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Views & Opinion


That thing called learning Comment by ALICIA BLANCO-BAYO, Early Years Teacher, Kirkham Grammar School


Throughout my day, I find opportunities to observe children whilst they engage in play. I watch their responses and I listen to the conversations they have with each other. This is an aspect of my job as an Early Years Practitioner that I thoroughly enjoy – having a place in children’s lives as I join them on their journey to become creative explorers. Reflecting on my own practice leads the way in


how I approach and present the environment. It is when I spend time looking at photographs I have taken during times of interaction that I am able to analyse children’s responses. This analysis is what creates the foundations of future learning.


Planning without structuring The first aspect to consider is how long children need to settle into a new environment. Having explored various options over the years, I concluded that to get an accurate picture of where each child is at, the settling-in period should be from 6 to 8 weeks. Using this period of socio-emotional exploration to “assess” the children so that we know where they are developmentally is so important. As Early Years


During the Early Years children are developing


physically, emotionally and mentally. Therefore, many of their senses are under construction and subsequently not ready to be graded. This is like watching a 10 month old baby who can walk and another one the same age who is still crawling. Do we then think there is something wrong with the baby who at 10 months cannot yet walk?


practitioners, time spent getting to know children is crucial so we can “guide” them according to their needs. However, often misunderstandings arise when it comes to using terms such as “assess” and “guide”. It somehow brings formality into Early Years if we define these terms from a Key Stage 2 and 3 perspective and that is not how they should be used in our context.


Taking children’s experiences further The day I saw children play with the empty plastic boxes we had been using to store the building shapes, I sat and watched them bring their story to life. I observed their responses and recorded their adventure. A few days later I watched the video and wrote notes about the children’s actions and some of the expressions they were using throughout their game, and began to group my key words into areas of learning. As I highlighted some of the vocabulary used by the children, I chose to focus on the use of mathematical language. In an attempt to assess children’s


understanding of mathematical concepts, I watched and heard children use words spontaneously and realised that I had actually carried out my assessment and I had done it thoroughly. I had developed a new assessment system through spontaneous responses and I could now use those responses to provoke more learning opportunities through play. Assessment, therefore, can be carried out throughout every- day observations if what we propose is that children flourish at their own pace.


Never mind the hype: majority of parents


back school uniform Comment by DAVID BURGESS, Chairman of the Schoolwear Association


Stories about uniform only tend to hit the press when they’re negative.


In September in


particular, the papers are full of reports about children being turned away from school for wearing the wrong shoes, skirts that are too short, trousers that are too tight… It makes a great story, doesn’t it? Angry


parents standing up to the big bad school establishment. It appeals to the rebellious teenager in all of us! But whilst these stories give voice to the


unhappy few, the boring truth is that on the whole parents are in favour of uniform with many seeing it as an important form of discipline that needs to be fully utilised. Over recent years, behaviour and the setting


of traditional standards are issues that have been rising up the agenda for both schools and parents. The introduction of smarter, school specific uniform has been a key part of this for many schools and academies. Our own research, carried out with YouGov in 2012*, revealed that 79% of parents who have children at a state school where uniform is required


April 2017


believe school uniform encourages better behaviour. Parents also said that they see uniform as a


practical solution for school-wear, with 89% believing that uniform constitutes better value than their children’s regular clothes. 83% said it is a more convenient option than children wearing their own clothes to school. Supporters of uniform say that wearing


uniform is a ‘classical conditioning’ process which places children in the right frame of mind for learning. When children put school uniform on, they understand from an early age that they will be going to school to learn and concentrate, rather than simply to play. That’s got to be a good thing – from a


parent’s perspective as well as a school’s. Perhaps unsurprisingly, teachers tend to


support the wearing of school uniform. In our research, we found that teachers see uniform as a useful tool for communicating school values, giving children a sense of belonging, and generating discipline. It also makes it easier for teachers to keep tabs on their pupils outside of


the school gates. They said that having their students wear a recognisable uniform is a helpful deterrent against bad conduct in public as they are more easily identified and reported. Even less surprisingly, we at the Schoolwear


Association are advocates for uniform and we’re pleased that our research shows that teachers and parents also recognise its value for their children and want to use it to its best advantage. One of the parents from our survey put it


beautifully: “I believe school uniform creates a discrete


(SIC) identity, delineates the transition between home and school, helps the children become part of a team or group, and instils discipline and a sense of belonging to somewhere special.”


*All figures, unless otherwise stated are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2239 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 16th – 19th March 2012. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).


www.education-today.co.uk 13


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