.

To improve this model, we created a Padlet space to allow all staff to to input into self-evaluation evidence into key identified areas of improvement.

This is done in real-time and allows for staff to upload in the moment, and reflect collaboratively at protected self-evaluation time.

From moderating this approach, the quality of input has improved massively with the different media options available and staff being able to upload not only text (like a physical book), but photos, videos, voice notes… and even GIFs!

Our next steps for improvement are to include pupil and parent voice within this evidence to reflect the full settings input.

Padlet example

Each member of staff can access the Padlet via a shortcut on their iPads and add evidence below each identified area for improvement on an ongoing basis. As highlighted by Amy, the Padlet updates in real time, making the contributions of others instantly visible and the quality of evidence has improved with the variety of media formats available.

This blog post was submitted by Amy Simpson, Early Years Officer, Tweedbank Primary School ELC, Scottish Borders, November 2024.

Amy and the ELC Team at Tweedbank can be contacted at gw19simpsonamy@glow.sch.uk   /  TweedbankPS@scotborders.gov.uk

 

Scottish Borders Council Context.

Inspire Learning is SBC’s Digital Learning Transformation Programme and has to date delivered an Apple iPad to every teacher, ELC practitioner and every P4 to S6 pupil across all Borders schools, as well as class sets of shared iPads for the use of every P1 to P3 pupil and Early Years. The programme continues to support teachers in the best use of the technology in the classroom and is committed to achieving a uniquely high digital skills and education baseline for all Borders teachers through an extensive, bespoke package of professional learning and development.

Practitioners in SBC access Padlet via the free single sign on version in Glow. Your organisation or local authority may not use Padlet and instead use an alternative tool.  Please remember to check with your organisation or local authority digital lead before exploring new apps and platforms to ensure GDPR compliance. 

 

Exploring cyber security play pack, for early level learners.

By attending The Bongles and The Crafty Crows educator webinar (60 minutes, multiple dates) or by participating in the 2-part Cyber Resilience Internet Safety early level support webinars (120 minutes)  you will be eligible* to request a ‘exploring cyber security play pack’, for the early level learners in your care.

You will be invited to share feedback on how children choose to explore the pack and evaluate the effectiveness of the contents.

Please click here to view the pack contents and some suggestions of experiences it can provide.

Alternatively you may choose to create a similar play pack of your own, that compliments the story and provides children with the experience of handling and investigating concrete objects, that relate to the story and concept of cyber security.

*First come first served basis. 60 packs available.
AI generated image of toddlers surrounded by screens

Younger Children’s Screen Time.

Sharing our reading with you…

We recently shared a variety of recommend reading links around screen time.

In this post we share some more, but this time, the research and articles focus on younger children’s screen time, some including babies.

Special thanks to our National Early Language and Communication Team colleagues for sharing many of the articles and research links with us.

Before you browse through the links below, please consider these questions first.

Q –  What does screen time mean to you?

Q – Do you unpick children’s screen time in order to understand how/why the screen is being used?

Q – Do you view screen time as only watching content, or playing games, or do you view any/all kind of screen use as screen time?

Q- Do you know what the different ways we can use screens are? E.g.,  to consume, create or communicate content?

Q – Do you consider using screens in a practical way to solve real life problems? E.g., using apps such as the camera, calculator, weather forecast, maps, measure and audio recording?

Q- Do you view young children’s (early level and younger) screen time as an opportunity for independent learning or as a means for the adult and child to connect and play and learn together?

Q- What do you think the adult’s role should be when children are using screens?

You might find it helpful to revisit section 4.4 of Realising the Ambition: Being Me (page 49) and also 6.4 (page 70).

 

Our ability to use language unlocks all areas of learning. Children’s language development thrives through exposure to environments of rich and diverse spoken language experiences. We grow a sense of purpose for the child by our own use of language and engaging them with a wide variety of stories, rhymes, songs, symbols and texts in different media all around them. Building this purpose helps to nurture engagement and encourages children to see themselves as readers and writers. This doesn’t just happen by chance.

Realising the Ambition: Being Me page 70

Q – Do we use language to unlock learning when children are using screens?

 

Links to research and articles.

Preschoolers’ screen time and reduced opportunities for quality interaction: Associations with language development and parent-child closeness – ScienceDirect Gath, M, McNeill, B, and Gillon, G (2023)

Is the screen time duration affecting children’s language development? – A scoping review – ScienceDirect Bhutani, P et al (2024)

Screen Time and Parent-Child Talk When Children Are Aged 12 to 36 Months | Media and Youth |  Brushe.M, Haag.D, Melhuish. E, et all (2024)

Froebel-Trust-Research-Highlight_Tech.pdf Flewitt and Gemayel (2023)

Digital Play (ed.ac.uk)  Plowman (2020)

Screen time for babies and toddlers: the evidence | Baby & toddler articles & support | NCT NCT (2019)

Why not all screen time is the same for children – BBC Future Hoggenboom,M (2022)

Babies need humans, not screens | UNICEF Parenting  Nelson, C (2023)

Header image generated by Microsoft CoPilot. 

Please feel free to share your thoughts via this Microsoft Form

Unplugged Computing Science Live Lesson with Barefoot

EARLY AND FIRST LEVEL LEARNERS LIVE LESSON.

Join Isabella Lieghio (Barefoot Volunteer and Education Consultant at www.iconlearning.co.uk) in this interactive live lesson for early and first level learners, to explore one of the newest Barefoot Computing resources that has been specially created for younger to help develop their computational thinking skills, set around the context of ‘People Who Help Us’. 

The activities are all based around our real-life superheroes, the people who help us every day. In this session children will guide a delivery person with their package to the correct destination while exploring computational thinking concepts and approaches.

Everything you need is provided via the Barefoot Computing website, including activity plans with ideas for developing computational thinking in the early years, curriculum links, all printable resources and links to extend learning. 

Please visit Barefoot Computing Early Years and create a free account to access all resources and check out the introduction video, to learn more about developing computational thinking approaches in play and learning such as tinkering, creating and debugging. 

https://www.barefootcomputing.org/earlyyears 

 

This session is for all practitioners, including childminders working with early and first level learners. 

Practitioners are also welcome to join the live lesson without children to observe how the resources can be delivered. 

This session will be recorded. 

 

More details, resources links and sign up here.

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Introducing The Digital Learning Through Play Award in ELC – CLPL Sessions

Accompanying CLPL supporting the new Digital Learning Through Play Award in ELC.

Join us in a 30-minute information giving session, introducing the brand new Digital Learning Through Play Award in ELC and to find out about the new accompanying CLPL professional learning network. 

22/08/24 11 am

22/08/24 4pm

19/09/24 10am

19/09/24 4pm

The Digital ELC Award for Scotland (DSAS) Introduction Session. Tickets, Multiple Dates | Eventbrite