Education Scotland’s
EARLY YEARS
MATTERS
CURRICULUM FOR EXCELLENCE... THE EARLY YEARS FRAMEWORK // ISSUE 1 // AUTUMN 2011
Special
Literacy
Edition
New Minister for Children and
Young People, Angela Constance
shares her vision for early years
Interview with Dr Bill Maxwell,
transitional Chief Executive,
Education Scotland
1 EARLY YEARS MATTERS | SUMMER 2010
ARTICLE TITLE/SECTION HEADER
05
08
Dear colleagues,
09
23
14
03 Education Scotland
interview with Dr Bill Maxwell,
transitional Chief Executive
04 Early years team update
05 a RIGHT wee blether
06 Sharing the Standards
08 News and events from NHS
Health Scotland
09 Message from Angela
Constance MSP, Minister for
Children and Young People
10 Making a Big Noise
in Nursery
12 Conference Report:
Developing Literacy in the
Early Years
14 Tuning into Literacy
16 Higher Order Thinking
17 Supporting early literacy
with the youngest of
Scotland’s citizens
18 Foghlam Tro Mheadhan Na
19 Learning Thresholds
in Early Literacy
20 Embedding Literacy in
Undergraduate Courses
22 New findings from Growing
up in Scotland (GUS)
23 21st Century Families:
parents talk about promoting
play in their local community
24 Enquire
The Scottish Advice Service
for Additional Support for
Learning
25 Curriculum for Excellence,
Supporting Learners
28 What’s New on Infection
Prevention and Control
in Early Years?
29 Digital Childhoods
30 Numeracy – The Iceberg
Metaphor
31 The Financially Capable
Child
Gàidhlig/Gaelic Medium
Education
Contents
Welcome to the first edition of Education
Scotland’s Early Years Matters: you can read all
about the new agency in the opening article of
the magazine where transitional Chief Executive
Dr Bill Maxwell lays out his vision for the future.
There is also a new Early Years team in post.
In June we said goodbye to Jane Stirling and Avril
Robertson, joint Team Leaders who returned to
their substantive posts having made a valuable
contribution to early years’ developments during
their secondments. Jacqué Fee is now joined by
Catherine Hornby, Myra Struthers, Diane Buchanan
and Anna Cartlidge who are working closely with
the Early Years National Specialist Team to continue
to support you in your work with Scotland’s
youngest children and their families.
As always Curriculum for Excellence and the
Early Years Framework underpin all our work
and currently the implementation of the Literacy
Action Plan is a major focus for our team. This
edition of the magazine therefore has literacy
as a central theme and builds on the very
successful conference that we hosted in May.
The conference report and related literacy articles
are featured in the centre pages including one
by keynote speaker, Sue Palmer, author of the
acclaimed ‘Toxic Childhood’.
We are sure that you will find the additional
articles written by both our own colleagues
in Education Scotland and partner agencies
informative. These articles draw on research as
well as interesting practice from early years and
primary settings. We hope these will stimulate
professional reflection, collegiate discussion and
lead to enhanced practice.
We would like to thank the numerous
contributors to this first edition of Education
Scotland’s Early Years Matters and invite you to
consider contributing ideas for future articles
in our magazine. In the meantime you are also
welcome to comment on this issue online at:
www.educationscotland.gov.uk/earlyyears
JACQUÉ Fee
Catherine Hornby
Myra Struthers
Diane Buchanan
Anna Cartlidge
Early years team
EDUCATION
SCOTLAND
WHAT’S
KEEPING
US BUSY?
Education Scotland
Dr Bill Maxwell opens up
to Early Years Matters…
T
he main reason behind
the creation of Education
Scotland, the Scottish
Government’s new
national development and
improvement agency for education, is
to provide more effective support to
improve learner outcomes at all levels.
According to Dr Bill Maxwell, the
benefits of improving those outcomes
are nowhere more important than in
the area of early years learning.
Dr Maxwell, transitional Chief
Executive of Education Scotland,
is more aware of that than most
people. His early professional
background included working
with our youngest children as an
Educational Psychologist, and he says,
“the early phase of development is
exceptionally powerful in shaping
what happens afterwards, so the more
we can influence that, the better. I
am convinced that we need to deal
with the whole child collaboratively
across professional boundaries. Being
an educational psychologist put you
in exactly that cross-sector holistic
territory, trying to make meaningful
links between agencies”.
Dr Maxwell is a firm believer
that Education Scotland can make
the difference that will bring about
transformational change. “We’ve got
the potential now to bring together
our rich mix of strengths and resources
from LTS and from HM inspectorate…
– and we are all working together
to ensure that Education Scotland
delivers more than simply the sum of
those parts”.
As Dr Maxwell explains, there is
evidence that we need to be much
better at adopting a holistic approach
when working with children and
families. He says, “Research, including
the current Growing up in Scotland
study, shows that by the age of
five there can be as much as an 18
month developmental gap in the use
and comprehension of vocabulary
between the most advantaged and
disadvantaged children”. He adds,
“Scientific work highlights the critical
role played by parents in supporting
learning and development. All of
this is most helpful in reinforcing our
understanding of the importance
of the early years but we now need
to focus more on learning what
works best in order to address the
disadvantage gap”.
Dr Maxwell also says, “Education
Scotland will be more effective in
inspiring innovation and creativity to
support practitioners develop their
own approaches at a local level. This
applies across all sectors. We aim
to act as an engine for accelerating
improvement in the system because
we have the privilege of being out
there and seeing so much innovative
practice through inspections and
development work. We now have an
even greater opportunity to bring all of
that together and make it available for
practitioners in a way that encourages
wider dissemination and the spread
of the most effective practice. I want
us to be driving a dynamic and vibrant
learning system. I want us to be
evaluating and sharing the best of
successful practice to the front line”.
Speaking directly to the early
years community Dr Maxwell said,
“Early years practitioners have a
tremendously important job. It is
arguably the case that, more than any
other professional group at any stage
in education, early years practitioners
can truly transform lives through
learning. At Education Scotland we are
determined to do everything we can
to support and promote this crucial
aspiration”.
03
Early Years Team Update
Highlighting
updated news,
information research
and examples of
good practice on
Early Years
Online
Supporting and
co-ordinating
national networks
Supporting
practitioners in
the development
of further materials
for the National
Assessment
Resource
Developing
materials to
support parents
and carers to engage
with the national
Pre-Birth to Three
guidance.
Planning the
Early Years
Saturday Conference
19 November 2011
Supporting
practitioners in
the implementation
of Curriculum for
Excellence
Supporting and
developing the
National Early Years
Glow Group
EARLY
YEARS TEAM
UPDATE
04 EARLY YEARS MATTERS | AUTUMN 2011
Supporting the
implementation
of the Scottish
Government Literacy
Action Plan
Building the new
Early Years Team
within Education
Scotland
Working
with Scotland’s
Commissioner for
Children and Young
People
Supporting
practitioners
to become more
research engaged to
improve evidence
based practice
Working
collaboratively with
national bodies and
agencies including Scottish
Government, Social Care
& Social Work Improvement
Service, SQA, Scottish Social
Services Council, NHS
Health Scotland, Scottish
Childminding Association
and many other key
partners
Contributing
to national early
years qualification
developments
Planning the
Early Years Further
Education Conference:
25 February 2012
Scotland’s Commissioner
for Children and Young
People, Tam Baillie would
like children between
the ages of two and five
to have the opportunity
to have their very own
creative ‘conversation’
with him using their own
forms of expression.
T
his lively creative
conversation, which runs
from 12 September –
31 October 2011, is called
‘a RIGHT wee blether’.
‘a RIGHT wee blether’ creates a
space for those who work within early
years contexts, parents, and carers to
have a conversation with their children
or the children that they work with
by facilitating their creation of a ‘Wee
Book About Me’. To capture as much
information as possible adults are
also sent ‘Our Wee Story Book’.
This is where adults working with
children or parents and carers
can record more detail about the
conversations that took place whilst
the children were working on their
‘Wee Book About Me’.
Image
a RIGHT
wee blether
courtesy
of Ross
Collins
Scotland’s COMMISSIONER for Children
andKEEPING
YoungUS
People
WHAT’S
BUSY?
It is a chance for young children
to inform the Commissioner’s work,
to celebrate the variety and diversity
of the ways in which children
might choose to participate and to
encourage their active engagement
and involvement.
This conversation builds on the
Commissioner’s work in 2010 when
74,000 children and young people
across Scotland took part in ‘a RIGHT
blether’, a national consultation with
Scotland’s school aged children, to
inform and influence his work.
Tam Baillie explains, “The
importance of listening to children,
including our very youngest, should
never be underestimated. The
articulation of their experiences and
opinions are fundamental to the
exercise of their rights as set out in
the United Nations Convention on the
Rights of the Child (UNCRC).
Article 12 sets out a child’s right
to express their views that imposes
no ‘minimum age’. The UNCRC states
that the child is able to form views
from the youngest age even when
he or she may be unable to express
them verbally.
Therefore bringing Article 12 to life
in our youngest children’s lives requires
us to recognise, value and respect all
forms of communication.
For many, ‘a RIGHT wee blether’
will be a part of everyday practice, for
others it will be the start of an exciting
and enriching journey. Whichever it is,
I hope that the children and the adults
helping them will enjoy taking part in
as many enjoyable, creative and playful
ways as possible.
The Commissioner’s office will
provide the support materials and
guidance to help you have ‘a RIGHT
wee blether’. For more information
go to www.sccyp.org.uk or call
0131 558 3733.
05
assessment
165344
Sharing the
Standards
BtC5 A
Framew
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> SUCC
by Lorraine Faccini, Assessment Team,
Education Scotland
ESSFUL
LEARNE
RS
IDENT
INDIVIDU
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ONSIBL
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EN
S
EFFECT
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NTRIBU
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> CONF
> RESP
>
BtC5 defines moderation as
“ ....approaches at arriving at a shared understanding of standards and
expectations for the broad general education. ”
B
uilding the Curriculum 5
(BtC5) outlines the
principles of assessment
and how quality assurance
and moderation are firmly
embedded in the values, purposes
and principles of Curriculum for
Excellence. BtC5 states:
‘The purposes of quality assurance
and moderation are to ensure
consistency of understanding and
application of standards at national
and local levels, support trust and
confidence in teacher judgements
and ensure progression and
continuity of standards 3 to 15’.
Such approaches will provide
assurance to parents and others
that children and young people are
receiving appropriate recognition
for their achievements and are
progressing in their learning in
line with agreed standards and
expectations.
Moderation is therefore about
early years’ practitioners establishing
a confident, secure understanding
of the standards and expectations
that children should achieve in their
learning. This will be accomplished
by building on the existing effective
practice of collegiate working that
is already well embedded in the
day to day work of early years’
establishments.
06 EARLY YEARS MATTERS | AUTUMN 2011
Moderation is simply about
everyone working and discussing
learning together. At its core is
the importance of professional
dialogue and discussion around the
standards and expectations set out
in the experiences and outcomes.
It is about practitioners working
collaboratively to plan and evaluate
learning experiences, learning and
teaching approaches and to reflect
and agree on the quality of the
learning being achieved. Structures
and approaches to support this
professional dialogue will be
determined at local level to reflect
local circumstances and needs.
As practitioners continue to engage
in the processes of moderation they
will gain confidence and trust in
their own and others’ professional
judgements. As these judgements
are based on a wide range of
evidence and consistently applied,
the assessment will be reliable
and valid.
A range of supports have
been put in place both locally
and nationally to facilitate the
development of quality assurance
and moderation practice, including
the development of the National
Assessment Resource (NAR). NAR
is an online resource aimed at
supporting assessment practice
and is a key tool to help promote
effective approaches to moderation.
It assists practitioners in developing
a shared understanding of standards
and expectations for Curriculum for
Excellence and how to apply these
consistently.
You might wish to further
consider some emerging approaches
to moderation in the early years:
• As early years practitioners meet
to plan learning experiences
for children through play, they
simultaneously plan assessment
strategies and the range of
possible evidence to be gathered.
• By observing and talking to
children about their learning
and development, early years’
practitioners identify with each
individual child what they should
learn next and how.
• Practitioners involved in the
development of materials for
NAR share their experience
with staff within their own
establishment and across their
learning communities. They are
actively promoting a collaborative
and coherent approach to
planning, learning and teaching
and assessment as the model for
local moderation.
“
• The creation of shared learning
spaces, accessible to both early
years and primary children,
enables staff to work as a team in
planning, delivering, assessing and
evaluating the learning experiences
and children’s achievements.
Practitioners are able to set aside
time to plan collegiately and to
focus on planning for progression
in learning: such approaches
support and ease transitions within
the early level.
• The adoption of the Reggio
Emilia approach to gathering
evidence of learning – samples
of children’s work, transcripts
of learning conversations with
children featuring comments and
evaluations by adults – enables
staff to plan effectively for
individual learners and provides a
deeper understanding of how to
support children in progressing
their learning and in developing
their skills.
• Cross Sector Project Teams have
been established within one local
authority to moderate standards
in literacy, numeracy and health
and wellbeing as well as within
curriculum areas. This creates an
opportunity for staff working from
3-15 to meet and discuss standards
and expectations and to share their
findings with others within the
local authority. This approach is
helpful in developing consistency
of judgements across the authority.
The purposes of
quality assurance and
moderation are to
ensure consistency of
understanding and
application of
standards at national
and local levels, support
trust and confidence in
teacher judgements
and ensure progression
and continuity of
standards 3 to 15.
”
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Please refer to the suite of Building
the Curriculum 5 documents at
www.ltscotland.org.uk/
buildingyourcurriculum/
policycontext/btc/btc5.asp
or log on to the National Assessment
Resource.
07
NHS HEALTH SCOTLAND
News and events
from NHS Health
Scotland
A seminar in Edinburgh will showcase the findings of
the play@home programme evaluation. To register interest
in attending the event on Wednesday, 28 September 2011
email Sharon Forrester at sharonforrester@playscotland.org
For more information on play@home, contact Irene
Miller: irene.miller@nhs.net
N
HS Health Scotland has developed a new
resource for professionals and parents:
‘Formula Feeding: how to feed your
baby safely’.
This resource was developed with an advisory group,
comprising representation from Scottish Government,
NHS Boards, Food Standards Agency Scotland and
Royal Colleges. The material was pre-tested with health
professionals, early years professionals, mothers, their
partners and families to asses understanding of key
messages, appropriate images, look, feel and tone of
the resource. This forms part of the suite of resources
to support delivery of ‘Improving Maternal and Infant
Nutrition: A Framework’ and will be endorsed by UNICEF.
An easy read version will be available in the near future.
For more information, contact Katie Baird:
katie.baird@nhs.net
The play@home programme of free play-based books
for families across Scotland has recently been evaluated by
Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh.
The evaluation used a variety of validated measurement
tools in control and intervention areas to determine the
impact of the play@home resource on babies, toddlers and
pre-school children. While baseline data found no difference
in the babies, differences were identified between the
intervention and control toddler group samples. The
intervention group reported higher scores in gross motor,
fine motor and problem solving skills and higher scores
in the Pleasure in Parenting Scale. In pre-school children
the follow-up data also found an increase in moderate
to vigorous physical activity in the intervention group,
equating to 50 minutes per week. The exit responses from
the intervention group demonstrated that the majority of
parents found the books useful or very useful.
08 EARLY YEARS MATTERS | AUTUMN 2011
NHS Health Scotland, Healthcare Improvement Scotland
and NHS Education Scotland have launched the new
‘Scottish antenatal parent education pack’.
The pack will support maternity services to provide
women, their partners and families with a comprehensive
programme of education for childbirth and parenthood.
The pack has been developed to help professionals
deliver consistent parent education that respects and
reflects the individual needs of pregnant women and their
partners. It includes a national syllabus, a resource pack
and a training element.
For more information, contact Laura Martin:
laura.martin3@nhs.net
The team is developing an Early Years image CD
containing vibrant, expressive and appealing images
of babies, children and their families and early years
professionals. People, cultures and settings come to life
with real families living all over Scotland. Images also
include young parents, parents and or children with
disabilities, grandparents and fathers. High resolution
images are provided for print, web or local campaign use.
Themes include bonding, play, food and drinks,
breastfeeding, safety, socialising, reading and more. The
CD will be available from July on request via the Health
Scotland Early Years network.
For more information, contact Laura Hunter:
laurahunter2@nhs.net
The team is updating the popular resource ‘Early Years
Information Pathway’ which will be available at
www.maternal-and-early-years.org.uk
This Information Pathway covers pre-conception,
pregnancy, infancy, toddler and the pre-school period up
to the age of five. It provides information from a national
and local perspective and signposts health professionals
to related services and resources to support parents and
carers.
For more information, contact Laura Martin:
laura.martin3@nhs.net
THE VIEW FROM HOLYROOD
Message from
Angela
Constance MSP
Minister for Children and Young People
Just over three months since taking up office as Minister for Children and Young People,
Angela Constance, speaks passionately about her commitment to Scottish Government’s
ambitious programme for the early years.
T
he early years are an
absolute priority for this
Government, as well as
being a subject area that
is very close to my heart
personally, as a mother of a young
child.
I am determined to drive forward
the agenda, building on the
successes already achieved since
the publication of the Early Years
Framework in 2008.
Excellent progress has been made
since then, both in terms of work
we have driven at national level,
and across sectors at local level. We
have a positive foundation on which
to build in the coming months and
years.
But it is vital that we turn our
minds to what still needs to be
done to ensure that ALL Scotland’s
children have the best possible start
in life. Too many children are still
born into families where poor health
and disadvantage are passed down
through the generations, and it is
well documented that early and
effective intervention is the key to
breaking this cycle.
This Government has identified
several priorities in going forward
with the early years agenda:
• We will build on our investments
in early years by investing an
additional £50 million in an
Early Years Change Fund, part
of which will deliver a new
generation of family centres
• We will develop a national
parenting strategy, providing
parents with a guaranteed level
of support
• We will further develop our
successful Play Talk Read
campaign, emphasising the
importance of positive interaction
between parents and babies from
day one
• We will develop work to increase
childcare support here in Scotland
to match the best elsewhere in
Europe
• We will continue to roll out
the Family Nurse Partnership
programme across Scotland
In addition to these strands of
work, we will create a task force
across government that has as its
objective the co-ordination of policy
to ensure that early years spending is
prioritised by the whole public sector.
We will also continue to ensure that
every local authority in Scotland
reflects the early years agenda within
its Single Outcome Agreement.
We also plan to introduce
legislation in this Parliamentary term
to ensure investment in early years is
not an optional extra, and to explore
legislative options to ensure Getting
It Right For Every Child is firmly
embedded in the whole of the public
sector.
Our aspiration for that legislation
is to find a package of measures
that will really make a difference for
children, young people and their
families.
Discussions about the content of
the legislation are still at a very early
stage. Shaping the detail of it will
need your input, so that its content
can be as much about enabling
change as it is about mandating it.
Stakeholder events are being
planned to help inform decisions on
the scope of the legislation - further
information will be available soon.
Meanwhile, we’d welcome any
early suggestions on where you
think legislation could help promote
the joined-up delivery of early years
services and Getting it right for every
child. A list of specific questions
on which we would welcome your
thoughts, and details of how to get in
touch, can be viewed at:
www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/People/
Young-People/legislation
We are in the early days of this
new administration, and there is
much work to be done to drive
forward our ambitious programme
for early years. But this work cannot
and should not be for us as a national
government alone. To ensure we
succeed in delivering the goal of the
Early Years Framework – long-term,
transformational change for Scotland,
all of us who are involved in work
with children must play a role.
ANGELA CONSTANCE MSP
MINISTER FOR CHILDREN AND
YOUNG PEOPLE
09
Raploch Rhapsody
Making a Big
Noise in Nursery
by Kevin Kelman, Quality Development Officer, Education,
Stirling Council and George Anderson, Communications Officer,
Sistema Scotland
In the mid 1970s in a
car park in Venezuela,
a remarkable man
called José Antonio
Abreu began running
music lessons for a
handful of children. His
organisation became
known as “El Sistema”
and today involves
over 300,000 children
in centres across the
country.
E
l Sistema has produced
some of the finest classical
musicians in the world,
but behind these musical
achievements is an even
more exciting story. El Sistema
uses the symphony orchestra to
benefit society. It produces not
only musicians, but also happy
and well-equipped citizens, often
from the poorest and most chaotic
backgrounds.
Learning any artistic skill can have
knock-on benefits in self-esteem,
discipline and pride. However,
Maestro Abreu took this to a whole
new level by making all of his
orchestras first and foremost about
social change, transforming not just
individuals but whole communities.
In 2008, the charity Sistema
Scotland established its Big Noise
orchestra in Raploch, Stirling.
Officially partnered with the
10 EARLY YEARS MATTERS | AUTUMN 2011
Venezuelan programme, it has the
same aim – to transform lives with
music.
Big Noise was launched in the
summer of 2008 working with
children who had just completed
Primary 1, 2 or 3. At the start of the
new term the musicians also began
working with nursery and Primary 1
children during the school/nursery day.
The nursery children in this preorchestra programme participate in
interactive sessions with the musicians
twice a week.
The nursery has 16 children under
the age of three and 48 three to five
year olds. Big Noise sessions involve
both children and their key workers
and are linked to the nursery’s
current contexts for learning. Big
Noise musicians regularly attend
planning meetings with nursery
staff to ensure there are clear links
between the children’s playroom
experiences and Big Noise sessions,
which include opportunities to
explore rhythm and pitch.
The emphasis in the sessions is
always on the ensemble, so children
are encouraged to cooperate and
support each other.
Musicians and staff meet at the
end of each session to evaluate the
experience and plan for the next.
Denise Wallace, Head of Raploch
Nursery said:
“The Big Noise sessions are now
embedded as part of the everyday
nursery experience. This has
evolved through building positive
relationships, developing working
practices and the sharing of skills
between early childhood educators
and musicians.
“The children are absorbed in the
Big Noise sessions and their levels
of engagement and focus develop
significantly as they continue
to experience working with the
musicians.”
The pre-orchestra programme
continues in Primary 1 where
children make a cardboard replica
stringed instrument. Musicians and
staff work with the children to find
out more about the different parts
of the instrument as well as how
to hold and bow it properly. Before
long the children move up to the real
thing – a violin, viola, cello or double
bass – and are eligible to become full
members of the orchestra at the end
of their Primary 1 year.
Staff from Big Noise, the nursery
and schools within the Raploch
Campus have also been working
together to make links between the
Big Noise sessions and Curriculum
for Excellence. Opportunities for the
development of literacy, numeracy
and health and well-being have been
embedded within the music-based
Big Noise sessions.
The work of Big Noise supports
a number of the elements within
the Scottish Government’s Early
Years Framework (2009). There is a
strong focus on the engagement and
empowerment of children, families
and the community and on breaking
cycles of poverty, inequality and
poor outcomes for children and their
families.
Nicola Killean, Director of Sistema
Scotland, states that:
“The time we have with the
children in nursery is a terrific
opportunity to lay the foundations
for the rest of the programme, which
continues throughout childhood.
Our current pioneers are now at the
upper end of Primary school. They
didn’t have that nursery experience
but are doing really well. It will be
fascinating to compare how well the
children who did encounter Big Noise
at nursery progress.”
More recently, Baby Big Noise has
been established. The nursery’s family
worker has been working alongside
the musicians to identify families to
attend these sessions in the local
community centre. Staff and children
from the nursery join in these
sessions for the under-threes.
Big Noise staff arrange Take a
Musician Home for Tea sessions
within the children’s homes. These
sessions allow nursery children and
their families to experience live
music sessions in their own home.
Again, this has helped to develop
relationships between families,
nursery staff and Big Noise musicians.
Big Noise is now well established
in Raploch where learning an
instrument has become the norm for
a new generation. Over 300 children
are taking part – eight out of ten of
the nursery and primary pupils from
within the estate. With classes for
adults and babies too, Raploch is
now steeped in music.
Regular learning visits are
organised for anyone interested in
finding out more about Big Noise.
Further details can be obtained by
contacting alan@sistemascotland.
org.uk
More Information
More general information
about Big Noise can be found at
www.makeabignoise.org.uk
Image courtesy of Marc Marnie
“
The children
are absorbed
in the Big
Noise session
s and their
levels of eng
agement and
focus develo
p significantl
y
as they conti
nue to
experience w
orking with
the musician
s.
”
EARLY YEARS CONFERENCE
Kirsty Wark
Chair
Debi Gliori
Speaker
Tessa Livingstone
Speaker
Sue Palmer
Speaker
Towards the Vision:
Developing Literacy in the Early Years
The Early Years Conference, held on Saturday 7 May 2011, provided a valuable
opportunity for the early years community to consider the Scottish Government’s
vision to raise standards in literacy for all from the early years to adulthood as
outlined in the Literacy Action Plan: An Action Plan to Improve Literacy in Scotland.
T
he conference, organised
by the Early Years team
at Learning and Teaching
Scotland was chaired
by Kirsty Wark, Scottish
Journalist and Broadcaster and
included keynote presentations from
Dr Tessa Livingstone, BBC’s Child of
our Time series; Sue Palmer, author
and leading UK literacy expert and
Debi Gliori, Scottish author and
illustrator of children’s books.
The day proved a great success
with delegates attending from
all over Scotland. The conference
highlighted positive and practical
ways of building strong foundations
for the development of literacy skills
in the early years. Delegates were
encouraged to consider how they
will take literacy forward within their
own settings.
Following on from the day itself,
the Early Years team posed three
further questions to the keynote
speakers, still of course, on the
literacy theme of the event and also
the key messages from the day.
What are the main themes from your presentation that you hope delegates took away
from the conference?
Tessa: Never forget that
disadvantaged children are often
just as bright and as engaged as
advantaged children if, and only if,
the people around them love them,
talk with them and play with them.
It doesn’t matter who the adults are,
it’s what they do that matters.
12 EARLY YEARS MATTERS | AUTUMN 2011
Sue: We have to ensure that parents
understand the importance of play in
children’s overall development, rather
than seeing it as an unnecessary
‘extra’ around the serious business of
learning to read and write. Children
shouldn’t be held back if they’re
interested in reading and writing and
should be supported and encouraged
individually as they would be in a
loving home, but we shouldn’t have
a ‘the sooner they get started the
better’ approach.
Debi: Shared reading time between
a parent and a child is a ‘sacred
time’: The moment where you shut
out the outside world with all its
many electronic distractions, and
both of you focus on a book, on a
story and read together. This is the
time where readers are made, where
a lifelong love of literature is forged
– just remember it’s important to
choose the best book you can get
your hands on.
Thinking about your own work and experience, what do you think is the best way to
develop children’s literacy skills?
Tessa: The most important thing
is talking. Talk with your children,
name what they see, let them play
with noises and words, mirror their
conversations make up rhymes and
songs Children growing up in talkative
households will have heard 50 million
words by the time they are three.
Those in non-talkative households
hear just 12 million. This is the basis
for all literacy.
Sue: My twelve years researching child
development in the modern world has
convinced me that the tried and tested
ways of laying foundations for literacy
are still the best – that means song,
stories and play. Children naturally
crave stories and listening to the same
stories over and over again familiarises
them with the patterns and rhythms
of written language. We should be
reading loads of stories, and revisiting
favourite picture books as often as
possible.
Debi: Over the past twenty years,
part of my life as a full-time writer and
illustrator has been spent talking to
groups of young children in schools
and libraries across the world. It seems
so obvious to me that the best way
to develop a child’s literacy skills is
to read stories to them and to read
those stories in a joyous fashion. It is a
great delight to watch a child discover
the same stories you discovered for
yourself all those years ago. Raised
in an atmosphere where stories are
eagerly anticipated, read with gusto,
incorporated into imaginative play and
generally absorbed into home life,
literacy skills will follow as inevitably as
day follows night.
What do you believe that parents of young children can do to support their literacy
development?
Tessa: Parents should be aware that
when a child is absorbed in language,
literacy, writing and reading, should
easily be learned. The feeling that
children must read and write at any
cost and at the earliest age may
frighten some and prevent them from
learning. Children need affection
and positive relationships with their
teachers to feel safe and secure, if they
are to learn happily.
Education is not the filling of a pail,
but the lighting of a fire’ said William
Butler Yeats, and he was right.
Sue: Sing to your child from the
moment they’re born and read to
them too! Sit them on your knee,
cuddle them, and read to them.
Parents should go on reading
even when their children can read
themselves. We turn literacy into a
hurdle race these days, and it should
be a joy.
Debi: Most of the things a parent
can do are things a parent will do
instinctively: talking and singing to
your child from the moment they
are born; starting to read books with
your child from four months onwards;
limiting your child’s exposure to all
things electronic – I believe the main
priority is to introduce your child to the
living, breathing world of real people
and animals, the world of rain and
trees and puddles and sunshine; the
world that will be theirs to discover,
both in reality, but also between the
pages of a book.
Over to you!
ion Plan
Literacy Act
otland
Literacy in Sc
e
an to Improv
An Action Pl
Now that you have read Tessa, Sue and Debi’s responses to our questions
about literacy we would like to invite you to have your say. You will find the two
questions relating to practice on our Early Years’ Glow site.
By posting your responses we can all share ideas and support each others’
practice as we implement the Literacy Action Plan recommendations.
13
TUNING INTO LITERACY
TUNING
INTO
LITERACY
by Sue Palmer
They sang. They danced. They made and moved to music. They listened to
stories, then turned them into ‘plays’, making all their own props and costumes
and scenery. They played outside too, tearing round the wooded area outside
the school, jumping and climbing and building and pretending.
14 EARLY YEARS MATTERS | AUTUMN 2011
T
hey were the children of
Friisila Preschool in Espoo,
Finland, and they taught me
more about early literacy
than any of the learned
tomes I read at university.
I’d gone to Finland to find out
why it always comes top of the
international literacy leagues. By the
time I’d done the rounds of nurseries,
primary and secondary schools, and
talked with professors of education
and government officials, I was in
no doubt about the secret of their
success. The Finns have a truly
developmental model of learning,
based until children are seven years
old on laying sound foundations for
literacy through activities that come
naturally to small human beings.
‘Why do you do so much music?’
I asked the preschool teacher. Songs
were threaded throughout the day
– action rhymes, folk songs, number
songs, syllabification songs (there’s a
lot of syllabification involved in reading
and writing Finnish), songs with
actions to prepare the children’s arms
and hands for writing, songs to signal
different activities (when the teacher
wanted them to clear up she started
singing the ‘clear-up song’… and they
all joined in as they got on with it).
‘Music trains the mind to pattern
and the ear to sound,’ she replied.
Well, of course it does. It socialises
children too, when they move
together to a tune or make their own
music with friends.
Then there were the stories, told
and retold by the teacher, steadily
familiarising them with the rhythms
and patterns of written language. Folk
tales, fairy tales, stories from picture
books, stories specially written by
children’s authors to teach the preschool curriculum. No one told the
children to turn these stories into plays
– it was just ingrained in their culture.
When they were satisfied with their
play, they invited their parents to come
and see it – this apparently happened
several times each term.
It wasn’t till I visited the seven-yearolds’ classroom at a primary school
that I saw children engaged in formal
literacy work. ‘How soon before they’ll
be reading and writing?’ I asked.
‘Oh,’ replied the teacher casually, ‘by
Christmas.’
Sue Palmer is an independent
literacy specialist, author of Toxic
Childhood and co-author (with
early years specialist Ros Bayley)
of Foundations of Literacy.
“
Music trains
the mind to
pattern and
the ear to
sound
“
”
How soon
before they’ll be
reading and
writing?’ I asked.
‘Oh,’ replied the
teacher casually,
‘by Christmas.
”
BrainHeart Music therapy
As more and more children in the UK find it difficult to settle at school and home, music has another application.
It can help retune their minds to more natural, stable patterns. I’ve recently discovered ‘BrainHeart Music’ by
Edinburgh-based music composer Punit Yaatri – do check out his website www.BrainHeartMusic.com and try
playing some of his work to your children. The result is usually quite magical.
Sue Palmer
“Music has a unique ability to connect us to our emotions. For young children this is especially true and
extremely important for their development. The effect of the music that I compose, as shown from the feedback
I receive, is that it easily and effortlessly creates a feeling of safety, comfort and peace within a child’s mind. At
the same time, it also stimulates the child’s imagination and creativity. This is one of the reasons my music is
being used effectively in various teaching environments. Teachers and care workers also receive the benefit of
these effects, not only through the children being more relaxed but, by also becoming less stressed themselves.
My music is called BrainHeart Music because it stimulates both the brain and heart simultaneously, producing a
beneficial health state known as ‘coherence’. It is my belief that what we presently know about the beneficial
effects of music is just the tip of the iceberg.”
Punit Yaatri, composer
15
Higher Order Thinking
Higher Order
Thinking
by Grant Gillies, Literacy Team,
Education Scotland
Children naturally ask questions and
through talking and listening build their
knowledge and understanding of the
world they live in.
E
ncouraging children to
ask the right types of
questions requires a very
skilled approach and
the interaction between
questions and answers aids
engagement with texts. Michael
Rosen, former Children’s Laureate
(2007-2009), states that good
teachers always answer a question
with another question giving the
example:
“Why does the rain fall from
the sky?”
“I don’t know, why do you
think the rain falls from the sky?”
Good questions can be asked at
any level or stage and developing
a child’s ability to ask searching
questions promotes this lifelong
literacy skill. In any child’s day they
will be exposed to a huge range of
texts, from their parent’s voice in
the morning to the emerging and
written texts at school. Enabling
each child to read and ask questions
in a wider sense will deepen their
understanding of the vast range of
texts and is core to their intellectual
development.
One of the problems with
questions is that unless we ask the
right ones, we are unlikely to get
the answers we want. Higher Order
Thinking and using Bloom’s Taxonomy
(revised in 2001) is a great starting
point in considering the range and
types of questions we can ask.
16 EARLY YEARS MATTERS | AUTUMN 2011
Bloom’s revised taxonomy
promotes effective questioning
through a series of seven key types
of questions that encourage a
deeper engagement with texts. It
is often used by practitioners to
reflect on the type of questions
they ask and use and to model
effective questioning. This approach
empowers individuals to consider
the breadth of questioning they use.
For example, ‘remembering’ and
‘understanding’ type of questions
are lower order questions that
generally require a literal response.
At the higher end of Bloom’s,
creating and evaluating questions
provide a greater challenge and
encourage more independent
thinking.
When a child is actively asking
questions about the content of a
book, film or even what someone
has said, they develop and evolve
their understanding. It is essential
that they are able to ask the right
sorts of questions to make meaning
and connect understanding.
The use of Bloom’s Taxonomy
has been developed in many
establishments across Scotland and
is being used by practitioners, pupils
and parents. For example:
Granton Nursery in Edinburgh
has worked with parents and pupils
to create tactile fans that provide
starter questions. These can be used
when interacting with a text. In this
context it could be a moving image
Creating
Evaluating
Analysing
Applying
Understanding
Remembering
Bloom’s Taxonomy
or a picture book. The fans provide
building blocks for children and
adults to ask better questions.
Another approach has been
adopted by Murroes Primary
School in Angus, who have
developed Information Keys to
encourage pupil engagement
with a variety of texts. They have
incorporated Higher Order Thinking
and Critical Literacy as part of a
wider project to promote greater
analysis of fiction and non fiction
texts in meaningful contexts.
Ensuring children are critically
literate in the 21st century could well
be the key to success but is asking
questions anything new?
‘Millions saw the apple fall, but
Newton asked why?’ – Bernard
Baruch.
MORE INFORMATION
You can read about how Murroes
Primary School use Information
Keys and watch related videos
here: www.ltscotland.org.uk/
sharingpractice/c/criticalliteracy/
introduction.asp?strReferringCha
nnel=sharingpractice&strReferrin
gPageID=tcm:4-654820-64
SCOTTISH BOOK TRUST
Supporting early literacy
with the youngest of
Scotland’s citizens
by Tracy Lowe, Scottish Book Trust’s Early Years Trainer
Bookbug is Scottish
Book Trust’s Early Years
Programme. Bookbug
has a very important
goal – to give every child
across Scotland a love of
books and reading.
T
his will increase children’s
creativity and confidence
and lay the foundations
for early literacy
development, while
also helping parents and children
bond together. We also want to
give the message to parents that
it’s never too early to start reading
with their children. A love of books
and reading is more important in
academic achievement than a child’s
social or economic background.
(OECD, Reading for Change, 2002)
Bookbug gifts book packs to all
of Scotland’s babies, toddlers, three
year olds and Primary 1 children
across Scotland. Around 420,000
books are gifted every year via the
Bookbug programme. The baby
and toddler pack are distributed as
gifts by health visitors and libraries.
The three year old pack is gifted at
nursery and the Primary 1 pack is
gifted at school. All the packs are
gifted with a simple message – read
early and read often.
Bookbug recently teamed up
with the Scottish Government
Campaign, Play Talk Read, to further
spread the message of sharing
books with children. We created
a poster entitled ‘Bookbug’s Top
Tips for Giving your Child a Love
of Reading for Life’ and a copy
of this was distributed to every
doctor’s surgery in Scotland. This
campaign also included a national
roadshow in shopping centres and
supermarkets aimed at engaging
parents and encouraging them to
play, talk and read with their child.
At these roadshows parents were
given practical tips about play and
ideas for simple low-cost activities
they could do at home. Bookbug
Sessions, which use story, songs and
rhymes for parents and children to
enjoy together, formed part of the
roadshows to help promote and
support the reading message.
This partnership was a huge
success. Around 2000 parents and
children joined in at 193 Bookbug
Sessions during the roadshows.
Parents commented that after
experiencing a Bookbug Session at
the shopping centre they were keen
to go to sessions regularly at their
local library.
Reading, talking and singing are
simple activities which have a hugely
positive impact on children’s early
learning. By simply spending time
with a child doing these activities,
parents are helping to shape their
language and literacy development.
In addition they are influencing
other important developmental
skills including social and emotional
development, cognitive and motor
skills.
Bookbug has also produced a
joint DVD with Play Talk Read which
was distributed at the roadshows.
The DVD featured a selection of
songs and rhymes for parents to try
at home alongside digital versions of
some of the books in the Bookbug
packs. The Bookbug programme
was delighted to take part in the
Play Talk Read campaign, spreading
the message that sharing stories,
rhymes, songs and using books to
inspire play is something fun that all
families can do.
MORE INFOMATION
For more information about the
Bookbug Programme, log on to
www.scottishbooktrust.com.
You can also follow Tracy’s
Early Years Lowe-down blog at:
www.scottishbooktrust.com/blog/
tracys-early-years-lowedown
17
Gaelic Medium Education
FOGHLAM TRO
MHEADHAN NA
GÀIDHLIG/GAELIC
MEDIUM EDUCATION
by Cathie MacLeod, Gaelic Co-ordinator,
Education Scotland
What is it?
How does it work?
Gaelic Medium Education
(GME) is the Scottish curriculum
delivered through the medium
of Gaelic. It is a Gaelic language
approach to learning and it provides
enriching cultural opportunities
and experiences. It endorses
the principles of Curriculum for
Excellence, while developing thinking
minds through language exposure.
The philosophy underpinning
GME is immersion across the
early years, including early level.
This means that Gaelic is the sole
language used in the learning
environment.
English is introduced around the
end of Primary 3, when the children
have a secure knowledge of Gaelic
language comprehension and
literacy skills. An increasing exposure
to English language is developed
from the end of first level and
throughout second level, with the
aspiration that the learners will have
equal command of both languages
by the time they enter secondary
education.
By the end of second level,
children do approximately half of
their learning in each language,
with Gaelic remaining the natural
spoken language of the classroom.
In secondary education, depending
on the provision available, it is
possible to have subjects in addition
to Gàidhlig delivered in Gaelic.
Pre-school provision is the
first introduction of the Gaelic
language for many children. This
setting is often the child’s only
Gaelic environment. Therefore,
the role of the practitioners across
the early level is vital in designing
and providing language enriching
opportunities that promote Gaelic
language acquisition, target basic
language structures and vocabulary
and provide visual cues to aid
understanding.
18 EARLY YEARS MATTERS | AUTUMN 2011
What is the provision?
There is a range of early years
provision in Gaelic. This includes
‘Pàrant is Pàiste’ (parent-and-toddler
groups) which are usually run by
a volunteer committee and may
employ a play leader. ‘Cròileagan’
(playgroups) are also run by
volunteer committees and usually
employ a play leader and other staff.
Early years Gaelic provision is also
available in some authorities.
Who can attend?
Gaelic Medium education is for
all of Scotland’s children. Children
need not have any prior knowledge
of the language to attend early
years or primary school Gaelic
provision. Parents also need not
have any knowledge of Gaelic to
enrol their child in this provision
and they need not be committed to
learning themselves, although this
has its advantages. If a child has not
attended any early years provision
but parents are interested in the
option of Gaelic medium education
for their child at primary 1, this
is absolutely acceptable. A child
with no Gaelic can enrol in GME at
primary 1 and is immersed in the
language.
Evidence from research has shown
that attainment of children in GME
is as good as, and in some instances,
better than their peers in English
Medium Education.
Where can I find out more?
If you are interested in finding out
more, the following links may be a
useful starting point:
www.mygaelic.com/
www.gaelic4parents.com/
www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/gaidhlig/
ionnsachadh/bgfp/
MORE INFORMATION
You may also wish to contact your
own local authority to find out what
Gaelic provision is available in your
area.
Learning Thresholds
Learning Thresholds
in Early Literacy
by Carolyn Hutchison, Professional Adviser, Education Scotland
The idea of Learning Thresholds originally comes from a model and framework
of Threshold Concepts, in which lecturers and researchers from different
academic disciplines have identified jewels in the curriculum.
T
he jewels in the curriculum
are the key knowledge,
understanding or skills
essential for making progress
in the curriculum area.
Over the past few months a small
group of early years practitioners
have volunteered to participate in
a Glow group exploring Learning
Thresholds in early literacy for
children aged 0-8 years. It has been
such a fascinating journey so far
that we’re hoping to continue in
the new session in August 2011.
There has already been some
work undertaken with school-age
learners, for example by Hong Kong
University, working with 10 year old
children in Economics, but until now
nothing much has been done in early
learning, so the field is wide open!
Professor Ray Land a leading
expert from the University of
Strathclyde, who is working with our
group, explained Learning Thresholds
to us as certain points which open
up learning, when new things
come into view for the learner. For
example, when you understand
that the Earth is a sphere, the way
you look at the world and make
meaning for yourself changes for
good. Learning thresholds are also
integrative because they involve
reorganising what’s in your head to
accommodate new knowledge. They
also involve a shift in discourse, so
that learners use different language
and terminology as they think and
talk to show their understanding.
Learning thresholds are therefore
transformative as understanding
involves letting go of earlier ways of
knowing and being. They can also be
troublesome for the learner, who
for all sorts of reasons might resist
the changes in thinking required
(the earth looks flat, not round).
The framework allows for a state of
liminality, where learners can see
that there is something important,
but are struggling to make sense of
it. They will need a certain amount
of confidence and resilience to
persevere when it’s difficult to move
beyond this uncertainty and cross the
threshold. Once that’s happened, it
can’t be reversed – it’s a change of
state.
When I asked Professor Land if it
might be possible to find Learning
Thresholds for very young learners,
he explained that his work only
provides a framework for thinking
about learning. Learning thresholds
for young children would need
to be identified by practitioners
working with them, as they are the
people who through their day-today observations understand the
ways in which young children think,
reason, explain and act. Following
discussions with colleagues in the
Literacy team we decided to set up
an exploratory study to try to identify
Learning Thresholds in Early Literacy,
using a Glow group. Some of our
ideas about the thresholds children
cross can be found in the Forum
section of Glow.
The group have already exchanged
ideas on our understanding of
Learning Thresholds in literacy for
young children and shared some
examples. We’ve taken our definition
of literacy as ‘taking meaning from
text and making meaning with text,
for different purposes’ (where text
can mean pictures, sounds, symbols,
words, gestures – any form of
language for communication). We
believe children develop literacy skills
for a range of purposes that include:
•describing and making sense of
the world
• remembering experiences
•sharing and reflecting on
experiences and feelings
•shaping what happens and what
others do
•empathising with others’ feelings
and perspectives
•anticipating and imagining what
could be
•enjoying playing with sounds and
words for their own sake.
If you are interested and can access
Glow, please join in. We’d love to
hear your ideas!
19
Embedding Literacy in Undergraduate Courses
Embedding Literacy in
Undergraduate Courses
by Catriona McDonald, Sheila Nutkins & Mary Stephen,
University of Aberdeen
A
t the University of
Aberdeen we have
several undergraduate
programmes in
Education, the four
year BEd degree, the BA Childhood
Practice and the PGDE programme
which will be the focus for this
article. The Early Years course team
would consider all students on these
programmes to be professionals in
Early Childhood Education and Care
and that it is important for them to
take an active part in courses which
promote literacy throughout their
degree programmes.
We feel that it is important to
make students aware that language
acquisition begins pre-birth and
that learning to read and write does
not only begin when children start
formal schooling. For that reason, the
importance of home and community
20 EARLY YEARS MATTERS | AUTUMN 2011
are stressed across programmes
and in particular, students are made
aware that the experiences that
individual children have had during
the first three years of their lives
will impact on their future literacy
development.
The importance of active learning
and a play-based approach are
emphasised across all programmes
and students are asked to gather
evidence of ways in which literacy is
promoted in classroom situations. For
example, the third year of the BEd
programme focuses on Early and
First Level during which students
on placement undertake a child
study with a focus on how the
development of language and literacy
is promoted through a range of cross
curricular activities and contexts,
whilst maintaining a focus on the
needs and interests of the child.
Students working on SCQF Level
8 of the BA Childhood Practice carry
out a similar type of child study
to the BEd students, with a focus
on the development of language
and literacy. They also carry out a
critical examination of curriculum
documentation and an audit, analysis
and evaluation of practice in their
own setting, followed by a comparison
of practice in another setting.
Initial Teacher Education
programmes contain a discrete
language element that encourage
students to research a range of
techniques used to promote the
development of literacy skills, which
take into consideration current
practice within schools. Students are
also asked to consider why children
might be experiencing difficulties
with literacy and how these might
be addressed at an early stage.
“
We feel that it is
important to make
students aware
that language
acquisition begins
pre-birth and that
learning to read
and write does
not only begin
when children start
formal schooling
”
Throughout, the Early Years team is
active in supporting students to be
open to new ideas and theoretical
approaches in relation to practice.
For example, students are supported
in their understanding of the range
of skills needed when children are
learning to read, including phonic
skills, word recognition, context clues
and grammatical knowledge and
that flexibility is important in order to
maintain a child-centred approach.
Students on all programmes are
also given the opportunity of an
introduction to Kodaly methodology.
Kodaly, (1882- 1967) a Hungarian
composer and music educator,
developed a clear structure for music
education, in an approach which he
claimed should begin nine months
before the baby is born. With his
understanding of how children develop
and learn, he developed his own
pedagogical process through which
concepts and skills are developed. This
always begins with the total musical
experience and moves gradually to the
abstractions for that experience, that
is, from the known to the unknown,
from sound to symbol, (Choksy,
1986). The promotion of language
and literacy and the promotion of
musicality in children require an
emphasis on high quality materials and
an understanding of the child’s
cultural heritage. Both areas develop
simultaneously in the same way –
listening, speaking, singing, reading
and writing. But through the whole
child approach of active involvement
in the singing games and rhymes,
the child is using many more neural
pathways than in just singing or
reading and having fun! Kodaly in
Scotland is promoted by the National
Youth Choir of Scotland.
MORE INFORMATION
If you are interested in finding out
more information about any of the
above courses contact Catriona
McDonald at
c.mcdonald@abdn.ac.uk
Organised by
Funded by
Exhibition partner
www.scottishlearningfestival.org.uk
21
Growing Up in Scotland
New findings from growing up
in scotland (gus) – Changes in
child cognitive ability in the
pre-school years
G
rowing Up in
Scotland (GUS) is the
longitudinal research
study following the
lives of thousands
of children and their families right
across Scotland from birth through
to the teenage years. Recently
published findings show that the gap
in cognitive abilities (vocabulary and
problem solving) between children
from more and less advantaged
backgrounds found at age three
persists at age five.
Children in higher income
households; those whose parents
have higher educational qualifications
and those with higher socioeconomic classifications have on
average better vocabulary and
problem solving abilities at both ages
three and five than children whose
parents have lower incomes; lower
educational qualifications and are
in lower socio-economic groups.
The largest differences in ability are
between children whose parents
have higher and lower educational
qualifications. At age five children
with a degree-educated parent
are around 18 months ahead on
vocabulary and 13 months ahead on
problem solving ability, compared
22 EARLY YEARS MATTERS | AUTUMN 2011
with children whose parents have no
qualifications.
Changes in vocabulary ability during
the pre-school period are more strongly
related to aspects of the home
environment and parenting than
external factors such as pre-school
education. Children who had displayed
better communicative skills at age
two were more likely than others
to improve during the pre-school
period, highlighting the importance
of early language development.
Changes in problem solving ability
were associated with the home
environment and parenting but also
with external factors like attending
pre-school.
The findings suggest that a
number of circumstances and
experiences could be influenced
in order to help improve the
development of cognitive ability
amongst children from more
disadvantaged backgrounds ahead
of their entry to school. Amongst
children whose parents had lower
levels of education, those who
had been breastfed, those who
developed a stronger infant-maternal
attachment and those who more
regularly experienced parent-child
activities – such as reading, drawing
and singing nursery rhymes – showed
a greater improvement in their
cognitive ability in the pre-school
period than those who did not
have these experiences. Children
who demonstrated better early
communication and language ability
also showed greater improvement
in their cognitive ability during
this period. This suggests that
for more disadvantaged children
strategies aimed at improving
school readiness via the pre-school
setting will require a parallel strand
which seeks to influence the child’s
home environment and parenting
experiences at the same time.
MORE INFORMATION
To find out more about GUS or to
download the full report, please visit
our website:
www.growingupinscotland.org.uk
GUS is funded by the Scottish
Government and is carried out by the
Scottish Centre for Social Research
in collaboration with the Centre for
Research on Families and Relationships
at the University of Edinburgh and the
MRC Social and Public Health Sciences
Unit in Glasgow.
21st century families
21st Century Families:
parents talk about
promoting play in their
local community
21st Century Families
is a group of mums,
dads and carers in East
Kilbride who have joined
forces with educational
professionals in response
to the challenge of
raising a healthy, happy
and resilient child in the
21st Century. The project
is supported through
South Lanarkshire Council
Community Learning and
Development and Home
School Partnership.
Parents and carers often believe
that play is something that is futile
and something that children only do
to pass the time. This is reflected in
comments such as ‘go away and play’
or ‘they’re just out playing’. However
play is the way in which children and
all other animals learn how to adapt
to their environment.
So what is play and why is it
important to our development? The
activities of our group are based on
the premise that play is freely chosen
and motivated from within. By
playing, the child learns and develops
as an individual. We also believe
that the provision of an appropriate
physical environment and interaction
with others, significantly enhances
opportunities for the child to play
creatively and thus helps their all
round development. Without these,
natural play does not take place.
Inspired by the books of Sue
Palmer, the group are keen to spread
the message of bringing balance back
into our children’s lives. To this end
we have held a series of roadshows
promoting the benefits of play and
illustrating how much children benefit
socially, emotionally, spiritually and
physically from it. The roadshows
featured a range of workshops
including messy play, outdoor play
(regardless of weather!), den building,
story-telling, arts & crafts and junk
modelling.
According to recent thinking there
are sixteen different types of play
ranging from loco-motive, creative,
social to evolutionary (Tina Farrow,
2011). This being the case we then
need to ask ‘Why are our children
increasingly sitting in front of a TV or
a computer screen?’
21st Century Families are not
anti-technology as we know that
technology can be a fantastic
source of learning and information
for children. However, we want
to encourage other parents and
carers to be more aware of the risks
of having televisions, computers
and internet connected phones in
children’s bedrooms. These risks
include possible interference with
children’s sleep patterns and access to
age inappropriate material. Children
spending long periods of time on
screen based activity can potentially
result in a lack of interaction with their
peers.
We also aim to raise awareness of
the way in which marketing forces
can strongly influence children’s diet,
games, fashion and accessories and
fast track them through childhood.
21st Century Families believe it is
everyone’s responsibility to nurture
and protect our children as we
need to give childhood back to our
children!
23
enquire
Many children need
extra help with their
learning – even when
they’re wee!
V
ery often early years
staff are the first to
notice that a child may
need a bit of extra
support with their
learning. Staff need to be aware of
their statutory duties to preschool
children and how best to advise
families on their child’s rights to
additional support before school or
when the child moves to primary.
Enquire – the national advice
service for additional support for
learning – is happy to help staff or
families with any questions they
have.
Catriona Thomson, Enquire’s
Information Officer, explains “The
early years are important for all
children but especially those with
additional support needs. A key
factor is getting needs identified
early and putting appropriate
support in place. This can prevent
further difficulties developing when
children reach school age. Also,
parents worry less if they feel that
they are aware of how the education
system supports children and have
somebody to talk to when they need
advice.”
We can provide advice on many
issues relating to additional support
including how to request an
assessment, how to make a placing
24 EARLY YEARS MATTERS | AUTUMN 2011
request and what to do if it is
refused, what to expect at meetings,
how children’s learning and support
is planned, how to avoid and resolve
disagreements and many more.
Catriona goes on to say “We’re
keen to raise awareness of Enquire
with early years staff for their own
use and also to pass on to families.
We operate a helpline and have a
range of publications, including the
Parents’ guide to additional support
for learning, as well as guides
specifically for practitioners and
children and young people.”
As one parent who used our
helpline told us “My enquiry was
regarding a placing request and I
found the person who answered my
call extremely helpful, respectful and
understanding. She made me feel so
much better about my situation, and
through her help and information I
have recently felt more comfortable
speaking up on my son’s behalf and
he has started mainstream nursery
school. I would not have been
able to this without the back up
information from Enquire.”
So why wait? Get in touch
with Enquire today. Call the
helpline on 0845 123 23 03,
email info@enquire.org.uk
or visit www.enquire.org.uk
for more info.
“
We’re keen to
raise awareness
of Enquire with
early years staff
for their own use
and also to pass
on to families. We
operate a helpline
and have a range
of publications,
including the
Parents’ guide to
additional support
for learning, as well
as guides specifically
for practitioners and
children and young
people
”
Curriculum for Excellence
Curriculum for Excellence,
Supporting Learners –
delivering the entitlement to support for
all of Scotland’s children
Who is entitled to support?
Building the Curriculum 3 sets out a
range of entitlements for all children.
These include the commitment that
every child and young person is
entitled to support to enable them
to gain as much as possible from the
opportunities which Curriculum for
Excellence can provide.
Supporting Learners – what
does this mean for my practice?
From the earliest years, it is the
responsibility of every practitioner
and partner to deliver the universal
entitlement within their teaching
environment. This includes not
only pastoral care, welfare and
positive relationships but also how
practitioners consider and support
different aptitudes, opportunities for
achievement and challenge across
the curriculum when planning and
delivering their teaching. Day to
day conversations about learning,
reviewing and planning next steps
are important aspects of universal
support.
In addition, it is essential that a
key adult has a holistic overview of
learning and personal development
of each child and young person.
In an early years setting or primary
school, providing that there are
no additional barriers to learning,
this role is normally carried out by
the early years practitioner or class
teacher.
For children and young people
who require additional support,
establishments have staged
intervention frameworks whereby
support needs are assessed and
support co-ordinated by staff with
additional expertise in this area.
Depending on the nature of the
support required, it may be delivered
by the early years practitioner/
class teacher or in partnership with
specialist staff and partners.
Where can I find the key facts?
links to further information. There
are two documents, which can be
downloaded from the Supporting
Learners area of the Education
Scotland website. www.ltscotland.
org.uk/supportinglearners
Both have also been reproduced
as posters and sent to early years
centres and can be found on the
following two pages.
Where can I find out more?
There is a comprehensive area on the
Education Scotland website devoted
to Supporting Learners. Here you
can find links to key documents and
examples of practice.
www.ltscotland.org.uk/
supportinglearners
There is also a Supporting Learners
National Glow group which can be
accessed from the national groups
list on Glow.
The National framework – supporting
learners from early years to positive,
sustained destinations summarises
the key messages and provides
25
Curriculum for Excellence
This document gives an overview of the entitlements.
Key words link to relevant pages on the website.
26 EARLY YEARS MATTERS | AUTUMN 2011
This document outlines the legislation, policies, strategies and frameworks which relate
to supporting learners.
27
Age
Birth
1
2
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Curriculum for Excellence – Development of the four capacities, innovative learning and teaching
3
13
14
15
16
17
18
18+
– Policy and Practice Framework
16+ Learning Choices
– Support for positive, sustained destinations
More Choices, More Chances (14-25)
Youth Justice – Preventing Offending by Young People: A Framework for Action
Youth work (8-25) – Moving Forward – a Strategy for Improving Young People’s Chances through Youth Work
Promoting Positive Relationships and Behaviour – Positive Behaviour Team, national approaches
Community Care – Young Carers – Caring Together: the Carers Strategy for Scotland 2010-2015
Skills Development – Skills for Scotland Strategy
Health Promotion and Nutrition in Schools – Schools (Health Promotion and Nutrition) (Scotland) Act 2007
Health – (1) Allied health professionals and education working in partnership, (2) Equally Well – tackling health inequalities in Scotland, (3) Towards a mentally flourishing Scotland
Parents – Parental involvement and responsibility. Scottish schools (parental involvement) Act 2006
Looked After Children and Young People – We can and must do better, corporate parenting, improving outcomes for looked after children and young people
Achieving our Potential – Framework for tackling poverty and income inequality
Equality Act 2010 – Addresses discrimination and equality
Additional Support for Learning – Identification and planning to support needs, planning for transition, 2004 and the amending 2009 legislation, the associated code of practice and Tribunal service
Getting it Right for Every Child – Person centred approach to all, early intervention, single plan and multi-agency sharing and working
Early Years – Early Years Framework
Pre-Birth to 3 – Positive outcomes
for Scotland’s children and families
PreBirth
Legislation, Policies, Strategies and Frameworks
Supporting learners – from early years to positive, sustained destinations
INFECTION CONTROL
What’s New on Infection
Prevention and Control
in Early Years?
by Audrey Mackenzie, Professional Adviser Infection Control,
Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland
Preventing and
controlling infection
in an appropriate way
within early years
services is essential for
children, their families
and staff but can at
times prove challenging.
Best practice guidance
Health Protection Scotland (HPS)
has released a useful document
entitled ‘Infection Prevention and
Control in Childcare Settings (Day
Care and Childminding Settings)’
March 2011, which describes best
practice for a range of procedures
carried out everyday. This document
is available on www.hps.scot.nhs.uk.
Additional guidance on exclusion
criteria mentioned in the document
is expected later in 2011. It should
be noted however that the decision
to exclude a child will be made
by the service provider, often in
consultation with the local Health
Protection Team.
‘Handy’ – an educational resource
for schools and nurseries revised in
August 2009 – provides posters,
guidance, DVD and fun activities on
hand washing is available on www.
washyourhandsofthem.com/thecampaign/childrens-pack.aspx
Health Protection Scotland and
The Health Protection Agency both
issued reminders earlier this year that
people should not rely on sanitising
hand gels or wipes to protect
against germs associated with farm
environments, touching animals or
28 EARLY YEARS MATTERS | AUTUMN 2011
associated surfaces. Information
available from www.hpa.org.uk
and www.hps.scot.nhs.uk is also
applicable to outdoor nursery
settings where animals have access
to areas also used by children. Using
soap and water for hand washing
in the outdoors can be challenging
but Woodland Outdoor Kindergarten
children and staff show how good
hand washing can be achieved.
Staff training
One specific course that is available
is The Royal Environmental Health
Institute of Scotland (REHIS)
accredited ‘Elementary Control of
Infection’. This covers all aspects of
infection prevention and control,
including awareness raising of staff’s
accountability and responsibilities
and an understanding of how to
comply with the law. REHIS monitors
the course and only allows approved
trainers to deliver it.
Contact training@rehis.com for
further information.
Monitoring practice
All services must ensure that their
infection prevention and control
measures are up-to-date and
evidence based. These measures
should be available to and
implemented by knowledgeable staff
and any issues identified should be
addressed as soon as possible.
It is worth noting that the practice
of using overshoes for visitors
to baby rooms is not evidence
based practice from an infection
prevention perspective and should
be discontinued to reduce other
associated risks and cost.
Knowledge Exchange
Digital
Childhoods
by Joanna McPake,
University of Strathclyde
Have digital technologies radically changed 21st century childhoods?
Can technology help young children to learn more effectively?
What is the impact of new technologies on children’s creativity?
How are parents and early years practitioners responding to these changes?
T
hese are some of the
questions debated by
participants at three
Digital Childhoods Open
Days, organised in Spring
2011 for the Scottish Universities’
Insight Institute by a team involving
the Universities of Strathclyde
and Stirling, Learning & Teaching
Scotland, the London Knowledge
Lab, Futurelab and CBeebies.
The first event, Childhoods and
Parenting, focused on the ways in
which technology may be changing
childhood and how parents
respond. Professor Lydia Plowman
of the University of Stirling set the
scene by exploring some common
beliefs about young children’s early
experiences with technologies –
for example that young children
are naturals with technology, that
they need to be protected from
technology, or that technology
dominates their lives. Other
presentations and discussions during
the day addressed the role of parents
in supporting children learning to
use technologies and ways in which
parents and practitioners can start to
educate young children about safe
internet use.
The second event, Playing and
Learning, considered whether the
proliferation of technological toys
and games has changed the ways
children play, whether they support
children’s learning and how early
years practitioners can build on the
technological competences children
are developing at home. Dr Christine
Stephen of the University of Stirling
presented research evidence
on children’s play preferences,
parents’ expectations and the
kinds of learning associated with
technological play. This was followed
by hands-on demonstrations from
pre-school children with computers,
video games and technological toys,
courtesy of CBeebies, Learning &
Teaching Scotland and VTech.
The third event, Creating and
Communicating, addressed the
impact of technologies on children’s
developing communication and
creative competences. Joanna
McPake of the University of
Strathclyde argued that research
to date indicates that technologies
can extend the range of the kinds
of early literacy, creative and
aesthetic experiences children have
traditionally encountered in the early
years. Subsequent presentations and
discussions pursued this argument
in relation to children’s responses
to classic screen media (TV and
video games) and more recent work
around touch screens, ranging
from i-phone apps to specialist
technologies to support children
with autism.
What further research and
development work could help
parents and practitioners make best
use of digital technologies? This
question provoked lively debate at
every event, but there was strong
support for the development
of effective applications whose
benefits are clearly attested by
research and which are affordable
(or even free!) and can therefore be
made widely available. There was
particular enthusiasm for touchscreen technologies which seem
more accessible to young children
than more traditional keyboards
or consoles, and for technologies
such as child-friendly digital
cameras which encourage children
to be proactive technology users.
While recognising the need for
balance between technological and
non-technology-based activities,
participants agreed that digital
technologies will play an increasing
role in young children’s lives and
it is important to understand the
challenges and the opportunities
they present.
MORE INFORMATION
Further information about the Digital
Childhoods Programme of Events,
including three briefing papers
summarizing the research on each of
the three themes, can be found at:
www.scottishinsight.ac.uk/
Programmes/Currentprogrammes/
DigitalChildhoods.aspx
29
Numeracy
Numeracy – The
Iceberg MetaphoR
by Sheena Dunlop, Numeracy Team, Education Scotland
Over the last academic session the Numeracy Team has been promoting a
very exciting concept, the Iceberg Metaphor, to primary and early years’
practitioners throughout Scotland as an essential element of its Continuing
Professional Development (CPD) programme.The iceberg metaphor was further
developed by Education Scotland’s Numeracy Team after they encountered it on
a Scottish Continuing International Professional Development (SCIPD) visit to
the Freudenthal Institute in the Netherlands.
“
Practitioners
were encouraged
at the CPD sessions
to visualise learning
in relation to an
iceberg which as
we all know can be
thought of as being
divided into two
main parts – the tip
(above sea level)
and a much larger
area underneath
called the floating
capacity which is
hidden from view.
”
30 EARLY YEARS MATTERS | AUTUMN 2011
The Iceberg metaphor is a reflective
tool which encourages practitioners
to:
• reflect upon what is being taught
• consider gaps which may exist in
current provision
• reflect upon the importance of a
firm foundation/ structure
• recognise the importance of a clear
outline to enable building upon
previous knowledge
• encouraging progression
• consider carefully the best use of
resources
Practitioners were encouraged at
the CPD sessions to visualise learning
in relation to an iceberg which as we
all know can be thought of as being
divided into two main parts – the tip
(above sea level) and a much larger
area underneath called the floating
capacity which is hidden from view.
The tip of the iceberg represents
the targeted formal procedure
e.g. fractions, and this is often the
area where much formal teaching
is directed. The floating capacity
however is vital as it is essential
to the stability and foundation of
mathematical knowledge. Within
the floating capacity there are two
distinct stages in a child’s learning (see
diagram for a visual representation).
The informal section contains activities
which afford opportunities that are
experiential, practical and often
pictorial. These are the building blocks
and form the foundations of the
mathematical knowledge.
The pre-formal section, situated
above the informal section builds
upon the experiential learning and
further develops the knowledge by
the use of representations, models
and concepts which are more efficient
and abbreviated. In order that a child
can grasp the challenge at the tip
of the iceberg they must have had
experience of a range of teaching and
learning as highlighted in the informal
and pre-formal stages.
In our sessions practitioners
reflected on, discussed and shared
their own practice with others and
produced icebergs of their findings.
As a result we gained a valuable
insight into the numeracy teaching
and learning experiences offered to
children throughout Scotland.
The iceberg metaphor is a flexible
tool which can be used and adapted
for all curricular areas; its strength
is that it encourages practitioners
to share their understanding of
progression in skills development and
transfer this thinking into effective
planning for progression.
The Numeracy Team are working
to develop the information gathered
from the ‘icebergs’ into ‘learning
progressions’ for each of the
numeracy organisers. This information
will be shared widely with practitioners
thus supporting their understanding
of and confidence in developing
progression in number skills across the
CfE levels. Feedback from practitioners
using the iceberg metaphor highlights
the value and importance of providing
a firm foundation for children in their
early years.
Examples of the iceberg metaphors
produced by participants during the
CPD sessions are available on Glow
The Numeracy Team is also
currently developing a
resource to supplement the
Maths at the Centre resources,
presently available for 3-5
and 7-11 age groups. The new
materials will cover the 0-5
age group. The Maths at the
Centre resource was issued
to all schools and nurseries
throughout Scotland. Further
copies can be downloaded
from the Numeracy Leaders
Group situated within the
National Numeracy and Maths
section on Glow.
https://portal.glowscotland.org.
uk/establishments/nationalsite/
Maths/default.aspx
The Financially Capable Child
by Brenda Rockhead, Financial Education Team, Education Scotland
How one early years centre has developed the financial literacy of its children.
W
hat better time to
start developing
children’s
awareness
of financial
capability than in their early years?
Practitioners at Drumchapel Early
Years Centre in Glasgow used
a ‘money week’ as a focus to
develop the children’s financial
understanding and skills for
learning, life and work.
Catherine Cunningham, Depute,
and her team provided the children
with a range of money activities
which not only addressed the
Curriculum for Excellence money
outcomes and experiences, but
made many other connections
across learning.
The children made money
notes and large coins from paper
plates; this activity linked to
other numeracy across learning
outcomes and helped the children
recognise numbers, signs and
symbols. Taking the children
shopping involved them in writing
the shopping list, discussing and
comparing prices and what they
could afford to buy during a visit
to the local shop, handing over
the money to pay for goods and,
with adult help, checking the
change. The children supported
the Centre’s eco policy by making
wallets, purses and banks from
recycled materials.
The Centre have set up an
international cafe in the role-play
corner which has developed the
children’s modern languages and
social studies curriculum, healthy
eating and awareness of foreign
currency.
‘You get euros at the
airport.’
The children can count to twelve
in French and have become aware
of a different culture.
‘I was making
croissants. French
people eat them.’
The children are also aware
of the links between financial
capability and employability.
‘My mummy is going
to work. You work to
pay the rent.’
Drumchapel Early Years Centre
have embraced the holistic nature
of financial education. The staff
team have established a regular
money week in their calendar
and are planning a sustainable
programme of financial education
involving enhanced partnership
working with agencies in the local
community.
31
Education Scotland
Early Years Conference
Maximising Children’s Learning:
getting it right with parents
Saturday 19 November 2011
10:00 - 14:30
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
Come along and join
in the debate. This is
a unique opportunity,
not to be missed, to
engage with first-class
speakers who are
experts in their field.
Further information and to reserve a space:
www.LTScotland.org.uk/earlyyears/index.asp
Speakers to include:
ngela Constance MSP:
A
Minister for Children and Young People
r Margy Whalley: Director of Research,
D
Development and Training at Pen Green
rofessor John Frank: Scottish Collaboration
P
for Public Health Research and Policy