When the Foundation Stage Regional Advisory Team began planning how to acknowledge publicly the importance of those adults who live and work with young children, we decided to focus on the lives and experiences of individual children.
The resulting stories of 12 three- to five-year-olds in a variety of early years settings provide a valuable insight into the people behind early education in England today. 'Celebrating Young Children' is free and available either as a DVD or a booklet from the DfES (see Further information).
Over the coming months we will be sharing these insights with you in a series of articles. They can, of course, only be a snapshot of the wonderful work that is being carried out across the country.
However, we very much hope that they will strike a chord with the beliefs of early years practitioners and recall for you the principles that underpin our curriculum. We hope that the series will also inspire you with new ideas, renewed commitment and vision.
Each article in turn will focus on a case study child and the effective support and practice the families and practitioners give that child. The children's individual stories reveal how the adults who are involved with them, their families and the practitioners in their settings, have high aspirations for them.
In this series, we will look in more depth at how these adults plan to enable the children to achieve these aspirations.
We will examine the attitudes and knowledge that underpin the skills they use to plan an environment and activities that are relevant and exciting - building on what each individual child knows and can do. We will also look at how they are able to tune into the children's individual interests.
We look at how these adults realise the principles of early development and learning in their daily lives and are offering opportunities and activities to enrich the experiences of our featured children.
We see adults who ask not 'what shall we do today?' but 'how can I make what we do today relevant and stimulating?' We also focus on those who observe and listen to the children in order to plan effectively. Where they are working in teams, they plan how to record and share this information as a basis for action.
Michelle's dad tells us how the family plays together and his pleasure in hearing her 'read' aloud the favourite books she brings home from her early childhood centre.
Amaan's pre-school leader describes the benefits of working in a community space that enables the practitioners to use the room in different ways. At home it can be really difficult to do messy things but at the pre-school they can, and as she says, 'We can go for it big style.'
We see how day nursery staff support Megan and William while they are settling into the setting and how they make all the children feel included and valued.
Jayden's school recognises that he enjoys learning outside. Through their planning and provision they ensure that he can access a range of learning, including mathematics and literacy, in a way in which he feels comfortable.
We see how the children's centre Zaynah attends ensures that they work in partnership with her family and build on her many abilities and use of English as an additional language.
We can appreciate the rich opportunities to be involved and learn from nature that Adam's dad is providing in their garden at home in the north-east of England.
The importance of the learning environment is the key in all the children's stories and the care and expertise of the staff in Adam's community nursery is reflected in the design and ethos they have created.
We see Ione with a group exploring the seashore near her school in Kent, with an artist supporting their learning. The headteacher explains to us that everything that happens in the school is based on creativity Adam's early childhood centre in Liverpool supports and extends his love of stories through reading and recording his own compositions. The staff have played an important part in the 'Communicating Matters' materials produced by Manchester Metropolitan University for the Sure Start Unit.
The staff at Bailey's Sure Start Children's Centre in London work as a team and with health professionals to ensure his needs are met through inclusive planning and ways of working with him and all the children.
Jenny's mum and baby sister make use of the Sure Start community services and enjoy the time they play and learn together in the early childhood centre.
Hannah's parents ensure that the advice and programme of activities from the speech and language therapist are shared with and supported by her childminder. This ensures that Hannah's progress is maintained through a consistent approach.
Our celebratory stories create a powerful picture and it is a privilege to be able to share the strategies used by key adults in the children's lives.
The series starts next month by looking at the story of Zaynah. NW FURTHER INFORMATION
* 'Celebrating Young Children and those who live and work with them' Ref.
DfES 1211-2005 DVD from DfES Publications Tel: 0845 60 222 60 Email: dfes@ prolog.uk.com
