This video shows practitioners supporting young children’s learning at Sheringham Nursery School and Children’s Centre in east London, a maintained nursery school for children aged two, three and four. The setting works closely with parents and carers and is fully inclusive, with a number of places prioritised for children who have special educational needs […]
Why does professional learning matter in the early years sector? Following the launch of the Chartered College’s Early Childhood Hub, we are joined by early years experts to discuss the potential impact of professional learning on early years education and development. Hear more about the resources available on the Hub to support early years practitioners. […]
Una Shea, Founder, Our Montessori Melodies As educators, we find ourselves always looking for new ways to encourage the development of our students’ abilities and wellbeing. This is a challenge in itself, especially in times such as these, where unprecedented levels of stress are being reported worldwide (Racine et al., 2021). Including group creative experiences, […]
Dr Lucy Parker, Deputy Headteacher, Ludwick Nursery School, UK This case study focuses on the implementation of cookery as a core part of our Early Years curriculum and how it has developed into a learning experience that has had a significant impact on children’s personal, social and emotional development (PSED). Ludwick is a large, maintained […]
Natasha Crellin, Headteacher, The Hill Primary School, UK Introduction Retention of Early Years staff is a challenge for many Early Years settings, and recruitment and retention take a considerable amount of leadership capacity. There are many reasons why the sector faces retention challenges, including working conditions, pay and the demographic of people attracted to the […]
Katherine Richards-Bryant, Early Education Lead, Reach Children’s Hub, UK An excellent education at an inclusive school is necessary but not always sufficient for young people to enjoy lives of choice and opportunity. With the awareness that many students require deeper and more wide-ranging support than a school can provide, the Reach Foundation developed the Reach […]
Catherine Gripton, University of Nottingham, UK Helen J Williams, Freelance Education Consultant, UK Early mathematics pedagogy is about exploration, apprenticeship and sense-making. Exploration: Children and adults enjoy exploring mathematical ideas mentally and physically. Apprenticeship: Children learn through being mathematical with adults, learning mathematical words, ideas and behaviours from them Sense-making: Children make sense of their […]
Chandrika Devarakonda, Associate Professor of Diversity and Inclusion, Faculty of Education and Children’s Services, University of Chester In this video, Chandrika Devarakonda discusses approaches to decolonising and diversifying the curriculum in early childhood education, including: the actions practitioners can take to decolonise and diversify their practice how we can move beyond tokenism the barriers […]
Eleanor Milligan, Lecturer in Education, University of East Anglia, UK The importance of language skills It is well evidenced that children’s language development in the Early Years leads to better outcomes for children. Law et al. (2017) showed that communicative development in the Early Years affected not only later language learning but also academic success. […]
Jackie Gray, Director of Early Years, Outwood Grange Academies Trust, UK This article reflects on the factors that contribute to effective CPD for Early Years practitioners and the approaches used to improve practitioners’ knowledge and expertise across Outwood Grange Academies Trust (OGAT). Specifically, it looks at: how research into effective teaching has informed our professional […]
This video captures early childhood education professionals talking about their professional learning journeys, including: their motivation and passion for working in early childhood education and the importance of this educational phase routes into the profession and the importance of professional learning what they love most about working in the early childhood education sector.
Lisa-Maria Müller, Chartered College of Teaching This research summary is based on a talk by Prof Kathryn Hirsh-Pasek, which you can access here. Early childhood practitioners have an essential role to play in supporting children’s language development. It is, after all, with them that many children spend most of their waking hours. It is therefore […]
Professor Sam Wass, University of East London, UK In recent decades there has been a big international shift in education policy (LGA, 2019). It used to be the case that most funding was concentrated on the later stages of education. Increasingly, though, it is now being realised that in fact what children experience during the […]
