Curriculum
Children in Scotland is holding two seminars on:
* The Mosaic Approach. The first seminar will introduce tools and skills for listening to children. The seminar is for practitioners who have direct contact with children under five. The second seminar will use the Mosaic Approach to discuss how to involve staff and parents in listening to young children, acting on children's views and creating a culture of listening.
The Council for Awards in Children's Care and Education (CACHE) offers units within the CACHE Level 3 certificate of professional development in work with children and young people, including:
* Designing programmes for early learning.
* Delivering and assessing programmes for early learning.
CACHE also offers:
* CACHE Level 2 certificate for teaching assistants (CTA2).
* CACHE Level 3 certificate for teaching assistants (CTA3).
Crechendo Training is holding workshops in London on:
* Curriculum planning, on 20 September. This will offer an holistic approach to planning a developmentally-appropriate curriculum, incorporating the early learning goals.
* Early Learning Goals, on 24 September. This will explore the philosophies underlying the desired early outcomes and the early learning goals and offer practical support.
* Knowledge and understanding of the world, on 13 November. The course will underline the importance of children's critical thinking, curiosity, decision making, problem solving and learning about the world around them.
* Observation and assessment, on 11 December. This course is designed to help practitioners identify how best to support children as active learners, and how to resource and organise the environment to support child-initiated learning.
Early Education is holding seminars in London on:
* The great outdoors: Developing children's learning through outdoor provision, on 3 July. This subject will also be discussed at Early Education's annual general meeting on 9 November.
* An introduction to using Persona dolls, on 26 September.
* Listening to young children, on 8 October.
* How much is too much screen time? on 5 December.
The High/Scope Institute is holding a course on:
* An introduction for Foundation Stage practitioners, on 10 and 11 July. The interactive, two-day course will present an overview of the curriculum and introduces active learning.
The Institute of Education is holding courses in London on:
* Planning for learning through role play, on 26 September. This course will show why high-quality role play is an essential part of early years provision. Participants will have the chance to observe and analyse children in role play.
* Developments in the Foundation Stage curriculum, on 8 October. This course is aimed at qualified nursery nurses working in nursery and reception classes. It will familiarise participants with the requirements of the foundation stage and provide the opportunity to reflect on the implications for practice in their own setting.
* Planning assessment and record keeping in the Foundation Stage, on 6 and 20 November and 11 December. This course offers early years practitioners support in developing an effective and child-centred system for planning and assessment.
The Montessori Centre International is holding a seminar in London on:
* Planning a prepared environment, on 29 June. This seminar will involve a detailed look at how best to equip and organise the prepared environment in the context of the Montessori approach.
* How children learn, based on the theories of Piaget, Vygotsky and Bruner, on 6 July. This seminar will examine some of the work of these theorists and discuss how their models of child development can help early years practice.
The National Early Years Network runs a wide range of training courses across England in early learning. They include:
* Working with children.
* The Foundation Stage.
* Promoting equality.
* Promoting citizenship.
* Working with parents and carers.
* Early years management.
* Ensuring quality of provision.
Its customised in-house training workshops relating to the early years curriculum include:
* Developing a quality curriculum for the Foundation Stage. This workshop focuses on developing a high-quality curriculum for children.
* Creative development and the early years curriculum.
* Movement and the early years curriculum: A new perspective. This workshop stresses the relevance of movement in the development of essential skills in three areas of young children's lives physical, social and emotional, and cognitive.
* Encouraging language and literacy skills in the early years.
* Language development and communication skills.
* The art of storytelling: Developing communication and creative skills in young people.
* Muscles and minds: Outdoor play in the early years.
The Pen Green Centre runs by arrangement this three-day course at its Corby premises:
* Involving parents in their children's learning. This course is accredited, links theory and practice and can be cascaded in your own area.
The Pre-School Learning Alliance offers the following courses:
* Kick off: Working with early learning goals. This course is most appropriate if you are new to nursery education funding and inspection.
* Using observations to plan. Two stand-alone workshops, the first focusing on evidence collection and observation, and the second on assessment and record keeping.
* Observation and assessment. The Pre-School Learning Alliance is also holding a series of 12 workshops entitled:
* Building Strong Foundations. They are designed to enable early years practitioners to achieve successful outcomes in the delivery of foundation stage education.
The Riverside Early Years Centre is holding a course in Newcastle upon Tyne on:
* Providing a quality curriculum in the early years, on 1, 8, 15, and 22 November. This four-day course will review current provision, raise awareness of future requirements, and promote the use of observation and assessment to inform the way work in planned.
* Creative use of outdoors to support the early years curriculum, on 3 December.
The Wales Pre-school Playgroups Association runs courses in Wales on:
* What children learn in playgroup, for playgroup workers with little or no training and parents. This eight-part course covers the six areas of learning.
* The CACHE Level 3 Diploma in Playgroup Practice, which provides underpinning knowledge and understanding for NVQs in childcare and education at Levels 2 and 3.
* Planning for learning, for those who have completed the Diploma in Playgroup Practice or equivalent. This 20-part course aims to improve practice in early years groups and to enable students to plan a developmentally-appropriate curriculum. Topics include how children learn, observation and assessment, planning a short-, medium-and long-term balanced curriculum, and taking account of the six areas of learning.
Creativity
The Institute of Education at the University of London is holding a course on:
* Music in the nursery curriculum, on 1 July, The course is for early years workers who are not confident in music making with young children, both singing and using instruments.
* Art in the early years: Exploration, experiment and practice, on 27 November. Aimed at all staff working in nurseries and early years classrooms, the course will focus on developing ways to help children gain confidence in selecting and using different media and techniques to represent their ideas. It will also show how art can allow children to make connections across the whole curriculum.
The Montessori Centre International is holding a seminar in London on:
* The child's creativity: Arts and crafts in the classroom. This practical seminar will look at developmental needs in the area of arts and crafts, and how they can be met with a range of activities.
NIPPA: The Early Years Organisation offers a 15-hour course in Northern Ireland on:
* Developing children's creativity: Art and design in the early years.
The Visual Learning Foundation offers the following courses in London:
* Art in the Foundation Stage and at Key Stage 1, on 11 and 25 November. This two-day course for teachers, nursery nurses and early years staff will show the developmental stages of children's art making, how they learn through art. It also suggests how to develop ideas and skills in working in 3D.
* Helping with art and design in the Foundation Stage and Key Stages 1 and 2, on 6 November. This day course for classroom assistants will focus on the care and use of suitable art materials, and how to help children manage their work area and develop their art making.
Knowledge and understanding of the world
The Institute of Education is running a course in London on:
* Religious education in the early years, on 2 July. The course will equip those with responsibility for spiritual development with an understanding of legislation, QCA and Ofsted guidelines, and current research findings.
* Science in the Foundation Stage, on 20 November. Course participants will be given an opportunity to explore scientific processes through active investigation.
The Pre-School Learning Alliance runs a workshop on:
* Early science, which aims to develop an awareness of opportunities for scientific learning in the early years.
Mathematics
BEAM Education is running courses in London on:
* Mathematics in the Foundation Stage, on 14 November. This course for nursery and reception teachers, early years practitioners and teaching assistants will explore practical ways of implementing the Early Learning Goals in a numeracy-rich environment.
* Playing with shape, space and measures in the Foundation Stage, on 22 November. The course will examine the relationship between play and mathematical learning.
* Mathematics in reception, on 9 December. This course will discuss ideas on mathematical progression, the use of apparatus and structuring the environment.
BEAM also runs training sessions for schools, nurseries and local education authorities throughout the country. These sessions are tailored to the needs of the individual school or nursery setting.
The Council for Awards in Children's Care and Education (CACHE) offers units within the CACHE Level 3 certificate of professional development in work with children and young people, including:
* Developing children's mathematical skills.
Crechendo Training is running a workshop in London on:
* Early mathematics, on 11 October. This workshop looks at how children develop mathematical knowledge, and includes designing a maths game for the nursery.
The Montessori Centre International runs a course in London on:
* Pre-Mathematics and golden beads, on 10 August. This seminar considers two separate areas of mathematics - preparation for counting and use of golden beads. It shows how to introduce children to the decimal system once they understand the concept of 1 to 10.
The Pre-School Learning Alliance holds a workshop on:
* Early maths.
Language and literacy
The Council for Awards in Children's Care and Education (CACHE) offers units within the CACHE Level 3 certificate of professional development in work with children and young people, including:
* Developing children's language and literacy skills.
Crechendo Training is holding a day workshop in London on:
* Language and literacy, on 2 July and 27 November. This will explore how children develop skills in this area, and show ways to extend them without using too many work sheets.
The Institute of Education is holding courses in London on:
* The teaching and learning of literacy in the Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1, on 5 and 12 February, and 5, 12, 19 and 26 March 2003.
* Meeting the needs of early years bilingual children, on 4 March 2003.
The Montessori Centre International is holding seminars in London on:
* Introducing children to grammar in the nursery, on 20 July. The seminar will introduce a range of activities to support and expand the Montessori language curriculum.
* Early preparation for children's handwriting, on 3 August. This is a practical seminar looking at Montessori and Sassoon's approaches to developing good pencil control and correct letter formation.
The National Early Years Network runs workshops on:
* Encouraging language and literacy skills in the early years. This workshop will consider a range of activities to foster the development of language and literacy skills.
* Language development and communication skills. This workshop will explore how children learn to communicate through language. It will discuss the theory of language development, relate it to the experience of children and consider the mechanisms through which children receive help for language delay.
* The art of storytelling: Developing communication and creative skills in young people. The workshop will will analyse the teaching potential of storeytelling for individuals and groups of children.
The Pre-School Learning Alliance has a workshop on:
* Storysacks. This will explore with pre-school staff how they can encourage parents to read and play with their children.
The Reading Language and Information Centre is holding the following courses and events in Reading, Berkshire:
* What to do with a book, on 10 October. This teachers' day in Children's Book Week will focus on the teaching of reading at Key Stages 1 and 2.
* Improving standards in writing through book making, on 15 October. This course is suitable for anyone working with children from nursery to Year 6. It will look at the writing of fiction and non-fiction in the national curriculum, and provide ideas for art and technology work.
* Multi-sensory and whole body approaches to teaching and learning, on 17 October. A course for teachers at Key Stages 1, 2 and 3 which will look at ways of minimising children's stress, so they can maximise their experiences in the classroom. It will examine the role of whole-body activity, such as the 'brain gym', and show how a pupil's language is the key to resourceful learning.
* Boys and reading, on 23 October. An interactive course for teachers, school librarians and literacy coordinators to explore boys' reading and to identify practical strategies for promoting reading at key stages 1 and 2.
* Keeping up with children's books, on 6 November. This course offers the chance to get up to date with recently-published children's books and to consider ideas for promoting books in your setting.
* Speaking and listening in multilingual classrooms, on 11 November. This course looks at the approaches to teaching, classroom organisation and the resources that support bilingual pupils' development in speaking and listening.
* Texts for teaching literacy, on 13 and 14 November. This two-day course seeks to provide primary teachers with a clear rationale for the selection of resources and information on how to acquire them.
* Organising circle time in the classroom, on 19 November. Circle time provides children with the opportunity to meet in a safe, supportive and enjoyable space, to grow, learn and develop communication skills together. This course offers advice to primary teachers on organising circle time.
* Play in the literacy hour, on 27 November. This course for teachers and support staff considers how best to provide effective literacy learning experiences during the Foundation Stage. It will explore the place of role play in early years and the response of young children to texts.
The centre's annual conference on 19 October is on the theme of 'Every Child is Special'. It will celebrate the merger of the Reading Language Information Centre with REACH: the National Advice Centre for Children with Reading Difficulties.
The Riverside Early Years Training Centre is holding a course in Newcastle upon Tyne on:
* English as an additional language, on 16 January 2003. Aimed at teachers, learning assistants, nursery and pre-school staff, the course will show how procedures need to be adapted to ensure the best opportunities for children whose home language is not English.
Physical development
Children in Scotland runs a course in Scotland on:
* Introduction to play therapy. This two-and-a-half day course is run over three days, and introduces participants to the theory and application of play therapy. The workshops combine theory, discussion and experiential work, and are for professionals interested in therapeutic ways of working with children, and those wishing to know more about play therapy.
The Institute of Education is holding a course in London on:
* Outdoor play in the early years, on 19 November.
This course for early years practitioners in nursery and reception classes will focus on the necessity of a rigorously planned and stimulating outdoor environment for the development of the young child.
The National Early Years Network runs a workshop in England on:
* Muscles and minds: Outdoor play in the early years for all practitioners working with the under-fives. Participants will explore the theoretical and practical justifications for outdoor play, and the need for it to be rigorously planned as part of the learning environment The Pre-School Learning Alliance runs a course in England on:
* Play for under-threes. This course is for early years workers who want to extend their provision to include younger children.
The Riverside Early Years Centre runs courses in Tyneside on:
* Putting adventure into play, for playworkers.
* Games from other cultures, for playworkers.
* Treasure baskets and heuristic play for under-threes.
The Wales Pre-School Playgroups Association runs courses including:
* Introduction to children's play. This course comprises 12 two-hour weekly sessions, and is aimed at new playgroup staff and parents. It will look at a range of aspects, including physical play, communicating with children, books and stories, food and cooking, music, songs and rhymes, child-centred creativity and imaginative play.
* Managing behaviour. This will involve eight two-hour weekly sessions, which aims to enable participants to work effectively with children in a playgroup setting and encourage positive behaviour. It will focus on how the environment, rules and routines affect children's behaviour, children and choice, reward and punishment, managing unwanted behaviour, and promoting acceptable behaviour.
* Playing together. This course comprises six two-hour weekly sessions, and aims to promote good practice in the integration of children who have special needs in a pre-school setting. It will explore the benefits of integrated play for all children, giving advice and support for best practice.
Kidsactive is a national charity whose mission is to ensure that the play needs of disabled children and young people are fulfilled. It undertakes this both by promoting inclusive play nationally through training, consultancy and publications, and by providing direct services on six adventure playgrounds in London. Kidsactive offers inclusive play and childcare courses (some endorsed) for workers at all levels - volunteers/holiday scheme workers, childminders, playworkers, senior workers and site managers - as well as giving an introduction to disability legislation for policymakers. These include:
* Planning Inclusive Play (PIP), a new 60-hour, Level 3 course, that provides theoretical and practical training to enable team leaders to be confident in implementing inclusive policy and practice. It has been developed through a contract from the Department for Education and Skills.
Kidsactive publications to support this work, in addition to the extensive course materials, include Side by Side: Guidelines for inclusive play, It Doesn't Just Happen: Inclusive management for inclusive play and a free bi-annual newsletter Pipnews.
