Early Years Scotland Conference, 30 September 2017 ... · Eliminating Educational Inequality:...

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Early Years Scotland Conference, 30 September 2017 Eliminating Educational Inequality: Getting to Grips with the Gap in the Early Years World Café – Delegate Feedback Early Years Scotland recently hosted a World Café at our annual conference. Delegates were invited to choose topics of interest and share their knowledge and insight with colleagues from across the Early Learning and Childcare sector. Here, we present a round-up of the rich conversation and debate that ensued around practice, pedagogy and policy. The conversations centred around 10 themes. World Café Theme 1: Language and Literacy Early language skills – listening, understanding words, speaking, listening to music, enjoying rhymes and songs and building vocabulary – are the vital foundation to enable children to learn to read: children first learn to talk and then learn to read. Recent research has highlighted the fact that children in disadvantaged circumstances are twice as likely to experience difficulties or delays in their language development, compared with other children. High-quality services and support for children and families can help overcome this. 1. Supporting the home learning environment can help boost children’s early language development. Early Learning and Childcare services have an important part to play in bridging the gap between home and service, by engaging with parents about their child’s development. What strategies could we employ to support parents in developing the home learning environment? Your responses included: Effective communication with parents to ensure they understand the significance of their role and the importance of promoting literacy Be approachable/non-judgemental/respectful and build good connections and relationships with families Create home link bags/song bags/story sacks/bedtime books for parents to use at home

Transcript of Early Years Scotland Conference, 30 September 2017 ... · Eliminating Educational Inequality:...

Page 1: Early Years Scotland Conference, 30 September 2017 ... · Eliminating Educational Inequality: Getting to Grips with the Gap in the Early Years World Café – Delegate Feedback Early

Early Years Scotland Conference, 30 September 2017

Eliminating Educational Inequality: Getting to Grips with the Gap in the

Early Years

World Café – Delegate Feedback

Early Years Scotland recently hosted a World Café at our annual conference.

Delegates were invited to choose topics of interest and share their knowledge and

insight with colleagues from across the Early Learning and Childcare sector. Here, we

present a round-up of the rich conversation and debate that ensued around practice,

pedagogy and policy. The conversations centred around 10 themes.

World Café Theme 1: Language and Literacy

Early language skills – listening, understanding words, speaking, listening to music, enjoying

rhymes and songs and building vocabulary – are the vital foundation to enable children to

learn to read: children first learn to talk and then learn to read. Recent research has

highlighted the fact that children in disadvantaged circumstances are twice as likely to

experience difficulties or delays in their language development, compared with other

children. High-quality services and support for children and families can help overcome this.

1. Supporting the home learning environment can help boost children’s early language

development. Early Learning and Childcare services have an important part to play in

bridging the gap between home and service, by engaging with parents about their

child’s development. What strategies could we employ to support parents in

developing the home learning environment?

Your responses included:

Effective communication with parents to ensure they understand the significance of

their role and the importance of promoting literacy

Be approachable/non-judgemental/respectful and build good connections and

relationships with families

Create home link bags/song bags/story sacks/bedtime books for parents to use at

home

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Stay and Play evenings/Baby breakfasts/Practitioner home visits/support

groups/parenting programmes/workshops and a variety of other ways to include

parents as partners

Recognising and learning from good practice at home, valuing and respecting

parents and their knowledge and skills and learning from each other

Using visual aids and videos/display boards/social media instead of leaflets for

information sharing

Communication champions on your staff team

Making the most of external resources: I CAN/Bookbug/The Big Read/PEEP/VERP

training/online learning journals

2. How can services ensure that the environment, both indoors and outdoors, is

stimulating and promotes early language, speech and communication for all children?

Your responses included:

Staff development/regular training/sharing of practice/networking

A child-led approach utilising loose parts/free flow/suitable opportunity for

challenge

Enrich language by creating a nurturing environment, encourage curiosity, stimulate

the senses

Effective self-evaluation, quality observations and interactions and knowledgeable,

skilled practitioners

Build services around Curriculum for Excellence and Building the Ambition

Ensure evidence of literacy across all areas of the environment

Provide opportunities for making connections, comparisons and categorising, for

mark-making and encourage talking and listening

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World Café Theme 2: Creating a Rich Play Environment

Early Learning and Childcare staff understand the significance of the environment for

children’s learning and development. Consider your knowledge and awareness about how

children use their space and resources and how this helps them to follow their interests,

explore and take risks and to have a voice.

1. How do environments influence children’s experiences and opportunities for learning

and development?

Your responses included:

Environments must be rich, robust, calm, homely purposeful and natural. They must give

children freedom and invite them to be creative

Open ended, natural and well planned resources are key

Adults are a resource

Parental engagement is key

Children must have an influence on their environment

Whether indoors or outdoors, literacy, numeracy and wellbeing must be embedded

across the environment

Primary 1 should be free-flow, accessible and play-based

2. Can you suggest the main areas of focus in creating a rich play environment?

Your responses included:

Staff must know how to observe children, create next steps and follow the child’s

interests

Create child-centred spaces that offer challenge, choice, stimulation and opportunities

to be creative

Focus on staff development and professional learning

Ensure access to challenging play, risky play and physical play as well as opportunities for

problem-solving

Ensure opportunity for role play and dramatic play/literacy and numeracy

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World Café Theme 3: Effective Parental Engagement

‘Parental and family engagement is a key factor in helping all children achieve the highest

standards whilst reducing inequity and closing the attainment gap.’ (National Improvement

Framework, 2016).

Practitioners involve parents and carers by enabling effective ongoing, two-way

communications between home and the setting.

1. What do you consider to be the main benefits of effective parental engagement in

your setting/Early Learning and Childcare settings?

Your responses included:

Development of home learning environment and creating shared goals

Sharing ideas and knowledge and working together with parents to create a better

understanding of the individual child

Create a shared language of learning/encourage parents who have had negative experiences

of education to become involved

Offer support for parents and listen to their views and opinions

Tap into parents’ skillsets and encourage them to be more involved in the setting/create

shared vision, values and aims of the setting

Early intervention

2. What do you consider to be the main barriers to effective parental engagement in

your setting/Early Learning and Childcare settings?

Your responses included:

Staff knowledge/skillset

Time constraints/accessibility/flexibility

Communication/language barriers

Culture and knowledge of the importance of the early years

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3. Consider the barriers you have identified. Suggest how these could be

addressed/overcome within the ELC sector.

Your responses included:

Relaxation time/mindfulness/PEEP

Consider different approaches to working with parents/evaluate practice

Grandparents stay and play

Develop trusting relationships

Introduce a social committee for parents

Consider strategies for communication - social media/online journals/resources in different

languages

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World Café Theme 4: Working with Families Experiencing Difficulties

Scottish education serves many children well, but the attainment gap between children from

the richest and poorest backgrounds is wider than in many similar countries. The Scottish

Government has introduced many different initiatives aimed at supporting families

experiencing difficulties.

1. How can we improve outcomes for all children ensuring excellence and equity of

opportunity?

Your responses included:

Early intervention and preventative work

Understand the significance of the home learning environment and support the whole

family

Effective partnership working/Sharing best practice across settings and areas

More investment in early years

Staff teams – communication, consistency and continuity

Evaluate your practice

Quality, purposeful professional learning

2. What support do practitioners need in order to best fulfil their responsibilities

towards children and families experiencing difficulties?

Your responses included:

Networking with other professionals/more focus on multi-agency approaches/collaboration

with health visitors

To feel valued and support by management/families/the wider education sector

Effective leadership

Role models and mentors/supervision and support

Counselling skills

More time and better levels of funding

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World Café 5: Transitions

Children experience a number of transitions in their early years. Their confidence and

resilience can be enhanced when commitment is given to support these transitions with

sensitive planning, preparation and effective communication between services.

1. What are the main benefits of effective transitions in the early years?

Your responses included:

Sense of security, love and stability/more potential for positive attachments

Greater self-esteem/reduced stress/builds resilience

Effective parental partnerships

Support for learning/next steps

Information sharing/communication/early intervention

2. Consider creative approaches to transitions that you have implemented or observed.

Share your thoughts and ideas.

Your responses included:

Home visits/’All About Me’ books

Consultation with children and families

Playful pedagogy

Transition objects

Use of wall displays

Buddy systems/sibling visits

Multi-agency working and sharing of information (appropriately)

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World Café Theme 6: Expanding the Workforce by 2020

The most important driver of quality in Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) is a dedicated,

highly-skilled and well-qualified workforce, whose initial and continued professional learning enables

them to fulfil their professional role. Scotland is already leading the way across the UK in its ambition

to have a highly qualified and regulated workforce. The expansion will see this workforce grow

substantially, resulting in the creation of new positions across all grades providing employment

opportunities for new entrants to the sector, as well as progression opportunities for existing staff.

1. What challenges do you anticipate in recruiting new entrants to the sector?

Your responses included:

How do we make it an appealing sector to people with life experience?

Quality and sustainability

Pay/benefits

Status and gender profile of the sector

Pay scales that are standard across the sector (private/voluntary/local authority)

Losing the ‘best’ students to the teaching profession after they gain qualifications

Encouraging careers teachers/guidance to have a better understanding of the sector

2. (a) What can we do to change perceptions about a career in ELC and ensure it is an

attractive and long-term career choice?

(b) How can we attract a more diverse workforce that better represents wider society in

Scotland?

Your responses included:

Promote a deeper understanding of early years role across the education sector

Show opportunities for progression

Highlight the value of the sector/promote the outcomes for children

Promote volunteering as a route into employment

Targeted recruitment to improve diversity/men in childcare

Raise professional status/BACP not always valued

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World Café Theme 7: Expanding ELC Entitlement from 600 – 1,140 hours

The 1140 hours expansion will require substantial levels of investment in workforce and

infrastructure in order to ensure that the required capacity is in place by 2020 to enable full roll-out

of the expanded entitlement. Given the transformative nature of the expansion, and the potential

structural changes for the sector, a number of challenges may be experienced by providers in order

to achieve the desired result of high quality services and accessible services underpinned by

flexibility, choice and affordability.

1. What do you consider to be the main challenges of effective implementation of the

1,140 hours?

Your responses included:

Job opportunities/training

Ensuring quality of staff/experienced staff team

Funding

Workforce stress

Operational issues and logistics e.g. lunches/sleep/cooking/ratios for younger children

Maintaining effective communication across a staff team/shift work

Children spending less time with their own families leading to attachment issues

1. What professional learning opportunities should be in place in order for the

workforce to adapt to the 1,140 hours entitlement?

Your responses included:

Opportunity to share practice with other professionals

Practical training for college students

Staff swaps/visiting other settings

Technology could be used to widen opportunities for learning/releasing staff is challenging

Appropriate training for a degree qualified workforce

Training on enabling environments/Nurture

Modern apprenticeships

Professional dialogue

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World Café Theme 8: Provision for eligible 2 year olds

If we are serious about closing the attainment gap in Scottish Education, we must have high

aspirations and expectations for all children. When we look at the current and future plans

for providing Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) for eligible two year olds, we need to ensure

that the focus is on leading high quality provision delivered by sensitive, skilled, committed

and well qualified staff. As the number of hours of Early Learning and Childcare offered

continues to increase, we must ensure that quality is not compromised.

1. What must be taken into account in developing and delivering effective environments

for 2 year olds?

Your responses included:

Environment – indoor and outdoor

Training that includes child development/understanding milestones

Staff visiting other settings/professional collaboration

Knowledge of schematic play

Pre-birth to Three Training

Understanding and knowledge of attachment and emotional development and nurture

Routines/furniture/mixing age groups/energetic play/music and rhyme

2. What professional learning opportunities should be offered for practitioners working

with 2 year olds in order to support children’s learning and development?

Your responses included:

Conferences/opportunities to share good practice/networking events

What is it like to be 2?

Pre-birth to Three

Outdoor learning/gardening

Music and instruments

How children learn

Schemas

Child development and milestones/Brain Development/Attachment

Mixing age groups

Training for parents/family learning opportunities

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World Café Theme 9: Outdoor Learning

‘There is a growing body of research that shows that young children’s access to nature and

outdoor play is positively associated with improved self-esteem, physical health, development

of language skills and disposition to learning’ (Davy, 2009).

According to the Care Inspectorate, the quality of children’s experience in Scotland is

generally very positive. As well as the specialist outdoor-based provision, services have

improved children’s outdoor play experiences using both their own outdoor play areas and

the natural environment locally.

1. What could we improve on/do better in our outdoor learning provision?

Your responses included:

More free-flow outdoor learning/less structure

Ensure staff and parents understand the importance of outdoor and risky play

Accessible staff training

Staff motivation

Bring the outdoors inside/reduce the plastic in settings

Observe and compare children’s wellbeing indoors and outdoors

Encourage more loose parts play

Better understanding of how to use the outdoor environment for learning/link to literacy

and numeracy

Share good practice re. resources/challenge/innovative ways to explore the outdoors

More opportunities for training

2. Consider your observations of innovative or good practice with regard to outdoor

learning. Share your thoughts and ideas.

Your responses included:

Visits to local woods/beaches/wild areas

Limit adult intervention/offer freedom of choice/build life skills

Support/training for childminders

Outdoor classrooms

Den building

Parents volunteering

Improve planning for outdoor learning

Link loose parts to STEM learning/problem solving

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Create bug hunts/bug houses

Create opportunities for water/mud/sensory play

Encourage parental engagement

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World Café Theme 10: Scottish Government EYS ELC Expansion Trial

'By trialling different methods with local authorities and child care providers, we will be better

able to understand what parents and children need and want, and what is actually working.

This will be crucial as we move forward with our transformational expansion of childcare.’

First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon.

Early Years Scotland has been working in partnership with Aberdeen City Council to deliver an

ELC Expansion Trial. The project’s title is 2 Stay, Play and Learn and it is an innovative

approach to providing ELC for eligible for two year olds. The main difference between this

unique EYS model and other ELC provision, is that instead of dropping their child at nursery,

the parents stay, play and learn too.

1. How might this innovative way of engaging with families benefit the child and

ultimately support the aim of closing the attainment gap?

Your responses included:

Benefits the child by supporting and educating parents and carers

Promotes the home learning environment

Builds and maintains relationships and encourages partnership working

Models good practice and reinforces messages about learning

Collaborative approach leading to parents and setting taking a consistent approach

Supports parents’ mental health and increases confidence

Allows parents to use their strengths and talents

2. What additional types of professional learning do you think staff may appreciate in

order to work effectively with adults and children in this kind of setting?

Your responses included:

Working with 2 year olds

Refresher courses on child development

Facilitated family discussion groups/online courses for families

Working with adults/building communication skills/active listening/

Conferences/membership of groups

Mental health guidance/dealing with people with addictions/counselling skills

Page 14: Early Years Scotland Conference, 30 September 2017 ... · Eliminating Educational Inequality: Getting to Grips with the Gap in the Early Years World Café – Delegate Feedback Early

All comments and discussions at the World Café offered valuable information and

served to enrich the debate and dialogue. This report serves simply to give a flavour

of the feedback from our wide range of experienced and knowledgeable delegates

and is not a verbatim account of all feedback.