Enabling Environment

Why is it important to get your cosy area right? Having a cosy area within any under 2's room in the early years is essential however practitioners are not always getting it quite right. A cosy area is more then just some soft furnishings in an area of the room where there is some space. A cosy area should offer a secure yet stimulating area … [Read more...] about Improve your cosy area in your early years under 2’s room

What is a schema? Early years practitioners should fully understand, recognise and support children who are displaying schemas. Schemas are patterns of behaviour that some children regularly display in order to help them make sense of the world around them. Not all children explore schemas, some explore all types of schema and some are very … [Read more...] about The Importance of exploring the transporting schema

Finding ways to help boys engage in play There has been much debate over the years about how boys and girls learn differently in the early years with no clear outcomes or divide as to why this is the case. Early years practitioners often come across the same problems with boys not fully engaging in an adult lead activity or participating at … [Read more...] about Why won’t boys engage in the early years ?

Why should I have a construction area in my early years room? The early years foundation stage refers to construction in many of its 7 areas including physical, mathematics and expressive arts and design. A construction area allows children to play, explore, actively learn, create and critically think all things which are crucial to a … [Read more...] about Impress Ofsted with your early years construction area

Do I need a mark making area? Within the early years foundation stage there are many hints and pieces of advice which suggest a mark making area iS beneficial for children of all ages. Mark making leads to early writing skills and gives children the confidence they need be able to express themselves through marks and pictures. For an early … [Read more...] about Impress Ofsted with your early years mark making area

Ways to incorporate problem solving in the Early Years Developing problem solving skills is an area of development early years’ practitioners are familiar with, and the importance of developing these problem solving skills is well known, but what exactly are problem solving skills? And how do we encourage children to develop these? Within … [Read more...] about How to promote problem solving in the early years

Starting a new Nursery This can be a difficult time not only for children but for parents as well. Some children settle straight into the new routine and environment whereas some others take a little longer. This can be true regardless of the age of the child but luckily there are some simple steps that can be taken to aid the transition … [Read more...] about Helping children to settle into nursery

­Why being an effective key person is important The key person is at the heart of the early years foundation stage and is a statutory requirement. Many theorists have completed research into the importance of the key person, and the results all show how necessary it is for children to have an attachment figure. The key person can be anyone … [Read more...] about Top five tips on being an effective key person

Why are parent partnerships in the early years important? The early years foundation stage (EYFS) places a huge emphasis both in its statutory framework and its development matters document on building parent partnerships. Having strong parent partnerships has many benefits for the child's development including their emotional development. The … [Read more...] about How to create strong parent partnerships