Early years curriculum frameworks

UK early years curricula England The Early Years Foundation Stage statutory framework applies in England for early years provision for children from birth to 5. Read more Scotland The pre-birth to 3 age range is covered by Pre-Birth to Three: Positive Outcomes for Scotland’s Children and Families Children from 3 to 6 are covered by the Curriculum […]

Physical development in early childhood

Clare Devlin, Early Education Associate What aspects of physical development should we focus on within the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and other early years curricula? In this article, I explore the importance of physicality at this crucial point in a child’s development. The article explores two key aspects, “moving and handling” and “self-care”. It […]

Reflecting on leadership development in the context of workforce crisis

by Kayla Halls, Early Years Research Fellow at Middlesex University & Mona Sakr, Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood at Middlesex University’ Leaders in the early years (EY) set the tone for the way settings run. Whether it’s nursery managers, pedagogical leaders or room leaders, leadership development is essential for improving how EY organisations work and […]

Chapter 1: The centrality of play in early childhood

Back to overview of chapter resources Chapter authors Nancy Stewart Kierna Corr Julia Henderson Chapter overview Play is a fundamental in childhood, and enshrined as a right within the United Nations (1989) Convention on the Rights of the Child.  Although children play in different ways depending on cultural and environmental contexts, playing is a universal […]

Chapter 2: Early years curriculum: past, present and future – trajectories

Back to overview of chapter resources Chapter authors Verity Campbell- Barr Sasha Tregenza May Chapter overview In this chapter, we explore and analyse developments in the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) curriculum, tracing philosophical concepts and policy influences, to identify what has shaped current understandings of an ECEC curriculum. This journey of evolving ECEC […]

Chapter 3: Understanding young children’s learning through observation and assessment

Back to overview of chapter resources Chapter authors Sue Allingham Nicola Brinning Chapter overview This chapter is built around the policy contexts of Wales and England. This immediately requires a definition of terms, which we seek to do through prac- tice examples throughout the chapter. With an emphasis on observation in the moment and practitioner […]

Chapter 4: Developing a culture of sustainability in ECE

Back to overview of chapter resources Chapter authors Alison Featherbe Louise Lloyd-Evans Helen Moylett Chapter overview In the early years, where our habits of mind and learning dispositions are formed, we can help to cultivate young children’s social imagination; supporting them to think creatively, critically and optimistically about the state of their world and their […]

Chapter 5: Developing early years outdoor experiences

Back to overview of chapter resources Chapter authors Elizabeth Henderson Emma Gordon Helen McKinnon Jacqueline Bremner Maggie MacDonald Chapter overview Taking a Scottish perspective, this chapter shows how, building on the early roots of outdoor learning, recent policy has promoted outdoor learning in the early years. In this chapter, Elizabeth Henderson shares her account of […]

Chapter 6: Working with families to support young children’s learning

Back to overview of chapter resources Chapter authors Cathy Nutbrown Becky Cook Chapter overview Early childhood education settings are increasingly, developing work with parents to help them support their young children’s learning at home. With examples from a Maintained Nursery School and a Trust Pre-School in Yorkshire, this chapter considers how parents can help their […]

Chapter 7: Transitions in ECE

Back to overview of chapter resources Chapter authors Aline-Wendy Dunlop Lisa Barnes Myra McRobbie Chapter overview  In this chapter we have chosen a transitions lens on an ecological model to address contemporary issues around wellbeing, play, curriculum, and leadership in the evolving Scottish early childhood world: a world which itself has made significant transitions and […]