Preschool settings in the UK — A snapshot
The team at Key Education Foundation had the privilege to visit 9 preschools in and around London as a part of a learning journey with Helga Todd Teachers’ Education Foundation.
Hear directly from our team as we share the top highlights from our first experience of these classrooms.
*This piece is co-authored by Anjali Govindankutty, Swetha Guhan and Namratha Bhat who represented KEF on this visit.
- Play is truly the work of the child
There is a strong belief that children learn through play. This comes through how the classrooms are designed, the resources made available to the teacher and the free flowing play time in everyday routine. They can choose from a variety of activities that include making play dough, construction using blocks, open ended materials, pretend play, sensory play, monkey bars and other activities that encourage physical movement. The stations are regularly updated with new materials based on the themes and interests of children.
2. Child centric infrastructure design
The early years classroom in the UK are spacious and well organised keeping the children in the centre. The furniture was child sized, making it easy for them to engage in tasks independently, safely and access all parts of their classroom with ease. This included the design of the washrooms as well!
3. Safety is priority
The smaller details in the classroom environment are well thought keeping in mind the safety of the child. There are visual cues for the child to know how to exit the building safely and whom to approach if they feel unsafe. Not just that, if a station [let’s say woodwork] is identified as an activity that will help the child in developing foundational skills, the teacher conducts a Risk Assessment for the station. If the child is shown how to work with a hammer and nails safely, and is provided with the right gears, then the station is there to stay.
4. Outdoor Play ! Everyday!
“There is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothes and gear” said a school leader as children put on their coats, scarves and wellies to head outdoors and play in the rain. Free flow time in the routine has the children exploring stations set up outdoors as well. In one of the schools children were arranging a display of counters at an outdoor station only to pour water in it and wait for it to freeze over the next day.
5. Organised Spaces to build Independence
One of the key objectives of early learning we observed across all centres was to make the child independent. Children were well aware of their routine and they knew exactly what was going to happen next, who their adult was, how to ask for help and how to use the washroom on their own. Every space and object was labelled and clear pictorial instructions were provided for the child to be able to do the activity on their own. Sanitisers were kept along with picture posters with stepwise instructions on how to use them to keep hands clean.
6. Children feel represented
Pictures of every child are found around the classroom either to mark spaces, belongings or to create tiny versions of themselves that can be used as dolls to place inside a home they have built. The displays in classrooms also help children communicate with the adults around them. There is a wall with pictures of families of each child in every classroom. This space is often used by the child to talk about their family or tell their teacher that they are feeling homesick.
7. We could not hear the teachers’ voices!
We entered the classroom and all we could see and hear were the children. They were moving freely about the classroom, visiting different stations that were set up for them to play in. The teachers were present, moving quietly about the space, observing and guiding the children as they led their own learning.
8. SEL is integrated in everyday practice — one on one conversations
A child was sitting with his teacher, in tears because his friend had just hit him on his arm. The teacher, who had just finished having a chat with the other, asked him, “Why do you think he hit you?”. The child responded, “he gets frustrated when I throw the ball into the bushes”. “Do you understand why this frustrated him?”. The child nodded.
Every child gets time with their teacher to have a one-on-one conversation. No child goes unheard.
9. Reading for pleasure is a priority
Reading spaces were abundant in every corner with inviting seating and a carefully selected set of books. Read aloud, storytelling, displays of the ‘book of the month’ and more reminded children to choose books and flip through them even if it is for a few minutes each time. Classrooms with children as young as 4 engaged in ‘book-making’ together to share their own stories and added them to their libraries. Schools also choose from a variety of phonics programs to help children work on decoding text. Both these approaches come together very well to make children fluent readers early on in their learning journey.
10. Art is integrated in everyday practice
Every early learning centre has multiple opportunities for children to explore, invent and express themselves through the arts! Outdoor music corners, interactive invitations to make art and so much more. A Reggio Emilia setting that we visited even had intricately planned art invitations including audio visuals and sounds that drew from children’s exploration questions like — Why can’t water flow upwards?
The potential of art as an open ended tool is evident in these spaces as they focus on the process over the product.
11. Every child has a key person!
Teachers are well aware of the need to ensure strong ties with families through regular communication and trust building. This can be game changing in the early years, especially for children with additional needs or those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Every centre has a structure where each teacher is mapped to a group of 6–10 children as their ‘Key Person’. While children learn with different educators in the school, their Key Person checks in on their well being and progress and is in a unique position to be a point of contact with the parents and address their unique needs.
Every early educator can do with a little inspiration and we hope this leaves you with something to think about and take back to your classroom.
