The Early Years team at Blackpool Council developed a one-day course on the characteristics of effective learning after their research showed that many practitioners were struggling to get to grips with this aspect of the EYFS.
Zoe Seddon, a nursery nurse at Treetops Nursery in Blackpool, was keen to attend as soon as the new guidelines were introduced. 'Obviously you read them, but it can be hard to get a full understanding. I really needed the course to get it all to click into place.'
She says that delegates were split into two groups to watch a video of children playing together. 'One half focused on how the children were thinking critically, and my half looked at the children's active learning. What was surprising was how much you could get from just ten minutes. It really made you think more in-depth when observing play'.
The afternoon was spent working to build a bridge. 'We got lots of resources like poles and cardboard, and we had to work together to see who could build the bridge to hold the weight of a toy car the quickest. It really put you into the role of the child, and made you start reflecting on yourself as you play, thinking about how you approach a task,' she says. 'You realise you can give resources to children and they act as a trigger to their imagination. It might be a load of material, pieces of wood or stones, and suddenly they can make this whole fantasy world.'
The nursery now receives themed resource boxes once a month from Blackpool council, solving the problem of storage and keeping play exciting and new.
There was one more challenge after the course for Ms Seddon. 'We had a staff meeting where I had to disseminate what I'd learned to everyone. I ran it exactly the same as the course, so everyone could get the most out of it and be as inspired and motivated as I was. It definitely gave me more confidence. It was more than just learning the three characteristics of effective learning on the course, but also then being able to teach other people about them too.'
Zoe Seddon talked to Meredith Jones Russell
- For more details, visit www.blackpool.gov.uk.
