Early Years’ Matters
Autumn 2005
www.LTScotland.org.uk/earlyyears
8
Gael Force Winds, a wind
trio from the Scottish
Chamber Orchestra,
came to Sanday School,
Orkney to work with the
children on a short
musical production based
on We’re Going on a Bear
Hunt by Michael Rosen.
The nursery children
were asked to create
artwork based on some
of the themes described
in the book.
The children in Sanday
Nursery Class took video
and stills cameras to
record what they found.
See pages 8, 9, 10 and 11.
Editorial
In this issue …
These are exciting times with much happening in the early
years world. In this issue Robert Brown, Deputy Minister
for Education and Young People, writes about the
importance of quality provision; we look at the role of
active learning in A Curriculum for Excellence 3–18
particularly in the early stages of primary school and at
developments in physical activity, music, outdoor learning
and enterprise in Scotland. Research shows the increasing
attention being paid to development and learning in the
early years and there is international interest in work being
done in Scotland. See quality in a sample of the artwork
flowing from the children of Sanday in their record of their
hunt for a bear!
Building an Ambitious, Confident Scotland
A Curriculum for Excellence
Just Playing
The Children of Sanday Nursery
Music Matters – a lot
Birth to Three
Bookstart Day Celebrations/Kiddiesville
Grounds for Learning/Sherston/
Childminders’ Review and Events
EECERA 2005 Conference
SETT 2005/Education for Citizenship/
Enterprise in Education
Health for All Children 4
Health Scotland Update
Physical Activity in Early Years
Saturday Seminar
2
4
7
8
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
19
20
1
Building an Ambitious
Robert Brown, Deputy Minister for Education and Young
People, tells of current and future hopes for young
children in Scotland.
I believe that every child deserves the best possible start
in life. To be brought up in a safe, secure environment
with access to good quality childcare and education is
much more than desirable – it’s a fundamental right of
every child.
Best possible standards
But it’s not just children and parents who stand to
benefit. Society as a whole will reap the rewards of our
commitment to improving the early years of our
children’s lives. These youngsters are our future. They
are the next generation of doctors, engineers, teachers,
entrepreneurs and parents. Children, and those who
work with them, are crucial to building an ambitious,
confident Scotland.
As a society, we all have a duty to provide and care for
our children, helping them to grow and develop. As a
government, we must ensure that good quality systems
and services are in place to achieve this. For me, as
Deputy Education Minister with particular responsibility
for young people, it is my duty to ensure that this
happens in Scotland. We must have the best possible
standards for children, their parents and their carers.
The period from birth until a child starts school is one of
rapid growth and development. Experiences during this
time are vital to a child’s development, helping them get
2
the most out of their future education and setting them
on the road to becoming successful adults.
High quality provision
We recognise that good quality childcare and early
education are crucial. It is in the best interests of
children, by providing opportunities to play, develop and
learn, and also of adults, by enabling parents to work,
that good quality, flexible childcare is readily available to
all. We also know that high quality pre-school education
and care are particularly beneficial for children who
come from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Confident Scotland
We have already achieved a great deal in a relatively
short time. Back in 1999, during the first term of the
Scottish Parliament, we introduced free part-time preschool education for 3- and 4-year-olds. Every eligible
child is now entitled to a free part-time nursery place,
should their parents want it.
Workforce Review
It is our early years and childcare staff, though, who
deserve much of the credit for making our childcare
services what they are. I know that Scotland’s early years
workers do a fantastic job in looking after our children
and helping them develop, but I also know that they
need good support structures in place to provide this
care. That’s why we are conducting a national review of
this workforce. Launched in 2004, the Early Years and
Childcare Workforce Review is committed to improving
employment opportunities and raising the status of the
sector.
bureaucracy, simplify funding and create services that
are flexible and focused on the needs of children and
families.
Workforce Development Fund
Indeed, between 1999 and this year we have made
nearly £25 million available through the Workforce
Development Fund to improve access to qualifications
and training. A further £12 million will be made available
over the next two years. It is our aim to have 85 per cent
of the workforce qualified by 2009.
Working together
This review is our opportunity to evaluate our current
provision of services, recruitment, training and retention
of staff and to improve upon these where necessary. I
believe it is also very important to listen to the views of
those who work in this sector to ensure that what we do
meets their needs. The recommendations of the review
will be put out to consultation in the next few months and
I hope as many people as possible will have their say.
www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/People/Young-People/
Early-Education-Child-Care/EarlyYearsReview/intro
Commitment to children
Our commitment to children is evident. We are investing
in and reforming children’s services to cut through
In my new post, I look forward to continuing to work
closely with professional agencies in the field such as
Learning and Teaching Scotland. LT Scotland’s Early
Years’ Matters is invaluable as a source of information
and support for all those involved in working with young
children. The guidance Birth to Three: supporting our
youngest children, which was issued in January, is
another example of the important contribution LT
Scotland makes to raising professional standards in early
years provision.
Bright future
Children are our future and that’s why we owe it to them
to ensure that their early years are formative, productive
and fun.
We must work together to ensure that, in the years
ahead, we continue to provide the best possible start for
all of Scotland’s children, making their future as bright as
it can be.
3
A Curriculum for Excellence: the story so far
Background
In November 2004 four key documents were
published together by the Scottish Executive. They
were:
Ambitious, Excellent Schools
Assessment, Testing and Reporting 3–14
A Curriculum for Excellence – The Curriculum
Review Group
A Curriculum for Excellence – Ministerial
Response
‘These documents provide a starting point for a
continuous cycle of reflection, review and
improvement which will actively involve young
people, teachers and educators, parents,
employers and the wider community.’
Peter Peacock, Minister for Education
and Young People
Dr Gill Robinson, Programme Director, A Curriculum for Excellence
What is the aim of the programme?
What progress has been made so far?
At the heart of A Curriculum for Excellence lie values,
purposes and principles for the curriculum 3–18. Our aim
is to work with the education community to turn these
into reality for each child in Scotland. As part of the
process, we will be developing a single, coherent
curriculum from 3 to 18. We already have very good
curriculum guidance, including the Curriculum
Framework for Children 3 to 5, and our plan is to apply
the values, purposes and principles set out in A
Curriculum for Excellence to simplify, refine and update
this guidance.
We decided to begin with swift reviews of areas of the
curriculum from 3 to 15. The main outcomes of the first
phase of review activity will be early versions of revised,
streamlined guidance for each area of the curriculum.
Members of these groups come from all sectors of
education. Their drafts will act as a starting point for
debate, testing, refinement and consideration of the
curriculum as a whole.
Who will carry out the development?
Our work is guided by our Programme Board, which is
chaired by Maggi Allan. The Board is committed to
involving as many in the education community as
possible in the process. To lead the programme, we are
building up a small national team within the Scottish
Executive Education Department, with seconded
professional advisers and Scottish Executive staff. Wider
partnership is ensured through the direct involvement of
colleagues from LT Scotland, HMIE and the SQA in the
team. The partnership is extended further through the
Curriculum for Excellence coordinators who have been
appointed in all education authorities.
4
We are about to begin looking across the curriculum as it
might be experienced by children, to make sure that, at
whatever age, they will experience challenge and
enjoyment, depth and progression in their learning.
What might it mean for the early years?
Already, settings are supporting children to be successful
learners, confident individuals, effective contributors and
responsible young citizens. The review process allows
us to build on this. We also have an opportunity to bring
together the existing 3–5 and 5–14 guidelines to update
them and ensure there is a smooth transition in what
children learn and also in how they learn. As part of this
we expect to see the extension of many of the
approaches currently used in pre-school settings into the
early years of primary, for example emphasising the
need for purposeful, active learning activities across the
curriculum.
We are working closely with early years colleagues in a
range of partner agencies to develop ways of engaging
all staff in the early years sector in the process. One
approach will be through our Register of Interests. We
are inviting early years centres, schools, clusters,
authorities and others to register their interest in piloting
and developing work from the first phase of the review.
The Register can be accessed via our website,
www.acurriculumforexcellencescotland.gov.uk, and
there will be more information soon.
A reality for every child
learning experiences and methodologies. This means
that much can be accomplished now, by practitioners
asking, ‘What are we doing now to help children to
become successful learners, confident individuals,
effective contributors and responsible citizens?’
Feedback from authorities suggests that colleagues are
finding it challenging and rewarding to reflect in this way
together. We would like every practitioner to have the
opportunity to do this over the coming months, and
there is a ‘starter kit’ on the website which you may find
helpful.
We’ve begun the journey towards making A Curriculum
for Excellence a reality for every child, and we look
forward to having you with us on the journey.
The largest impact of A Curriculum for Excellence for
children in their earliest years will come through excellent
Principles for curriculum design
You might like to think about where each of the following principles applies in the curriculum currently offered in your
establishment.
• Challenges and enjoyment
Young people should find their learning challenging,
engaging and motivating. The curriculum should
encourage high aspirations and ambitions for all. At
all stages, learners of all aptitudes and abilities
should experience an appropriate level of challenge,
to enable each individual to achieve his or her
potential. They should be active in their learning and
have opportunities to develop and demonstrate their
creativity. There should be support to enable young
people to sustain their effort.
• Breadth
All young people should have opportunities for a
broad, suitably weighted range of experiences. The
curriculum should be organised so that they will
learn and develop through a variety of contexts
within both the classroom and other aspects of
school life.
• Progression
Young people should experience continuous
progression in their learning from 3 to 18 within a
single curriculum framework. Each stage should
build upon earlier knowledge and achievements.
Young people should be able to progress at a rate
which meets their needs and aptitudes, and keep
options open so that routes are not closed off too
early.
• Depth
There should be opportunities for young people to
develop their full capacity for different types of
thinking and learning. As they progress, they should
develop and apply increasing intellectual rigour,
drawing different strands of learning together and
exploring and achieving more advanced levels of
understanding.
• Personalisation and choice
The curriculum should respond to individual needs
and support particular aptitudes and talents. It
should give each young person increasing
opportunities for exercising responsible personal
choice as they move through their school career.
Once they have achieved suitable levels of
attainment across a wide range of areas of learning
the choice should become as open as possible.
There should be safeguards to ensure that choices
are soundly based and lead to successful
outcomes.
• Coherence
Taken as a whole, children’s learning activities
should combine to form a coherent experience.
There should be clear links between the different
aspects of young people’s learning, including
opportunities for extended activities which draw
different strands of learning together.
• Relevance
Young people should understand the purposes of
their activities. They should see the value of what
they are learning and its relevance to their lives,
present and future.
(A Curriculum for Excellence: The Curriculum Review
Group, Scottish Executive, 2004)
www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/education/cerv-00.asp
5
A Curriculum for
Excellence –
challenges for
early primary?
Liz Cullen, Senior University Teacher and Coordinator in
Early Childhood Education at the Faculty of Education,
University of Glasgow, poses some questions about
learning in the early stages of primary school.
‘We will therefore set in motion a programme of detailed,
linked work to have significantly decluttered the
curriculum, particularly in key areas of primary, to free up
more time for young people to achieve and to allow
teachers the freedom to exercise judgement on
appropriate learning for young people, by 2007.’
A Curriculum for Excellence: The Curriculum
Review Group, Scottish Executive, 2004
Primary staff will be reassured that one of the stated
implications of the new document will be to declutter the
primary curriculum to give them more opportunity for
teacher autonomy and integration of learning for children
and young people. However, the other key statement in
relation to the early years of primary school is to reinforce
the emphasis on playful learning so that young children
are assured continuity of experience from pre-school to
primary.
‘This will bring the 3 to 5 and 5–14 curriculum guidelines
together to ensure a smooth transition in what children
have learned and also in how they learn. This will mean
extending the approaches which are used in pre-school
into the early years of primary, emphasising the
importance of opportunities for children to learn through
purposeful, well-planned play.’
A Curriculum for Excellence: Ministerial
Response, Scottish Executive, 2004
6
Purposeful, well-planned play
Many early stages teachers have continued to plan for
children’s play. On the whole, the purpose of the play has
been mostly predetermined, with staff using the play as
an opportunity to reinforce pre-existing outcomes in
maths or language or other curricular areas. It is common
to see a shop area or office or doctor’s surgery where the
space and resources have been arranged to allow
children to practise various strands or single outcomes.
Teachers use such opportunities to see the play in
learning – they decide what is to be learned and then
plan the play to support it.
However, A Curriculum for Excellence is suggesting that
primary school play needs to move beyond such narrow
interpretation and provide a balance between adultinitiated play and that which is initiated by children, as is
more common in the early years settings. In the latter
case, the learning is in the play, while the role of the adult
is to observe and record the learning outcomes which the
child displays. In the first weeks in the primary classroom,
it would be particularly illuminating for staff to observe
children at play to gain valuable insights into their needs,
interests, language and confidence in new situations.
From this basis, the adults can interpret how best to
support the learning demonstrated by the child – with no
direct intervention other than ongoing observation and/or
intervention at a later stage or to offer additional adult or
peer interaction, resources, time or space. In this type of
play, the children will lead and the adult will accompany
them on their learning journey. The High/Scope approach
emphasises the importance of reviewing children’s
learning with them after their play to discuss what choices
they had, which they chose, the consequences
of their decisions and any alternatives they (or
their peers) could have selected.
Central to effective learning and teaching
Such child-directed play demands a responsive
and sensitive environment for learning and
teaching. It places play as a central
methodology for effective learning and teaching
– not an add-on or option when other more
formal work is completed. There is no doubt that
higher child–adult ratios in the primary
classroom create more challenge for
practitioners but this may be addressed within
existing additional staff quotas, involvement of
fully prepared parents and giving more
responsibility to the children themselves within
safe limits. Indeed, the transfer of ‘control’ or
direction to the children allows them to engage
more meaningfully in cross-curricular aspects of
the curriculum such as citizenship and problem
solving. Children’s play can provide them with
authentic contexts for real decision making:
expressing their views and working through
appropriate strategies alone and with others.
Play can give our children the ‘permission’ to try
out their views of the world, to take account of
the views of others and to extend their own
understanding and learning. If children are given
opportunities to make decisions and take
responsibility from the earliest stages, they will
be able to do so with increasing confidence and
competence.
Making A Curriculum for Excellence a
reality
A Curriculum for Excellence challenges us to
place play firmly at the heart of our planning for
children in the early primary stages and in doing
so, to share in their enjoyment and learning. The
child is central to achievement – we need to
address the balance between the adult’s role
and that of the child. It promotes a closer
collaboration and sharing of good practice
across the pre-school and school sectors in the
best interests of the children. It asks us to
evaluate our personal view – do we see play in
the learning we plan or do we offer children
opportunities for play to show us what they wish
and can do? This is a question central to
preparing to move forward in our sectors’
contributions to making A Curriculum for
Excellence a reality in practice in addition to
principle.
Just playing?
Because of the relevance and motivation of play to children, play
must pervade how teachers present learning activities, not sit as
an uncomfortable and somewhat suspect activity in itself.
Janet Moyles, Just Playing? The role and status of play in
early childhood education, OU Press, 1989
Is play a serious business? The word creates a reaction in most of
us, and often a value judgement, that play is something frivolous,
an unimportant add-on, the opposite of work, in fact. Perhaps we
need to redefine clearly what we mean by ‘play’, particularly if we
want to ensure it has a value within primary schools.
What are some of the central qualities of play?
• Play is the start of self-directed learning.
• It often involves open-ended ‘stories’.
• It often involves working through and interpreting narrative.
• It helps to develop understandings of social systems and how
to take part in them.
• It organises life’s experiences and involves working out and
negotiating what these mean.
• It helps children to develop theories and their own thinking.
Play sometimes needs direct involvement from adults, but often it
does not. We need to find ways of supporting children’s
development and learning, using play as the vehicle. Any narrow
conceptualisation of play fails to do justice to the powerful
contribution play makes, and ensures that play continues to be
‘probably one of the least understood aspects of an early
childhood educator’s work’. (Tina Bruce, Developing Learning in
Early Childhood, 0–8 Years, Paul Chapman, 2004)
Juliet Hancock, Development Officer, Early Years
7
The Children of Sanday Nursery produced this artwork after
We found dune grass that was ‘sharp’,
‘spiky, like a hedgehog’, ‘scruffy’, ‘swishy
swashy’.
We found mud that was ‘quite firm’, ‘very
wet’, ‘shallow’ and . . .
Then we talked about ‘Wheat Field with
Crows’ by Van Gogh, projected the image
onto a large sheet of paper and used finger
paints to copy it.
Back in the nursery we experimented
making mud with compost and with clay. It
was very messy.
Then we talked about paintings by Jackson
Pollock and thought they looked like
‘splashes of mud’. We made our own splashy
pictures by using a pipette to squirt black
paint onto the paper. Then we dragged
string through the paint.
And then we made our own paintings.
to see the complete PowerPoint presentation go
to www.LTScotland.org.uk/earlyyearsmatters
88
looking for the bear in grass, mud, water, forest and caves
We worked together to make a large
squirty picture.
It was very messy . . .
We filmed water and saw ‘reflections’,
‘light’, ‘sparkle water’, ‘ripples’, ‘shining
moving’, ‘splishy splashy swishing’, ‘bubbling’,
‘plop’. Then we talked about ‘Water Lilies
(The Clouds)’ by Claude Monet.
We placed strips of tissue paper over one
of our black and white photographs and
sprayed on lots of water.
Then we tried mud ball painting which also
got messier . . .
Then we looked to see how Monet had used
lines of paint to show the ripples and
reflections in the water in ‘Bathing at La
Grenouillère’ and then . . .
We painted with our hands, our feet and
our bodies.
9
We made a reflection collage and found . . .
We visited the forest and saw ‘knobbly
trees’, ‘branches that were long, straight
and tall’, ‘sharp and spiky leaves’, ‘floppy and
soft leaves’. Some trees were ‘brown and
had no leaves at all’. Some trees ‘poked up
into the sky’. Some were ‘crissy crossy – like
a spider’s web’.
We made a leaf collage and then used chalks
and charcoal . . .
We used the whiteboard and a paint
program
After we talked about lots of paintings of
trees. . .
and chalk
to paint more water lilies.
10
The Bear Hunt was recorded on video by the
children and at the end of the project primaries 1, 2
and 3 played percussion and the nursery children
sang and marched while their video film was
projected onto the wall in the school hall to show
their work to the local community.
Further information can be found on
www.LTScotland.org.uk/earlyyearsmatters
When we visited the caves we saw ‘beautiful
coloured rocks’, ‘red and green rocks’,
beautiful shapes’, ‘lovely patterns’, and
thought that ‘some stones looked like bears’.
We went inside some caves, where it was
very dark.
‘Is it a bear?’
11
Music matters
– a lot
Euan Crabb, an instrumental instructor with Moray
Council, writes about a music programme he is
developing. He can be contacted on
escrabb195@aol.com
Music can have a subconscious effect on us.
Supermarkets invested millions of pounds in research to
find out if music could be used to influence the customer’s
choice. It was found that playing classical music resulted
in the customers buying the more expensive brands.
Think of the last thriller that you watched and reflect on
whether the fast, exciting music had you eating your
crisps quicker. The influence of music should never be
underestimated.
Right from birth (and some would argue before), music
stimulates children and this can be clearly seen in their
reactions and responses to music and sounds: different
styles of music will produce different responses. Through
observation of their gestures and expressions, we can
gauge the effect music is having on the child.
A well-focused approach
Music can stimulate both the linguistic and the numeric
regions of the brain and studies prove that following a
course in music, the development of both these
functions improves. It is, therefore, vitally important to
have a well-focused and educational approach when
using music in early years settings.
Many studies show the effect music can have on our ability
to learn, yet little emphasis has been given to the use of
music in early years settings. It is not easy to fit in everything that children need to help them develop; therefore
priorities have to be made and it could be that music is a
subject not everyone is comfortable dealing with.
Using simple songs with movements can help develop
linguistic, numeric and gross and fine motor skills.
Opportunities for improvisation can be built in to a focused
programme, thus allowing children to become more
expressive and musically aware. Using a well-balanced
and focused programme of music, such as the Kodaly
and Dalcroze methods, means children will have a better
opportunity to develop the skills they need in later life.
However, in music there is a well-founded opportunity to
encompass a whole spectrum of learning into one or two
half-hour sessions per week. Can we really afford not to?
Flexible programme
The programme of music I have developed uses a limited
vocal range, making it easily accessible for the children to
take part in. There are many opportunities for the children
to develop gross motor skills through moving and
expressing themselves to the pulse of the music.
Like all programmes, there has to be a huge amount of
flexibility to allow the children to learn at their own speed
and for groups of mixed abilities to be kept focused
within the same lesson. Every song can be firstly sung,
and then different activities can be added to create a
fairly complex exercise. Many of the ideas come from the
children themselves.
Giving opportunities to allow the children to decide what
they are to do and how they are to do it gives them
ownership of the lesson and a sense of leadership. Even
letting them take a turn at beating a drum in time to the
song encourages turn taking, while being enjoyable at
the same time. This also teaches them some basic
musical concepts such as the difference between pulse
and rhythm.
All the material is topic-related, so it provides more
resource material to enhance the early years curriculum.
The topics are very general, such as weather, people
who help, transport and holidays.
Involving very young children
I have extended the programme to include a baby room
for babies and children aged 6 months to 2 years. The
method used here is very different but still educational
through the use of songs designed to stimulate
recognition of things like features, colours and objects.
So far the results have been very good and the babies,
mine included, show a great deal of focus during a 10minute session.
Perhaps a key factor in the success of any programme of
study is repetition and regularity. The staff of New Friends
Nursery have been very good at following up the lessons
and some have even found music to be an enjoyable
experience.
12
Birth to Three: supporting relationships,
responsive care and respect
www.LTScotland.org.uk/earlyyears
‘Birth to Three: supporting our youngest
children provides guidance for all those
working with our youngest children and these
new materials are an important step in
supporting its implementation.’
Robert Brown, Deputy Minister for
Education
New staff development resource for birth to
three
Birth to Three: supporting relationships, responsive care
and respect has been developed by Learning and
Teaching Scotland on behalf of the Scottish Executive
Education Department in direct response to the
consultation on the national guidance, Birth to Three:
supporting our youngest children. There was a strong
desire to see these three key features further exemplified
‘in action’.
The new staff development pack illustrates some
approaches to relationships, responsive care and
respect, and brings them to life through the use of a DVD
and an accompanying pack of training materials.
Who is the resource for and how can it be used?
This new resource will be of interest to all those who
work with children and families, particularly those who
have a training remit and work in support of other staff.
The resource has been designed to be flexible, so that it
can be customised and personalised by group leaders,
added to and adapted according to the skills, experience
and context of the individuals they are working with.
Notes for group leaders detail ways of doing this and
include useful information on how to plan, facilitate and
make the most of each training session.
What’s in the resource?
Sessions with intriguing titles such as Peek-a-boo,
Funny Foam, My New Baby and How Are You Today?
are included, which can be used individually for short,
informal sessions, or clustered for more substantial
in-service or training courses. The sessions vary in
length from one to four hours. Activity sheets which
can be photocopied support the sessions, and for
each session one or more sections of the DVD
are recommended.
All the examples in the pack recognise and value the
important role of parents, as having a deep
understanding of their own child from which others need
to learn. The activities in the pack encourage deep
thought and reflection about genuine working with
parents as valued and respected partners.
Drawing on Scotland’s national guidance for birth to
three, the new resource also makes clear links with the
National Care Standards in early education and care up
to the age of 16 and suggests useful further reading and
relevant websites throughout.
Extracts from the pack can be downloaded from
www.LTScotland.org.uk/earlyyears/birthtothree/
supportpack/index.asp#0 For any further information
on LT Scotland’s work on birth to three, please
contact Juliet Hancock, Early Years Development
Officer, Emerging Trends, e-mail:
j.hancock@LTScotland.org.uk
To order a copy of Birth to Three: supporting
relationships, responsive care and respect, contact
Customer Services, tel: 08700 100 297; e-mail:
enquiries@LTScotland.org.uk. Free within Scotland
to local authorities, partner providers and voluntary
organisations, there is a charge of £40 plus postage
and packing for distribution outwith Scotland.
13
National Bookstart Day celebrations
The sixth National Bookstart Day was held on 7 October
2005. In Scotland the theme for the day was the Teddy
Bears’ Picnic and hundreds of bears and their ‘owners’
took part in the day. The main event was held in the
Scottish Parliament, with a special Bookstart Rhymetime
held for parents and babies. A definite first for the
building! Other events included an enormous tartanthemed picnic with Scots rhymes in Glasgow’s Hillhead
Library.
All children who took part in the events received a free
Bookstart rhyme sheet, featuring old favourites such as
‘Twinkle, Twinkle’, ‘The Bear Went over the Mountain’
and ‘Row, Row, Row your Boat’, enabling parents to
sing these rhymes again and again within the home.
Most of the youngsters taking part were under 1 year
old and, through Bookstart, were already familiar with
books, songs and rhymes, setting firm foundations for
the rest of their language development.
Bookstart in Scotland also
held its first conference on
21 September. Background
research into Bookstart and
the importance of book
sharing from infancy were
fully discussed, along with
practical ways in which
professionals could
incorporate this work
locally.
For copies of research
summaries, or to find out
more about Bookstart in
your area, please contact Caroline McLeod, Coordinator
for Bookstart in Scotland on 0131 5567990 or e-mail
carolinemcleod@dsl.pipex.com
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multicultural teaching team
kiddiesville
The Kiddiesville website isn’t just for kids. It’s an
excellent resource for parents, teachers – in fact
anyone who works with or looks after children.
Based around the character-filled Kiddiesville football
team, the site promotes cultural equality to children
aged between 3 and 8.
At kiddiesvillefc.com you’ll find plenty of engaging
materials including stories, songs, games and
competitions all reflecting positively on our
multicultural society.
14
fc
We can also visit you and your children with the
Kiddiesville Roadshow. It really brings Kiddiesville to
life, with characters to meet and fun activities
to enjoy.
We want to offer the most useful content for everyone
involved with young children, and of course for the
kids themselves. Your feedback in this area is crucial,
so please visit kiddiesvillefc.com and share any
comments or suggestions with Natalie Neilson at
natalie.neilson@scotland.gsi.gov.uk
Experience early years outdoors with
Grounds for Learning
We all know that children have the right to experience and enjoy the essential and special
nature of being outdoors. Young children thrive and their minds and bodies develop best
when they have free access to stimulating outdoor environments for learning through play
and real experiences.
But do you know about Grounds for Learning (GfL)?
GfL is the school grounds charity for Scotland, with significant experience in helping
schools and early years settings use and develop their grounds to promote positive play,
learning and growth. ‘Outdoor
learning and play is vital to every
child’s development,’ said Penny
Martin of GfL. ‘That’s why we
campaign and deliver better outdoor
opportunities for all children and
young people in education and
childcare.’
If you would like to know more about
GfL and what the charity is doing for
early years in Scotland, visit www.
gflscotland.org.uk, e-mail Penny on
p.j.martin@stir.ac.uk or give her a
call on 01786 445922.
Special offer from
Sherston for early years
Learning and Teaching Scotland has negotiated a
special offer with Sherston software that allows early
years establishments in Scotland to purchase two of
Sherston’s brand-new titles at a reduced price of
£20.00 (excluding VAT and postage and packing),
which is a saving of £39.90 on the normal price.
Tizzy’s Busy Week helps to extend basic computer
knowledge and mouse control skills, while Izzy’s Story
Skills: Goldilocks and the Three Bears supports and
encourages young children in their own storytelling.
This offer is only available until 30 November 2005.
To purchase these titles please send your order to LT
Scotland with an official purchase order. For further
information on these products please go to
www.sherston.com or call LT Scotland’s Customer
Services on 08700 100 297.
Childminders’
review
and events
The Care Commission will be launching a Review
of Childminding Services early in 2006, looking
at the overall quality of care delivered by the
childminding sector in Scotland. Following this,
there will be events for childminders and parents
in spring 2006 to discuss the findings of the
review.
If you have views on how these events should
be run, and how we can maximise participation
by the people who use and provide these
services, please contact Emma Dempsey
on 01382 207138 or e-mail
emma.dempsey@carecommission.com.
Information on the Care Commission can be
found at www.carecommission.com.
www.LTScotland.org.uk/earlyyears
15
European Early Childhood Education Research
Association (EECERA) 2005 Conference
From 31 August to 3 September 2005, over 500 delegates from 44 countries attended the EECERA conference in Dublin.
The conference theme was ‘Young Children as Citizens:
Identity, Belonging, Participation’ and keynote speakers
from Ireland, Sweden, Italy and the USA addressed
delegates on:
On reflection
It was an intense four days – even the informal sessions
over meals were used to discuss and share information
about national and international developments. There
was considerable interest in practice in Scotland.
•
the need to rethink conceptions of childhood and
citizenship when these are brought together
•
pedagogical practices of serious listening, dialogue,
invention and documentation moving towards
diversity, difference, and learning from the child
•
the ‘pedagogy of listening’ requires listening with all
our senses – and includes hearing the silences
•
the importance of responding to, and respecting, the
classical philosophical questions children ask
The Eecera conference is an excellent forum for
networking. Following on from Eecera in Malta 2004,
LTScotland early years staff were able to put the Maltese
Department for Family Welfare in touch with Scotland’s
Care Commission. This has resulted in the commission’s
first formal link with a regulator outside the UK, with a
series of visits from Maltese staff to Scotland later this
year, hosted by the Care Commission.
•
what recognition of the rights of young children
means for our practice.
Further information can be found on the conference
website: www.eecera2005.org/start.htm
Scottish involvement
More than 20 delegates attended from Scotland, many
presenting papers on their research. In total there were
over 400 papers presented and for Juliet Hancock and
Eileen Carmichael, attending from LT Scotland, choosing
which symposium to attend was difficult. However, there
was no doubt that the same concerns in early childhood
education are arising around the world:
•
How best can adults support young children’s
learning and development?
•
How best can adults support young children as
citizens of today?
Birth to Three
Attention to the experiences of very young children is
growing worldwide, evidenced by an increasing number
of research papers looking at children under three. Many
positive references were made to the recent LT Scotland
publication Birth to Three: supporting our youngest
children by speakers from around the world.
As a manager of a training organisation the key
message I have taken from this conference is to
look for ways to ensure that learning practitioners
and new trainees/students embrace the concept of
the child of ‘now’ – a citizen of today.
Sandra Tucker, Highland and Moray
Accredited Training Services
16
The EECERA conference provided a tremendous
opportunity to listen to emerging trends in early years
education and childcare from respected research
throughout Europe (and beyond).
For Highland Pre-school Services it gave us a natural
arena to benchmark our own work against the range
of current and developing practices. We were able to
look closely at training, policies and issues of gender
balance. Now the challenge is to move forward with
this additional information and the added scope for
developing exciting possible partnerships!
Importantly for us as a voluntary organisation, the
message of ‘educating the community’ was
particularly strong.
Oh, and before I forget, we also managed to book our
keynote speaker for next year’s AGM. Anyone
interested in hearing Jack McGovern, from Penn
Graduate School of Education, University of
Pennsylvania? Visit the Highlands next September.
Ann Brady, Chief Executive, Highland
Pre-school Services – The Association for Early Years
Groups in Highland and Moray
The 2006 EECERA conference will be held in Iceland and
the theme will be Culture and Diversity.
SETT 2005 –
another
successful learning
festival
With some 5000 education personnel gathering at the
SECC in September, this year’s Scottish Learning
Festival was the biggest ever.
Keynote and Spotlight speakers, national and international, urged us to think about learning and teaching in
the future. The pace of change is rapid now but what will
it be like when children starting school this year reach
retirement age?
Seminars, following a variety of pathways, covered the
range of educational interests in Scotland. The Early
Years pathway was particularly popular.
New this year were Round Table discussions, which
allowed further exploration of particular topics.
Martin Jack, Head of Professional Development at LT
Scotland said, ‘By far and away, SETT is the best
professional development opportunity in Scotland for all
engaged in education.’
The date for your calendar for SETT 2006 is
20–21 September.
Education for Citizenship
Learning and Teaching Scotland
is holding three regional
conferences for early years managers and staff
responsible for the early primary. These one-day
events (in Aberdeen on 2 December 2005, Glasgow
on 20 January 2006, and Edinburgh on 27 January
2006) will highlight new developments in education
for citizenship. Keynote speakers and workshops will
demonstrate the connections with other important
cross-cutting themes such as enterprise and inclusion
in the context of A Curriculum for Excellence. The
conference is aimed at headteachers, nursery
managers, nursery and primary school teachers,
childcare partnership officers and others responsible
for coordinating the curriculum.
Places will be allocated only by nominations from
local authorities. Enquiries about the conference
should be addressed to Margaret Paterson,
Development Officer, Citizenship, by e-mail to
m.paterson@LTScotland.org.uk or by telephone to
0141 337 5163.
Enterprise in education
Enterprise in education is relevant to every young
person in Scotland. It takes account of their learning
experiences in the family and community as well as
in early years establishments, schools and colleges.
It contributes to the personal growth of children, can
enhance their life chances and choices and
important links can be made with other whole school
themes such as education for citizenship and health
promoting schools.
Early years education has always been concerned
with developing the personal qualities and
capabilities of young children. Developing confident
individuals and responsible citizens has been as
important as promoting successful learners and
effective contributors. Enterprise in education can
help ensure that children and young people acquire
these attitudes, skills, knowledge and values.
To help rise to the challenge to which every sector
must respond, Learning and Teaching Scotland has
published two documents,
towards
a curriculu
m for exce
Excellence through Enterprise:
llence
National Guidance –
Enterprise in Education and
excellenc
Focusing on Enterprise in
e through
enterpris
e
Education: A Paper for
Professional Reflection. The
documents have been
distributed to all schools
and early years centres.
SUCCES
CONFIDE
NT INDIVIDU
ALS
SFUL LEA
RNERS
National
Guidanc
e: Enterp
rise in Edu
cation
Excellence through
Enterprise offers guidance
on the way forward for
enterprise in education in
Scotland within the context
of the values, purposes
and principles of A
Curriculum for Excellence.
towards a
cu
SUCCES
FIDENT INDI
VIDU
rriculum CON
for excelle ALS
RS
nce
SFUL LEA
RNE
Focu
ente sing on
in educraptrise
ion
A Paper
for Profe
ssion
al Reflecti
on
Focusing on Enterprise in
Education is designed to
stimulate further
constructive developments
in enterprise in education. It exemplifies key
ideas and provides educators with resources for
professional reflection to allow them to evaluate
present practice both individually and cooperatively
with colleagues.
www.LTScotland.org.uk/enterpriseineducation
www.LTScotland.org.uk/citizenship
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Health for All Children 4: Guidance
on Implementation in Scotland 2005
The opportunity to develop the individual roles of primary care, health promotion, nursery, childcare and school staff will
be key to implementing Health for All Children 4 (known as Hall 4).
A clear core programme
Involving a range of professionals
The Scottish Executive has published guidance on
implementation of the fourth edition of Health for All
Children 4 (Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health
report, 2003). It provides a framework for connecting the
range of different policies and spheres of activity that
support children and young people’s health and
development in the early years and beyond. It sets out a
clear core programme of child health contacts that every
family can expect, wherever they live in Scotland. But it
also recognises that individual families are different, and
that we must be flexible and innovative if we want to
ensure that all families are able to access and benefit from
the advice, support and services that are available to them.
The framework set out in Hall 4 is firmly rooted in the
need for an integrated approach to the delivery of
services and support for children and families. The
guidance is therefore for the range of professionals who
work with children and families, including social workers,
family support workers, community learning development
workers, and practitioners in state and independent
sector schools and early years settings, as well as staff in
NHS Scotland who plan, commission and provide care
and treatment for children.
The core programme of contacts, offered to all families,
will provide the basis for assessing the needs of
individual families for additional contacts and supports:
•
additional support from the health visitor as agreed
with the family
•
intensive structured inter-agency support for
individual families or communities.
The Hall 4 child health programme reflects a move away
from a wholly medical model of screening for disorders,
towards greater emphasis on health promotion, primary
prevention and targeting effort on active intervention for
children and families at risk.
Involving pre-school and school staff
Pre-school and child care centres and schools are ideally
placed to support children and families in adopting
healthy lifestyles, through activity embedded in the
curriculum and through wider community activity.
The Hall 4 proposals recognise the regular contact that
children and families have with other professionals in, for
example, pre-school or family centres, and highlight a
need to draw more effectively on these, by providing
increased support and ensuring that there are clear
routes for liaison, consultation and referral to health
professionals when there are concerns about a child.
NHS boards and local authorities have been asked to
collaborate to ensure that early years and childcare staff
receive appropriate training and support to capitalise on
opportunities for interaction with parents at key points in
the early years. As part of this, NHS boards have been
asked to allocate a named health visitor or school nurse
to each school and early years establishment.
What’s happening now
NHS boards have been asked to work with local authority
planning partners, in the context of integrated children’s
services planning, to establish a development plan for
implementation of the guidance, aiming for full
implementation by 2008. The development plans are
expected to include arrangements to support, train and
develop staff across agencies in delivering Hall 4,
including inter-agency training and development
opportunities.
The full guidance can be found on www.scotland.gov.
uk/Publications/2005/04/15161325/13269
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Physical activity in
the early years
Health Scotland update
Ready Steady Baby! – our core publication that goes to
all mums during their pregnancy – is being updated and
redesigned. The new version is on schedule to be ready
in summer 2006. We are now in the process of
commissioning a partner publication that will cover
toddler parenting issues and pick up where Ready
Steady Baby! leaves off, giving parents practical advice
on how to deal with their toddler.
www.hebs.com/readysteadybaby/index.htm
Adventures in Foodland still remains as popular as ever
and will prove a useful practical guide once the Scottish
Executive finalises and launches its Nutritional Guidance
for Early Years.
Health Scotland recently launched Fun First Foods
– An easy guide to introducing solid foods.
We know that children’s health in the early years can
influence their health all through life. Good nutrition gives
children the best start in life and parents and carers have
an important role to play in helping their children develop
a taste for healthy eating.
Physical activity and movement in the widest sense are
known to be important – but just how active are our
young children? What do we mean by physical activity?
And to what extent do children’s experiences in their early
years allow them to be active?
Learning and Teaching Scotland has been commissioned
by the Scottish Executive Education Department to carry
out work in relation to physical activity in the early years.
A literature review is about to commence, which will
examine what we know about how physical activity
impacts on children’s personal, social, emotional and
cognitive development, as well as why movement is
important in its own right.
This review and an accompanying trawl for information
from local authorities and other organisations are the first
stages of taking forward this important work.
This area is being developed as part of the ongoing work
in Emerging Trends in Early Education. For further
information, contact Juliet Hancock, Early Years
Development Officer, Emerging Trends. Tel: 01382
443664; e-mail: j.hancock@LTScotland.org.uk
Fun First Foods provides up-to-date advice and
information and gives parents and carers practical ideas
for weaning, covering:
•
the stages of weaning, from getting started right
through to mini-meals
•
recipes and meal ideas to kick-start healthy eating
•
caring for baby’s teeth
•
suitable drinks
•
food safety
•
allergies
•
where to get further information.
Extra copies of the leaflet are available from your local
NHS Board health promotion department free of charge.
You can also download the leaflet at
www.healthscotland.com.
www.LTScotland.org.uk/earlyyears
19
Saturday Seminar:
Listening to Children:
in Conversation with Kathleen Marshall,
Linda Kinney and Peter Moss
The second in the series of Early Years Saturday
Seminars will be held by Learning and Teaching
Scotland on 5 November 2005, at the Royal Concert
Hall, Glasgow.
The Saturday Seminars, held in May and November
each year, are designed to encourage debate and
discussion on key topics within the early years
community, through presentations, debate and
conversations with the audience.
Attendance will count towards continuing professional
development entitlement.
Delegates attending the November event will get the
opportunity to engage with Kathleen Marshall, Scotland’s
first Commissioner for Children and Young People, Linda
Kinney, Head of Service in Stirling Council Children’s
Services, and Peter Moss, Professor of Early Childhood
Provision at the Thomas Coram Institute.
Booking a place
The second in this series of seminars follows on from the
very well received May seminar, which had delegates
from a wide range of backgrounds and was completely
sold out. To book a place at the November seminar,
complete the booking form at www.LTScotland.org.uk/
earlyyears or contact Customer Services, tel: 08700 100
297; e-mail: enquiries@LTScotland.org.uk
The conversations that take place at the November
seminar will be used to form the second in the
Perspectives on the Early Years series, Let’s Talk about
Listening to Children. The first Perspectives paper, Let’s
Talk about Pedagogy, is available from Customer
Services at LT Scotland.
We look forward to seeing you in November!
Feedback!
We’re moving!
Want to comment on any item in this newsletter?
Why not use the Discussion Forum on
www.LTScotland.org.uk/earlyyears/
eydiscussionforum.asp or contact
Eileen Carmichael, Early Years Development Officer,
on e.carmichael@LTScotland.org.uk
Learning and Teaching Scotland is moving office in
Glasgow. From early 2006 the Glasgow office will be
at The Optima Building, 58 Robertson Street,
Glasgow G2 8JD. Tel: 08700 100 297
Learning and Teaching Scotland, 74 Victoria Crescent Road, Glasgow G12 9JN Tel: 0141 337 5000 Fax: 0141 337 5050
Learning and Teaching Scotland, Gardyne Road, Dundee, DD5 1NY Tel: 01382 443600 Fax: 01382 443645/6
www.LTScotland.org.uk e: enquiries@LTScotland.org.uk
20
Customer Services Tel: 08700 100 297 Fax: 08700 100 298