Nursery World - EYFS best practice in schools

How can schools enable beneficial touching – which many see as developmentally vital – at a time of heightened anxiety about safeguarding? Charlotte Goddard reports

Photo above: Adobe Stock. Other photos at Ashleigh Primary School and Nursery by Si Barber

Touch is one of the most important senses in our early development. ‘As well as being linked with our emotional development, it is also vital for development of the brain in general,’ says Anne O’Connor, early years consultant and co-founder of Primed for Life, which advocates for a wider understanding of the body as a child’s first place of learning.

‘Being held and cuddled with warmth and affection reinforces early attachment and bonding. Along with stroking, patting, squeezing and tickling, done with sensitivity and tuned into the child’s stage of development and emotional state, this also helps develop strong neural pathways in the brain that support proprioception, a sense of the physical self in relation to others and their environment, and emotional development.’

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