At Dukes and Duchessses in the centre of Liverpool, you won’t find strip-lighting, headache-inducing colours or even staff in uniform. EYT Liz Ludden says the impact of the changes on behaviour was immediate. She says, ‘Before, the children were more stressed and more boisterous. After, they were naturally grouping together. We also changed the carpet from dark blue to a more neutral colour. We took away all of the harsh colours and it made the room look bigger and brighter.’
The training that led to this was part of ‘Stepping up to the two-year-olds challenge’, a research project from the Liverpool EYFS Quality Improvement Team. The setting received five sessions each on learning environments and working with parents. Communication and wellbeing were also covered. As a result, Ms Ludden created an ‘I Wonder’ board so that every time staff go on CPD they can add a different question. She says, ‘Examples would be, “I wonder if we provide smaller spaces for children, we enable them to communicate better?” and, “I wonder if our uniform is a barrier to children’s communication?”
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