Join Alison, the Early Years Teaching and Learning Leader, and Rachel, an ECT, as they discuss the transformative impact of the Early Excellence approach at St Gregory’s Catholic Primary School in Margate. Hear their experiences of moving from traditional methods to a more child-initiated learning environment that fosters independence, responsibility, and creativity among the children.

Alison is the Early Years Teaching and Learning Leader at St Gregory’s Catholic Primary School in Margate. She has been there for about two and a half years now. When she first arrived, they used a really traditional approach in the early years. Activities were laid out for the children to do, and there was a lot of clutter in the classrooms.

Rachel is an ECT. She has been at St Gregory’s in Margate for a year now. She started her ECT year in July last year, so it gave her a month to get to know the children and start to really understand the Early Excellence approach because it is totally different from any other placement school she had ever had before. She had a month to try to get her head around it before she could do it in her own classroom. The independence that they have got out of using the early excellence approach has been amazing. The children know where things are, they are always there, they can go and take them when they want them and use them independently in their child-initiated learning time.

Alison says the independence they have gained from using the Early Excellence approach has been amazing. The children know where things are, can take them when they want, and use them independently during their child-initiated learning time. She highlights that “Choose it, use it, put it away” is their favourite phrase, even in year one, helping to keep the classroom tidy. The responsibility is on the children to maintain their learning environment, with adult support.

The children are often shocked if a peer fails to put something away, reinforcing the sense of community and teamwork.

In Key Stage 1, the children have specific jobs. They have monitors for each area, such as a construction monitor and a writing area monitor, ensuring everything is in order so the teachers don’t have to do it all. The children take responsibility and inform her if something is running low.

If the children want something not provided, they can ask. Alison finds this approach beneficial as it gives her more time with the children, rather than constantly setting up activities. She spends continuous provision time having conversations and getting to know the children, a significant improvement from the traditional approach where children were called over to do activities, interrupting their continuous provision.

Now, with longer periods to become engrossed in their activities, Alison observes the characteristics of effective learning more clearly, especially perseverance. The children have time to make, review, and adjust their work, asking for help if needed. This change means children lead their own learning, with adults questioning and modelling expected behaviours. In September, they teach the children where items are kept and model their use, fostering creativity.

Rachel says: “The children like to go back to their work. What’s quite a big challenge is understanding that at the end of each day you don’t have to have a finished product. I found that a bit of a challenge having to know it’s all right, they’ve done their own thing and taken a step back and then they can finish it off tomorrow. They haven’t got to put it all away and then just forget about it. It’s theirs tomorrow to come back to and carry on, which I’ve enjoyed. It’s been quite a learning curve!”

Alison adds: “I think over time what you get is much more high quality. When your children are building something, if they leave that for the next day to add to, eventually they’ll get to writing some instructions for it or writing a story linked to it. That is much more purposeful than having something taken a photo and putting it straight away. It’s that longer process that’s important for children to see. You don’t always immediately get an outcome for everything that you do, even as an adult; some things take time, practice and patience. The children are learning those skills so early on that it’s going to stand them in really good stead when they go into Key Stage 2”.

To enquire about support to change your EYFS & KS1 practice, contact Early Excellence or e-mail nikki@earlyexcellence.com