Early Years’ Matters
Spring 2006
www.LTScotland.org.uk/earlyyears
9
In this issue …
Loving Children to Understanding
2
A Curriculum for Excellence
3
Early Years Review
4
Peers Early Years Partnership
6
Parentzone
7
Sound Beginnings
8
Early Learning, Forward Thinking: A
Masterclass in Action
10
SETT 2006 is on the Horizon!
11
Smileemail
12
Learning and Teaching Scotland Online
Service
13
Bookstart and Booktouch
13
Recipe for Success
14
Outdoor Connections
16
Growing Up in Scotland Study
18
A Braw Day
19
Changes to Early Years Online
20
SSSC Consultation
20
Thanks to Megan, Glebelands Nursery Class, Dundee for the collage
Editorial
Learning and Teaching Scotland’s Online Service is evolving to meet the demands of Scottish education.
LT Scotland manages numerous interlinked websites to support learning and teaching in Scotland and
we are working to make it easier for you to recognise the totality of the online support available to
practitioners, no matter what area of the curriculum you need information and support to develop.
Just as the Curriculum for Excellence 3–18 aims to promote more cross-curricular working, so we are
working to make the links in Scottish education clearer.
This newsletter aims to promote the links, and complexity, of early years developments – an illustration of
the holistic nature of the early years world. There is information about some of the current early years
initiatives as well as a look at the future for early years’ education in Scotland.
It is an exciting time – of consolidation and change. Your thoughts on the newsletter’s content and on
current developments in Scotland are welcome. Please send them to me.
Eileen Carmichael
Editor, Early Years’ Matters
e.carmichael@LTScotland.org.uk
Loving children
to understanding
It is surely a paradox that the foundation of any formal
education system is laid in the earliest experiences of the
learner, when informality and play are the characteristics
Brian Boyd, Professor of Education, University of Strathclyde
of human interaction. Thus even when apparently formal
activities are taking place, such as an adult reading a
story with a child, it is the bonding which takes place
had long believed, as American economists have
during the activity rather than any emergent knowledge
argued,
that for
every
pound invested
in a person’s
Robert Brown,recently
Deputy
Minister
Education
and Young
of symbolic representation which is the key outcome. I
education in the early years is worth £10,000 at the
People, tells of
current and future hopes for young
can well remember that when I read with my son in his
university stage.
children in Scotland.
earliest years if I did not put my arm around his shoulder
The early evidence seems to show that such
at the outset, he would take my arm and do it for me.
interventions are making a difference. Attainment levels
The key issue here is that parents and carers are their
appear to be rising. In its recent report, Improving
children’s first and continuing teachers. The love, the
Scottish Education (2006), Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of
nurture and the interaction are at the heart of the learning
Education (HMIE) points to several international studies
process. The limitless patience in the face of a thousand
which indicate that Scotland’s young people are doing
questions and the unconditional positive regard for the
well and that our system is among the most inclusive in
child are the building blocks the development of
the world. However, there is still cause for concern. There
‘effective learners, confident individuals, effective
are still too many young people living in disadvantaged
contributors and responsible citizens’ (A Curriculum for
circumstances who continue to underachieve.
Excellence, Scottish Executive, 2004).
As part of the debate on how the gap between the
Thus, when the Scottish Executive announced in 1999
advantaged and the disadvantaged can be closed, the
an extensive programme of early intervention in
question being asked now is whether the model of early
education, as part of its twin objectives of raising
years education needs to change. There has always
attainment and tackling social exclusion, it was
been the danger that external accountability would force
universally welcomed. Most people working in schools
early intervention to focus too narrowly on ‘the basics’
and that early years education would be seen merely as
a preparation for primary school. Pressure on local
authorities to demonstrate improvements in attainment
as measured in terms of literacy and numeracy can
distort the early years curriculum. Indeed, the
supposition that the best preparation of young children
for reading and writing is to start the process earlier is
itself questionable.
Should the curriculum be more focused on the whole
child, with an emphasis on individual development, childdirected learning, social interaction and creativity? In
other words, instead of children being introduced earlier
and earlier to formal learning, should there be, as the
Russian education theorist Lev Vygotsky argued in his
last lecture, Play and the Psychological Development of
the Child, more emphasis on play, since it ‘contains in a
concentrated form . . . all developmental tendencies’?
Many Scottish educators have admired the well
documented approach of Reggio Emilia in northern Italy,
where there is a heavy emphasis in the early years on
what we call expressive arts. Through the arts, children
are encouraged to be thinkers and to work
collaboratively, and parents are actively involved in the
learning. Not only is there evidence that the children of
Reggio achieve highly when they make the move to
school but also that this approach to early years
education helps to contribute to a more cohesive society.
One recent development in Scotland suggests that there
is a growing interest in the theories of Vygotsky. Five
local authorities are currently working with Tapestry, an
organisation devoted to bringing creativity to Scottish
education, on an early years project known as Key to
Learning, developed by another Russian educator,
Galina Dolya. Her programme includes such elements as
Developmental Games, Sensory Maths and Story
Grammar, allowing those working with children to help
develop their abilities and give them the ‘mental habits’
which will stay with them throughout their lives. Early
evaluation of this programme suggests that not only do
all children benefit from it but also that the benefit is not
dependent on the prior
experiences of the
children. As Galina
argues, it is important to
develop the cognitive
abilities of every child.
Every child is born with
the potential to be an
effective learner: as
Reuven Feuerstein
reminds us,
‘chromosomes do not
have the last word’.
However, some are born into circumstances where there
are barriers to this potential being fulfilled. As they have
found in Reggio, the link between the development of the
potential of citizens and social cohesion is crucial. If
successive generations of young people underachieve
educationally, then we as a country are the losers.
A Curriculum for Excellence: Progress and Proposals
This new Scottish Executive publication marks the next
milestone in putting A Curriculum for Excellence into
practice. A Curriculum for Excellence was published in
November 2004 following the National Debate on
Education in Scotland. It set out, for the first time, values,
purposes and principles for the curriculum 3–18 for all
children and young people. This latest publication
should be relevant to teachers and educators of children
and young people from age 3 to 18. The document
includes an outline timetable and more detail on the
results of the review process so far, including a rationale
for science. Over the next few months the emerging
results of work on specific curriculum areas and crosscurricular aspects will go on the website for discussion
and engagement.
Change is happening
One of the changes identified for the early years is
‘Better continuity between children’s pre-school and P1
experiences, especially in learning and teaching
approaches, through the proposed new structure.’ (A
Curriculum for Excellence: Progress and Proposals, page
19)
Some establishments, learning communities and local
authorities are already working to improve transition to
primary school and to support staff in extending the
approaches which are used in pre-school into the early
years of primary:
n Biggar Learning Community in South Lanarkshire
has held joint Nursery/Primary 1 staff development
sessions where staff have met together to develop a
shared understanding of the use of structured play
in the early years
n North Ayrshire has seconded two staff tutors who
have worked with Primary 1 teachers since August
2005 to ensure the children’s experience in Primary
1 is less formal than previously. This has included
regular twilight sessions to share practice.
A Curriculum for Excellence: Newsletter 3 was distributed
in March. It contains the outline timetable for future work
by the team, education authorities, establishments and
individuals, information about the register of interests, an
article on the connections between the Assessment is for
Learning programme and A Curriculum for Excellence
and information about the growing engagement of
practitioners throughout Scotland.
For further information please contact Wendy Grindle at
w.grindle@LTScotland.org.uk.
www.acurriculumforexcellencescotland.gov.uk
The concern throughout was with educational provision
that is developmentally and culturally appropriate for
young learners. The focus of attention was ways of
working with children and supporting their learning
(regardless of institutional setting). Throughout the
document there are questions to encourage reflection by
practitioners:
n What are our aims and expectations for early years
education in Scotland?
n To what extent is practice in our early years settings
like the model of effective provision that emerges
from EPPE?
n Can developmentally appropriate practice
compensate for using chronological age to decide
when children should begin primary school?
The review looks at international material available in
English since 1995 and concludes:
Early Years Review
The Scottish Executive has published Early Years
Education: perspectives from a review of the international
literature as part of the Insight series.
The review was carried out by Dr Christine Stephen,
Institute of Education, University of Stirling. It was
commissioned at a time when a national process of
education reform for children aged 3­–18 was under way
and revision of the existing curriculum guidance for
children aged 3–5 was being considered. The aim was to
explore the distinctive features of early years education
and the learning needs of young children. The review
examines the relationship between educational provision
and learning in pre-school settings and children’s
experiences before they begin attending an early
education setting and when they move to primary
school. The report points to examples, raises issues and
looks critically at evidence but makes no claims to be
exhaustive. It set out to address three key questions:
n What kind of educational experiences are offered in
early childhood and what evidence is there of the
impact of early years education?
n Is early years education a distinct phase in the
education system?
n How are decisions made about when children
should have particular educational experiences?
n There is international recognition for early years as a
distinct phase of education for children from about 3
to 6 years of age.
n Particular features of and expectations for early
education will vary with cultural and socio-political
conditions in society.
n There is widespread support for early years
education as an intervention that can make a
difference in the lives of disadvantaged children.
n There is evidence to suggest that early years
education makes a difference to the cognitive and
social/behavioural development of children and to
some aspects of academic attainment and social
behaviour in the first years of school.
There is no evidence to suggest that one curriculum is
superior but there is widespread support for some
features of early years education as crucial for children’s
learning:
n a holistic view of learning and the learner
n active or experiential learning
n respect for children’s ability to be self-motivating
and directing
n valuing responsive interactions between children
and adults as crucial for learning.
Transition between any two phases of education poses
challenges:
n Studies of transition suggest that there is a need to
focus on matching provision with the needs of
young learners rather than relying on general
organisational changes.
n Children would benefit from more attention being
paid to the way in which they are introduced to early
years educational settings and the state of their
learning as they begin that phase.
n Continuing the early years pedagogical approach
into primary school would allow new curriculum
content to be introduced in ways that are both
familiar and developmentally appropriate. This is
likely to be particularly helpful for young learners for
whom the responsive pedagogy typical of early
years settings offers sensitive support for the
challenges of primary education.
n There are likely to be considerable individual
differences in cognitive and social development
when children move to school but current ways of
assessing ‘readiness’ are of limited validity and
differentiating learning experiences within the new
setting is more likely to be effective in facilitating
learning.
n Age can be used as an eligibility criterion for the
move to another institution but should not imply that
the child is ready for curriculum changes or reduce
the need to ensure developmentally appropriate
educational provision.
The Insight paper is only available online and can be
found at www.scotland.gov.uk/
Publications/2006/01/26094635/0 while the full report
can be found at www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/
Doc/92395/0022116.pdf.
Peers Early Education Partnership (PEEP)
PEEP has developed a five-year programme offering
developmentally appropriate support for parents and
carers. It covers the period from the child’s birth to
starting school.
PEEP’s aims
The programme aims to:
n promote parents’ and carers’ awareness of
children’s very early learning and development
through making the most of everyday activities and
interactions
n support parents/carers in their relationships with
their children, so that the children’s self-esteem will
be enhanced
n affirm the crucial role of parents/carers as children’s
first educators
n support parents/carers in the development of their
children’s literacy and numeracy
n support parents/carers so that they can encourage
the development of positive learning dispositions
n promote and support parents’ and carers’ lifelong
learning.
PEEP supports parents and carers as their children’s
first and most important educators.
Learning Together
The PEEP Learning Together programme:
n is for parents and carers and their children from
birth to 5 years
n offers ideas and activities to support children’s
learning in everyday situations
n is a combination of different activities, e.g. stories,
songs and craft activities, to be used by parents/
carers and children at home or as part of a group
n focuses on how to make the most of everyday life –
listening, talking, playing, singing, sharing books –
and having fun!
n is about supporting children’s self-esteem and
helping children feel good about learning
n supports parents and carers in their role as
educators, as well as promoting their own learning.
PEEP has developed publications for families and
practitioners containing these ideas and activities,
consisting of Learning Together folders, videos, songbooks and CDs. Training is also available for people
wishing to use PEEP ideas and materials with the
families that they work with.
Creating Confident Communities
Jan McHaffie, Coordinator,
Penicuik PEEP, reports on
the PEEP Conference, held
at the Scottish Mining
Museum.
On 23 March 23 2006
Midlothian invited the
management team of PEEP
Oxford to Scotland to
showcase an excellent way
of working with families and
their very young children. PEEP has been active in
Scotland (mainly Midlothian, West Lothian and Aberdeen) for several years, and this day spread the word
further afield. There were delegates from Peterhead to
Stranraer, but mostly from in between!
Emphasis on partnerships
PEEP’s title encompasses a focus on early education,
brought about initially through the determination and
concern of a headteacher. The struggle to deal with low
literacy levels and underachievement in Peers
Secondary School gave birth to PEEP – Peers Early
Education Partnership (find out more about this on
www.peep.org.uk). The emphasis is on partnerships
reaching out to children, parents, carers, and practitioners working with young children and their families.
PEEP’s motto neatly comprises this: ‘Helping parents
give their children a flying start’.
Range of speakers
The four speakers gave a dynamic presentation, beginning with Kathleen Marshall, Scotland’s Commissioner
for Children and Young People. She reminded us of our
www.parentzonescotland.gov.uk
Support for parents
Parentzone is a website for parents and contains
information, advice and access to resources to help
parents become involved in their childs education and
this underpins the Scottish Executive’s drive to improve
parental involvement.
It’s not always easy being a parent – and as a parent you
play a crucial role in making sure children are happy,
healthy, safe and achieving their potential.
professional commitment to listen to the child’s voice,
linking their needs with support for families.
Peter Silva, CEO for PEEP Oxford, demonstrated how
the principles of the PEEP programme create a nonjudgemental high quality framework for learning, a good
best value model for targeted and universal application.
Fundamental to the successful delivery of PEEP groups
is its interactive communication through music, songs
and rhymes. Dr Alison Street gave an in-depth review,
based on her own research, of how singing and music
create exciting learning opportunities from birth.
Parents’ crucial role
Whilst PEEP is a programme aimed at young children’s
learning in literacy, numeracy and self-esteem, it is only
viable through working with parents and carers.
It provides them with support, through everyday
activities, which can be replicated in the home.
Appropriately, Liz Cullen, University of Glasgow, focused
her session on parents, reminding us, through reference
to research, of their crucial role in children’s attainment
and achievement. The audience represented a crosssection of agencies dealing with young children, parents
and carers. Liz’s own experiences and anecdotes
reinforced a positive approach to parents, putting the
need for sustained partnerships like those created
through PEEP, firmly at the centre of our work.
The afternoon gave a range of opportunities to explore
PEEP’s flexible programme delivery, through discussion
sessions and an audiovisual display which highlighted
parents’ voices.
www.LTScotland.org.uk/earlyyears
The Support for Parents programme can help you:
• improve your reading and writing skills
• solve problems through counselling
• work with the school through home-school link
workers and parental liaison officers
• get support through parent workshops and parent
groups
To find our more, get in touch with your child’s school.
Support for parents with very young children
Sure Start Scotland offers support for families with very
young children (0–3 years), particularly those who are
most vulnerable.
‘Making the difference’ is a new series of packages that
will help parents to give their children the good, practical
support they want to. Each package has information for
parents and educational establishments to use together
in ways that suit them best. When parents and staff work
together, children do better – ‘Making the difference’
packages can strengthen and promote this important
home-school partnership.
Support packages include advice on
• parents and staff sharing information with each other
• getting the most out of parents’ evenings
• ideas for out of school learning opportunities
• starting a new school year/starting at a new school
• healthy choices for children
• helping children become comfortable with
technology from an early age among other topics.
How can we improve support for parents?
The Scottish Executive is looking at how it can improve
support and information for parents. To find out more,
e-mail Margaret Tod at margaret.tod@scotland.gsi.gov.
uk or call 0131 244 7024.
A Parentzone poster and flier can be downloaded for
display around your establishment. If you would like to
order some originals of the posters or fliers, please email
Parentzone (www.parentzonescotland.gov.uk/
contactus/index.asp) stating your name, establishment/
organisation, and number of posters/fliers required.
.
Sound beginnings
There is an increasing awareness that developing music
skills can have wide-ranging benefits in the early years.
Over the last 10 years, this theory has been put to the
test at Queen Mary Street Nursery School in Glasgow,
where they have been reaping the rewards of
commitment to systematic music education over several
years.
In August 1996, Susan Fotheringham, the headteacher at
this large nursery school in Glasgow’s East End,
employed a music specialist to work with the children. In
short, structured sessions the children learnt the
rudiments of music using the method developed by
Kodály.
Zoltan Kodály was a Hungarian composer who
developed a music teaching method for young children.
He believed that musical training should start as early as
possible, and that it should be an ongoing process
starting at the receptive pre-school stage, while memory
is developing rapidly.
notice changes in the children: not only did they show
joy in music but there was also a significant reduction in
aggressive play and stronger class bonding. There was a
marked improvement in their ability to listen, and an
earlier grasp of rhyming, rhythmic word patterns and
letter sounds.
Staff at Queen Mary Street Nursery continued to witness
the positive effects of these music sessions over two
years. During 1998–2000 the observations relating to
early literacy skills were put to the test by some research
into the effects of this nursery music instruction on later
reading development. This was a preliminary study
following these children into P1 along with other groups
of children.
‘Not only did the Queen Mary Street Nursery School
group have better phonological awareness and letter
knowledge than the control group but also their reading
ages were significantly higher.’ Maureen Myant, Senior
Educational Psychologist, Glasgow South-West Area
Changes in the children
Bridgeton Music project
Just four months after the introduction of the music
sessions, staff at Queen Mary Street Nursery began to
The benefits of this initiative were extended throughout
the entire local community through the Bridgeton Music
project, which developed music in all sectors of
education, community education, the health board and
social work establishments. Music is seen as a tool for
creating a positive attitude, uniting a community and
raising aspirations.
Arts and Minds
As part of the St Mungo Learning Community, the Queen
Mary Street Nursery is currently taking part in an Arts and
Minds project. This is funded by the Future Learning and
Teaching programme (www.flatprojects.org.uk). FLaT
has been established by the Scottish Executive to
support and encourage pilot projects that challenge the
current concepts of schools and explore new ways of
learning and teaching. The Arts and Minds grant ensures
that the nursery children continue to benefit from a
visiting musician, Caroline McCluskey, who comes once
a week to work with them in groups and develop their
skills.
As a student at the British Kodály Academy, Caroline is
undertaking the Sound Beginnings Early Years Certificate
course. Her nursery music sessions are carefully
planned to introduce children gradually to progressive
musical skills, using the method developed by Kodály, in
which the voice is the main instrument, with an initial
focus on pulse and pitch.
The approach begins from the limited singing range of
simple folk songs and singing pitches that children
spontaneously use when playing and
calling to others. Early sessions
therefore, focus on simple songs
with just two notes, and the
range is gradually increased as
the children become more
competent. Songs are taught
by rote from the teacher’s
unaccompanied singing voice. Actions are added to
keep pulse in a steady beat, along with actions to match
cue words which support the first stages of rhythmic
awareness.
Achievement for children
It is clear that the children enjoy these group sessions,
and respond well to the rhymes and songs geared to
their level along with a variety of movement. Through
simple songs they develop an early awareness of pulse,
pitch and rhythm, distinguishing between high/low, fast/
slow and loud/soft. The children are focused and enjoy
participating in a calm, quiet activity at a slow, steady
pace. This level of engagement is an achievement for
children who in other circumstances have very short
spans of concentration, and may live life at a frenetic
pace.
At Queen Mary Street Nursery School music sessions are
valued for the contribution they make not just to
developing early musical awareness but also to the
development of the whole child. During these group
sessions, children build self-confidence, communication
and listening skills, concentration, coordination, and
cooperation. These skills have major implications for their
success as learners, and can be encouraged in a context
that can only be described as fun.
The British Kodály Academy:
www.britishKodályacademy.org
Correction
In the last Early Years’ Matters newsletter, Euan
Crabb was credited as working with Moray
Council. It should have been Angus Council.
Early Learning,
Forward Thinking:
Masterclass in
Action
Debbie Henderson was already developing ICT within
her playgroup and supporting early years ICT training in
Angus Council when she attended Masterclass. She
found the course a great opportunity to develop her
practical ICT skills in an early years context. Children,
parents and colleagues have benefited from her
enthusiasm to integrate ICT into early years settings, and
she has been able to support private and voluntary
establishments as they take on the challenge.
Debbie Henderson, a
play leader from Angus,
attended the Early Years
Masterclass residential
course in September
2005. Masterclass is part
of Early Learning,
Forward Thinking: the ICT
Strategy for Early Years,
and participants support
the development of ICT
within their local authority.
the publicity. In addition, groups can request donations
of specific age-appropriate resources from people in the
local community. In her role as a trainer, Debbie has
been able to encourage other colleagues in the sector to
source equipment and publicise their uses of technology.
Within Debbie’s playgroup, digital cameras were
ICT in action
regularly used; children soon became proficient with
In addition, Debbie has been offering these settings
digital movie creators and could be seen out recording
on-site support to develop their skills with the
features of their local environment. Many of these
resources they have, so that ICT figures in the
activities were presented to the parents through
children’s learning experiences. They are offered
PowerPoint presentations. Debbie was keen to ensure
ICT resources on loan and taster sessions to
the children had a good awareness of technology and
encourage them to access Angus Council training.
despite limited resources
In addition, staff and
children were soon ‘e‘Learning with ICT can provide added children are becoming
mailing’ Santa and internet
more aware of the
value in extending learning
shopping on a pretend
technology they already
computer.
opportunities for children, often in
have such as tape
recorders, electronic toys
Challenges for partner
or kitchen appliances.
providers
They are encouraged to
Many private and voluntary
exploit ICT opportunities
settings face particular
in the local environment:
Early Learning, Forward Thinking: The Policy Framework for
challenges when integrating
taking digital photos and
ICT in Early Years
ICT into early years practice:
movies, using pedestrian
funding for resources and
crossings and visiting the
issues of space and storage are often difficult. Debbie’s
library to access the internet. Role play is reflecting
playgroup asked a local computer shop to donate an old
the world we live in: for example, a role-play fire
computer, and coverage of this in the local press offered
station needs a call centre, a café could well be an
benefits to the company involved as well as an
internet café, and tills are chip and PIN.
ways that only an ICT resource can
offer. Such encounters can take place
in all areas of the curriculum.’
opportunity to publicise the playgroup and ICT practice.
A further opportunity to highlight the work of the ICT
strategy and promote good practice came when the
playgroup succeeded in a bid for lottery funding which
paid for an interactive whiteboard, with a photo of the
children using it featuring in the local newspaper. As
playgroups are registered charities, funds can also be
raised for ICT equipment (such as a video camera) by
making a case for sponsorship from local businesses –
this gives the opportunity to present a case for the value
of ICT resources and to raise awareness locally through
10
By developing the principles of the Early Years ICT
Strategy in all early years settings, children in Angus
and across Scotland are benefiting from
experiences of technology that go well beyond
computers. The enthusiasm of practitioners and
trainers in developing and sharing their expertise
and ideas has played a key role in ensuring that ICT
in the early years is appropriate, achievable and
effective.
Keynote Information
Dr Edward de Bono
The Powerful effects of teaching Thinking
explicitly as a skill
Dr Edward de Bono is regarded by many to be the
leading authority in the world in the field of creative
thinking and the direct teaching of thinking as a skill.
Andy Hargreaves
Success and Sustainability – By, With and Across
our Schools
SETT 2006 is
on the horizon!
The Scottish Learning Festival will be taking place,
20–21 September, at the SECC and Clyde Auditorium,
Glasgow. This free Learning Festival hosts a combination
of keynote presentations, spotlight sessions, seminars
and an exhibition area which will provide delegates with
opportunities for professional development, allowing
them to share skills and knowledge and also to
investigate and experiment with new technologies.
In keeping with other years the SETT team have
endeavoured to provide delegates with a world-class line
up of speakers from both home and abroad. Early Years
teaching and learning will feature within the main
conference programme and throughout the line-up of
sessions that will be taking place on the Scottish
Education Village.
There will also be roundtable discussions taking place
throughout the two days, these sessions are designed to
allow delegates the opportunity to engage with each
other on specific educational topics or areas.
Andy Hargreaves is the Thomas More Brennan Chair
of Education in the Lynch School of Education at
Boston College.
Terry Dozier
Turning Good Teachers into Great Leaders
Terry Knecht Dozier was special adviser on teaching
to the US Secretary of Education during the Clinton
administration before being elected to the board of
directors of the Council for Basic Education in 2001.
David Weinberger
Everything is Miscellaneous
David Weinberger is a philosopher by training. He
currently serves as a fellow at the Berkman Center
for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School.
Lady Marie Stubbs
Every Child Matters – How does the Teacher
Ensure that this Happens?
Marie Stubbs was persuaded out of retirement to
lead a task force given just four terms to turn a
school around.
In addition there will be Spotlight presentations on areas
such as Leadership, A Curriculum for Excellence,
Creativity and Assessment.
The conference programme will be in schools late April.
Please contact David Boag if you have any questions
about the Learning Festival or if you would like to
highlight examples of good practice from your
establishment, as part of the Scottish Education Village
programme.
d.boag@LTScotland.org.uk
11
SmileeMail
the award-winning ICT skills training package for the early learner
Inverclyde Council has just implemented the latest
version of its highly innovative ICT skills training solution
– SmileeMail, from Nexus Technology.
Designed to support the 5–14 national guidelines,
SmileeMail provides full support for key elements of the
curriculum including ICT, communication and language
skills.
Safe, secure and inclusive
SmileeMail is designed to be a very safe and secure
solution protecting children from the ravages of the
electronic age. It also actively supports the principle of
inclusion irrespective of ability, background or skill.
Simple to use
SmileeMail has been rolled out across all Inverclyde’s
primary and nursery schools, where it is used to
introduce the basic concepts of the mouse, keyboard
and screen. To illustrate how simple the system is to
use, children can send a copy of one of their paintings
to their parents using SmileeMail’s in-built e-mail
capabilities, just by using the mouse! The more skilled
children have access to a fully functional e-mail system,
which
allows
them to
share
messages
both
within
and
between
classes,
as well as
teacher-
nominated external contacts.
In addition to helping children learn standard editing
skills, SmileeMail actively supports communication and
creativity by providing the ability to run quizzes and
research projects with external organisations. Its lesson
plan functionality not only allows staff to prepare their
work in advance and in line with the defined curriculum
but also supports the sharing of those plans across the
authority – a great productivity bonus!
Each child’s work can be reviewed by the staff, who can
return comments and endorsements as required. In
many ways, SmileeMail can be seen as the twenty-firstcentury version of the child’s workbook that the teacher
previously marked manually!
12
Through its vibrant screen layout and sensible use
of animation, SmileeMail is innovative and fun to
use, progressively introducing new skills to the early
learner. Moreover, children can progress at their
own pace, thus helping develop personalisation of
learning.
SmileeMail has many teaching aids to support
lesson planning, ideas sharing and training
materials. Tom Reid, Head of Service at Inverclyde
Council, says, ‘Maximising teacher time in the
classroom has been a major consideration in the
development of SmileeMail.’ The latest version has
added improvements based on teachers’ feedback from
the last three years of practical experience and further
minimises the administration overload.
Explore the demonstration site
SmileeMail only needs a browser, so existing classroom
workstations can be used. The system comes with a
comprehensive teacher support pack written by
Inverclyde teaching staff to ensure new users are up and
running as quickly as possible.
For more information and the opportunity to use the
demonstration site for a few days, please contact
Tom Reid or Henry Paton at Inverclyde on 01475 712850.
Bookstart and Booktouch
You are probably aware of the Bookstart programme,
which provides a free pack of books to every baby in the
UK (see Early Years’ Matters 6). You may also be aware
of Bookstart Plus for toddlers and My Bookstart Treasure
Chest for 3-year-olds. But are you aware of Booktouch,
Bookstart’s pack for visually impaired children?
Booktouch is a project that has been developed with
help from the Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB)
and ClearVision. Booktouch is free and is for babies and
children aged 0–4 who are blind or partially sighted.
The pack consists of:
Learning and Teaching Scotland
Online Service
The Learning and Teaching Scotland Online Service
continues to engage, stimulate and inform
thousands of teachers and practitioners by providing
a number of websites that offer support on all areas
of the curriculum as well as information on national
educational developments.
Every month over 300,000 visitors, including those
involved in early years care and education, come to
the Online Service to find the information they need.
The Online Service offers the early years practitioner:
n resources
n cross-curricular approaches
n professional development
n sharing practice.
•
a Bookstart canvas bag
•
a guidance leaflet with advice and ideas about
enjoying reading with visually impaired children
•
a suggested booklist for blind and partially sighted
babies and toddlers
•
a leaflet from the RNIB
•
two touch-and-feel books. (The family or a
professional who knows the child can opt for a
toddler to have one book with Braille.)
Visual impairment teachers, health visitors, Bookstart
coordinators or the families themselves may apply for a
Booktouch pack for an eligible child.
For more information on Booktouch e-mail: Biatra@
booktrust.org.uk or tel: 020 8516 2995.
To contact your local Bookstart coordinator e-mail:
CarolineMcLeod@dsl.pipex.com or tel: 0131 556 7990.
Within the Online Service you will find practical
downloadable resources such as royalty-free
illustrations and video clips as well as links to
websites to use with children.
Keep up to date
The Online Service also keeps the practitioner
updated with the latest on national initiatives and
themes that impact on early years practice. With a
few clicks of the mouse you will be able to access a
wealth of information on national programmes such
as A Curriculum for Excellence.
The web service also offers information to assist with
your professional development, provides a platform
to exchange ideas and practice via the discussion
forum, and keeps practitioners updated with the
latest in the early years world.
All this information is just one click away from the
Online Service home page www.LTScotland.org.uk
13
Recipe
for
Success
Lynn Jamieson of Glenlee Primary School,
Hamilton, writes about a South Lanarkshire Early
Years Assessment is for Learning project.
Take six enthusiastic headteachers, six digital cameras,
six early years practitioners, throw in five thousand
pounds from the Scottish Executive, mix, and then give
to anyone up for the challenge of leading a group
determined to improve the quality of questioning in early
years: and that is where I started. Alongside Karen
Byrne, Depute at Castlefield Primary, and supported by
Jim Reid and Andrea Reid, our headteachers, Karen and
I began combining the ingredients for a recipe that had
never yet been tried and tested.
Expanding the team
The aim of this project was primarily to improve the
quality of adult–child dialogue within our nurseries by
reflecting on current practice and researching ways in
which this could be improved. However, before this
project had even begun, news was spreading and the
Early Years Team of South Lanarkshire not only funded
our launch day at the Hilton but offered the services of
Veronica Coogans and Marion Barker, development
officers with wide-ranging experience in early years. We
also had the support of Lorna MacDonald, a
development officer from South Lanarkshire. Although
Lorna has a secondary background, with her expertise in
formative assessment and with Veronica, Marion, and six
first-class early years practitioners, we set out to create a
recipe to take forward formative assessment in the
nursery. It was that very thought that became our first
hurdle.
14
Starting points
Did the principles of formative assessment support the
values that the blocks of an early years education are
founded on? The group debated this dynamically and
the meaning of words such as ‘lesson’ and ‘play’ and the
difference between ‘doing’ and ‘learning’ promoted
professional discourse which any team leader would be
challenged mediating. At this point we had not even
begun to discuss questioning, ultimately concluding that
before thinking about improving our questioning, we as
practitioners must know in which direction our questions
should lead the learning. What were our learning
intentions and could we interlink these with responsive
planning? We were certain we could.
Sharing learning intentions
The practitioners began by experimenting with orally
sharing learning intentions for one week. The following
week these were pre-written and in the third week they
wrote them with the children. Feedback from this
concluded that having the learning intention pre-written
was most effective in the playroom, but that practicalities
required further debate. Drawing from one practitioner’s
previous experience, we decided to produce cards which
would outline in pictures and child-friendly text what the
specific learning intention was for a planned experience.
The practitioners placed these cards at the relevant
location and found that, along with other adults in the
nursery, they were more focused on the intended
learning for that particular activity. They are currently
taking this further by observing the interaction at
activities with learning intentions displayed and
comparing them to those where they are not. During this
action research, it was observed that as well as the
adults being more focused, the children were also taking
a keen interest in the cards and were in fact beginning to
self-assess by pointing to some of the cards and saying,
for example, ‘Look, Mrs Purse, me and Amy are sharing.’
Finally we have decided as a group not to use the
acronym WALT as used in many primary classes and
instead encourage the staff and children to use the core
language ‘we are learning to . . .’ in its entirety.
Reviewing practice
Reflecting on progress, we now have in place a strategy
to allow us to focus on the learning, but how do we as
practitioners move our learning forward? It is now time to
add the digital cameras, a resource we have found
invaluable for observing our interactions and then with
peer support deciding on the next steps in developing
quality questioning strategies: these steps being very
specific to each practitioner. After watching themselves
on video all the practitioners within the group identified a
different area of questioning to focus on.
Next steps in developing practice
We are presently researching this method and plan to
compare it with planned peer observations at each
other’s nurseries. Whilst this is happening, Karen and I
will meet with the six enthusiastic heads to discuss the
project in general. One topic for consideration will be
whether our research supports the practice of
observations being carried out by managers and indeed
if the model of video and self-reflection with peer and
management support would be more effective.
Nonetheless, the most important agenda item will be
celebrating success. Not only has this project led to
improvement in daily practice for our children, but it has
tested the very principles of formative assessment
against early years philosophy and shaped a group of
people who now consider themselves effective
practitioners, believing it is their responsibility to take this
initiative forward to improve the quality of early years
experience provided for their children.
Mary Renton (Rigside and Rural Communities Nursery), Vicik Gibson (Woodpark Primary), Angela Purse (St Paul’s Primary), Karen
Byrne (Castlefield Primary), Yvonne Johnston (Glenlee Primary), Morag Wallace (Castlefield Primary), Debbie MacPhee (Hamilton
School for the Deaf)
15
The Minister for Education and Young People has
initiated an outdoor education development programme,
sponsored by the Scottish Executive and led by Learning
and Teaching Scotland. Willie White, Development
Officer for the programme, tells us more about it.
key aspects of children’s development and learning into
experiential, holistic pedagogy with a real drive for
outdoor play.
The development programme, Outdoor Connections, is
designed to make outdoor connections for children and
young people aged 3–18 across a range of current and
emerging education priorities and policies, programmes
and people. Through research into the current state of
outdoor education in Scotland, it will develop and
disseminate resources which will continue to improve the
quality of outdoor learning experiences and approaches.
‘The outdoors can provide a scale and freedom for a
type of play that is difficult to replicate indoors, for
example opportunities to dig a garden, explore
woodland, run on the grass, roll down a grassy slope
or pedal a car across a hard surface . . .’
We consider the outdoor classroom as a setting,
outdoor education as a process in which
educators, students and others take part,
and outdoor learning as the learning
which accrues as a result.
Different challenges
Early years faces different outdoor
learning challenges from the other
sectors. The early years sector is
already comfortable with
integrating the
A Curriculum Framework for Children 3 to 5
There is increasing pressure
from local authorities,
the Care Commission
and parents to
minimise dangers
and risk to nonexistent levels.
However, in
doing so we
are taking a
very real risk
with an
essential skill
which young
people have to
develop. It is
impossible to avoid
taking risks in life:
financial risks (loans,
mortgage, credit), health risks
(food choices, physical activity,
smoking), emotional risks (expressing your feelings or
values to others).
Benefit versus risk
Clearly we need to protect children from harm.
However, with the current risk management model we
will always find another hazard to control, often stifling
quality learning in the process. At some point we have to
bring benefit into the equation and decide if the benefit
to children is worth a small risk.
16
Marcus Bailie (Adventure Activity Licensing Authority)
illustrates this with the number of people across the
UK who in the wake of the Hatfield rail crash
moved away from rail travel because they
perceived it to be dangerous, whereas in fact it
is very safe compared to car travel and they
were exposing themselves to far greater risk
statistically of injury or death. In avoiding the
very small risk associated with rail travel
many hundreds unknowingly exposed
themselves to far greater
dangers!
Sometimes we lose sight of
the woods for the trees.
Out of 13 million young
people in the UK there are
1400 sudden or accidental
deaths per year (every one
a tragedy); of these, 700
are road traffic accidents,
100 are suicides, and three
happen on a school visit
(from an estimated 7 to 10
million per year).
What are the real risks?
How can we justify even
three deaths? We can’t. But
clear evidence exists between outdoor play and
learning, with increased self-confidence and physically
active choices for life. With 30,000 adult deaths from
obesity and unfitness each year in the UK and 6000 from
suicide, possibly the small, but real, risks of outdoor
learning are not just acceptable but are great learning
opportunities. That busy road you need to cross to get to
the park, beach, woods: what a fantastic learning
opportunity to both reduce the number of young
people’s road deaths and equip children for their life
ahead.
As with the Hatfield example, by making something that
is extremely safe already even safer, are we actually
exposing 3–5-year-olds to greater risk in later life?
Within these contexts children should be
encouraged to seek personal challenges that
encourage a degree of risk taking but which are
set within a safe and supportive environment.
A Curriculum Framework for Children 3 to 5
Do children really need to wear rubber gloves to
plant bulbs?
Keep up to date with the Outdoor Connections electronic
newsletter. Register for it at outdoorconnections@
LTScotland.org.uk.
Why learn indoors?
www.LTScotland.org.uk/earlyyears
17
Growing up in
Scotland study
Overview
The Growing up in Scotland (GUS) study follows the lives
of groups of Scotland’s children from babyhood through
to their teens and will provide important new information
that will help develop policies affecting young children
and their families in Scotland. Currently the survey is in
sweep 1, collecting data on babies aged a little over 10
months and toddlers aged just under 3 years. Planning is
under way for sweep 2 of the survey.
The primary objective of the survey is to address a
significant gap in the evidence base for early years policy
monitoring and evaluation. It collects information about
the experiences of young children and their families from
birth to age 5 and will provide the basis for tracking their
development into adolescence.
The survey design consists of initially recruiting a total of
8000 parents in 2005 in two cohorts of children (5000
from birth, 3000 from age 2) and interviewing parents
annually, up until the child reaches age 5. Data from the
survey will be made publicly available through the ESRCfunded UK Data Archive.
What is the aim of GUS?
The aim of the GUS study is to describe the
characteristics, circumstances and experiences of
children in their early years (and their parents) in Scotland
and to improve understanding of the factors associated
with differences in longer-term outcomes, with particular
reference to the role of early years service provision.
GUS covers a wide range of topics including:
n pregnancy and birth
n childcare and issues relating to work/life balance
The sample is drawn from Child Benefit Records (CBR),
held by the Department of Work and Pensions on behalf
of the Inland Revenue, which was selected as it is a
universal benefit with very high take-up.
In sweep 1 of the study, the main carer for the sampled
children is being invited to take part in a face-to-face
interview in their own home. In sweep 2 both the main
carer and their partner will be interviewed. Most of the
questions are interviewer-administered with a small
number of self-completion questions.
Analysis, reporting and dissemination
Preliminary analysis of the data will be carried out by
ScotCen on behalf of the Scottish Executive and will take
the form of an overview report, to be completed by
summer 2006.
n parenting and family life
Quotes from participants taken from e-mails
n child health and development
‘I am really keen to participate – it’s just that juggling two
kids’ activities and p/t work is
pretty hectic. I’ll look forward to the next date.’
n parental health
n access to, awareness of and use of services.
from a respondent who contacted us to reschedule an
interview
‘I would appreciate it if you could update your records as
we are keen to continue to participate.’
from a sweep 1 respondent who had already completed
an interview and who contacted us to update her address
details
18
A BRAW day
Amanda Minns, Literacy
Development Officer,
Learning and Teaching
Scotland, writes about a
BRAW day.
A new book organisation, BRAW (Books, Reading and
Writing) was launched in June 2005 with the aim of
promoting books, reading and writing for young people,
by authors and illustrators living in Scotland. BRAW aims
to develop provision in literature and to ensure access,
participation and knowledge of related resources and
opportunities for all children in Scotland and those who
work with and for them.
A crisp winter morning in Edinburgh and this literacy
officer was heading off to one of the good jobs, one of
those jobs that make the others in the team jealous. I was
going to listen to Linda Strachan, author of books such as
What Colour is Love? and the fabulous Scottish series,
Hamish McHaggis. I joined a group of Primary 2 pupils
from Bonnington Primary School and we all sat and
waited eagerly for Linda to transport us to that world of
stories and fill our imagination with the characters from
her much loved books.
Linda started her talk with a question-and-answer session
for the audience about what an author does, how long it
takes to make a book and how to get a book published.
Everyone was amazed at the information Linda gave and
especially surprised to hear how long it takes to publish a
picture book (up to a year!). We moved on to talking
about our favourite genres, which seemed to be mostly
scary stories. This helped Linda choose her next story,
which was Hamish McHaggis and the Ghost of Glamis.
Linda spoke about the characters, the settings of the
books, which take place in different seasons of the year,
and what happens to the animal characters in the
different seasons. Linda also taught the group a new
word – ‘hibernacula’ – you will have to read all about this
in the Hamish McHaggis books!
Next we had a look at the book What Colour is Love?,
written by Linda and illustrated by David Wojtowycz. All
the pupils were keen to guess the answer to the question,
‘What is the colour of love?’ Guesses ranged from light
blue to indigo, purple and gold. A great story with a
happy ending, but you’ll have to read the book to find out
the answer! Linda actively involved the pupils in the
stories and made sure they felt part of the storytelling
session. She retold the story What Colour is Love? with
pupils taking the parts of the animals and representing
the different colours the book talks about. Pupils asked
their final questions of Linda and then had a chance to
look at the many books Linda brought with her. A fun,
enjoyable day was had by all.
New publication
Perspectives: a series of occasional papers on early years education
2
let’s talk about
listening to children
towards a shared understanding for
early years education in Scotland
, 58 Robertson Street, Glasgow G2 8DU
297
E: enquiries@LTScotland.org.uk
www.LTScotland.org.uk
Let’s talk about Listening to Children: towards a shared understanding for early years in
Scotland is a new early years publication from Learning and Teaching Scotland.
Aiming to stimulate discussion about the theory, method and everyday realities of
listening to children in early education in Scotland, it contains the contributions of the
speakers at the Saturday Seminar held in November 2005, Professor Kathleen Marshall,
the Children’s Commissioner for Scotland, Linda Kinney Head of Early Childhood, Play
and Out of School Care, Stirling Council, and Peter Moss, Professor of Early Childhood
Provision, University of London, with an overview by Dr John Davis, Lecturer, Moray
House School of Education, University of Edinburgh.
Copies can be purchased from Customer Services at Learning and Teaching Scotland,
tel: 08700 100 297 or downloaded from Early Years Online:
www.LTScotland.org.uk/earlyyears.
19
Changes to Early Years
Online
Events
[Learning and Teaching Scotland’s] Early Years Online
has a bright new home page. It provides ‘quick links’ to
key areas of content and a list of recently added
resources.
You will now find our list of seminars, conferences and
training events in the Professional development section,
along with the database of training courses.
Features
This section has been renamed ‘Sharing practice’.
Birth to Three
Find the guidance, staff development pack and video
clips in ‘Sharing practice’.
Early Years ICT
Our ICT case studies, the ICT Policy Framework and
other materials relating to ICT in the early years are now
in the ‘Sharing practice’ section of the website.
Left-hand menu
You may notice that the order of items in the left-hand
menu has changed slightly. This is to improve
consistency of presentation across the Learning and
Teaching Scotland Online Service.
We hope that you will like the new look. Please let us
know if you have any comments on the new home page
and the other changes to Early Years Online.
You may notice a few other changes.
www.LTScotland.org.uk/earlyyears
SSSC consultation
The Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) has launched a formal consultation on the
registration fee levels and Post Registration Training and Learning (PRTL) requirements for
early education and child care workers and adult residential care workers.
Registration and regulation responsibility
The Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) was
established through the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act
2001 and is responsible for the registration and regulation
of key groups in the social service workforce.
Proposals
The purpose of this consultation is to seek your views on
proposed annual registration fees and Post Registration
Training and Learning (PRTL) Requirements for early
education and child care workers and adult residential
care workers.
20
Responses to this consultation will inform the SSSC’s
recommendations to Scottish Ministers about the setting
of annual registration fee levels and PRTL requirements
for these workers.
The SSSC is keen to find out your views. The closing
date for comments is Monday 19 June 2006.
A copy of the consultation and further information is
available on the SSSC website – www.sssc.uk.com
Learning and Teaching Scotland, The Optima, 58 Robertson Street, Glasgow G2 8DU
T: Customer Services 08700 100 297 E: enquiries@LTScotland.org.uk
www.LTScotland.org.uk