Careers and Training
EYP Update: New experience for EYPs
EYPs are getting a first-hand look at pedagogical practice at an outstanding Montessori setting. Karen Faux reports.
The visiting EYPs will meet with Montessori teacher Emma Johnson
No less than 30 Early Years Professionals are to make a visit to Lincolnshire Montessori as part of Cambridgeshire Local Authority's commitment to ensuring ongoing professional development. The visits, which will operate in three relays of ten, will highlight the pedagogical aspects of Montessori practice and link them to the Early Years Foundation Stage. EYPs are keen to gain more understanding of how Montessori methods can inspire their practice.
Lincolnshire Montessori opened last April and has received an outstanding grading from Ofsted. It is based at Top House Farm in Caistor, and set in ten acres of countryside. It can claim to be unusual in that it has a unit that includes three-year-olds to six year-olds and straddles the nursery-to-school divide, making it similar to kindergartens on the Continent.
Development manager Nathan Archer says, 'It can be difficult to explain Montessori practice - it really needs to be experienced.
'This will be a good opportunity for us to demonstrate our materials and how they have been mapped to the Development Matters of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Some EYPs have never been in a Montessori setting and in terms of their ongoing professional development, these visits will really bring pedagogy to life.'
Lincolnshire Montessori's training manager Jo Robinson is currently undergoing the long pathway and is just about to go for her gateway review.
She says, 'Undertaking EYPS has been a valuable process. The themes of the EYFS, such as a unique child and positive relationships, sit well with Montessori philosophy. We are looking forward to introducing EYPs to our calm environment, which has lots of space and natural materials. They will be seeing something different and I'm sure it will make perfect sense to them. It will be an eye-opener.'
Cambridgeshire has worked hard to raise the profile of the Graduate Leader Fund since it was launched. As a result, it has seen increasing numbers of local settings making successful applications, and using it to nurture EYPs.
Mr Archer says, 'It is very important that ongoing professional development continues for EYPs, and it must be relevant. We are seeing more networks responding to these needs and thinking more widely about training opportunities.
'Visiting a settings like ours is a great way to develop knowledge in a hands-on way, and we hope that our visitors will take away some of the passion that we all share.'
