Learning & Development: Planning for under-threes - Room to grow

Our staff plan experiences for babies based on the children's individual learning journeys. Included in the observation and planning for these journeys are the 'room stories' produced by the Education Development Service, County Durham, and contained in their document Learning Together.

The document examines the whole learning environment and covers both 'key experiences' in the room and 'additional focus experiences' stemming from individual children's interests. These are presented as Room Story 1 and Room Story 2 (see boxes below).

We have adapted and displayed some of the Room Story documentation to enable practitioners and parents to identify babies' interests, and we plan further learning experiences and opportunities from these.

We believe that to plan effectively, our staff must be well-informed about how a child learns and have a detailed knowledge and understanding of individual babies and their families. They must be alert to children's current interests, concerns and schemas.

Only then will they be in a position to provide opportunities and experiences that are meaningful to babies, that connect with their home life, and that build upon existing knowledge and experience.

Enabling environments - key experiences

We begin our planning by ensuring that the Starlight Room is organised in a way that will provide each baby with a wide range of experiences, and opportunities to follow personal interests.

The environment is light and airy and designed to impact upon all of a baby's senses. There are neutral colours to soothe and calm, mobiles to watch, sound-making resources and music to listen to, and exciting textures to touch.

Delicious smells from the nearby kitchen waft through the room, and direct access to the outdoors means that babies can enjoy the feeling of breezes on their faces.

We have a list of indoor and outdoor key experiences that should be available to all babies, such as imaginative, malleable, heuristic and block play. We then plan suitable resources and appropriate storage so that accessing them is easy.

Next, we take each 'interest' area of the room in turn and reflect on the opportunities for learning that we might create for the babies who play there, focusing particular attention on the impact that the activities will have on all of their senses.

This invariably leads to discussions about our role in a baby's learning, from how we present the resources to the language techniques that we use. We note how we might interact and vocabulary we might use. At all times, staff are aware of the importance of observation in planning the next steps for learning.

Outdoors experiences

We place emphasis on the importance of creating learning opportunities within the outdoor environment, and our display of photographs depicting babies enjoying themselves outdoors demonstrates this to parents.

Relevant links to the EYFS - for example, 'As they pull to stand and become more mobile, the scope of babies' investigations widen' (Practical Guidance for the EYFS, p79) - enable parents to link key outdoor experiences to learning so that they can continue to offer similar experiences at home.

Our working display

To support the Room Story approach, we have created a display entitled 'My interests' that can be updated as and when the babies change their preferences.

A photograph of each baby is displayed on a neutral background, alongside the baby's name and a card for writing down interests, such as 'music', 'exploring', 'cars', 'textures'. (The cards are laminated so they can be wiped clean.)

In the centre is a mini-display called 'Rhythms of the day', which explains the babies' times to sleep, rest, eat, drink and chat, and their special times with a key person. A hessian border completes the display.

We refer to the display throughout the day, changing interests if necessary by rubbing old ones out and writing in new ones using a dry-wipe pen. Past interests, along with their links to the EYFS, are then recorded in babies' individual files. Parents, as their babies' first educators, are also encouraged to contribute to the display.

Things to care about

In addition to the 'interests' display, all staff are aware of, and record in their planning, special events in the lives of individual babies, as these may have both positive and negative effects on them.

Moving forward

Once individual interests are identified, we consider how we can maximise a baby's access to these interests, perhaps by moving sound-making objects within a baby's grasp, or by creating a treasure basket on a 'texture' theme. We follow the Room Story 2 approach when planning our focus experiences for babies (see box).

Ensuring progression

We take time to observe babies throughout the day, whether during interactions in a 'key experience', a personal interest, a focus experience or a routine, as part of the rhythm of the day.

We note and photograph significant moments. Gradually a personal file is compiled with contributions from parents, staff and, eventually, the children themselves. Regular observations determine the direction of individual learning journeys and ensure smooth progression towards the next steps.

Observation sheets

We observe each baby closely during their involvement in 'key experiences' and fill in an observation sheet using the heading 'Look, listen and note'.

Staff are encouraged to think about what they saw, heard and felt that the baby was learning, and this includes thinking about the baby's emotions at the time. They can then consider what was special about the baby's experience and make links to the EYFS.

After making an observation, staff are encouraged to consider 'What would happen if ...?' and to think about possible next steps for learning, which are added to the sheet. Parents and carers are invited to add comments of their own.

Group observations

As well as individual observation sheets, we keep group sheets with similar headings, with a comment on every child in the group.

Jean Evans spoke to Karen Crawford, nursery manager, and Sheila Gardiner, nursery director, Rainbow Nursery, and to advisory staff from the County Durham Early Years Team

ROOM STORIES

ROOM STORY 1

This involves creating an environment that reflects the experiences and interests of those who are in the room at that time (adults as well as children). It is an enabling environment, changing and developing over time, influenced by individual interests, developments and pre-occupations. Parents are encouraged to feel involved and there is a two-way dialogue resulting in a continuum of experience and opportunity between home and setting.

Staff record:

- Things to care about - such as a birthday, family celebration, visit to the doctor, house move.

- Special interests and development - such as trying to stand alone, books, exploring water.

Based on information relating to these points, staff plan what they can do to support the child effectively at this stage in their learning and to encourage progression.

Rhythms of the day:

Consideration is made of the child's daily rhythms. Staff ensure there are relaxed times to sleep, rest, eat, drink and chat. Individuals will have special times with key persons and friends throughout the day. Personal needs are respected and catered for, and these times are also special.

Consideration is also given to enhancements to provision, and to thoughts and ideas from families.

Links between Room Story 1 and 2 are an essential part of the process.

ROOM STORY 2

These involve planned experiences involving focused learning possibilities for the group. It may begin with a visit, for example, to a farm or nearby woodland. Experiences in the setting will then develop from this, according to the children's interests.

Each planning sheet is organised in columns, with each column defining:

- The overall focus of the experience, for example, promoting Communication, Language and Literacy. (This focus is flexible and can alter because of the changing direction of a baby's interest, for example, to one of Knowledge and Understanding of the World.)

- The expected experiences, resources and provocations.

- The adult role/effective practice.

There is clear progression between the columns.

After each experience, staff will note:

- What they have found out and what they will try next.

- Links to the EYFS.

Taken from Learning Together, Education Development Service, County Durham

CASE STUDY - SAMUEL

Samuel's interests:

Samuel is currently involved in a trajectory schema (so is interested in things, incuding himself, moving in straight lines, up, down or across).

He is fascinated in the way that items roll straight down the ramp connecting the indoor and outdoor areas and spends most of his time moving a small car to the top of the ramp and watching it roll down again. Sometimes he pushes the car along a flat surface and sometimes he rolls a ball in the same place.

Next steps for Samuel's learning:

We placed observations about Samuel's interest both on the display board and in his personal file, and we discussed ways of providing him with opportunities to extend his fascination with linear movement.

We decided to provide sit-and-ride vehicles so that he could push himself in a straight line, and left jugs alongside the water tray so that he could observe the way that water travelled in a line as he poured it from the jug.

EYFS links for Samuel:

Having a strong exploratory impulse.

Finding out what toys are like and can do through handling objects.

Sometimes focusing enquiries on particular features or processes.

Putting together a sequence of actions

CASE STUDY - LILY

Lily has two current interests - books and sound

We provide board books so that she can turn the pages herself and she manages this easily. Books are stored mainly in a corner with cushions, so that babies can crawl over to it easily themselves, and Lily spends much time there, 'talking' to herself as she explores a book. Sometimes her key person will spend time with her, sharing a book and talking about the content. Lily enjoys a simple picture story.

We store the musical instruments and sound-making resources in baskets and Lily knows where to find them. She explores each one, listening intently. A wall-hanging depicting the rhyme Hey Diddle Diddle is at floor level, and Lily is able to make noises by squeezing the various components. Her key person helps her to explore the hanging and sings the rhyme to her as she plays. Lily repeats some of the words. She likes to move spontaneously to music.

Next steps for Lily's learning:

From close observation of these interests, we have decided to provide Lily with stories about animals, as she is showing a preference for those. We will introduce her to paper books instead of board books now that she is more adept at handling them. We will also encourage her to join a small group, accompanying a music CD with her choice of sound-making objects, and to move to music alongside the others.

EYFS links for Lily:

Shows interest in stories, songs, poems or jingles

Listens to and enjoys rhythmic patterns in rhymes and stories

Begins to move to music, listen to or join in rhymes and songs

Creates sounds by banging, shaking, tapping or blowing

MORE INFORMATION

Further information about Learning Together can be obtained from the Early Years Team, County Hall, County Durham, tel: 0191 3833000

More about schemas can be found in:

- Thinking children: Learning about schemas edited by Tina Bruce (Open University Press)

- Threads of thinking by Cathy Nutbrown and Extending thought by Chris Athey (Paul Chapman)

- Look out for Nursery World's new series on schemas. Part 1, 'Observing ... Scott' was published on 15 September; Part 2 will be published next week (15 October).