BA (Hons) and PGCE Primary Education & Teaching

Programmes

ALL YEAR GROUPS

Working in the Foundation Stage

Extra Guidance for School Experience To be read in conjunction with the appropriate SERE Handbook

for School Experience and the Generic School Experience Handbook for Primary Education Programmes

2014 – 2015

CONTENTS

Page

A note to Foundation Stage mentors 2

Introduction 3

The School Experience Requirements andExpectations (SERE) Schedule of Dates 4 SERE Weekly Overview 4 School-based learning tasks 4

Key requirements of our Early Years student teachersand how these might look in Foundation Stage settings 6

1 Whole Class teaching 62 Observing and undertaking teaching in ‘other classes; 73 Lesson Planning 7

Assessment of student teachers in Foundation Stage settings: 8

Some specific advice for student teachers in Foundation Stage placementsThe nature of good Foundation Stage practice – what to aim for 9

Play 11

The EYFS curriculum 13

Planning 16

Planning for adult-led activities 17 Planning for child-led activities 17

The learning environment 19

Assessment 20

Professional relationships 22

Components of a good teaching in Foundation Stage placements 23

Developing your own knowledge and understanding 24

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A note to Foundation Stage mentors:

Thank you very much for giving time and energy to supporting our Early Years and or Primary student teachers in your establishment. The good practice that they witness and develop here will help them become good teachers who are proficient, intelligent and sensitive in meeting young children’s needs and supporting their development and learning in appropriate ways.

What follows is some advice about some key considerations that will inform the expectations that you should have of our students and the opportunities that they should receive during their time with you. We hope you find this advice useful. If you would like some extra guidance or clarification about this advice and how it might be reflected in your particular setting, then please do not hesitate to contact Wayne Stallard on 01243 812040, or by e-mail at W.Stallard@chi.ac.uk.

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INTRODUCTION

This booklet contains advice about how student teachers can demonstrate their progress towards the Teachers’ Standards while based in Foundation Stage placements.

Most Nurseries and many Reception classes do not operate like most classes in Key Stages One or Two, and can sometimes seem bewildering to the untrained eye. Student teachers unfamiliar with Early Years Foundation Stage principles and practice can sometimes wonder how to operate as teachers if it looks like the children in their setting are playing, running around and doing whatever they want without any structure or imposed educational agenda or expectations. But such appearances are deceiving and this is not the case.

Student teachers can demonstrate their influence on Nursery and Reception children’s learning by focussing on the aspects of teaching and learning discussed in the rest of this booklet.

NB: A note about the terms ‘school experience’ and ‘lessons’:

The term ‘school experience’ is used to identify the components of student teachers’ training that require them to practice and develop their knowledge skills and practice of teaching; in other words, it is about the status of the placement experience that they will undertake with you. The term ‘school experience’ differentiates the type of placement experience that the students will undertake during this time from other possible Foundation Stage experience that they might have at other times - as part of their subject study modules or Special Interest Placements, for example.

The term ‘school experience’ does not signify that it is expected that the student teachers will necessarily be placed in schools: indeed, the whole point of placing our Early Years student teachers in nursery settings is that they will experience good quality nursery practice in a range of settings not limited to those that categorise themselves as ‘schools’.

Similarly, the word ‘lesson’ sounds as if a formal teacher-led session is always required but, of course, it is not. A ‘lesson’ can consist of the facilitation of useful child-led discovery learning or play, with the student teacher in an active and observant role, leading or supporting the children’s learning as seems appropriate. A ‘lesson observation’ therefore, can be of the student teacher engaged in any of these types of activity in a pro-active and substantial manner.

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THE SCHOOL EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS ANDEXPECTATIONS (SERE) SCHEDULE OF DATES

Each phase of school experience is supported by a specific SERE document. The inside front cover of each of these identifies the schedule of lesson observations, link tutor visits (and so on) that is expected for that particular cohort of students. This schedule of activity is also identified in the Weekly Overview that can be found further on in each SERE document.

It is often the case that these SERE documents indicate that certain lesson observations are to be focused on the teaching of particular NC core subjects. Clearly this will not apply to lesson observations in nursery settings, and might not to lesson observations in Reception class settings. What is expected is that students are observed teaching in the closest related Area of Learning and Development (e.g. ‘Communication and Language’ or ‘Literacy’ when the SERE document says ‘English’, ‘Problem-solving, Reasoning and Numeracy’ when it says ‘Mathematics’, and the ‘The World’ strand of ‘Understanding the World’ when it says ‘Science’).

It would also be useful for at least one lesson observation during the placement to be focused on the teaching of PSED, as this is an area of such importance in nursery practice.

School Experience Requirements and Expectations (SERE) Weekly Overview

Rather similarly, the Weekly Overviews contained in each SERE document often refer to the expectation that student teachers will teach the NC core subjects. This will not apply to students based in nursery settings, and might not in Reception classes (depending on each setting’s relative use of the EYFS and the NC). What is expected from such students instead is that they take developing responsibility to teach at least all three Prime EYFS Areas of Learning and Development plus the Specific Area of Learning and Development ‘Mathematics’ (if based in Nursery settings) or all seven EYFS Areas of Learning and Development (if based in Reception class settings) as they progress through their school experience placement. Mentors and link tutors should look for evidence of students having taken on this range of responsibility when it comes to their final assessment review.

School-based learning tasks

Each phase of school experience includes the requirement for students to complete specific school-based learning tasks (which are detailed in the SERE document for their cohort). These are learning activities in the areas of English, Mathematics and Science, and are set by the Programme’s curriculum teams.

Students might find that the wording of several of these might be more obvious to apply to Key Stage 1 or Key Stage 2 settings. What is required is a little bit of common-sense interpretation. Students should try to identify what the gist and focus of each school-based learning task are, then (in conjunction with you and the link tutor) identify how these things find expression in nursery settings. Doing this will help identify what students should be observing and recording.

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For example, one current school-based learning task (at time of writing) asks students to observe at least three sessions each of the teaching of reading and writing. Students based in classrooms with older children will have no difficulty working out what this means, but this might not be so obvious for student teachers based in nursery settings.

They could, however, focus their observations on things such as:

sharing books and stories with children

the graphics area in the nursery

the encouragement given to children to write their names on paintings and drawings

mark-marking of any description

the use of the book-corner

the presentation and use of text in different parts of the learning environment

the use of writing-for-a-purpose in role-play (pads and pens for waiting staff to use in a role-play cafe, for instance)

any phonetic play, experimentation, modelling and reinforcement (as identified in Phase One of Letters and Sounds), and so on.

Nursery and Reception class mentors will have a good idea of the work that their nursery does in such areas. In addition, nursery and Reception class mentors will also be able to help their students decide how best to interpret and to complete these school-based learning tasks successfully.

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KEY REQUIREMENTS OF OUR EARLY YEARS STUDENT TEACHERS,AND HOW THESE MIGHT LOOK IN FOUNDATION STAGE SETTINGS

Our student teachers are expected to carry out a range of activities, duties and tasks during each phase of school experience that they undertake. How well these activities, tasks and duties have been achieved is assessed against the Teachers’ Standards (see below), and successful achievement of them is necessary for the student teachers to be recommended for the QTS award. Consequently, it is necessary for all our student teachers to receive sufficient opportunity to demonstrate such achievement while in their Foundation Stage placements.

Some of the key requirements made of all student teachers might seem rather out-of-place in many nursery or Reception class settings, particularly whole-class teaching, observing and undertaking teaching in other classes (if there are no other ‘classes’), and even lesson planning (if a nursery setting does not categorise its work with children as ‘lessons’). What follows is some advice towards ensuring that Foundation Stage-based student teachers get proper opportunities to demonstrate successful practice in these areas, but in ways that complement and flow naturally with good quality nursery and Reception class practice:

1 Whole-class teaching

All student teachers are expected to plan for and teach the whole class of children that they have been placed with as they progress through school experience. For students based in Key Stage One and Key Stage Two (and Reception, to some extent) this means that student teachers are expected to teach all of the children in the class at same time (e.g. introduce a lesson to the whole group, lead a lesson’s plenary, etc.). Clearly, this model does not apply to student teachers in nursery settings. What is expected instead are the following two things:

a) Planning and offering learning activities that are inclusive, available and accessible to all the children in the nursery, should they wish to take part.

b) Planning and offering learning activities across all the different parts of the nursery environment (e.g. graphics area, role-play area, large construction play area, outdoor area, etc.), so that all the possible areas have been taught in by the end of the placement.

In other words, all student teachers should have planned and offered inclusive and accessible learning experiences in each area of the nursery environment by the end of school experience. It would be very useful if, early in the placement, each student teacher and mentor could agree on a rotation for the student teacher’s planning and teaching responsibilities across the different environmental areas (e.g. Week 1: graphics area; Week 2: large construction play area; Week 3: outdoor area, etc.).

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2 Observing and undertaking teaching in ‘other classes’:

If the nursery provision is organised by areas / rooms catering for children of different ages, then it would also be expected that student teachers have observed practice and planned and offered some learning experiences in all these areas / rooms by the end of the placement. (Each student teacher can have one particular area / room as their home base, of course.)

If a student teacher is in a nursery that does not have different areas / rooms in this manner, then the expectation is that the student teacher observe practice by a range of staff, particularly as these staff cater for their own particular key worker groups (if the nursery has these).

(Obviously, if the nursery is part of a school, then student teachers would be expected to observe practice and plan and undertake some teaching is some of the other classes in the school – particularly the Reception class, if this is separate, as this would give a very good idea about the school’s approach to Foundation Stage provision overall).

3 Lesson Planning

All student teachers are required to demonstrate their ability to ‘plan and teach well-structured lessons’ (Standard 4). As noted above, the word ‘lesson’ sounds as if a formal teacher-led session is always required but, of course, it is not. A ‘lesson’ can consist of the facilitation of useful child-led discovery learning or play, with the student teacher in an active and observant role, leading or supporting the children’s learning as seems appropriate.

Student teachers are advised to plan an equal amount of adult-led activities and opportunities for child-led activities during their placement. Most importantly, they are expected to plan and facilitate opportunities for children to play productively. Student teachers are advised that most of the adult-led activities that they plan and the child-led activities that they facilitate should contain a very large component of play.

Student teachers are required to record their lesson plans on the University of Chichester Lesson Plan Pro forma (see exemplar on the Partnership Website). The University of Chichester link tutor attached to your setting will be very happy to go through this with you.

More detailed advice about lesson planning in nursery and Reception class settings can be found below.

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ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT TEACHERS IN FOUNDATION STAGE SETTINGS

The progress of all student teachers is measured by their achievement against the current Teachers’ Standards and their ability to demonstrate appropriate personal and professional conduct as identified in these Standards.

There are eight different Teachers’ Standards, categorised as follows. Each Standard is used to measure student teachers’ progress and achievements in a particular area of professional work:

1) Set high expectations which inspire, motivate and challenge pupils

2) Promote good progress and outcomes by pupils

3) Demonstrate good subject and curriculum knowledge

4) Plan and teach well-structured lessons

5) Adapt teaching to the strengths and needs of all pupils

6) Make accurate and productive use of assessment

7) Manage behaviour effectively to ensure a good and safe learning environment

8) Fulfil wider professional responsibilities

It would be worthwhile for the mentor and student teacher to go through all the Teachers’ Standards early on during the placement and have a conversation about what type of Foundation-Stage-based professional work would count as evidence against them. The definitive University of Chichester ‘Good Practice Guide for Mentors and Link Tutors’ document would be most helpful here. All settings have received copies of this, and it is downloadable from:

http://www.chi.ac.uk/department-education/school-partnership-office/primary-school-experience

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Some specific advice for student teachers in Foundation Stage placements:Mentors and Link Tutors: please read this section too.

THE NATURE OF GOOD FOUNDATION STAGE PRACTICE – what to aim for:

One of the four overarching principles of the EYFS (see below) is entitled ‘A Unique Child’. It is important that you demonstrate sensitivity to individual children’s needs and achievements. You can do this through:

1) Positive and responsive relationships with the children (and their families, where possible).

2) Good observation and assessment of individual children’s needs and progress.

3) Planning and preparing resources and the environment to facilitate children’s own explorations and discoveries (i.e. planning opportunities for child-led activities).

4) Planning adult-led activities that have been designed to respond to and build upon individual children’s needs and progress.

5) Interacting thoroughly, constructively and reassuringly with children to help them build upon their discoveries, explorations and interests.

Please note that the Effective Provision of Pre-School Education (EPPE) Report (2004) concluded that:

Effective pedagogy includes interaction traditionally associated with the term ‘teaching’, the provision of instructive learning environments and ‘sustained shared thinking’ to extend children’s learning. Sylva K et al (2004:ii)

‘Interaction traditionally associated with the term ‘teaching’’ refers to all teacher-led learning experiences that you plan and teach.

‘Instructive learning environments’ refers to the layout, design, resources, presentation and use of both outdoor and indoor environments to inform, enrich and facilitate children’s learning.

‘Sustained shared thinking’…

occurs when two or more individuals ‘work together’ in an intellectual way to solve a problem, clarify a concept, evaluate an activity, extend a narrative, etc. Both parties must contribute to the thinking and it must develop and extend the understanding. Sylva K et al (2004:vi)

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Mentors and link tutors will look for your contribution to all three of these factors when considering and assessing your progress. They will also look for your contribution to the following elements of good nursery practice (as identified by Ofsted 2007):

• How well providers support children’s enjoyment of their play, learning and development…

• Children’s enthusiasm, sense of fun, and expressions of pleasure and satisfaction from meeting challenges and doing well…

• Children’s progress towards the early learning goals.

References:

Ofsted (2007:9) Early Years: Getting on well: enjoying, achieving and contributing, London, Ofsted. Ref. 070059

Sylva, K et al. (2004) The Effective Provision of Pre-School Education (EPPE) Project: Final Report, London, Sure Start / University of London

Development Matters in the EYFS (2012:6) also identifies the following ‘Characteristics of Effective Learning’:

Playing and exploring – engagementFinding out and exploringPlaying with what they knowBeing willing to ‘have a go’

Active learning – motivationBeing involved and concentratingKeeping tryingEnjoying achieving what they set out to do

Creating and thinking critically – thinkingHaving their own ideasMaking linksChoosing ways to do things

These are very good things to aim for! Use the above as a good rule of thumb for judging the nature and quality of your teaching and working out your own individual targets for professional development.

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PLAY

Young children use play to explore, discover, experiment, consolidate, compare, share, express and develop knowledge, concepts and social skills (among many other things). Play is hugely important educationally. You will be expected to plan and facilitate opportunities for children to play productively. Most of the adult-led activities that you plan and the child-led activities that you facilitate should contain a very large component of play and discovery learning.

What this means in practice is that very often you will set up opportunities for the children to explore resources and lead the direction of their play in a very open-ended manner. Different types of play that you could facilitate include the following possibilities:

1) Discovery learning (playing with materials, resources and their properties, and the features of the environment).

2) Role-play opportunities (playing with narratives and scenarios and exploring different types of character, role and situation – possibly involving a component of dressing-up; any type of child-led ‘let’s pretend’ game or adult-led drama).

3) Repetitive stimulus – response games (such as ‘peepo’ for very young children).

4) Symbolic and representational play (e.g. a line of chairs could become a bus or train);

5) Games with rules or some type of structure or particular resources (such as puzzles, dice, playing pieces, cards; board games, physical or singing-and-movement games or computer games).

6) Adult-led play, possibly involving leading children through a playful process or game (such as wearing junk-model binoculars to be explorers when looking at mini-beasts).

7) Play with language and sound (including phonics as well as music).

8) Play with possibilities (i.e. exploring how a ‘let’s pretend’ story might play out, or how a hose might spray water in different patterns if moved in different ways, or ideas about what children could do if they were in a space-ship, etc.).

You should also be alert to the individual or social nature of children’s play. Some children will be very content having moments of individual (and often deeply contemplative or therapeutic) play, and some will be faster to either play in parallel alongside other children sharing the same resources, or actively co-operate and play with them. Try to monitor and respond to children’s needs and personal approaches in this area – with interest and enthusiasm. Talk with staff who know the children about what type of support children might need in their play (including the support of staying out of it when adult intervention would be likely to spoil the play rather than add to it).

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There might also be some very productive learning about sharing, taking turns, following other children’s leads in play, maintaining temper when the play does not go the desired way, and even winning and not winning games that you could usefully support and engage with.

Try to replicate the relative use of play-based learning and more formal learning that you witness in the Foundation Stage setting in your own planning and teaching.

If in doubt about whether an activity should be play-based or more formal, go for play-based every time.

A key tip is to ensure that the play experience is well-organised and attractively-presented, as these things can make all the difference in the world. Another key tip is to clearly demonstrate your interest in and high regard for children’s play choices and processes while the play is in motion. Children thrive when adults support their play and show delight in it, so do this!

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THE EYFS CURRICULUM

Nurseries (and Reception classes) currently use the newly-revised Early Years Foundation Stage (2012). Please familiarise yourself with this document. It contains very useful guidance about Early Years principles, planning, teaching and assessment.

The accompanying document Development Matters in the EYFS (2012) contains advice about the seven Areas of Learning and Development (the three Prime Areas of Learning and development: ‘Personal, Social and Emotional Development’, ‘Communication and Language’ and ‘Physical Development’, and the four Specific Areas of Learning and Development: ‘Literacy’, ‘Mathematics’, ‘Understanding the World’, and ‘Expressive Arts and Design’). These are, if you like, the EYFS equivalent to NC subjects.

Practitioners working with the youngest children are expected to focus strongly on the three prime areas, which are the basis for successful learning in the other four specific areas. The three prime areas reflect the key skills and capacities all children need to develop and learn effectively, and become ready for school. It is expected that the balance will shift towards a more equal focus on all areas of learning as children grow in confidence and ability within the three prime areas. EYFS (2012:6)

The EYFS also identifies particular strands of each of these Areas of Learning and Development that any learning experience might focus upon (e.g. PSED contains the strands ‘Making Relationships’, ‘Self-confidence and Self-awareness’ and ‘Managing Feelings and Behaviour’).

As well as reading the EYFS, please familiarise yourself with Development Matters in the EYFS (2012), as this document contains advice about the types of practice that might support children’s progress through each Area of Learning and Development, arranged as below:

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Development Matters in the EYFS (2012:11)

The top of the page indicates which Area of Learning and Development is being focused on, and also which strand of this area. The page above focuses on the ‘Self-confidence and Self-awareness’ strand of Personal, Social and Emotional Development, for example.

The first column, ‘A Unique Child’, contains indicative learning intentions that you might base your planning around. There is an attempt to indicate the pitch of possible learning intentions for children at different stages of development; this is a useful frame of reference, but not a substitute for your (and the setting’s) knowledge of individual children’s developmental situation and needs. (Note: The bolded-out developmental achievements at the bottom of the column constitute the Early Learning Goal for that particular strand of the Area of Learning and Development – i.e. they are the general expectations of the achievements that children should have made by the time they leave the Foundation Stage at the end of the Reception year.)

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Please note that all the indicative learning intentions contained in this column are quite general. You will probably find it more useful to be more precise with your own learning intentions at times (though you will find that different settings have their own perspective about this – and you are advised to model your planning on your own particular setting’s approach).

The second column, ‘Positive Relationships’, contains advice about the type of thing that adults can do to promote learning and development; in other words, advice about how to operate as a teacher! Do take heed of the advice in this column, as it could serve you very well in helping you to demonstrate your capacity to act as a teacher in the Foundation Stage.

The third column, ‘Enabling Environments’, also contains advice about the type of thing that adults can do to promote learning and development, but this time as facilitators and assessors; in other words, it contains advice about the use of resources and the environment, and about communication and assessment. Responding well to the advice in this column will do much to demonstrate your professionalism and the child-friendly nature of your teaching.

Taken together, these columns of guidance from Development Matters can stimulate your ideas about what type of learning experiences you could plan, and what the children are likely to get out of them. They are not meant to contain all possibilities, just give a flavour of them. Nursery and Reception staff should be able to show you how they use Development Matters to good effect, so follow their lead.

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PLANNING

It is expected that every lesson plan you produce identifies which strand/s of which Area/s of Learning and Development (see above) most closely apply to your planned lesson. Do NOT try to record every type of learning that might occur in your lesson plan, as you will end up with an over-long document that is time-consuming, unmanageable and unhelpful in practice.

For example, it is quite possible that a simple counting game might involve children in sharing (PSED), use of language (Communication and Language), exploration of the properties of the playing piece materials (Understanding the World), observation of colour (Expressive Arts and Design) and physical dexterity (Physical Development). If you attempt to record all of these, then your resulting plan will have no direction or focus. It would be simpler and much more useful to reference your counting game to ‘Mathematics’ and leave it at that (with, perhaps, one other secondary focus identified, if applicable).

Reminder: The word ‘lesson’ sounds as if a formal teacher-led session is required as a matter of course. It is not. You should aim to plan an equal number of adult-led activities and opportunities for child-led activities. Both of these types of activities count as ‘lessons’, and both can provide evidence about your achievements against the Teachers’ Standards.

The length of the lessons that you plan depends upon the needs of the children and your predictions of their likely length of engagement with your planned activities. (NB: It would be worth noting this likely length of engagement in your lesson plans.) In real life you may find that you host or facilitate an activity for a good part of the session, but the children who come to the activity spend varying amounts of time with it.

Don’t forget that most Nurseries (and many Reception classes) have children who attend on a part-time basis. It is very likely that you will run your activities once in the morning for one group of children, then again in the afternoon for another. Feel free to revise your activity for the afternoon to take account of your evaluation of how it went in the morning. This will demonstrate that you are a reflective practitioner. You do not have to stick to your lesson plan if it would be productive to deviate from it. You could record any such decision as part of your lesson evaluation.

You may be familiar with medium-term plans used in Key Stages 1 and 2. These tend to identify a class’s learning intentions for a half-term at a time. Nurseries (and some Reception classes) are more likely to use short-term plans (possibly fortnightly) to identify the skills, knowledge and understanding being targeted at any particular time. Please familiarize yourself with these and use them to give direction to your own planning and teaching.

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Planning for adult-led activities

For much of the time, individual children will decide for themselves whether or not they want to engage with the activity you have set up. Unlike a formal lesson in Key Stages One and Two, there is little guarantee that children will engage with what you have planned! One of your aims is to prepare and present your environment and resources so that they entice children and make them curious about what you have to offer. Your lesson plans will be scrutinised for what they say about your proposed use of the environment and resources, and your actual use of these things will be scrutinised too. (Do not forget that you could negotiate to use some of your non-contact time to prepare resources.)

If you have worked in Key Stages One or Two, you might be familiar with a whole-class lesson structure more or less like this:

IntroductionGroup activitiesPlenary

These three elements of a lesson can still be found in Foundation Stage settings, though they might look very different:

As individual children come to your activity, you will introduce it to the children on an individual basis. You will then support them through ‘sustained shared thinking’ (Sylva et al, 2004:iv) and practical guidance as they engage with the activity. Once the children seem as if they are likely to complete the activity to their (and your) satisfaction and go, you will probably engage in some dialogue with them that sums up what they have got out of the activity.

This process is equivalent to the introduction / task / plenary structure commonly found in lessons for older children.

Planning for child-led activities

As stated above, one of your aims is to prepare and present the environment and resources so that they entice children and make them curious about what you have to offer. Please note that a careful selection and presentation of resources in the environment can suggest lines of exploration and experiment to the children, and often these lines of exploration and experiment can be predicted and identified in your lesson plan. (For example, the children playing with vehicles in the sand-tray might think that they are completely in control of their play and discoveries, but you have predicted that they are likely to notice the different tracks made by the vehicles, and that the play the children engage with is useful towards the learning intentions about patterns identified in your lesson plan.)

All lesson plans should be recorded using the adapted University of Chichester Primary Lesson Plan Pro forma for the Early Years. This lesson plan pro forma can be further adapted to meet the needs of the setting but all headings must be included to ensure you have evidence for the Teachers’ Standards. If the University of

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Chichester Lesson Plan Pro forma is adapted, please ensure a copy is sent to the link tutor so that they can check that it still meets the requirements of the programme.

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THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

In all good nurseries and Reception classes children’s learning is promoted and facilitated through the provision of a rich, stimulating environment. You can expect to find clearly defined environmental areas (such as a role-play area, a ‘creative area’ with paints and glues, a construction area, a book-corner, a music area) though the exact nature of these will vary from placement to placement.

Each of these environmental areas contains the potential for facilitating children’s progress in all seven EYFS Areas of Learning and Development (i.e. it is not the case that a ‘creative area’ is only used to promote ‘Expressive Arts and Design’ or a drawing and writing area is only used to promote ‘Literacy’.)

In settings with many staff, staff tend to take responsibility for each different environmental area on a rotor basis, and you can expect to be part of this. You will take some responsibility for planning, preparing and leading activities in each environmental area that you work in. Around half of such activities will be adult-led: in other words, you will set up an activity with a particular focus and structure, and lead or direct the children who come to the activity through it. The other half of such activities will be child-led: in other words, you will set up the resources and environment so that they stimulate children’s engagement and exploration, and you will follow the children’s own direction and exploration rather than lead it. Often this might see you operating as a ‘play partner’.

Try to avoid tunnel vision over any activity you set up! If you are responsible for children’s learning in an environmental area, then try not to get disappointed if they don’t come to the particular activity you are leading, but support them as they follow their own interests in other parts of the area instead. (You can, of course, encourage the children to come to your activity – and if it is welcoming, intriguing, well-organised and well-presented, many probably will – but it is not the end of the world if they don’t. However, if children only rarely come to your activities and area of the learning environment, it might be best to re-design them!)

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ASSESSMENT

First of all, do ensure that you gain familiarity with the nursery’s or Reception class’s own assessment policies and procedures.

If you are working as a key-worker, you should get in the habit of observing and collecting data on children in your group. This might be difficult, as the children will not necessarily spend their time where you can easily observe them! Don’t forget that you can use some of your non-contact time to observe children and make notes about their progress.

Many Nurseries use post-its, sticky labels or observation sheets to record observations of children on, as these are much more flexible and individual than group assessment sheets. A useful post-it, sticky label or observation sheet can look something like this:

Purnima 10/11/2012

PSED

When Michael was left by himself in the role-play area, Purnima went over and asked if he was alright, then invited him to join a new game.

In this example, the most pertinent Area of Learning and Development has been indicated along with the actual observation. The advantage of this design of post-it, sticky label of observation sheet is that this particular observation could be filed under ‘Purnima: PSED’ (with others being filed under ‘Purnima: C&L’, Purnima: Maths’, etc.). This would make all your observational notes very accessible in your M&A file. Another approach to post-its, sticky labels and observations sheets is as follows:

Purnima 10/11/2012

When Michael was left by himself in the role-play area, Purnima went over and asked if he was alright, then invited him to join a new game.

PSED C&LPDLiteracyMathsUtheWExA&D

The advantage of this design of post-it, sticky label or observation sheet, is that any Areas of Learning and Development related to the observation could be indicated. This particular observation is still focussed upon Purnima’s behaviour in PSED, but if the new game had been a balancing game or a puzzle, for example, then the commentary could have been extended to say something about this, and either PD (‘Physical Development’) or Maths could have been ticked as well.

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It is recommended that you follow your setting’s own house-style of recording observations to begin with, and see how that particular method suits you. Whichever style of observational note you use, however, remember not to record every single thing that you see, as there will be too much, and not all of it will be useful! Select things that significant, and record these. (NB Don’t forget to communicate with other staff about significant aspects of children’s progress and behaviour.) This type of data can be very helpful later on.

You may also wish to record some analysis of your observations, as below:

Observation AnalysisPurnima 10/11/2012

PSEDWhen Michael was left by himself in the role-play area, Purnima went over and asked if he was alright, then invited him to join a new game.

This is another example of Purnima’s sensitivity to other children. She is showing consistent kindness to children who seem to be by themselves a lot.

Tip: When using post-its, sticky labels or observation sheets, try to file them on the day that you write them. This will prevent a back-log of observations developing, and help you feel in control.

You may find that the nursery or Reception staff put their observations into central class or nursery files. If so, you might find it useful to file some of your own particularly significant observations in these files too. If you do so, let your link tutor and mentor know so that they are aware of everything you do relating to assessment.

Many settings also use what they call ‘learning journals’ which are narrative accounts of children’s progress and achievements that contain a mixture of observational notes, annotated photographs of children involved in learning processes, examples of any product they have made, and recorded dialogue with parents about the children’s needs and progress. If your setting uses such things, then do try using them yourself.

If your nursery is part of a school, then you might find, for example, that it contributes towards the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile. If so, take the opportunity to find out more about it, and, if appropriate, use it!

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PROFESSIONAL RELATIONSHIPS

Children

Children require teachers who are warm-hearted, friendly, purposeful, knowledgeable, well-presented, and responsive and who model good quality behaviour towards others. This applies just as much to Nursery and Reception as it does to Key Stages 1 and 2. Do not adopt casual ‘baby-sitting’ habits when working as a teacher in nursery just because the children are very young. Remember, too, the importance of ‘sustained shared thinking’ (see above), and the notion that this should contain a level of challenge and some shared intellectual engagement with whatever process, discovery or resource is at hand. Good quality sustained shared thinking is indicative of good teaching. As Development Matters points out:

Development is not an automatic process, however. It depends on each unique child having opportunities to interact in positive relationships and enabling environments.

Development Matters in the EYFS (2012:2)

Many nurseries and some Reception classes use a key-worker system, and children are likely to experience group times when they congregate around their key-worker for stories, snacks, etc. Be prepared to act as a key-worker, either taking a group yourself or working alongside the children’s established key-worker.

This does not mean that you will only work with children in your group – far from it! Most nurseries and Reception classes see the children moving around the environment freely for much or all of the day. This means that, except for timetabled group times, you will never know exactly which children you will be working with. Ensure that you treat all children who come your way with the same amount of consideration and attention.

Adults

You will probably be working within a team of staff bigger than that commonly found within a single Key Stage 1 or 2 classroom. Remember that your behaviour and manner affect all the adults around you as well as the children. Demonstrate your willingness to be a positive and responsive team member. Ensure that all your communications are clear, friendly, courteous and respectful.

Remember, also, that staff within Nursery and Reception may have very different levels of training and experience – but all of them know the children and the setting you are in better than you. Do not think that just because you are training to be a teacher you know better than them, as such an attitude will actively work against your achievement of the Teachers’ Standards. Remember that you are a part of the team.

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COMPONENTS OF GOOD TEACHING IN FOUNDATION STAGE PLACEMENTS

Good Foundation Stage teaching remembers that children are children (i.e. that they have certain developmental needs and behaviour patterns), and that they learn best when they are physically and mentally active rather than passively receiving information from adults.

A good nursery lesson involves several components:

1) Play (self-initiated or adult-directed) – MOST IMPORTANT

2) Good use of an enriched environment (including, where possible, the outdoor environment)

3) Physical activity and manipulation of resources

4) Sustained opportunities for children’s own discovery and exploration

5) Meaningful context – i.e. all learning is related to children’s real lives and experiences

6) Sustained shared thinking that contains a level of challenge

7) Clear and precise use of language

8) Clearly demonstrated sensitivity to (and recording of) the children’s own interests and observations

9) Emotional support and encouragement

10) Good communication with other team members (and parents).

Note that the intended focus of all the above can (and should!) be planned for. It is quite possible for the student teacher to equip and present the resources and environment to stimulate children in likely directions. There should also be an equal mix of child-initiated and adult-led activities overall.

What is NOT appropriate in the Foundation Stage (or, indeed, anywhere) is for the children to be ignored, talked at rather than to, or entirely restricted to paper-based activities (i.e. worksheets of any kind).

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DEVELOPING YOUR OWN KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING

Do not forget that there are many useful texts that can help you acclimatize yourself to Nursery and Reception settings. Below are just a few suggestions:

Basford J & Hodson E (Eds) 2008 Achieving QTS: Teaching Early

Years Foundation StageExeterLearning Matters

Bruce T 2011 Early Childhood Education(4th Edition)

LondonHodder

Palaiogologou I (Ed) 2012

The Early Years Foundation Stage: Theory and Practice(2nd Edition)

LondonSage

Reed M & Canning N (Eds) 2010 Reflective Practice in the Early

YearsLondonSage

Smidt S 2010 Playing to Learn LondonRoutledge

Sylva K et al 2004The Effective Provision of Pre-School Education (EPPE) Project: Final Report

London, Sure Start / University of London

Whitebread D & Coltman P (Eds) 2008 Teaching and Learning in the

Early Years (3rd Edition)LondonRoutledge

‘The Effective Provision of Pre-School Education (EPPE) Project: Final Report (1997-2004)’, available at:

http://www.surestart.gov.uk/publications/index.cfm?document=1160

Finally, do not forget to enjoy yourself! Nursery and Reception class children are at a very early stage of their education, and everything is new, exciting and fun!

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