We are understandably keen for the children in our settings to access as many stories and books as possible and for them to build a repertoire of familiar texts and book areas are found in the vast majority of settings and classrooms, along with a large number of books. It is also often the case...
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Developing an Effective Books and Puppets Area
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Maximising Learning in Continuous Provision – Small Construction
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Investigating how things join together, whether to construct something in their imagination or following another’s design, has long been a fascination of young children and many adults! But how can we ensure that children are getting the most from the range of small construction we provide in our classrooms? Can we be sure it is...
...read moreExploring the Key Principles of Effective Assessment
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Assessment processes within the EYFS can, if we’re not careful, be a bit of a minefield. As with many things, the extremes are to be avoided. At one end of the spectrum, too many recorded observations can leave us swamped by information that may not be useful, at the other, a simple tick sheet won’t...
...read moreMathematical Musings
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Read our latest blog by Jude Twani, who is an Associate Consultant for Early Excellence. One day I was introduced as an “early years maths expert” and imposter syndrome flooded my system! At school maths was a constant mystery to me. I would have to take home endless work on fractions in the hope that...
...read moreExploring Powerful Learning Through Domestic Role Play: New Beginnings & Baking
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Domestic role play provides an invaluable opportunity for young children to pretend to be the key people in their lives and begin to make sense of the world around them. This inspirational blog, written by Amanda Belbin, Nursery Teacher at Bincombe Valley Primary School, explores how domestic role play has been placed firmly at the...
...read moreCatching Up and Lessons From The Dancefloor
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Read our latest blog by Jude Twani, who is an Associate Consultant for Early Excellence. I have been dancing now for about 8 weeks and it is the first time in my life I have ever danced “properly”. I always imagined I could dance but never tried it. I have serious dance envy when I...
...read moreTaking Continuous Provision beyond the EYFS – Maximising Learning in Key Stage One
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When we compare the curriculum and practices of the Early Years Curriculum to that of the Key Stage 1 Curriculum we are often faced with fundamental differences in both style and content. Learning in the EYFS is active, play-based and hands on, centred around the child and their first hand experiences: this can be in...
...read moreWorking with the Revised EYFS: Less is More?
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Last week the DfE released three short videos titled Implementing the Early Years Foundation Stage Reforms. Using a combination of views from practitioners and leaders in Early Adopter schools and Ofsted, they aim to address a range of concerns and to offer a degree of reassurance. The voices are positive and present the case that...
...read morePutting the New EYFS Framework into Practice
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So, hopefully you’re all set. You’ve attended the training on the new EYFS framework, you’ve read the documentation, followed the many online debates and now, finally you’re ready to put the framework into practice- your practice. What are the key things that you’ll need to focus on? Well, there are all sorts of things that...
...read moreThe Challenge for Y1 – a cohort unlike any other that has gone before
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Whenever our children arrive back into school, they will have needs unlike any cohort that has gone before them. The range of lockdown experiences in any given class will vary enormously. Some children will bear the effects of trauma, stress or grief, others will only remember uninterrupted family time – but all will have faced...
...read moreMoving Forward: Exploring Changes, Challenges and Opportunities in the EYFS
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Back in the summer I was kindly asked by Nursery World to offer some thoughts on how things had changed since the pandemic; the impact this was having on everyday life, our families, our friends, ourselves and the children we work with. Few could have imagined where we would be now and how the many...
...read moreMeaningful Mathematics, A Focus on EYFS Pedagogy
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If we want children to successfully embed a range of mathematical concepts then we really need to reflect on our pedagogy first. Effective teaching of mathematics in the EYFS doesn’t just happen on the carpet, or at the group table, but rather acknowledges that it is meaningful, physical exploration of concepts that enables them to...
...read moreEYFS in Lockdown – Meaningful Learning Opportunities in the Home
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From Zoom meetings and Facetime chats to online activity ideas and YouTube story times, technology has provided us with the ability to stay connected with family, friends and our classes with relative ease during this lockdown period. Understandably, most of our responses as EYFS teachers during the current crisis, have been based around the use...
...read moreEarly Years Home Schooling in Lockdown
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Home Schooling We’ve entered a new time. A time of home schooling, of online PE lessons, live link up phonics sessions and an avalanche of online support. Much of this will be helpful to children, and parents, as they set about this period of isolation, but I do think we need to be careful here....
...read moreEYFS in Lockdown – The importance of Valuing Children’s Interests
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As we try to get to grips with this new, isolated way of life, education for our youngest children has also changed dramatically. EYFS teachers have been working incredibly hard to fulfil their teaching role whilst staying safe and staying at home. What teachers are trying to do is completely understandable: aiming to maintain a...
...read moreNavigating Early Years Policy: Preparing for the Changes Ahead
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In the last week, we have seen the publication of Development Matters, the new non-statutory curriculum guidance which supports delivery of the recently revised EYFS. This follows the announcement from the Department for Education around funding to help schools boost early language skills in Reception. We have also heard that an Early Years Sector Coalition...
...read moreDeveloping Domestic Role Play – Case Study
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In our recent Early Excellence Blog we explored the vital importance of talk in EYFS classrooms and how high quality role play supports children as they experiment with language, allowing vocabulary to flourish in meaningful contexts. Below you will find a case study from St Gregory’s Catholic School, Margate, looking at how developing their domestic role play enabled enhanced learning...
...read moreFirst Steps: A Review of the Planning Guidance for Early Years
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Like you, we have been trying to keep up with the multiple guidance publications issued by the Department of Education since the outbreak of COVID 19. Many schools and settings we work with have been talking to us about how they have been addressing the challenges raised with relation to safety and welfare of adults...
...read moreTransient Art and Loose Parts Play
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Why is Transient Art & Creativity Important? Transient Art and Creative opportunities will give children a sense of control over their surroundings and a feeling of satisfaction and are, therefore, extremely important for their wellbeing at this unsettling time. Alongside this, creative opportunities are valuable because they support children’s thinking skills, encouraging them to express...
...read moreWhat Comes Next? Key Issues for the EYFS and Key Stage One after Lockdown
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One thing that the lockdown situation has given many of us is a lot of is time. As we emerge from isolation, desperately needing haircuts but with kitchen cupboards tidier than they’ve ever been, we will have been through a major upheaval on a national and international scale. Yet, after the whole country, including the...
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