EYFS Activities - An A to Z of Learning: V & W are for Visits, Values & Watermelons

VISITS

At Rachel Keeling, like many settings, funding cuts have meant we have had to tighten our belt. One of the valued provisions we had to review was visits. Whole-day trips out with groups of children cost the school a lot of money; however, we really valued the impact.

We started to visit local shops and the market just a stone’s throw from our school each week to buy the shopping. This became known as ‘Shoppers of the week’. Each week, two children are chosen. They make their way around the nursery asking the team whether they need any shopping. Next they write their lists: sometimes drawing the items, or children might write some recognisable letters or marks to represent the sounds. Then they collect their coats, lists, purses and ‘shopper-backpacks’.

The children report to Pam in the office and explain they need money: counting out the coins and notes and safely storing them in their purses. They walk around the corner, sharing talk and observing the local area. Whether it is the Simply Fresh shop or Mark’s Fruit and Veg stall, they always get a warm welcome. Again, the children need to communicate and ‘read’ their lists as they look for the items, pay for the shopping and find their way back to school.

Before they can put the shopping away, they need to report to Pam in the office and give her the change and sign the auditor’s docket.

The whole team really values this experience, which last from 40 minutes to an hour, as it has such an impact on children’s learning. Their language, independence, confidence, number, observation and mark-making skills are supported throughout. We have found it can be a very effective provision for certain groups of children – Early Years Pupil Premium or English as an Additional Language – as it is concrete and you can evidence it well.

VALUES

A few years ago, we looked at our school values to make sure they aligned with the British Values. We thought about the importance of the consistency of adults in supporting these values.

• We have a voice (democracy).
• We have a choice (individual liberty).
• We share and take turns (rule of law).
• We show respect to everyone and everything (respect).

These ‘Rachel Keeling Values’ are sewn through the routines of the day, the curriculum we teach and the way we treat each other.

The child’s voice is dominant in our school: we really listen to children, and when there are problems we ask them to tell us what happened. Children help to find solutions. Their voices matter.

High expectations of the children is central to the effectiveness of our values. We trust our children and view them as experts who have agency in their learning journey. We expect them to be kind and considerate of everyone and we sensitively challenge discrimination immediately. The team are also aware of their role-model status and make sure we are beaming icons at all times!

WATERMELON

We regularly ask for donations of fruit and vegetables for the children. One parent was in a rush and gave us some money instead. We decided to buy a big, juicy watermelon from the local shop. Not to miss an opportunity, some children were asked to help. They walked to the shop and found a huge watermelon, but it was too heavy. We didn’t want to roll it back to school so asked the children how we could get it back. ‘In the cart,’ suggested one child. The cart is part of the wheeled, wooden vehicles in our garden. The children returned to school and collected it. Together they lifted the watermelon into the cart and wheeled it back to school.

This then led to lots of excited talk about this enormous watermelon! Children touched it, smelled it and observed it. Children talked about how heavy they thought it was: ‘A bus!’ said one child. We supported this interest and wonder to go on for a few days before the excitement of opening it! When we cut it open, the juice oozed out and we smelt, touched and tasted it. It was so ginormous that we spent a whole week using sections of it for different purposes. Children used a variety of one-handed tools to prepare the fruit to eat in watermelon ice lollies, cooler drinks, watermelon fingers and fruit kebabs. They learnt skills and vocabulary such as ‘mashing’, ‘scooping’, ‘peeling’, ‘chopping’ and ‘squashing’. Even the photographs displayed on the wall supported more talk for weeks after.

Rachel Keeling Nursery School is an Outstanding setting in Bethnal Green, east London.

For further information: https://www.rachelkeeling.towerhamlets.sch.uk/learning-blog