Engelska Förskolan
Preschool
Work plan 2013
Introduction
Administrative Documents:
The UN Convention on the rights of the child, the School Act (1985: 1100), curriculum for the preschool (Lpfö 98) (revised 2010), General advice and comments, quality in preschool, Stockholm City
Förskoleplan (2009), English for the school's educational profile, local business plan.
Introduction
Engelska Förskolan has one head teacher, who is responsible for the whole pedagogical development
of the preschool and is striving towards the objectives laid down in the Swedish Preschool
Curriculum.
The staff shall have adequate training to work with children aged 1 to 5 years and/or corresponding
adequate experience.
There shall be not more than 60 children in 4 departments, 2, 3 or 4 staff in each department, of
which at least one is a trained preschool teacher. Staffing levels in the younger children's groups will
be 1 staff per 4 children and in the older groups 1 staff per 6 children. We see the importance of
small groups and high staff ratio for our youngest children – in which we can provide the care and
educational incentives they need to start their lifelong learning with joy and curiosity.
Departments
Little Stars: Twelve 1-3 year olds, 3 educators
Mars: Twelve 1-3 year olds, 3 educators
Saturn: Eighteen 3-5 year olds, 3 educators
Mercury: Eighteen 3-5 year olds, 3 educators
During the week, the children have the opportunity to work on projects in smaller groups. These will
be partly age homogenous groups but also based on the needs and interests of the children.
General Approach
At Engelska Förskolan, we want to support, encourage and challenge children, offer them a lifelong
learning, based on each child's unique abilities and interests, based on the objectives of the Swedish
Preschool Curriculum. At Engelska Förskolan, we form a team with the parents to supplement the
children's development at home, provide them with care and security, support and guidance in their
development and learning, as well as helping them develop a sense of responsibility and empathy.
We want to stimulate children’s enthusiasm to explore, giving them the chance to discover their
environment. The foundation to do this is based in our knowledge of children and their learning
processes. Children learn in interaction with others and therefore we put great emphasis that the
group is a real asset in every child's life.
The Reggio Emilia Approach will influence us in our way of seeing the child as competent and with
rights to the support and encouragement they need. The learning environment, both indoors and
outdoors, we see as an educational tool and will be evaluated regularly in order to be able to offer
the children an educational environment that is stimulating, challenging and accessible to all. Reggio
Emilia pedagogy will inspire teachers to explore the world together with children and with each
other. Employees are seen as an important resource and should be able to share their competence
and experience with their colleagues, which means that we learn from each other. We will discuss
the latest research in early childhood education and development together and adapt it to the
children's needs at Engelska Förskolan. Our staff will attend training in order to enhance their
understanding of this pedagogical approach.
At Engelska Förskolan children may experience the world through two languages, English and
Swedish. Language will be a focal point. Once a term, we will have a week where we conduct
interviews with the children and analyze their languages. We use this analysis to better support each
child in their language development and ensuring that both Swedish and English develops positively
by changing activities and small group constellations as needed. We take support from the Swedish
School Authority (1998) which describes three levels of second language development in Susanne
Benckert "To observe and assess multilingual children in Swedish school" in Monica Axelssons book
(1999) Bilingual children and school success – diversity as resource, Språkforsknings institutet,
Stockholm
Teachers will support the children in their development of more than one language at the same time.
The setting and the local environment
Engelska Förskolans address is Döbelnsgatan 52, Stockholm. The setting is situated on a very quiet
part of the street, where Döbelnsgatan ends and Vanadislunden begins. The setting is located on the
ground floor and is light and airy with many skylights that lets in natural light, with a ceiling height of
4 metres and a setting size 455 sqm. There are 4 rooms for rest and quiet activities, a large hall for
educational games, and activities, and a receiving kitchen. The preschool has access to a private yard.
Not far from the preschool is the beautiful Vanadislunden with large green areas and playgrounds.
The four rooms will be used as a meeting place for the four departments but otherwise, each room
has its own character.
1.
Library – The home room for the Saturn group is a place where children can learn about the
world and the cultures within it. It is also a quiet place where all our children can sit and read
books together with a teacher and themselves.
2. Little Lab – The home of the Little Stars department and a place for experiments and design
targeted at the younger children. Duplo, bricks, access to the light table, and tables to
perform other activities. The small children get a chance to build and experiment on their
own terms. The room is also used in the rest time for the older children who need simpler
stories for their language development.
3.
The Big Lab — The Mercury group use this room to meet and explore through play. A similar
place as Small Lab directed towards the older children at preschool. Lego, bricks, access to
the light table and tables to document, etc. The children are challenged more here, as well as
the opportunity to build high/complex designs without the risk that they will be knocked
over by younger children who still have great need to build and knock over as part of their
learning.
4.
The Movement Room – The Mars group has their home here and it is a place where children
can learn with their whole body. Here is the opportunity for gross motor training, with
movement/dance/yoga sessions and materials to stimulate balance, coordination, rythym,
and hearing through music. The room is also used for the children who want to sleep a while.
5.
The main hall is divided into three areas with low shelves in order to preserve the wonderful
open feeling but to reduce running indoors. Movable walls allow experimentation with space
and dynamics.
i. dining area as well as games, puzzle and drawing
ii. role play – where children may practice their social skills. The area is
changed after interest, sometimes it will be like a home, sometimes a shop
or hospital even a jungle or beach.
iii. Art-studio – a well-equipped studio to offer children the opportunity to
experiment with different materials and inspire their creativity.
Aims

To maintain a secure environment.

Language development in children, both Swedish and English.

To strive towards higher standards of pedagogy through reflection, evaluation and skills
improvement.

To continue the practices and traditions of Engelska Förskolan.
Setting-specific objectives
Multiculturalism and equal value
We want to teach the children to respect everyone's differences and similarities as well as
understand self-respect and respect for others. Children from other backgrounds than the Swedish
will be able to develop their cultural identity and their mother tongue. During an academic year, we
will ensure that all cultures represented at the preschool has at least one opportunity to be
celebrated leaving their trace at the setting.
Language Development: We want to help children develop their capacity for communication,
symbolic thinking and imagination. By playful educational activities with the children, the Swedish
and English languages will be put into context. We will have daily story time – this is to support
children's language development for all children who do not have English or Swedish as their native
language and to be an inclusive school.
By having bilingual staff we can introduce English to the children in daily activities and build on it.
When the time comes for the children to start school we want children to have a good command of
both Swedish and English, so that parents can easily select a school regardless of the school's
language.
Emotional Development: We want to help the children understand different emotions, their own and
of others and to be able to express them in various forms.
Individuality: We want to help children develop a good self-esteem, independence, and sense of
responsibility. They will be able to express emotion, creativity, make choices and be able to take the
initiative.
Empathy: We want to help children understand their environment, their fellow human beings and
themselves.
Security: We want to help children to have confidence with the other children and staff and to know
the premises and local environment
Curiosity: We want to help children develop their ability to play, learn and create. We will encourage
children to discover and use mathematics and simple scientific phenomena in natural contexts. We
want to help the children to be able to ask many questions.
Social Development: We want to help the children to constructively interact with other children, to
learn to acquire, and keep friends, to appreciate and respect the different cultures.
Cooperation: We want to help children learn to cooperate by play, communication, and group
activities. We want to help them develop the ability to handle conflicts.
Participation: we want to give children the opportunity to express their views and to influence their
day.
Responsibilities: We want to teach the children how their actions affect their environment. Children
must learn to take responsibility for shared materials and toys.
Gross and fine motor skills: We want to help our children develop good eye-hand coordination,
balance, and body perception through sport, play and dance and creative activities.
Nature: We want to teach the children a respectful and considerate attitude towards nature.
Evaluation:
The quality of work will be judged by how well it is working against the national targets, as well as
how well it is striving, and achieving continuous improvement.
The systematic quality work involves, amongst other things, that staff at the end of each school year,
evaluate and improve our local plan, which has its basis in the governing documents, previous year's
local assessment and quality accounting. The local plan shall be assessed continuously, on a weekly,
termly and yearly basis, through continuous discussion in the work team, with parents and children.
In addition, there will be individual development talks with the parents, the children will participate
in surveys. Questions will stem from the governing documents. For the youngest children, staff
observations of children's preferences and development, and parent survey will be the basis for
evaluation.
Planning Time is scheduled each week for planning. The preschool shall be closed by at 15: 00 one
day per month and two days per term in order to facilitate joint planning and evaluation.
Staff must have an employee development talk with the head teacher every school year. Before the
talk, the staff member will receive information about what will be discussed. The employee also has
the opportunity to raise points that he/she would like to discuss. During the conversation notes will
be taken, and a protocol that both the employee and the head teacher approves will be kept on file.
These will then be locked up. At the next development talk there will be a recap of the previous
meeting. The head teacher has other individual talks when needed eg. Prior to development talks
and schooling-in, or in situations where a child is in need of special assistance.
Occupational safety and health shall be evaluated in different ways – both from a pedagogical point
of view but also in the form of safety control. The safety control takes place once a year and a
protocol shall be typed after the control and filed. Remarks (if any) are addressed as quickly as
possible, but certainly within a reasonable period of time.
By evaluating each month at the staff meeting we see how we can improve our working methods and
the areas we should invest in further education. We view that all staff training promotes the quality
for all at Engelska Förskolan.
Work with school curricula the values of law and
We at Engelska Förskolan wish to create an environment in which all feel involved and important. A
place that we are so confident that we dare to make mistakes and to learn from them, dare to
explore and try new things without knowing what the outcome will be, and dare to ask many
questions.
We want to give every child at Engelska Förskolan the space and opportunity to eventually be able to
master their everyday lives.
We want to have a preschool where it is obvious that all are of equal value. A place where everyone
meets each other with respect regardless of age, gender, appearance, culture, or special needs.
We want to give the children good eating habits and that they socialise positively at the table. We
will use the Karolinska Institutet "healthy children" as a support to how we can be role models for
children at the mealtimes, etc.
We want to teach the children to use a polite and friendly manner – it being a skill for life.
Approach: The staff will, through a democratic approach, emotional intimacy and respect, be role
models for the children. We believe that the children do as we do, and therefore we strive to be clear
and good role models who show respect for those around us by actively being with the children and
talk with them in the various situations that arise at the preschool. We strive to create understanding
with the other members of the group. We let the children be given the opportunity to resolve
conflicts for themselves first, if this doesn't work, we help children to reach a compromise.
We want to show that one should be considerate about our environment, both inside and out.
Children with handicaps shall be supported with respect to their individual circumstances. Girls and
boys are treated equally in terms of their interests and needs.
We talk with children talk and not at them. We are sensitive to, and respond to what the children
say. We are good role models and use a polite and correct language.
We see rest as an important part of the educational day, children have the opportunity for relaxation
where the child's morning experiences may be transferred from short-term memory to long term
memory. Rest does not exist for the sake of staff breaks but for children's sake.
Rights and gender: An understanding of shared humanity, justice, equality, as well as own and other
people's rights must be integrated into daily activities. This is done by the teachers mirroring these
values in the activities with the children.
Learning through play: Activities shall be characterized by the possibility of learning through play.
Art, literature, song, music, drama, eurhythmics and movement must be included. We have an
environment that inspires to play. Children have the opportunity to participate in various forms of
play – free-play as well as organized play to support the children's ability to cooperate and comply
with the rules. We want to offer an experience-based learning in which one can exploit all situations
that are included in our daily lives; to discover and experience together instead of being instructors.
We encourage children to try to find the answers before we present a finished solution. This makes
our work stimulating as children often see things in a much more exciting light than we adults do.
To play, pretend, and fantasize help developing children in a world that seems too large and complex
at times. Worldwide we need imaginative people and therefore we put great emphasis on the
learning benefits of play.
Interaction with home: We want to develop relationship with parents through information, visiting
the setting, parent conferences, spontaneous and planned talks.
Interaction with kindergarten class, after-school activity centre: Experience and knowledge is
exchanged and attention should be given to the children who need special assistance when changing
to the kindergarten class.
Children's influence
Every child shall be encouraged to express their views and ideas in order to influence their daily
situation and take responsibility for their actions. Staff are encouraged to be sensitive to children's
intentions and wishes. Our democratic approach is crucial. The needs and interests expressed by the
child should be the basis for the formation of the setting and the environment around them we do
this through discussions and observations with/of the children.
Each child should develop an understanding of their own opinions and that they must not suppress
someone else's. Every child must develop a respect for others ' opinions and emotions
A variety of toys and educational materials are made available for children so that they have the
opportunity to choose what they want to deal with.
Parental influence
For the preschool shall:

be responsible for ensuring that every child together with his parents, receives an
introduction to the preschool which creates security for parents and children. The schooling
in is a so-called "parent-active schooling-in" where parents are together with their children at
the preschool for a morning and three full days to provide security for both parents (who
gets a chance to see how a day at preschool looks like) and the children who know exactly
how a full day looks, together with his mother/father before he or she is leaving him.

Oral information in connection with drop-off and pick-up

holding individual development talks once per term covering the child's social, motor and
cognitive development
parents meeting once per term
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take advantage of the parents' proposals. We will always listen to the parents' suggestions
and discuss them with the staff group.
get parents involved in the evaluation of the setting through the questionnaire.
Whiteboards provide daily information so that parents know what is happening and what
happened during the day.
Current information is set up on the outer door.
Regular information by e-mail.
To work with and comply with the children's development and learning
Through free and structured play, themes and social interaction where the teachers encourage
empathy and responsibility and daily routines children will acquire knowledge and experience,
develop social skills, language and motor skills. Play is a fundamental need for development and
learning.
Teachers are encouraged to support the children's curiosity, imagination and creativity through
playful activities. There must be sufficient time and space to learn through play. Adults are
encouraged to support and interact with the children's play.
We give children great opportunities for movement by:

going on an excursion at least once a week (3-5åringar)

have dance/yoga/aerobics one day per week

be outdoors at least once per day

using movement rhymes and songs

develop and continuously create new challenges in our outdoor environment

discuss in staff group from Karolinska Institutet's "healthy children".
Singing and music we see as an important part of children's learning. We offer children song every
day during their meetings in their small groups, as well as a large song meeting once a week in which
all children meet and sing together with musical instruments. Teachers should have the courage to
be with and help to spread the joy by singing and making music.
Art, design and creative activities offer children different opportunities for problem-solving, social
cooperation, understanding the world around them. We have one art studio where the children have
free access to all material contained in the drawers. To have one art studio for the whole of the
preschool allows us to offer children a wider range of materials to test, experiment and create with.
We believe that it is more instructive and stimulating for children to remain free to implement their
ideas when they receive them, rather than on a schedule that we set for them. Before holidays such
as Christmas, we offer the children a "buffet" of craft options.
With the support of an adult, the children get help to discover and understand nature and find that
plants and animals are a part of a balanced system and that we must take account of everything that
exists in nature.
We are lucky that Engelska Förskolan has a natural access to a rich and varied cultural celebrations
because both the children and staff come from various parts of the world and have something to
share with us. To introduce and deepen the knowledge of the Swedish and English cultures as well as
creating the preschool's own traditions we celebrate the following during a typical year (this can be
change according to the children who attend the preschool, so that all cultures are represented)

Easter

Graduation Ceremony, for all children to start school after summer

International Peace Day

Midsummer

Diwali

Halloween

Thanksgiving

Nobel Celebration

Lucia/Christmas

We celebrate birthdays with songs and pictures
Documentation is used to follow and make visible the children's development and should be part of
the daily work with each child and can consist of observations, notes, drawings, photos, films,
interviews, and discussions. This, we use to develop our own knowledge of children's development
and how we can improve our pedagogy and thus improve entire setting. We strive to be sensitive to
the social interaction between children, between children and adults, as well as between the adults
to continually develop and improve the quality.
We have a file for every child in order to keep their individual journey here in Engelska Förskolan.
Development Plan for Engelska Förskolan 2013-14
Goals (from analysis of end of term evaluations from 2012-13)

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More direct communication (rather than on the board)
More Reggio Emilia pedagogy
Using development days for planning and documentation
More department time
More ‘child-friendly’ materials and mobile walls
Team building events
Managing time better
Better management of staff and parents
CURRICULUM DELIVERY
What
More Reggio Emilia pedagogy
How







Completed
Discuss during
development days
Attend training
Visit other RE
preschools
Buy and read books
and articles on RE
Have a clear plan of
how much towards RE
the preschool shall be
Documentation to be
inspired by RE
Teaching strategies to
be more RE inspired
More ‘child-friendly’ materials
and mobile walls

Plan and budget for
new materials
More department time

Managing time better

Use Monday meetings
to provide
department planning
time
Discuss and train in
time-management
techniques
Combine newsletters,
and reports with
documentation

SCHOOL – HOME PARTNERSHIP
What
Better management of staff
and parents
How


Completed
Further discussion of
how to achieve this
during Monday
meetings
Evaluation of
procedures and routines
HEALTH AND SAFETY
What
Maintain routines and follow
policies which ensure child
safety
How

Completed
Review policies and
issue staff with rules for
safety
STAFF DEVELOPMENT
What
Using development days for
planning and documentation
Team building events
How




Completed
Plan development days with
clear structure and input
from department heads
Arrange regular social
activities
Practice more open
communication
Having a buddy/mentor
system for to help new staff
settle