Jules

Whilst Deputy Head teacher at Cherry Garden School, for children aged 2-11 with complex support needs, I coordinated the creation of a new approach to assessment in the school. One of the keys to the new concept was that everyone working with the children in the school should have a solid understanding of early child development. The caveat to this is that when working with children with learning differences, we hold in mind that they don't necessarily learn skills in the same way as neurotypical children - it is very important that we are aware of this. We produced a one page ‘Branch Map’ for each of our curriculum areas (in line with the areas of learning from the EYFS). These maps gave our staff an opportunity to quickly assess a child’s current learning level, as well as guide the setting of appropriate next steps. They looked like this: The maps were organised into up to ten branches which corresponded to typically developing ages in months: The different colours on each map denoted ‘strands’. So, in our combined CLL map the strands were: · Language and Communication · Attention and Understanding · Reading · Writing The maps took 2 years to develop and we involved the whole school team in tweaking and improving them over this time. Once introduced, we felt that the maps had a significant impact on the way that we approached planning and assessment in the school, and ultimately the process felt altogether more child centred. There was no expectation that a child would develop in a typical linear fashion. Each child’s map could look entirely different from their peers – but the knowledge of early child development would help all our teachers and support staff in their practice. Once we had completed the six main Maps, we began work on some ‘supplementary’ maps linked to communication books, symbol exchange, transitions, and the MOVE programme. These were all ideal considering the approaches we used in the school. Whilst working at Cherry Garden School I had floated the idea of a ‘Play Development’ Branch Map to run alongside the others, but it is only in recent months that I’ve had the opportunity to create it. The concept of the Play Map isn’t necessarily for assessment or for setting next steps – the intention is to inform practitioners. Just as a knowledge of early child development supports educators who are working with children with learning differences and disabilities, so an understanding of different stages of play and the order in which play generally develops informs and scaffolds provision. It is crucial to be aware that the milestones in the document may not be appropriate for all learners - not all children play in the same way, and we must ensure that all play is valued and recognised. The branches on the Play Map correspond to the same stages of development as those pictured above. I would be really interested to hear feedback on this document, as I would like it to be as helpful as possible. There were several drafts and tweaks made along the way and I’m sure there might be differing opinions on where certain milestones have been placed - as we know, child development is not an exact science. If you do have any suggestions for improvements, please email me: stephen@eyfs.info and I will consider any comments! You can download the pdf of the Play Development Branch Map below: Play Development Branch Map Final.pdf

The past few months have been a whirlwind, causing a myriad of emotions often in a single day. However, we are entering a period of reflection that is guiding us in moving forward in our work with young children. I have had several conversations recently with managers and practitioners about what they feel they have learnt about their practice and provision, in the light of having had to make changes as a consequence of COVID and government guidance. The positives are very much focused on key carer attachment, settling, and emotional well being of the children. Settings found that operating in 'bubbles' enabled practitioners to get to know the children much better and be more effective in supporting their individual needs. Although 'bubbles' are no longer needed, many are going to take forward the lessons learnt from the experience. There was concern about settling children, with parents required to drop off at the entrance to the setting. However, time and time again settings have said ‘you know what, it is actually better!’ They have identified that this is because children don’t have anxious parents hovering around them, they come into a room that is calmer, where the sole focus is the children and not the parents too. Many settings are now looking at different and more purposeful ways of engaging with parents. In relation to settling, it has been found that for babies of around 7-8 months and older it has been much harder. These babies have only experienced being at home, and to suddenly find themselves in a nursery, with the sensory overload that can bring, has been overwhelming. The timing in their development stage also coincides with the stranger anxiety babies begin to develop at around 8 months of age. What can our training focus on? Children's emotional well-being As well as reflecting on what we have learnt from our own settings, it is critical we look at the bigger picture in terms of the experience of lockdown and how it has, in some cases, impacted on children and families. We are all aware of the discussions and concerns about the socio-economic impact. In a webinar on 23rd July, Alison Morton Head of Policy at the Institute of Health Visiting, spoke about the secondary impact of COVID19 on babies and young children and the emerging need of families who have become vulnerable as a direct result of the pandemic. The secondary impact included: · Mental health – stress/anxiety (of the child and/or parent) · Loneliness · Couple conflict · Domestic violence and abuse · Alcohol consumption · Food poverty · Increased unemployment · Child protection/ child in need – increase in safeguarding referrals. What immediately struck me about this list was how it reflects many of the risk factors associated with emotional resilience. This knowledge needs to inform how we move forward, our awareness levels and related training needs. We need to be equipped to support the children in our care effectively. Everything I have just mentioned connects together to give clear direction for potential training and training that will be seen as necessary. A focus on emotional well being/ emotional resilience will mean we are supporting children in the best way possible. Much of this we do as part of good practice, however as the discovery made through the 'bubble' system of stronger key carer relationships shows, there is always room to develop and improve. Emotional resilience is built on protective factors. Whilst families play a key role in promoting these protective factors, the early years setting is additionally significant. It is therefore essential that early years practitioners have a clear understanding of their role in supporting emotional resilience by being aware of the risk factors and the protective factors, and how they themselves make a difference to the children. This knowledge can be provided through training which needs to be linked to a focus on children’s emotional well being as well as reflection on how to support children’s positive self esteem. If training isn’t an option, reading on the subject can be equally helpful, followed up by sharing thoughts and reflections with others. Reflecting on Play and the work of experts As I reflected on the settling of the babies who had lived much of their life in lockdown, I revisited the work of the wonderful Elinor Goldschmied. I recalled this quote, which to me has always been very powerful: “We can never remind ourselves too often that a child, particularly a very young and almost dependent one, is the only person in the nursery who cannot understand why they are there.” This statement seems so relevant for babies who have only been at home, with limited socialising. There has been a shift in their experiences so there needs to be a change in our approach and practice. Elinor Goldschmied’s pioneering work focused primarily on children under three, including the key person system. She is also responsible for introducing treasure baskets and heuristic play. Training to enable understanding of her research and work is always valuable, now perhaps more so than ever. We can’t think about children without considering the significance of play. Play is essential for children to make sense of things. They use play, especially play in the home corner and role play, as a means to unravel, pull apart, re-experience and understand their world. At a time when the world has changed for all of us, play becomes even more significant for children. Many settings have described children exploring and reflecting issues connected with the pandemic in their play, giving staff an insight into their thoughts, understanding, fears and anxieties. Perhaps now is a time for us to remind ourselves of what their play tells us about children and to revisit the findings of the key exponents of the importance of play, such as Froebel and Isaacs. Staff well-being and understanding Mental Health As well as thinking about children, we need to also think about ourselves. All of us have experienced something extraordinary and our ability to cope and be resilient has been tested. It is therefore essential that managers and leaders in settings feel able to support their staff teams whilst also supporting each other. There are lots of resources out there to help you to help yourself and others, such as www.mind.org.uk. and www.acas.org.uk .Training courses can be beneficial as well. On their framework for positive mental health at work, ACAS state that if employers are visibly committed to positive mental health, if managers are informed and open to conversations with their staff and if individuals are self aware and ask for help when needed, a shared goal of positive well being and productive workplaces can be achieved. That isn’t going to happen overnight and there needs to be a process and understanding by all for it to become embedded. Again, whilst this has always been important, it is now even more so. Mental health is something we all have. When we enjoy good mental health, we have a sense of purpose and direction, the energy to do the things we want to do, and the ability to deal with the challenges that happen in our lives. Our mental health doesn’t always stay the same, it can fluctuate as circumstances change and as you move through different stages in your life. Accessing training to support mentally healthy workplaces is valuable. Consider undertaking mental health first aid training, or training to enable you to become more mental health aware. Anti-racism and unconscious bias We must all address diversity in our settings and think about what anti racist practice looks like in the early years. It is very easy to be complacent and think it is something ‘you do’, but it is something that needs to be embedded in your setting's ethos and culture and in your own life. How is diversity reflected, how is it understood, how do you know when to challenge and how to challenge? Training will help you to understand more fully and examine unconscious bias. Whilst everything I have mentioned has been in relation to our pandemic world, it is not new: it has always been important. In the light of this, we should not overlook the regular 'run of the mill' training to develop and support practice, and the benefit of training needs analysis, looking at what else is currently flagged in our settings. Training is about reflection and self-development. It is about challenging yourself to know more, to do better and to be more effective in your role. Out of necessity some working practices have had to change. A positive of the pandemic may well be that we begin to appreciate these changes will ultimately improve our practice. This positive needs to be taken forward, so that we begin to look more closely at other aspects of practice and continually strive to improve. Training is a tool that can help us to take these steps forward. The second positive take away is realising that we should reflect on every aspect of our practice, including those areas we don’t feel or realise could change for the better. Perhaps you can begin by asking the question 'is this being done in this way for the child or for some other reason?' and see where that takes you. Now is the time to reflect on how we can change and adapt practice. Change and adaption have become part of our everyday life and our minds are more attuned to the processes involved; and that can only be a good thing.

It's life but not as we know it We are emerging from life under lockdown and gradually reacquainting ourselves with the routines and habits that we were accustomed to before COVID-19 took a global hold. The education of more than 90% of the world’s children has been disrupted by the pandemic (World Economic Forum, 2020) and while some children are back at nursery and school - and are happy to be so, how far have you been permitted to prioritise children’s emotional wellbeing? The raft of guidance documents issued, while understandably focusing on hygiene and safety to minimise the ongoing threat of COVID-19, are underwhelming in their emphasis on the need to safeguard and promote children’s emotional wellbeing and development. Each child will still be dealing with the stress of this ongoing crisis differently, largely depending on their family’s unique situation and how effectively their parents have contained their anxieties, emotional lability and consequent changes or regression in behaviour. While the likes of the Department for Education (DfE) and Ofsted continue to perpetuate a culture that focuses on academic outcomes and ‘catching up’ during this time, children’s emotional wellbeing will inevitably suffer. Head of Early Years at Bertram Nursery Group, Ursula Krystek-Walton, has been pivotal in embedding self-regulation policies and approaches across their 42 settings, recently creating a post-COVID Self-Regulation Support Plan for children, which is proving highly effective. She told me: Children’s capacity for resilience is swiftly becoming apparent - many practitioners are reporting ‘amazement’ at children’s ability to happily and confidently settle back into the nursery routine. This is mainly a result of our sole emphasis on children’s emotional wellbeing. Emotions – the good, the bad and the ugly Emotions are not fundamentally ‘bad’ or negative - they are essential to our survival, enabling us to identify potential threats in our immediate environment, to make swift decisions in difficult situations and to connect with those around us. Yet emotions tend to be viewed as the poor relation of intellect, due to occasionally causing children and adults alike to act before they think. We all recognise the role of emotions governing our upstairs, rational brain: when making a decision, we might ‘go with our gut’, when we are faced with a challenge or embroiled in conflict with colleagues or friends, we tend to talk of ‘feeling sick with worry’ or having a ‘knot in our stomach’. This is no coincidence given that many of us tend to intuit by following our ‘gut instinct’. During these moments, we are actually receiving signals from our gut – commonly referred to as the second brain. Our gut contains approximately 100 million neurons, communicating with our brain to inform our feelings, mood, stress levels, motivation and higher cognitive functions – all part of EI. (Carabotti et al., 2015). Children who frequently complain of having ‘tummy aches’ and ‘headaches’ may in fact be experiencing feelings of anxiety, insecurity or stress, but some children cannot readily identify it as so, which is why our knowledge of the individual child and their experience of COVID-19 and lockdown is critical. Prioritising time to develop and extend emotional vocabulary is therefore vital in equipping children to exercise self-regulation, build resilience and emotional intelligence. The image below depicts the vagus nerve (yellow) which is one of the biggest nerves connecting the gut and brain and is important in the gut-brain axis and its role in stress. Source: Nicolle R. Fuller/science. The role of emotional intelligence (EI) What if we could enable children to harness the power of emotions to their advantage? In his seminal text, Emotional Intelligence. Why It Can Matter More Than IQ, Goleman (1996: 4) emphasises the advantages of tuning into our emotions: Our emotions guide us in facing painful loss, persisting toward a goal despite frustrations, bonding with others. Each emotion offers a distinctive readiness to act; each points us in a direction that has worked well to handle the recurring challenges of human life… Our emotional repertoire thus becomes imprinted in our nerves as innate, automatic tendencies of the heart. Importantly, the emotional repertoire Goleman speaks of, can be a force for good or bad, depending on children’s formative experiences and relationships. The legacy of COVID-19 cannot be immediately fully understood, particularly the impact of trauma and its long-term implications on children’s wellbeing and behaviour. By embedding the five aspects of EI into your daily practice, you can support children to better understand their own emotions and the emotions of others, as well as building their resilience (Shanker, 2019; Siegel, 2007; Goleman, 1996). Remember, just like SR, we are not born with EI, rather it is nurtured through daily interactions and developed over time and with much practice. The five aspects of EI are depicted below: When we break down each of the five aspects, their links to the EYFS become clear: · Self-regulation – controlling own feelings and behaviours, self-soothing, bouncing back from upset, thinking before acting, curbing impulsive behaviour, concentrating on a task, ignoring distractions, Persisting in the face of difficulty · Self-awareness – recognising own emotions and drives, understanding the impact of own behaviour on others, understanding that how they see themselves may be different from how others see them, recognizing own strengths and challenges · Empathy – understanding the thoughts, feelings, and experiences of others. The more adept children are at empathising, the better they can control the signals they send others · Social skills – using effective communication skills to get on well with others, building and managing relationships · Motivation – persisting in the face of difficulties, having a positive attitude and a growth mindset about their learning and abilities. Negative and traumatic experiences inhibit motivation. It is important to note that self-regulation (SR) provides the foundation of EI and that both do not ‘just develop’. SR is wholly dependent on co-regulation from the beginning, in the form of ever-evolving healthy and secure attachments and responsive interactions that model SR in line with the child’s age and understanding. Once a child can self-regulate, they become more adept at applying the core aspects of EI. SR cannot be achieved via an arbitrary tick-box exercise – as is now laid down as part of the revisions to the EYFS. Developing the five aspects of EI in children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) requires abundant focused time and effort, as some children with ADHD, autism and non-verbal learning disabilities (NVLD) may need extra help learning to recognise and respond to others’ emotions. This can be achieved by modelling empathy in the moment, supporting children to recognise the messages from different types of body language, facial expressions and tones of voice and knowing what each means, facilitating lots of role play to help children imagine and understand how another person feels and playing games that help children to tune in to how expressions, body language and tone of voice can show how someone feels. Pause for thought: How will you build EI in children with SEND in your setting? Discuss a plan of action with your team. How to Build EI Moving Forward Settings have quickly adapted to make their environments physically safe by adopting a regimented approach to regular handwashing and disinfecting all resources as well as maintaining social distancing. Let us take a moment to reflect on the importance of ensuring the following are also high up on the agenda in your provision: Prioritise children’s emotional wellbeing Children’s emotional wellbeing must be the priority. Research continues to demonstrate the detrimental impact of stress and anxiety on neuroplasticity, learning ability and creativity (Porges, 2017; Siegel, 2016; Cozolino, 2013; Immordino-Yang and Damasio, 2007). Children under chronic stress exist almost exclusively in their ‘downstairs’, emotionally reactive brain and hence cannot access their ‘upstairs’ rational brain and use the executive functioning skills that are necessary for learning. Do not be afraid to go off timetable while you and the children reacquaint yourselves with the new ‘norm’ – this includes not wasting time trying to ensure children ‘catch up’. Head teacher at Low Hill Nursery School, Natalie Showell, is unequivocal about the positive impact of adopting a trauma-informed approach: Wellbeing is at the heart of what we do and the choices we make, in terms of what is best for the children and staff. Adopting this approach has meant that our school was already operating in a trauma-informed way. This approach to the curriculum has stood us in an excellent position as we began to welcome more children back to our setting. The school is in one of the most deprived areas in the country, but in my opinion, it is full of amazing children and families who thrive through our approach. The children have been displaying some big emotions and need these feelings acknowledged and not dismissed. Staff are skilful in the way they interact with children and how they respond when a child becomes dysregulated. Connect to calm After months away from the setting, children will have missed the company of each other and their trusted adults. Re-establishing connections with each child by making time for talking, playing and being together, with no pressure of a prescribed curriculum will thus need to underpin your setting’s approach. An effective key person system will prove vital in helping children to maintain a sense of equilibrium and to express their thoughts and feelings while knowing they will be listened to without judgement. Mindfulness and yoga are also effective ways to decrease cortisol activity and reduce stress levels. Encourage children to take risks and encounter challenges There is understandably much fear around health and safety as a legacy of the pandemic but we must not lose sight of the importance of encouraging and enabling children to try new experiences, to ‘get stuck’ and to take risks. The benefits are manifold, ultimately creating a growth mindset alongside building tolerance for uncertainty, confidence, independent thinking, motor skills and perception. Close collaboration with all parents Many parents have done their best to home-school their children while simultaneously managing work commitments. Due to the diversity of experiences during the pandemic and lockdown, some parents may be feeling less resilient than others. Ensure you connect with each family to offer reassurance about their child’s wellbeing and development and possible concerns over regression, supporting them in line with their unique needs. A consistent routine Routines are vital in achieving and restoring a sense of security in children, especially as children have had disrupted routines and experienced consequent feelings of uncertainty and confusion during lockdown. Talking to children about their new routine and why it is in place will help them to understand what is happening and why. One childminder explains: The children in my care are embracing the routine, they, as a lot of us, have been winging it each day. The structure of routine is reassuring for a lot of them (and me). Keep it small Keeping groups of children as small as possible can help to minimise anxiety in some children while reducing the risk of infection. One practitioner explains: I work with reception children but ours have loved the small bubble of around eight. Children who usually struggle emotionally are thriving. They are all happy and have learned lots whilst being home - the learning has not stopped. Constant communication with parents and role play have been key. ‘Name it to tame it’ Coined by the eminent psychiatrist, Daniel Siegel, naming it to tame it is integral to EI. It is the action of naming the emotion, the experience or the person that is causing feelings of dis-ease, to help diffuse its intensity. By enabling children to use this simple strategy, their emotions can inform them and not overwhelm them. The key here is working with children to initially notice that they are having a strong emotional reaction, before describing/naming it. Children will be eager to talk about what they have been through these past few months – using these moments to develop their emotional vocabulary and self-awareness will be essential. The great outdoors The transmission of the coronavirus is significantly lower in outdoor spaces and enables practitioners to be more creative in the teaching and learning opportunities they provide, while children reconnect with nature. Learning outdoors also increases feelings of wellbeing while significantly improving personal, social and emotional development. One practitioner describes how they eschewed the indoor learning environment post-COVID-19: We closed down our indoor nursery and moved it all outdoors, creating individual outdoor classrooms, so the children’s new base is completely different to what they were used to before returning, but they are all embracing it and thriving! High EI provides the foundation for good health and success in all areas of life and is a necessary precursor to academic achievement. Let us use the backdrop of this global pandemic to make children’s emotional wellbeing the priority – the rest will follow. Dr Mine Conkbayir’s new self-regulation app is now available to download for FREE on Google Play here. The app provides simple, scientifically proven ways to help children/teenagers prevent flipping their lid and find calm.

In my experience, one of the most significant mistakes we can make when teaching ‘mathematical’ concepts to our youngest children is to push forward with counting before a child is ready. This can be even more profound if a child has additional support needs, and it can be magnified further if the process is formalised and children are expected to evidence their knowledge on paper. Although ‘Mathematical Development’ is an appropriate term for early thinking and problem-solving skills, I prefer to label this area ‘Cognition’. I think it helps practitioners working with our youngest children or those with additional support needs to consider more than just counting in their setting. Mistakes aren’t exclusive to number – on one standout visit to a nursery I was surprised to see that a pre-verbal three year old, who was yet to show any interest in other adults or children in his setting, was sat at a ‘workstation’ completing an inset puzzle hand over hand. To be fair to the setting, they were just following the advice of an advisor. In the first year of a child’s life, or for a child with significant additional support needs, it is my belief that treasure baskets are a great place to start. These baskets are collections of (preferably) natural materials that aim to fully engage a child’s senses. Babies benefit hugely from handling, sucking, shaking and banging these objects – which in turn helps them to learn about weight, size, shape, texture, sound and smell. The key to a successful treasure basket is to stimulate the child’s curiosity – here’s some examples of items that you might want to include (it’s important that you consider your actual basket carefully as well – natural, sturdy, flat bottomed): · Pine cones · Spoons · Small rolling pins · Wooden egg cups · Natural loofahs · Curtain rings · Pastry brushes · Cotton reels As with any area of teaching and learning, it’s very important to reflect on what is working well with the basket and which items are particularly interesting to your child. Refresh the basket regularly and adapt it to best suit the needs of your little one. It should be easy enough to find appropriate items for your baskets when you’re out and about (forest and beach walks can be ideal). Shops that sell items you might use in the kitchen or even hardware shops can be great too. If you prefer, there are companies who put together baskets for you – one company I’ve used is Sensory Treasures (https://sensorytreasures.co.uk/) – they asked about the type of items I was looking for and made me up a personalised basket for my baby – which she loved. If you’re considering using treasure baskets with children with physical support needs you will need to think about access. It might be hard for the child to lift their hands over the rim of the basket and into it to explore – it could be that you look for baskets that aren’t so deep, or even have one edge lower than the others. Heuristic play is a concept that links closely with treasure baskets and was a term coined by child psychologist Elinor Goldschmeid, in the 1980's. It describes the activity of babies and children as they play with and explore the properties of 'objects' from the real world. It is brilliant for developing creativity and expression but also develops ‘thinking’ skills that are crucial in early maths. As an added bonus, it helps in developing those all-important fine motor skills. It is likely that some of the items you would use in a treasure basket might also feature in a set of heuristic play objects. Try to have increased quantities of individual objects – so several corks, or a set of curtain rings. With heuristic play it is also useful to add some containers and larger objects to increase the creative possibilities. These might include: · Cardboard tubes · Mug trees · Metal bowls · Muffin tins These larger objects give children the opportunity to start considering a very important concept – ‘One to One Correspondence’. This concept can often be the bit that’s missing if your child is struggling to grasp counting later on. It is the ability to match one object to one other object or person. A good indication that a child has understanding of one to one correspondence further down the line is that they touch each item only once when counting them (matching each item with a numeral). There are a variety of play opportunities that provide children with a chance to practice this. Egg boxes or muffin trays are perfect – putting one item in each of the sections. Mug trees are also great – hanging one curtain ring on each branch, or not – whatever takes your child’s fancy! There are lots of other engaging opportunities to think about one to one correspondence in day to day life. The majority of young children love to ‘help’ with jobs, and a great one for supporting early maths concepts is setting the table. 1. Each chair needs one table mat in front of it 2. Each mat needs one fork on it 3. Each fork needs one knife with it 4. Each mat needs one glass on it 5. Each glass needs one (biodegradable!) straw in it……. Baking is also a brilliant opportunity for considering one to one correspondence – each space in the muffin tin needs a cake holder. Each cake holder needs a dollop of mixture. Once the cakes are out of the oven – each cake needs a cherry on top. Activities like these are good for establishing an understanding of something that’s vitally important – the meaning of one. If a child doesn’t understand what one means then there is little point in even considering trying to teach what two, three, four and five are all about. A useful way to address this is to provide opportunities for children to make choices between ‘one’ and ‘lots’. Rightly or wrongly this type of thing works particularly well at snack time! It might be raisins, or segments of an orange, or slices of apple. I’ll leave it to you to consider more motivating choices if your child isn’t a fruit lover! There are obviously also lots of opportunities during play sessions – loose parts play is perfect – as always, I’d advise considering as natural an approach as possible. Shells, pebbles, conkers, acorns, pine cones, corks…. the list is endless. Selections of containers that look and sound different will be helpful – metallic pans/colanders are ideal. I’ll finish by sounding a word of warning: don’t get too hung up on ‘testing’ your child’s understanding of these early mathematical concepts - let them play! Your use of developmentally appropriate mathematical language and the way that you play and explore yourself will be just what’s needed. They will show you that they understand when they are ready – and then you’ll know it’s time for the next step.

The Bossy Book (This is the bossiest book in the world)

For Year 6s, the journey down the rabbit hole used to be relatively straight forward. They’d relax for a while on the comfortable primary school bank, the magical promise of ‘Year 7’ would catch their eye, and after feeling dizzy from the whirlwind of the SATs, eventually they’d arrive at secondary school with a thump - the excited, light-headed kind! Usually, at this time of year, secondary school teachers and leaders have been inundated with information that allows us to shape our understanding of the new arrivals. SATs scores have been released, ‘get to know me’ transition booklets have been passed on from feeder primaries and, for the luckiest ones, some Year 6s have already met their new tutors and teachers and spent the day together. I know in my own setting, I relished the ongoing discussions with feeder schools, looked forward to receiving their summer homework and could confidently ensure our opening week of English lessons were pitched perfectly thanks to a mixture of SATs results and a summer baseline test. In fact, year after year, our transition curriculum was only getting stronger and the proof was truly in the smiles on our Year 7s’ faces. However, what fun would a journey be without an obstacle or two? This year, the alarming obstacle arrived in the form of COVID-19. The then... A flashback to September 2019 would take you to a time when all was well. Our new pupils would join us and, after asking “Can I decorate my book?” or “Are you sure I can write in pen?”, they would begin their life as a real Year 7. They would then delve straight into the fantastical world of Myths and Legends or attempt to defy typical conventions of fairy tales and create a ‘Practical Princess’ tale of their own. However, as much as we relished the satirical voices they were developing (and we were not sure if it was thanks to our English lessons or the sass that comes with secondary school), we felt that something was missing. The writing skills being showcased in these opening units were exactly what we wanted to cover: ambitious vocabulary, synonyms and antonyms, varied sentence starters and types, and accurate punctuation. Yet one thing we were noticing was that the length of these writing pieces was short, very short. I soon realised that we were actually only halfway there with our transition unit - the skill focus was correct - we just needed a way of slowing it down and allowing the students to really showcase themselves at their best - the way they would have in KS2. For some, alarm bells might be ringing as it could appear like a step backwards, or ‘dumbing down’ the learning. I can assure you it was not; it was more like pushing them out of their comfort zone while keeping one foot firmly in it. Then, as if by magic, our transition unit ‘The Lost Land’ (version 1) was born. Our Lost Land transition unit was centred around the idea of students creating their own ‘lost land’, allowing their imaginations to run free, and bringing this to life with a series of pieces of writing. Each week would have a different skill focus, writing style and famous examples to steal from. In week 1, the students could be focusing on colour imagery and describing a setting, and in week 4 they might be using their imperatives and time adverbs to instruct someone on how to slay the dragon! This all culminated in the students choosing their favourite 4 pieces, redrafting them until they were happy, and presenting them in a typical primary school style. *The style that all parents dread that involves anything from paint and paper mache, to liquid latex and red nail varnish! The now… Just as I felt we had developed the transition unit to out-transition all transition units, COVID- 19 arrived. I was suddenly aware that our long feared enemy, ‘summer learning loss’, had instantaneously become even greater, and I was left trying to find the answer to what COVID 19 + summer learning loss might truly surmount to. Eager to ensure that my department was doing everything we could to make the transition as smooth as possible, and also very aware that I did not have all the answers, I reached out to a group of people who I can always rely on - Tweachers - aka, teachers on Twitter. The response was overwhelming, and I was inundated with a range of feedback from teachers across the UK. Of course, the tricky thing with transition, and the even trickier thing with this period of home learning, is that we are less sure than ever what the learning gaps will be. Some teachers replied with very specific skills such as sentence structure, grammar and literature analysis, others felt the gaps would be more holistic such as stamina, and a few of the lucky ones were convinced that there would be no lost knowledge or skill at all. Beyond the responses themselves, the analytics of this tweet told me just how important the need to delve deeper had been. With over 40,000 impressions, 6,000 total engagements and nearly 4,000 people expanding the tweet to see the replies for themselves, I had clearly unlocked a secret room. (To unlock the secret room yourself, click here.) This feedback allowed me to take a step back from our original transition unit and examine it with a fresh pair of primary-informed eyes. As our school typically teaches English in ability based sets, the lack of SATs or baseline has meant that we are going into September with mixed ability grouping and then organising our baseline and learning groups two weeks later. Now, of course this is less than ideal, and therefore, was the first thing I needed to attack. With the idea of pupils potentially experiencing upheaval two weeks into their secondary school experience, it was important for me and my team to do whatever we could to support them from the classroom, and from this we produced ‘The Lost Land’ (version 2!). We immediately decided to slow down our unit even further, and rather than each week being based on a different form of writing, we would spend the very first two weeks just on one. To support this even further, and to ensure that all students were getting the same scaffolding and support regardless of class, we designed a booklet which they would eventually take to their ‘real’ English teacher. In doing so, we are also hoping to replace the ‘Here’s my best work, Miss!’ folder experience that was stolen from them at the end of term. The future.. That’s transition sorted then, right? Not quite. What about the transition from overindulging all Christmas to having to be alert and disciplined in January? Or the transition from being a ‘newbie’ Year 7 to preparing for your end of year test that determines your Year 8 set? Of course, transition typically refers to the short period of time, perhaps covering June - December, where Year 6s are handed the little golden key to the stomping ground of secondary school. But it’s important to note that the 2020/2021 cohort are like no other. These children are not only transitioning from primary school, they are also transitioning from home learning, from lack of closure, from loss of routines, and some, from grief. Transition has had an upgrade and now needs to span further than the typical 6 or so weeks given to it at the start of an academic year. With the feedback from my online peers still in my mind, I wanted to find a way that once they progressed through the Year 7 journey of Fairy Tales, Poetry , The Unheard Voices of Shakespeare and Bad Girls of History, that time was still dedicated to building their stamina, particularly in the units that are heavily weighted in the pool of analysis. To combat this we are introducing a fortnightly ‘big write’, with minimal rules, completely unrelated to the curriculum topic, but simply a time for them to be free and practise the art of drafting and redrafting. As an Accelerated Reader school, we also want to ensure that we do everything we can to keep the reading momentum going. The dip in reading and the stagnation of reading age has been widely reported on, with the most recent 2020 Renaissance What The Kids Are Reading publication reporting that from Year 6 to Year 7 the average number of books read dropped by 12 per year, and then as they enter year 8 it drops by another 5. Unfortunately, with the uncertainty around how schools will be able to use their libraries and the sharing of books, this isn’t a straightforward task either. However, until we have more clarity on this, we are still making steps to keep the reading stamina and love alive. Alongside our fortnightly English lesson that is solely dedicated to reading, we are implementing a tutor time reading programme, further spurred on by the research that found “reading two challenging novels over 12 weeks helps weaker pupils make 16 months' progress”. We are also attacking our novel units differently - preloading with 2 to 3 weeks of pure reading and discussion, and then going back to explore the key themes and characters chapter by chapter. Of course, this plan isn’t final, and we can’t promise to have all the answers, but we can promise to make the journey down the Secondary school rabbit hole as pain-free as possible!

I am guilty of significantly over-using a word in the course of my professional life - engagement (or engaged). I don’t feel particularly bad about this – I’m just aware people probably think my vocabulary is very limited! I honestly don’t think there’s a more important word in learning (or in work for that matter). I believe anyone is likely to have a better, more productive learning experience when they are truly engaged. We’ve all been in lessons or training that have felt like the exact opposite. I remember attending one particular three-day course where I literally tallied each minute of the final day on my complimentary notepad with my complimentary pen. I would have rather been anywhere else – suffice to say I didn’t feel the materials on that day were particularly relevant to me. Typically developing children of preschool age are at an amazing stage in their learning journey. There shouldn’t be anything formal in their education they need to get concerned about– they are only limited by their imagination. It is our role to capture their imaginations, to engage them completely, when it comes to the world of reading and, in particular, storytelling – ‘spinning a yarn’. This is not to say that there aren’t lots of opportunities to start discussing initial letter sounds, or to gauge a child’s understanding by asking certain questions – but as with anything we do in the early years, this should be considered on a case by case basis. I’ve spoken in an earlier article on pre-reading ideas for very young children, about the importance of the interaction opportunities that story time provides. For babies and children with significant learning needs, the physical closeness and warmth of sharing a ‘story’ is hugely important. Providing a level of cosiness continues to have value when settling down for a story with a preschooler - and it is a cosiness that many adults still desire when they settle down with a book. It doesn’t have to be this way but my first bit of advice for lighting the touch-paper for a brilliant story session would be to consider this carefully. A quiet space and whispered words can be so powerful. There are a million amazing books out there for all levels of learning – but often the best responses come from stories that have never been written down – because you are making them up as you go along! The concept is simple – the likelihood is that the three or four year old who is currently snuggled up to you is someone you know pretty well. You know what makes them laugh. You know what they talk about all the time. You know what makes them excited, you even know what might seem a bit scary to them. If you play your cards right, for the next 5-10 minutes this little one will be hanging on your every word as you spin your yarn. Even if the cards you play don’t quite hit the mark, we learn from their response and we take our story down a different path (just like when we set up an activity that goes ‘unexpectedly’!) Admittedly the thought of doing this strikes fear into some people: ‘I could never do that!’ being a response I’ve had more than once. Like most aspects of living or working with preschoolers, it’s important that if at all possible, you forget the fact that you are a grown adult with any ability to feel embarrassed. When you do this and tune in to the child, then everything becomes a lot easier and more natural. So, where do you start with your yarn? Here’s a couple of ideas that tend to work well: “You’ll never guess who/what I saw yesterday…….” “You won’t believe this……” (especially when followed by “no, I can’t say”.) Or just a simple “I’m going to tell you an amazing story”, or the classic “A long, long time ago….” It works particularly well if the subject matter is something that is topical – maybe you’ve been to the beach that day – sounds like a pirate story could be coming, or maybe one about The Fastest Crab in the West? Once you get going it can be almost as much fun for the storyteller! Sometimes the best stories are told on location – I think a walk through the woods is a perfect time to tell a tall tale. You are surrounded by a wealth of starting points – it could be the giant rock you find, or the strange shaped tree. Just be careful it doesn’t get too scary! Story telling can also be a helpful distraction. Most of us have been in the situation where a preschooler is really struggling to move on from an emotional moment, and the tears just won’t stop flowing. Once it’s become apparent that on this particular occasion a cuddle just isn’t going to sort the problem, then why not try a silly story. Last week when my son had a bump and struggled to stop the waterworks, it was a pumping purple hippo who went past the window that turned the tears into giggles. One of the best bits of introducing storytelling, is when the child turns the tables and gets the confidence to tell you a tale of their own. Invariably it will take a very similar format to your stories, but just be a bit more ridiculous – and of course the child will find their own stories ten times funnier. As long as you are engaging the child you are with then you’re doing something right. To give a preschool child a love of story telling will hopefully mean that reading becomes a lifelong pleasure. And there’s no need to stop when they start school – I know children who are 9 or 10 who still love to snuggle up to Grandad to hear all about knights in shining armour. Why not try spinning a yarn next time you have a spare five minutes with a little one? You never know, you might be the next Julia Donaldson!

As thoughts turn to a new school year, KS1 teachers stand at a crossroads. With the world still in unprecedented turmoil, teachers are faced with decisions about whether to travel in the direction of education policy, or to follow their own principles. Schools have been shaken up. They have looked at education differently. They have been faced with altered priorities. So now is a great time to challenge the status quo in schools and to ask - is there a better way of educating children in KS1? Is there a better way of managing the transition of children as they move up from the EYFS? Countless children will enter Key Stage 1 in September 2020 only having spent half of their school year in their Reception class. Many may have been in school for part of that time but not engaged in all aspects of the EYFS curriculum due to other priorities. Because of the ongoing consequences of lockdown, there has been an entirely appropriate focus on children’s personal, social and emotional needs. For some, this focus has been seen as an unwelcome deviation from the more formal aspects of schooling, resulting in demands that teachers offer a ‘catch-up’ curriculum. But I believe it should be seen as a welcome reminder that unless we offer experiences to children that foster their wellbeing, then their learning will always be hampered. So what experiences nurture wellbeing? What experiences do 5, 6 and 7 year old learners need in order to thrive? Research tells us that when experiences are developmentally appropriate (Copple and Bredekamp 2009) when they are meaningful (CODC 2018) and when they are enjoyable (Pritchard 2018) then, not surprisingly, children will engage with them more readily and learn from them more effectively. Despite the current tenor of the KS1 curriculum, at this age what is developmentally appropriate, what is meaningful and what is enjoyable is very often initiated by children and not by teachers (Fisher 2020). So why aren’t such opportunities a requirement in every KS1 classroom? Even the new EYFS Reforms (DfE 2020) barely mention play and it is a long time since it was mentioned in any policy documentations for KS1. Yet we know that children aged 5-7 still love to play. We know that given any freedom – on holidays, on family outings, at the supermarket checkout – they will find resources and spaces that allow them to explore, investigate and disappear into imaginary worlds. But does this mean that play warrants a place in the KS1 classroom? I believe it does. Yet in too many schools, play and child-initiated learning are left at the KS1 classroom door. This is a result of misunderstandings on the part of those who see play as merely recreational or ‘a waste of learning time’. Yet this is so misguided. Children’s enjoyment of play means it is highly motivating which, in turn, encourages greater concentration and perseverance (White et al. 2017) as well as deep level involvement (Laevers 2000). These are executive functions of the brain (Whitebread 2016) that research suggests are more reliable indicators of academic success and emotional wellbeing than a range of other abilities including early literacy (McClelland et al. 2013). And play offers KS1 children even more. Through play they develop attitudes, skills and understandings that can never be as readily achieved through adult-initiated activity. Skills such as using their initiative; creating and recreating scenarios and experiences; finding new strategies; collaborating and negotiating. Neil Carberry, Director for Employment and Skills at the CBI says: ‘Business is clear that developing the right attitudes and attributes in people – such as resilience, respect, enthusiasm and creativity – is just as important as academic or technical skills’. These attitudes give children a sense of agency over their own learning which in turn creates self-confidence as a learner – taking an active rather than a passive role in the process. And play offers children control. The control to set their own goals and objectives and not become dependent on teachers, the control to chose how to go about the process of learning and not be concerned with outcomes, the control to be inventive, creative and daring, without fear that this might be ‘below average’. In a world affected by Covid-19, control is what many of us crave. Play is not sufficient on its own of course. There are many aspects of the formal KS1 curriculum that play does not teach (Fisher 2020). Skills such as handwriting, phonics and place value. But even here, play is often underestimated. Although play may not teach certain skills and knowledge, it is often the activity in which these are consolidated. Play offers children a safe space in which to experiment, to try out, to practice, to rehearse and repeat. Children will often take something learned in an adult-led situation and become more confident by playing with the skills and concepts taught, in ways that help them make meaning and become more proficient. Research reminds us that when experiences are repeated in this way, neural pathways are created in the brain (Conkbayir 2017) which in turn strengthen the connections between what is new and what is already established. So much more important for young children than rushing ever onward to Next Steps. As well as enjoyment and motivation, play offers KS1 children opportunities to learn and develop life skills. The first of these is flexibility. All that is certain about the future is its uncertainty, and play teaches children to deal with uncertainty in creative ways (Mardell et al. 2019). Because children are motivated to achieve whatever goals they have set themselves (Whitebread 2012) then this sense of agency liberates them to make mistakes without fear, to try alternative, creative solutions, to tear up an idea (figuratively) and simply start again. All of these dispositions will enable a child in the future to have the ‘blue-sky’ thinking so beloved of business and to develop what Alan Sugar refers to as ‘thinking on your feet’ (Sugar 2005). The child of the future will also need to interact skilfully with others. Not simply to sit next to them, but to work with them, negotiate with them and create solutions with them. In play, KS1 children usually choose with whom they collaborate. They see the purpose and the benefit of creating play scenarios together, frequently drawing on the ideas, the knowledge, the skills of their peers to help them achieve their own planned outcomes (Broadhead 2004). And so we return to wellbeing. Play supports the foundations of children’s wellbeing for life (Howard and McInnes 2012; Allee-Herdon et al. 2019). Researchers have discovered strong statistical correlations between some of the most vulnerable children in our schools and their level of risk when play is absent from their lives and from their learning experiences. In school, it is too often the case that the children who need play the most are those who experience it least – sometimes because they ‘haven’t finished their work’; sometimes because they are removed from playful experiences in the classroom to be tutored in an ‘intervention’ to improve specific skills. It is easy to see how the lack of high-quality play in KS1 classes compounds the academic, behavioural, and social-emotional challenges in school for the most vulnerable children (Weisberg et al. 2013). Because of the impact of Covid-19 there will be many more children this September who are vulnerable and in need of play to help them make sense of their experiences and give them back some control over their lives. Indeed, as the pressure of the external outcomes-driven school agenda increases, all children - more than ever – will respond positively to times in their day when play allows them the freedom, the control, the release to do what they choose to do and to follow their own interests and ideas. Sriram (2020) writes that the first critical period of brain development begins around age 2 and concludes around age 7 and that this period offers ‘a prime opportunity to lay the foundation for a holistic education for children’. He suggests that to maximise this critical period we should encourage a love of learning, focus on breadth instead of depth and pay attention to emotional intelligence. Play offers children the opportunity for all of these. I believe that Covid-19 has re-awakened the educational world to some of these issues. So how might teachers in KS1 respond? Firstly, many teachers have gone above and beyond in finding ways of making the return to school enjoyable for children. There are copious articles, blogs and webinars all exhorting schools (e.g. Moylett 2020) to tune into children’s needs before rushing them into the taught curriculum. Putting children before goals, targets and data should always be the driver for school development. Then, fears around the transmission of the virus have taken more and more teachers (and children) out of doors, to find out – if they did not already know so – about the many and varied benefits of learning away from tables and chairs, in a learning ‘environment’ that is full of natural learning opportunities, provided free of charge with instantly disposable resources. KS1 children enjoy taking their learning outside and much of what can be unpalatable at a desk can be made playful and fun in the outdoors. Then, also, relationships between adults and children have shifted. Many teachers have found themselves able to spend more time with smaller groups of children and (re)discovered the joy of interacting in a less hurried (even if extremely challenging) school day. They have been able to tune in to what children are feeling and thinking in order to make plans for the days that follow that are relevant and meaningful in the here and now, rather than taken from plans constructed many weeks or months previously. And lastly, the pandemic has torn up the terror that is the school timetable. So much of what makes learning lack meaning for young children, so much of what makes it disjointed and muddling is caused by the rigidity of timetables which are like they are because it’s how they’ve always been. Covid-19 has meant that in many schools playtimes have been scrapped. Assemblies have been scrapped. And teachers as well as children have come to appreciate how much they are held to ransom by the school bell and how much more relaxed they are when the ebb and flow of learning is in the teacher’s hands. We must reflect on what we have learnt about our children, how they learn and where they thrive. A developmentally appropriate KS1 pedagogy should ‘build on’ the very best of Foundation Stage practice, not be constantly concerned with ‘getting ready for’ the end of the key stage. That KS1 pedagogy should offer a balance between learning that is led by adults and learning that is led by the child. Both have much to offer, but one without the other is impoverished practice. Adult-led learning without child-led learning privileges the children who relish the more formal situation, who rush to sit at the front of the carpet with their backs straight and their hands up. But, in a developmentally sensitive KS1 classroom all children have the chance to shine and thrive. So that if den-building is your forte rather than calculation, you have a chance to show what you can do and where your talents lie. We must not let policy and dogma wreck the image children have of themselves as learners, not just for now, but for the rest of their learning lives. Never has there been a better time to review KS 1 pedagogy and to campaign for ‘early childhood education’ in this country to embrace KS1. Covid-19 has given us all another view of schooling, learning and education. Let’s take this opportunity with both hands and change things for the better. Julie Fisher is the author of ‘Moving On to Key Stage 1: improving transition into primary school’ (Open University Press 2020). This articles contains extracts from her book recently published in its second edition. The book not only offers theory and research underpinning developmentally appropriate practice, but also offers a range of practical strategies and case studies to give teachers ideas and encouragement to develop this approach.

As an ex-year six teacher, I can’t help but feel heavy of heart at this time of year. The latter half of the summer term were some of my favourite times as a teacher and that is due, in large part, to transition. This is a historic year for our year 6s, who will be moving on to secondary school in September without experiencing a “proper” transition. T-shirt signing, class assemblies, celebration assemblies, school trips, residentials, picnics, BBQs, open days, secondary school visits – all these traditional activities to help with transition were all either cancelled or modified this year. Transition at any point is an incredibly important part of any child’s school life. It provides closure for the previous year, as well as helping to prepare them for the next step in their education. But it isn’t just the children who are affected. Their parents, their communities, the year 6 teachers, the year 7 teachers, are all feeling the effect. Conversations I have had with secondary schools implied it was a difficult situation for all. The teachers and staff struggled with not meeting children face to face. The yearly “handover” meeting with year 6 teachers was done online which, while a good alternative, comes with its own drawbacks. Secondary schools are faced with a very different September than they are used to. It’s difficult to gauge the impact this will have on children because this is the first time this has happened. It’s easy to think the children don’t know what they’re missing. But many have siblings who have had the opportunity to do these activities in the past, and they will have observed previous year groups celebrate their moving on, and no doubt some kids will be feeling hard done by. So, what are schools doing to mark what will be an extraordinary year, and to help aid transition for our year 6s? Speaking to my former year group partner, the answer is… as much as possible. We spoke about how strange this will be for the children, teachers, and parents alike. Moving from “little school to big school” can be an emotional journey for parents, too. And transition is as much for them as anyone else. The most important thing was getting them all together in some way. Most of the children haven’t been at school for nearly 4 months. Most of them haven’t been able to see their friends over that period. And togetherness is a key part of year 6 transition. In most cases these children have been in the same class for 7 years, and now they will be put in different classes with people they don’t know, in different schools that are in different areas. Celebrating the time they spent together is a crucial part of moving on and preparing. So how do you foster togetherness in a world urging distance? Luckily, restrictions are beginning to lift so schools are in a better position to plan things than they were two months ago. We always used to host an end of year gathering for our year 6s. All parents and adults were invited, we would cook a BBQ and play games on the field. Teachers from other year groups would even come and say goodbye and steal a burger from the grill. So, I was thrilled to learn this would still be going ahead on the children’s last day. Of course, they would be adhering to current social distancing guidelines. Contact games wouldn’t be going ahead and the BBQ is replaced with a “bring your own picnic”. But the event still prevails! Brighton and Hove have organised a city-wide day in September for all year 7 children to return to primary school. Hopefully at this point we will be in a much safer position so that day will be a chance to do the things we couldn’t do this summer. My previous school plan on doing their annual BBQ on this day as well as gathering the pictures and video footage that go on the end of year DVD, a traditional parting gift from the staff and a treasured keepsake for the families. The phrase “better late than never” seems to really apply during this time and I think it’s really important to not let these gestures slip past us. The other thing we used to do at the end of term, which I’m sure a lot of you are familiar with, is the end-of-year show. Now, considering a fraction of the children are in school at any given time, this has been impossible. Some things just can’t be modified to work in this situation and it’s easy to get hung up on that. But I have heard and seen so many wonderful things that schools and communities are doing this year. It really pays testament to everyone’s ability to be flexible and caring. Transition isn’t confined to just schools. In lots of places, this time of year is a community effort. In Lewes, where Tapestry and FSF HQ is based, they have had an annual arts project called Patina (Parents and Teachers in the Arts) for the last 18 years, which culminates in a children’s parade around town. In the weeks prior to this, local artists go into schools and work with children on decorating costumes and floats based on a yearly theme for the parade. It’s been a rite of passage for generations of local year 6 children, their town celebrating them and wishing them well for the next stage of their lives. Sadly, a lot of this had to be changed this year. No visiting artists in schools and no parade, but the community still showed great spirit and rallied together to give the children what they deserve. They made well wishing videos and organised toilet-roll-tube-based art activities the children could do from home. Another great example of our ability to adapt during this time. I have found it so easy to get caught up in all the things we can’t do at the moment. But energy is better spent on the things we can do! You don’t need to start from scratch here. Take what you have always done and adapt it. Or look at this time as a good opportunity for change. You might come up with something this year that you will end up doing for the rest of your career.

This piece draws together some conceptual ideas and practical experiences of a ‘teacher’ (Rebecca) and a ‘student’ (Kathy) of a university course: a Masters in Early Years Education that also combines the professional qualification of Early Years Teacher Status (EYTS). Of course, both teacher and student have multiple identities. For the student, Kathy, this also includes her significant musicianship and her emerging nursery practitioner professionalism. For the university lecturer, Rebecca, it encompasses her previous experiences as a teacher, an advisor working with teachers in nurseries, and her own sense of herself as ‘always a student’ often learning most from those who question and challenge her at university. Here Rebecca and Kathy reflect on a strand of the MA course which Kathy felt provoked her to be curious about her own practice in ways that enabled her to become wiser in her nursery relationships. Significantly for Kathy, these reflections took her beyond the scope of the course to consider the implications of what we refer to here as ‘the Scrapbook Approach’ for ongoing professional development. Kathy and Rebecca feel that the approach that Kathy took to engaging with her scrapbook is illustrative of an ‘uncertain pedagogy’ that is crucial for all practitioners, whether new to the profession or highly experienced. Uncertain pedagogic approaches enable us to face an anxiety-inducing lack of certainty about immediate and longer term futures - such as those that face us all in post/pandemic times as colleagues Rebecca and Perpetua explore in this BERA blog. They also enable us to support children to have the confidence to explore their social worlds through the prism of uncertainty in ways that engage with their curious, creative, and dynamic dispositions to learn. The piece is constructed in two parts: the first sets the context for the use of the ‘scrapbook’ as part of Kathy’s course, also drawing on conceptual ideas of knowing, not-knowing, ignorance and uncertainty. The second part uses examples of Kathy’s practical experiences to consider the significance of the approach as a reflective journey informed by pedagogies of ignorance and uncertainty, including thinking through their implications for general nursery practice longer-term. The scrapbook: knowing, not knowing, ignorance and uncertainty – Rebecca’s Voice. ‘The Scrapbook’ is an assessed strand of the university course that requires students to creatively ‘respond’ to the Early Years Foundation Stage, including their knowledge of the 8 Standards, Development Matters, and the Characteristics of Effective Learning. Crucially, the scrapbook is, as the name suggests, a place where students can make their own decisions, considering what constitutes significant knowledge for them and in what ways. There is no specific requirement about the balance of text and imagery; no stipulation about the size, shape, texture of the book; and no limits to the interpretation of ‘creativity’. The scrapbook is about a journey of personal and professional engagement that takes seriously the question of ‘what does it mean to know, and to whom, and why?’ We engage with young children in our nurseries, encouraging their play as offering new possibilities for what children can come to know. We see them, in all their uniqueness, as competent social actors in their own right. And so it is with our students: we offer them a knowledge environment that is more than a conforming space of what has gone before. This means that the course must be a space of knowledge uncertainty – of ‘emergent subjectivity’ – where students can be vulnerable and fallible, just as children are as they play and learn through their engagement with what Malaguzzi (1993) calls their Hundred Languages. Early Years students require opportunities to listen to their own competing and often contradictory voices about aspects of practice and pedagogy; values and beliefs; relationships and ideas about ‘quality’ provision. Gallacher and Gallagher (2008) in their educational research, draw on the concept of ‘ignorance’ as a way of recognising that we are all, whether as young children, teachers or students (inter)dependent, incomplete and vulnerable in our everyday life-worlds, navigating complexity and messiness. Championing ignorance demands the allocation of time and space to be more than rational, competent and autonomous. Pedagogically, ignorance acknowledges the importance of opportunities to interrogate what we don’t know, and to puzzle how we might come to know in new and surprising ways. Ethically, it ensures that we do not fall into the trap of only ever seeing the everyday as made up of: ‘knowing minds and ignorant ones, ripe minds and immature ones, the capable and the incapable, the intelligent and the stupid’ (Rancière, 1991, 101). Kathy used her scrapbook as a reflective tool, finding out, documenting what she did not know, rather than listing what she did. Her form of reflection enabled her to keep the future open by noticing things that challenged and mystified her without hanging on to preconceived assumptions, rather engaging in an ‘expectant not knowing’ (Derrida, 1991, 57). She used Dewey’s ideas of reflection as those that are necessarily open-minded, responsible and whole-hearted in ways that are entirely commensurate with ignorance, not knowing and being uncertain: ‘I was excited by the prospect of having a space in a physical format that was my own where I could work creatively. Many of us felt slightly daunted at the beginning when there were no specific technical guidelines for using the scrapbook. I wanted mine to be ‘pretty’. However, that idea quickly evaporated as I accepted that I am a messy, left-handed disruptive person and if my scrapbook was to be an extension of myself, it would be the same. Once I started using it, I saw my not-knowing and curiosity as something I relished engaging with. I gradually related to the scrapbook in a reflective way: almost as a diary. It became a place where I felt brave and able to embrace my own ignorance creatively and productively as a trainee teacher, stepping out of ‘routine action’ (what Dewey defines as ‘behaviour that is guided by impulse, tradition and authority’) and instead moving into a space of ‘reflective action’. Kathy’s thoughts on her engagement with her scrapbook. Reflection as Open-minded, Responsible and Whole-hearted - Kathy’s Voice Using my scrapbook to be open-minded, means having an awareness of what I do not know; what I might need to know; embracing my ignorance to pose rhetorical questions; also taking seriously knowledge I have accumulated through a range of experiences in my life. I begin by describing an encounter early on in my course in a classroom that informs my scrapbook reflection subsequently, where I attempt to be open-minded. I had been observing a music session with a group of 5 year olds in a classroom which – as a musician myself – had disappointed me and left me feeling that the children had been given a sense of making music as something difficult and dull that involved watching rather than doing: 30 children had been required to sit in a circle whilst the music specialist had introduced the children to 4 different instruments in turn. The children had been occasionally given an opportunity to hold an instrument, make a sound with it, and to play a guessing game with their eyes closed which relied on them connecting a sound with the ‘right’ instrument. But the session took a long time. One child cried due to their frustration of repeatedly putting their hand up and not being picked to play one of the instruments. At the end of the session I talked to the children. One said they ‘hated’ music (possibly because they weren’t picked) and another said they didn’t enjoy singing or music and that it was ‘boring’. I reflected open-mindedly, cognisant of my own ignorance: I’d only ever been in a classroom with 5 year olds once before during my own school ‘work experience’. This required my humility. My scrapbook therefore became the repository for my not-knowing: was this the necessary reality of music lessons for 5 year olds as demanded by the curriculum to which musicians must adhere? Was this the only way it could be done? Maybe it led to engagement and excitement and I had yet to see this emerge? I wondered where the place might be to encourage children to be experimental with a range of ideas of ‘music’ that come from their own experiences beyond the classroom. Crucially, my reflection considered audacious questions of where/when the children could use music to challenge the taken-for-granted and to experience the exhilaration of this to learn in new ways. After all, my own music-making was as much about disruption as about replicating the ‘gone-before’. Responsibility means thinking through consequences for others, and not just myself. It means considering: what is my role in relation to that of others? What questions can I ask myself about why teachers act as they do? To explore how I addressed this in my scrapbook, I take up the story of my engagement with the class, and re-enter at a point several months later, when I found myself brave enough to ask the teacher where the instruments were stored, so that I could access them with the children. They were on a high shelf in the cupboard. In my scrapbook, I tried to think of the various reasons why they were kept hidden. They are noisy objects. Music may not be valued as highly within the measurement culture of school. There are ongoing pressures on teachers to collect data and concentrate on demonstrating that all children are making progress in ‘core subjects’. Activities and resources which aim to support the kinds of knowledge where progress is measured are the ones that tend to be focused upon. However, I also began to consider responsibility from the perspective of the children. They were missing out on interacting with musical resources and were not experiencing the musicality of expressing themselves in this way. By this stage, I knew there were no opportunities for the children to experiment with instruments independent of their ‘taught’ sessions with the music specialist. I felt I had a responsibility to use my knowledge as a musician and a trainee teacher to explore possibilities for the instruments to be accessible to use in ways that were not just prescribed and controlled. I documented my thoughts, feelings and doubts in my scrapbook in ways that were uncertain and that did not seek to apportion blame to any of the talented teachers with whom I worked and from whom I gained so much. Whole-heartedness is a phrase that I really love. By it, I mean taking active control to think what this requires of me in order to take action, even when I am not certain about what might happen. So here I don’t mean taking ‘control’ in the sense of being certain, but control as considering the implications of an event. I had to think through the fact that although the scrapbook is a space over which I have ownership, documentation in the scrapbook is about people to whom I have an ethical responsibility. The approach always goes beyond the self. In thinking through ‘wholeheartedness’ I pick up the thread of my engagement with the teacher about the children using the instruments. We had a relaxed conversation where she explained that in the past the children had thrown instruments, breaking some and making unbearable noise. She didn’t feel comfortable having them available. I identified with her feelings but expressed my opinion on the value of the children having some freedom to try out the instruments. I asked if she would feel comfortable with my setting up a music workshop in the garden where I would act as a musical play partner where the children would interact with the instruments. She was very supportive of the idea and we agreed that I would set clear expectations about being respectful of each other and the instruments. I introduced the workshop to the children at morning group time, explaining they were being trusted with the instruments, and that I would be there to play alongside them and join in with whatever songs or ensembles they wanted to create. I told them I would be writing things in my scrapbook and that they could ask me about what I was writing or drawing. Most of the children visited the workshop at some point in the day. There were no incidences where I had to remind them of behaviour expectations. The children understood that they could explore. I regarded them as capable and gave them my full attention as I documented what went on. I wrote observations and reflections on individual musical happenings that stood out to me. Some children led ensemble performances, made up dances, invented songs or sung songs from ‘The Greatest Show Man’. One child directed me in my music-making and gave suggestions of instruments which would sound more like a crocodile during our rendition of ‘Old MacDonald had a Farm’. We became bound together relationally and with the instruments and their sounds in the outdoors. The workshop left space for unknown things to occur. I learned so much about the children from making music with them and observing their play. The teacher & TA came out regularly to see what was happening and beamed. I shared my observations with them afterwards and they were delighted with how things had gone and by the way the children had responded. They said that they would feel more relaxed about leaving the instruments out more frequently in future. Some Implications of the Scrapbook Approach as a Pedagogy of Ignorance for General Practice – Rebecca and Kathy Through the sharing of the approach that Kathy had taken, her mentor, also a nursery owner, saw the power, possibility and potentiality of what she was doing: not just an elite opportunity, but something that could be made possible for every practitioner as a way of ‘not knowing’. This would be part of ongoing professional development that would recognise the diverse knowledge, experiences and passions practitioners brought and could share for the benefit of all children. Scrapbooks were purchased and practitioners encouraged to use them. Kathy noted that: The prospect of having a space where the unknown is celebrated when much of the role of a teacher is about knowing was unsettling at first. However, I reassured my colleagues that the hardest part is starting and that they can use the book in whatever way they wanted. And they did. The reflective power of the scrapbook has since led Kathy to consider ways in which she and other practitioners use the virtual reflective tool, ‘Tapestry’[1]. Kathy suggests: I began to frame my entries for the Learning Journals of my Key Children with less certainty and much more as reflective conversations between me and the children’s caregivers. I documented the richness of the children’s ‘Hundred Languages’ as I saw them and used them to pose uncertain questions. I have come to think of the scrapbook and Tapestry as mutually reinforcing in their communicative possibilities for ‘wholehearted’ reflective approaches. Since engaging with Tapestry in this way, the collaboration between me and caregivers has become much more of a mutual, exchange of knowledge as well as giving us permission to share our ‘ignorances’ and to be curious about the children’s needs. This is a respectful way to work. Final Thoughts – Rebecca and Kathy What are the possibilities within the hectic busyness of the day-to-day practical demands of nursery life to make time for ‘uncertain’ reflection, either within the physical format of the scrapbook or the online facility of a tool such as Tapestry? Certainly, Kathy admits that this is a challenge but she also stresses that all practitioners require time for reflection where they can follow their own lines of thought to legitimately ‘be ignorant’ in order to sustain wholehearted practice for their benefit and for the children. Maybe achieving this is a matter of values and belief: for those nurseries that enable practitioners to reflect and to ‘not know’ alongside the children, will encourage the love of learning together. What could be more needed at an uncertain time such as this, as many practitioners, caregivers and children return to their nurseries for the first time for many months? For the joy this brings, the final words must go to Kathy: I observed one of my Key Children looking at a light reflection of some water on the back of an easel in the garden. He was fascinated by this. We stayed and watched it move together for a prolonged period of time. I wrote about this on Tapestry and asked whether his caregivers had seen their child noticing shadows or reflections. His mother explained excitedly that they had some mirror disco balls that hung in their house. The child had recently begun following the light reflections that came from them. She offered to bring the balls into nursery for all the children. When they arrived the children and I played with them in the garden and we chased light reflections all morning. [1] Tapestry is the Online Learning Journal for the Early years Foundation Phase

We often think about the 3R’s, Reading, wRiting and aRithmetic, in the context of an old, traditional style of schooling. However, I feel they still dominate what is supposed to be the broad and balanced curriculums of education today. Testing and inspection regimes put a huge emphasis on Mathematics and Literacy, which in turn leads schools and settings to devote incredible amounts of their energy into these areas. In the early years sector I have concerns that the prominence of these subjects can sometimes overshadow the prime areas of learning which are so vital to the development and progress of young children. I want to make it really clear that I am in no way saying that maths and literacy are not a vital part of a child’s learning. I think it is really important to provide high quality teaching in these areas and I understand that they are critical to children being able to access learning in other areas. What I do think, is that there is a debate to be had about how far they should drive the curriculum. Maths and literacy skills and knowledge are essential tools, but having excellent tools in a kit is by no means sufficient for repairing, creating or inventing something. With the recent changes to the Ofsted framework, educators have been giving a great deal of thought to the curriculum they have on offer and what their central intent is in offering it. At the same time, the early years sector is musing over what the changes to the EYFS will bring. I also think that the current pandemic has prompted many of us to consider what is important in life and what sort of provision we want to make for our children. I have been reflecting on what my 3R’s for an early years curriculum would be. What three things could support children towards becoming effective learners? A curriculum should be flexible and respond to the needs of those who receive it and to the times in which it is being delivered. At the moment, my 3Rs are Resilience, Relationships and cReativity. Resilience Perhaps the arrival of Coronavirus has heightened the importance of this in my mind but I have always felt it is a crucial disposition to develop as a learner. It is something which has many dimensions to consider. The first point I would like to make is that, although a crisis may demonstrate how resilient we are, resilience is not developed through hardship and suffering. It is stability, consistency and feeling loved and cared for which put children in a good place to deal with difficulties that come their way. It is important for providers of early years education and care to consider how effective their own practice and environment is in providing this and how they can support families who are struggling. Another aspect is that of role modelling. The behaviour and attitudes of adults around children impact on how they develop their own resilience. It is certainly very difficult at this time and we, as practitioners, may not be happy about some of the situation we find ourselves in. However, when we are around children we need to maintain self-control and demonstrate positive mindsets as we talk with and in front of them. One thing I passionately believe will support children to develop resilience is helping them to develop a positive attitude to mistakes and errors. Everyone makes mistakes in both their learning and in their personal lives but seeing these as an opportunity for further learning and development can be transformational in terms of moving forward in life. Relationships In this period of lockdown and self-isolation the one thing people have probably missed above everything else is the ability to maintain their relationships in the usual way. Relationships are what make things happen for the better and can be what make the world fall apart. They are wonderful but also tricky and are the heart of what we do in the early years. It makes me feel very proud to work in a sector which has such a depth of understanding about supporting young children to develop and maintain positive relationships. It is life affirming to work with people who demonstrate such warm and caring relationships with children. As staff and children work with each other, relationships become an extremely important vehicle for the development of communication skills, verbally and in many other ways. One dimension which is perhaps thought of as part of the hidden curriculum is that of a setting’s relationships with parents. It could be argued that it is actually part of the taught curriculum as we model attitudes and interactions with family on a daily basis, very often in the sight and hearing of children. If we pay attention to and develop learning around the children’s interests and the ideas and knowledge they bring from home, often referred to as ‘funds of knowledge’, we bring these home/school relationships into the heart of the taught curriculum. This can provide for a rich seam of exploration and development, it can tap into real intrinsic motivation for learning and can help to build a child’s confidence and self-esteem as they see their own experience and culture being acknowledged and respected. When thinking about relationships there is often an emphasis on adult to child and child to child. There is also attention paid to family and community relationships. In addition, it is worth thinking about a child’s relationship with themselves, as a good self-image will help them to develop good relationships with others. Do our environments provide spaces that cater for individual exploration and development, do we have spaces and time for children to reflect or explore on their own? How many opportunities do we provide for children to express themselves, is there a balance with directed activities? How proficient are we at really listening to children and hearing what they are trying to tell us? Over the next few months we may need to pay much more attention to this as children come to terms with a changing world around them. cReativity Creativity is not the domain of the arts and expressive design but something which can thread its way throughout the whole curriculum. Recent work on STEAM rather than STEM subjects is a great demonstration of the cross-curricular nature of using creativity. Creativity is something that makes use of prior learning, for example manipulating a resource that we have become familiar with, using a skill or piece of knowledge to solve a problem, or expressing an idea in a new or imaginative way. This is what I was alluding to when I said that I thought of numeracy and literacy as tools at the beginning of this article. So, as well as being taught knowledge and skills, children need to be able to explore, experiment and play with their own theories. This can be really motivating and is central to children becoming successful learners. These approaches are well described in the current EYFS as Characteristics of Effective Learning and I have always made sure to refer to these in professional discussions with colleagues, in information for families and most of all in discussions with children about their own learning. Early years providers are going to have to be creative as they start to provide learning environments with stripped back and limited resources. They are also going to be scaffolding children’s creativity as they encourage them to make the most of the learning opportunities in changed circumstances. It will be important to avoid being over-structured with what we now have available. Effective observation of children will probably find us being amazed at some of the novel and ingenious ways children adapt and use these renewed spaces. I believe creativity is essential. Its value has been highlighted recently by businesses who have changed track to produce or help design essentials to help with the coronavirus crisis. We need to encourage children to think broadly and inventively to enable them to contribute to a safe and stimulating world in the future. I have noticed some debate around curriculum on social media recently, especially around the fact that they are social constructs and that people learn without them. Whilst it is true that children often learn despite the curriculum, almost all educational establishments have some sort of curriculum or structure which is based on a combination of experience, knowledge, research, national requirements, available resources and values. As we move into a new style of provision in the short term and a revised EYFS in the near future, I think that there is an ideal opportunity to reflect on what we think is important for young children and their families. I am not advocating that everything underpinning a curriculum should contain an R or indeed that we should limit ourselves to three aspects. However, this has been a useful starting point for me to consider what really matters now and over time. I know things are busy and uncertain, and that providers are grappling with a lot of guidance and paperwork but I think that it would be extremely valuable and timely for teams to take a moment to evaluate the principles and pillars that drive the offer that they provide. So, how do you re-imagine the 3Rs?

The word ‘curriculum’ can still feel unfamiliar in early years circles, like it’s something for older children but not an appropriate way of thinking about children in the EYFS. So, I thought I would begin with a few headline thoughts about the early years curriculum: · An early years curriculum provides a structure and sense of direction for the practitioners in the setting. · It provides opportunities for all children to learn. · It is ambitious. · It challenges stereotypical beliefs that some groups of children are ‘less able’ to learn and make progress than others. · It starts with children’s experiences in their family and immediate environment, so learning is meaningful. · Strong leadership is essential for the development, and monitoring, of a high-quality curriculum. · The curriculum must be suitable for every child. Probably one of the most significant challenges as we rethink the early years curriculum, is dealing with the problem of too much of a focus on content and coverage – especially for older children in the phase. It’s depth in learning which really matters, not superficial coverage. Where there is too much content, and too much focus on coverage, then groups of children start getting left behind – even this early in their learning journey. Once children begin to fall behind, it gets harder for them to keep up. That means it’s important for settings and schools to map out clearly the key knowledge and skills which they want children to learn. This needs to be designed so that all children can keep up. This means some children will need challenging and open-ended activities – so they can deepen their learning, rather than move on to new content. They will experience curriculum content at greater depth. Other children will need regular extra help to keep up. This approach rests on something which we know is a strength in the early years: valuing every child. We all need to be firm in our belief that every child can make progress. We all need to have the professional skills to support every child’s learning. Then early years education can promote equality and give every child a fair chance of success. Well-planned play is an essential part of the early years curriculum. High quality play is supported by well-organised environments and skilful practitioners. Play is one of the key ways for young children to learn. As Professor Iram Siraj argues, ‘play is widely recognised as a leading context for the child’s acquisition of communication and collaboration skills’. Sound curriculum design can enhance the youngest children’s play. An example of this is Treasure Basket play for babies who can sit up but not yet crawl. Treasure Baskets give babies a great opportunity to explore different natural materials. They can choose what they want to pick up and investigate more using their hands, mouths and all their senses. Practitioners need to prepare the resources and the learning environment with great care. Otherwise, the planned learning will not happen. The Treasure Baskets need to be made available to babies of the right age, in a protected space. Otherwise, the materials may be picked up by more confident toddlers and taken to different parts of the room. That stops the youngest babies from having a rich play experience with the baskets. Another familiar activity which is very rich in learning is blockplay. Playing with blocks helps children to develop many areas of learning. Let’s start with their co-ordination. They have to place and balance blocks carefully to build structures. Blockplay also helps children to develop their attention: you need to give all of your effort to making sure that tall tower doesn’t tumble down! As children make more complex structures with blocks, practitioners can point things out to them. They can use ordinary language to talk about the different shapes of blocks, words like ‘curved’, ‘straight’, ‘thin’ or ‘long’. They can rephrase children’s everyday language as mathematical language, for example refining ‘big’ to ‘tall’. Skilfully-supported blockplay helps children to learn about space, shapes, and number. It helps their physical development. It helps them to plan what they want to do and to develop their concentration and persistence. High-quality play helps children to learn across many different areas of the curriculum. Often, we expect children to be able to take part in pretend play ‘naturally’. But not all children find this easy. They often need rich first-hand experiences to play. After taking a small group of children on a bus ride, practitioners can enrich play back in the setting. That play could include important details like waiting at the bus-stop, consulting the timetable. Children might pretend to buy tickets or use a smart card when they board. They might pretend to ring the bell at the right moment and then get off. Rich play like this provides multiple opportunities for learning. Those opportunities include learning about maths, practising speaking and listening, developing social skills. The children will also be learning about the wider world, like how public transport works and how you pay for things. It’s crucial to break down big goals we might have for children, like learning to write in the Reception year. We need to consider all of the essential things which a child must know and be able to do first. For example, in order to write a sentence, here are just some of the things which children need: • The ability to speak in sentences. It is vital to support children’s early communication before expecting them to write. • Motivation to write, when it’s such a difficult skill for young children to learn • Understanding of the features of print. For example, knowing that print has meaning and is written from left to right in English • The physical skill to hold and control a pencil or pen These are all ‘component skills’ which you need to be able to write. A well-planned curriculum will consider all of the component skills children need to learn to write. It will put an appropriate emphasis on developing children’s communication and their physical skills. It will outline how children can have repeated, motivating experiences which help them to develop the skills they need. These skills include the phonic knowledge children need to learn to spell. They include the physical skills which lay the foundations for developing an efficient and accurate handwriting style. These skills need to be repeated over time until they become automatic. Each child needs to learn these skills in an appropriate sequence. It’s no good expecting a child to write a sentence, if they cannot say a sentence. You can read some more of my thoughts about this in the Times Educational Supplement. Curricular plans need regular review. Settings need a systematic approach to check that the curriculum is actually working to meet the needs of all the children. Children often attend two or more different settings in the EYFS: a child might start in a preschool, and then move into a Reception class for example. So different providers in local areas need to work together. Then they can check that their work to promote the child’s care and early learning leads to successful outcomes by the end of the Reception year. Curricular plans should be flexible enough to allow for changes in direction. Practitioners need to respond quickly to children’s sudden new interests. The evidence suggests that a completely child-centred early years curriculum is not effective. Of course, open-ended experiences are important and give children opportunities to make choices and develop their thinking. And, responding to children ‘in the here and now’ is an essential part of an effective early years education. But, even a very rich and well organised learning environment is not adequate in itself. Every child won’t spontaneously be able to develop learning at their own pace. Young children need a balanced curriculum which includes teaching which has been planned ahead, as well as making time for their spontaneous learning. They need organised, adult-guided learning to bring new ideas and experiences into their lives. Children need well planned, specific learning experiences. These will deepen or consolidate their learning over time. Otherwise, children will miss out on valuable learning. It is important to ensure that children’s knowledge and skills are secure at earlier stages, before trying to ‘move them on’. For example, practitioners working with Reception children are advised to check all of the earlier stages of development. It’s important to ensure that every child’s learning is secure first, rather than go straight to the Reception year guidance. It’s important to remember that young children’s development is not orderly. Instead, development proceeds in a web of multiple strands. Different children follow different pathways. That’s one of the key reasons why we need to be cautious about the idea of ‘readiness’. If we wait until we see spontaneous signs of ‘readiness’ in a child’s freely-chosen play, that child might well miss out on a lot of the help they need to learn. Young children think and reason like adults. But they are inexperienced. There are many things they have not done, or seen, or practised yet. So rather than waiting for children to be ready, it’s important for us to ensure that children have all the experiences they need. Children experience much of their learning through free choice in a well-planned and organised learning environment. Some of their learning takes place in playful, adult guided activities. And some of their learning is directly taught. If you take just one thing with you as I come to an end, I hope it’s this – from the literature review which informed the current EYFS: · Depth in learning is much more important than breadth. · Deep understanding is more important than superficial coverage.

What is the MOVE Programme? The MOVE Programme (MOVE) is an activity-based framework that that uses the collaborative approach of education, therapy and family knowledge to teach disabled children the skills of sitting, standing and walking. Started in the 1980s by a US special needs teacher, MOVE has a 40 year history of raising expectations and improving quality of life for disabled children. In the UK and across Europe, the programme is coordinated by the charity MOVE Europe. MOVE is built around 6 steps that are used in all aspects of a child’s life, throughout their day, by all of the people that work and live with them. The 6 steps of MOVE 1. Assessment - What skills does the individual already have? 2. Goal Setting - What achievements would make the biggest difference to their life? 3. Task Analysis - What skills are needed to get there? 4. Measuring Prompts - What support is needed now? What equipment do they need? 5. Adjusting Prompts - How will we reduce the support to achieve the goal? 6. Teaching the Skills - How do we incorporate practices into everything the individual does? This collaborative approach allows the MOVE team to work together to integrate the child’s goals into their daily activities. By providing regular opportunities for skills practice, MOVE enables disabled children to achieve mobility goals that have a profound positive impact on individual quality of life as well as family life. The child and their family are always placed at the centre of MOVE and it is their goals that are worked towards. Visual overview of the collaborative approach, with the child and their family at the centre – based on a school setting Who uses it? 1,050 children in over 120 settings are currently using MOVE in the UK with thousands more benefitting from the MOVE ethos. MOVE Europe delivers training and provides ongoing support to early years settings, mainstream and special schools as well as physiotherapy teams and Health Boards. We work closely with the organisations we train to achieve the best possible outcomes for the disabled individuals using MOVE, and we receive some amazing feedback: “Our pupils are more proactive, confident and social because of the MOVE Programme.” – Class Teacher, London “MOVE makes a huge difference to our students’ mobility, behaviour, access to community and family life.” – Physiotherapist, Edinburgh “MOVE provides a variety of different opportunities to learn valuable skills and reach personal goals.” – Therapy Assistant, Derby How do we know it works? Published research literature supports the effectiveness of MOVE (see details at the end of this article) but we also regularly receive stories from schools and parents that show the real impact that MOVE has on disabled children and their families. Here, Jo shares the MOVE story of her 6 year-old daughter Milly, who has Downs Syndrome, faltering growth and a visual impairment: “Before Milly started on the MOVE Programme, her overall mobility was very limited; she couldn’t walk unaided, she could only stand for a few seconds and her muscle tone was very poor. Reaching basic milestones was challenging and we weren’t sure if she would ever walk or stand properly. However, once Milly began MOVE, we instantly saw a dramatic change, not only in her posture and strength, but also her muscle development. Most of all her confidence grew, which gave her the ability to learn, play and interact with her sisters at home and her peers at school. I can honestly say every moment of every milestone has been overwhelming. In all aspects of her life, Milly has gained so much from MOVE; from being able to sit and be seated, to walk with support, then walk unaided, and now moving onto stairs & steps. Milly can walk into school, walk out in the Christmas play and she loves the fact that she can do it! She is now a more vocal and independent child. I cannot begin to express how much this has positively impacted our lives; it’s something that we thought may not have been within our reach. It seems so easy to say eventually it would happen, but for us it was uncertain and we were fearful of not having the right help and direction. Of course, we do our best as parents at home, but the using the MOVE Programme at school is the reason our daughter is able to be free in life, music and movement.” Cherry Garden School have also shared this amazing MOVE story video with us. Watch Ibrahim’s amazing progress to independent walking: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sp0ogt9_lOY For more MOVE stories, check out our website linked below! How can you get involved? At MOVE Europe, we are committed to improving the lives of disabled children through learning independent movement. If you would like to experience the benefits of bringing MOVE to your organisation, please get in contact with us on move@enhamtrust.org.uk. Additionally, you can find more information on our website: https://www.enhamtrust.org.uk/move, Twitter (@MOVEprogramme) and Facebook (/MOVEprogramme). Here at the FSF and Tapestry, our SEND Advisor Stephen Kilgour is pleased to announce that Tapestry are going to be adding a brand new MOVE Branch Map to their Cherry Garden Assessment Framework. The Branch Maps provide a flexible, child centred approach to assessing children's progress, and allow for linear as well as lateral progress to be celebrated. The MOVE Branch Map was developed by Cherry Garden School which is an Outstanding school for children with complex learning needs in the London Borough of Southwark. The school have been using the tool within Tapestry to evidence and demonstrate the amazing progress that their children have made, and now MOVE would like other settings to benefit from the work that has taken place. If you would like the MOVE Branch Map turned on for your setting, you will first need to contact MOVE who can then inform Tapestry that you are a MOVE setting.

We’re all in this together ‘We did not know when we would see each other again, and I am not ashamed to say that there were tears with parents as they left with their children. We shared how much we appreciated and cared for each other, and we wished each other safe and well, as we said goodbye. The situation made us all a little afraid and worried, as we did not know how long life would continue in this way or when we could return to normal.’ (David Yates, reception teacher, describing saying goodbye to most of the children in his class) We are living through a pandemic which is having an impact on each and every one of us. It often feels difficult to think beyond the day to day and our need to adapt to the latest guidelines for ourselves and for children, families, settings and schools. On top of that we may be struggling to pay bills; we may be worried about our loved ones; we may be sick ourselves and/or trying to protect those whose lives will be endangered if they get sick. Fear and uncertainty are in the air with the virus and have an emotional, psychological and physical impact on all of us. Living in an unequal society The impact of the pandemic on young children is particularly concerning for those of us who work in early years. Globally, according to a recent United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) report about 77 per cent of children under the age of 18 worldwide, or 1.8 billion, are living in countries with some form of movement restrictions in place due to COVID-19. Across the world risk factors for violence, abuse and neglect are on the rise for children living under restricted movement, many of them in workless and inadequately housed families. Girls and women are at increased risk of domestic and sexual violence and refugee and migrant children are experiencing reduced access to services and increased discrimination and prejudice (Kluge et al 2020). In the UK we live in a society where those risk factors apply to many children. Inequality of all kinds is deeply entrenched and has been worsened by the last ten years of austerity. Despite being reputedly the fifth richest country in the world we are also one of the least equal and have increasing levels of poverty and foodbank use. Pickett and Wilkinson (2009) highlighted the pernicious effects that inequality has on societies generally and showed very graphically that health is related to income differences within rich societies. Furthermore, a recent report from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggested that health inequality may be linked to more than income. It revealed that black people in England and Wales are more than four times as likely to die from Covid-19 as white people. Bangladeshi and Pakistani people were about three and a half times more likely, and those of Indian origin two and a half times more likely. Even when factors such as inadequate housing, unemployment, poverty, prevalence of diabetes (all of which affect Black and Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities disproportionately) are stripped out, the ONS figures show black people are still almost twice as likely as white people to die a Covid-19-related death, with Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Indian individuals also over represented. This report begs some obvious questions, such as whether BAME people enjoy equal access to healthcare and are treated with the same care and respect as white citizens and points to a breach of (alongside many other more recent statutory protections) the 1965 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and Article 25 of the United Nations' 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states that everyone has ‘the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family.’ It is in this socio-political context that many children are also having their rights eroded. During the pandemic we are all having to live with restrictions on some of our often taken-for-granted rights and freedoms. Most of us comply with these because we see that they benefit all of us as a society. Banning large gatherings and meetings, wearing masks and supporting social distancing, for instance, help us to prevent the spread of the virus and are a means of supporting our most vulnerable citizens as well as those who are key workers. Despite an increasing death rate and discontent with some of the mixed messages coming from government, people speak admiringly of a renewed sense of community and small and large acts of kindness in a world where we are increasingly connected in online space. This coming together rightly deserves to be celebrated now and remembered when the pandemic is over; but it’s not the only experience. A predominant government line is the heroic ‘war on the virus’. This is used to invoke a ‘we’re all in this together’ narrative based on a rose-tinted version of ‘wartime spirit’ where we came together, and social and class differences were forgotten. This can be seen to link very easily with the communitarian coming together narrative and positions government measures favourably in terms of popular support. However, despite government’s apparent generosity after a decade of austerity, we went into the health crisis in what Harris (2020) calls ‘a state of disastrous social fragility’ and it is in this social fragility that a looming children’s rights crisis is located. Many young children were already vulnerable to poor health, insecure attachment, developmental delay, educational under-achievement and trauma. Many of these problems are caused or exacerbated by poverty. As Anne Feuchtwang, Chief Executive of the National Children’s Bureau, said in response to a recent report from End Child Poverty ‘We may all be experiencing the storm of Coronavirus together, but we are not all in the same boat. The government’s data shows the extent to which over the past four years, children in low income families have been cut adrift and are already experiencing unacceptable hardship.’ Cuts to vital services total about £2billion and have had a huge impact on children and families and on early years settings’ and schools’ ability to support them and ameliorate some of the effects of poverty. Article 3 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child states that the best interests of the child must be a top priority in all decisions and actions that affect children. But it is hard to see how benefit cuts and the closure of children’s centres and nursery schools or some of the pandemic policy decisions are based on this best interest. Children’s best interests during the pandemic Up until this week, only ‘vulnerable children’ and children of key workers have been entitled to attend an early years setting or school. However not all children identified as vulnerable have been attending. There will be various reasons - perhaps fear of going out, being part of a family having to shield relatives or belonging to an already distressed family which has been tipped ‘over the edge’ by the effects of the virus. Those children who are attending are, in many cases, getting a very different experience than they would usually be having. This may well be more positive in the sense that they are in familiar surroundings and are relating to practitioners who can give them more attention and focus more specifically on their individual needs and interests. Those individual needs may include helping children deal with family stress and their own internalised worries about Covid 19. A lot of the children will have parents who are working in frontline jobs which are dangerous and where colleagues may have died - bus drivers for instance. They may be the children of care or health workers who return home from work upset because people they have been looking after have died. These adults may be feeling depressed or shocked and numb or angry about what has happened. They may return from work and have to wash and change their clothes and may talk about the lack of enough personal protective equipment (PPE) to keep them from further danger. They may be so traumatised and exhausted that they have very little energy left for their children. Living in these families is likely to be very stressful for young children whether or not they also have other issues to contend with such as poor housing, domestic violence or parents with mental or physical health issues. These children will be feeling hyper-fearful and vigilant which means their brains’ flight or fight mechanisms are fully primed. They need time and space with skilled and familiar practitioners to be supported to relax and enjoy being in the setting. Imagine how much worse those children will be feeling if they have had to move to a different childminder’s or setting because theirs had to close due to the financial impossibility of staying open at the present time. This is the reality for lots of settings and children and means that many early years practitioners, who themselves may be poorly paid and receiving benefits, are enduring extra levels of stress at the same time as having to support children and families. Current policy, although possibly seeming generous to an outsider, is merely perpetuating current underfunding and will tip some small settings into insolvency. An Early Years Alliance (EYA) survey of over 3,000 settings reported recently in Nursery World (Gaunt 2020) found that 25% of respondents thought it was unlikely they would be open in 12 months’ time. Key figures in the early years sector have been fighting hard for more clarity among the contradictory messages and U turns coming from government. In order to try and convince the Treasury they have to use the political arguments about the damage to the economy involved in letting the early years sector remain critically underfunded. The tragedy is that these arguments, while absolutely crucial for the survival of services for children and families, completely overlook the interests of children and, like government policy, concentrate (when they do mention people) on the adults involved. This approach indicates that we are still struggling with some political misconceptions about the nature of childhood. The biggest and most important one is around the fact that early years is still not seen as an important stage in its own right and young children are not seen as active citizens from birth. This misconception leads to government policy that sees them primarily as dependents of their parents, in need of ‘childcare’ to enable those parents to work, and the crucial early years as some sort of waiting room for school when ‘children’ become ‘pupils’ and where they are not welcome if they are not ‘school ready’. It also opens the door to underfunding and cutting of services and the top down pressure on Reception classes to become more like Key Stage 1 and 2 that we have recently seen expressed in ‘Bold Beginnings’, the revised EYFS early learning goals and the Ofsted inspection framework. Against this backdrop it is hardly surprising that, with the added pressures on everyone right now, the rights of many young children to be nurtured as well as educated are not being adequately protected. And it is not just the children of key workers or those already identified as ‘vulnerable’ who are suffering. In some respects, all children are vulnerable during this crisis. They may not be living in poverty or bear obvious signs of deprivation but their mental and physical health, as well as their ongoing emotional and cognitive well-being and development, may be coming under pressure. There have been many positive moves from individual practitioners and organisations to support children and families which recognise both the importance of the ‘home learning environment’ and the stresses that many parents are suffering having children around – perhaps while trying to work from home/living in cramped conditions. There is much support based on empathy and knowledge of child development as well as understanding that a family home cannot (and should not!) be turned into a nursery or school. Some of it is generic and online and much of it is being provided in individualised and family centred ways by practitioners who are trying to keep their setting or school open and safe for the small numbers of children they have, as well as providing support for the absent majority about whom they are worried. For David Yates, the reception teacher whose feelings about saying goodbye to children and families featured at the beginning of this piece ‘everyone’s well-being, mental health, and seeing the positive moments, is the central focus of home learning at this time.’ He says ‘It has been crucial to be able to respond personally to children and parents, either by e-mail, or in telephone conversations, to offer words of reassurance, support, or encouragement during this unprecedented time. They have all said how much they and the children are missing being at school and appear to have welcomed the opportunity to be able to stay in touch.’ Here is an example: “Good morning Mr Yates. Have a good day. Hope you okay and Musa said he see a dream that he goes to school and hug you. He was so happy to tell me about his dream he said he miss his friends and you. Musa find lady bird yesterday while playing in the garden and he put lady bird on his hand.” This was good to hear. I acknowledged Musa’s feelings by sending him a virtual hug back, and sharing optimistic thoughts for being back at school: “What a lovely dream, Musa! I really do hope your dream comes true very soon – I can't wait to share a real big hug when we go back to Jade class! I miss you and everyone else very much too. Sending you a great big hug back!! It's lovely to see that you found a ladybird - a nice surprise!” Musa clearly appreciated the story, as his mum’s next reply confirms: “Hello Mr Yates. Thank you so much I show your hug to Musa. He said thank you and he show to his dad in a joy.” In a subsequent conversation I shared my own ladybird find with Musa, which linked our shared experience and made it more special: “Guess what, Musa? I found a ladybird outside today too! It reminded me of when you found the ladybird in your garden, so I took a picture to show you!” Fajsin Ali, a teaching assistant was concerned about how to help young children and their parents talk about their Covid worries. She made a simple animation called ‘I Was Sad’ and put it on You Tube. The pictures and text are simple and the message is profound – children have a voice and they need to be heard. It is now a book as well as an animation. Fajsin and David, like so many practitioners across early years, primary and secondary, show how inaccurate media descriptions of schools and settings being ‘closed’ are! They may be closed as places where children can physically go, but they are very much open in terms of providing ongoing love, education and care. The home learning environment is consistently identified in research as the most significant predictor of a child’s outcomes, and the poorest children are already behind their better-off peers in important areas such as language development by the age of two. Unfortunately, the nuanced and understanding approach illustrated by David Yates and Fajsin Ali is not universal. For David it ‘was important to reassure children and families at the outset that home learning would not come as an additional pressure…there is no insistence that anything must be completed or 'produced' to confirm that learning is taking place at home, and all suggestions offer families contextual, fun, and easily accessible learning experiences.’ I have seen communications from other schools asking for evidence from parents and insisting on completed worksheets every day! This sort of approach is fed by reports like the recent one from the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) which reduces home and school learning to hours spent (or not spent) and the resultant likely increase in educational inequality. A government which picks up the headlines only feeds them into their existing simplistic view of the purpose of education as the transmission of knowledge. If the poor don’t have the requisite ‘knowledge and cultural capital’ (to quote Ofsted), it’s the parents’ fault. Rethinking Education and Inequality Paul Whiteman, General Secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, responding to the IFS report said 'The disadvantage gap was huge before lockdown... Without doubt, education plays a key role in navigating a route out of poverty, but a lack of education does not in itself cause poverty. Other social factors do that, and to date they have consistently worked against schools' efforts. We need to rethink how we tackle inequality in this country…It would be disappointing if the same old arguments and assumptions about disadvantage were allowed to persist once lockdown has ended.’ I would take this further and say that it would also be a pity if the same old arguments and assumptions about how children learn were allowed to persist once lockdown is over – because those tired old arguments deny children their right to learn in a way that supports their natural creativity and perpetuate a deficit model of children (particularly poor children, those with special educational needs and disabilities and those from BAME backgrounds) as somehow lacking or deficient. All babies and young children are amazingly powerful learners. Nelson (2007) talks about children learning while embedded in the relationships and interactive language of their everyday environments. In these ‘communities of minds’ they gain conceptual knowledge, learn about their own minds and update their beliefs. As Gopnik (2009:157) tells us ‘their entire stock of knowledge turns over every few months - they go through whole paradigm shifts between their third and fourth birthday…. Really flexible and innovative adults might change their minds this way two or three times in a lifetime.’ Surely we should be aiming for all our children to continue to be capable of being excited in the face of the cognitive dissonance involved in changing one’s mind, not shrink from what Carol Dweck calls a ‘growth mindset.’ After all, as Professor Brian Cox says, as a scientist ‘you have to be prepared – and delighted – to change your mind in the face of new evidence. That is the message that should be taught in schools.’ (Adams 2016) The stance of successive education ministers has been that knowledge transmission is the basis of curriculum and we have been engaged in a constant battle for the rights of all young children to quality early education and care based on sound principles. The principles on which the Early Years Foundation Stage and other UK and international early years frameworks are based are not new. They are the result of much practice, research and theory going back centuries. And yet we have a government that has caused an already stretched sector, as well as children and parents, huge additional stress by suggesting that some children should return to schools and settings on June 1st. At the time of writing there is huge opposition from unions, parents and practitioners – nobody seems to know what children think. Whatever happens with that, the government seems likely to impose a baseline test on four-year-olds starting school in September 2020 in the most difficult circumstances imaginable. Children have the right to be better treated as so many practitioners and parents who have supported More Than A Score have said clearly and loudly. A recent Montessori poll of 1000 parents showed that 87% of the parents believe that the current education system needs updating to focus more on life skills such as creativity, resilience, independence and leadership and 78% of parents think the pressures of the current education system, including testing from a young age, can have a negative impact on children. These parents believe that a good education is based on important life skills and the rights of children to be supported in their growing up into sociable, loving, creative adults – the sort of adults we need to tackle the climate crisis and the poverty and inequality to which it is inextricably linked. We will all have been changed by the pandemic and even the government has been forced to put human well-being before economic growth for a short time. As John Harris wrote recently ‘We cannot go on like this, with deep inequalities of race and class constantly exploding before our eyes, the need for food banks extending into the distance and voices at the top willing us back towards the very social and political dead end that ensured the virus has had such a disastrous impact. In the great surge of spontaneous collective action that has greeted Covid-19, there are the seeds of something better.’ In early years we must nurture those seeds and strive to maintain a culture where young children’s rights to loving care and protection and a great education are recognised and based on a proper understanding of learning and development from birth onwards. After all, ‘The immaturity of children is a biological fact of life but the ways in which this immaturity is understood and made meaningful is a fact of culture.’ (James and Prout (1997:7).