Example Early Years Projects
Curriculum and Standards
The example projects below would always be tweaked to meet the bespoke needs of your school and staff. We know that one size does not fit all!
All our work is underpinned by the latest research available and models of best practice. These examples supplement our core offer of termly subject lead sessions where training is delivered and updates are shared.
High quality interactions
This package offers up to twelve hours of support to develop an early years learning environment that prioritises high quality interactions. It provides opportunities to audit the learning environment as well as planned language and vocabulary learning opportunities. It will deepen leaders’ understanding of the strengths and weaknesses in the setting. Staff training sessions will ensure that all staff understand the research that supports the importance of high-quality interactions and develop approaches that improve language learning opportunities for all children. Modelling of high-quality adult-child interactions will teach staff members strategies to improve language comprehension and build back and forth conversation into the curriculum.
Audience – Designed for Early Years teams but staff working with all ages will also benefit
Time - 6 or 12 hrs
Progressive Curriculum and Learning environment audit, review and development
- Analyse current curriculum plan for progression. Minimum 6 hours support
- Cross reference your progressive curriculum with resources and learning spaces. This analysis will enable a detailed scrutiny of progression across the phase, enabling triangulation between curriculum claims, provision and progress. Minimum 6 hours support per indoor classroom (outdoor area to be agreed dependent on size)
Audience - Early years leaders
Time - 6 hours curriculum plus 6 hrs learning environment
Preparation for inspection as EY lead or team
Support with “talking the talk” so you and/or your team can practise talking about your EY including your vision, your written curriculum, your enacted curriculum, how priorities have been identified and addressed and the impact of your actions.
The session is tailored around the Education Inspection Framework to support talk being focused and succinct.
Audience – Early Years Leads
Time – 3 hours
Early Years Curriculum Review
The Early Years Statutory Framework was revised in 2021 and schools have spent time reviewing and updating their curriculum. Now is an important time to review your curriculum. We provide expert guidance and support to ensure that your early years curriculum meets the statutory requirements of the EYFS framework and is built around the expectation of the Educational Programmes. We empower you to deliver incremental learning opportunities that are aspirational, reflect your unique context and build on children’s prior knowledge. You will build your pedagogical understanding and awareness of how your curriculum reflects child development.
- Learning and development requirements in the statutory framework – education programmes and early learning goals.
- What to provide for an effective learning environment and meaningful resourcing.
- Progression in learning and development across the themes of; pattern, set making, counting / number operations, shape and measures.
- Planning and delivery.
- Record keeping and assessment.
- Review of current documentation and curriculum plans in school.
Audience - Early years leaders and practitioners
Time - 3-6 hours
Early Years Collaborative Review
The early years team offers a review of the effectiveness of early years, planning its format with the headteacher and early years lead. The review is a half day and will focus on school priorities including:
- The intent, implementation and impact of the curriculum and assessment.
- Effectiveness of the teaching of phonics.
- Effectiveness of the learning environment.
- Effective roles of adults (including interactions).
- Meeting the needs of vulnerable children.
- The characteristics of effective learning.
- The compliance of the safeguarding and welfare requirements.
Leaders and governors are encouraged to join all aspects of the review. A report with actions will be shared and followed up with further support as required.
Audience - Headteachers, Early Years lead.
Time - 4-8 hours
Effectively auditing the EYFS statutory requirements in your school
A member of the early years team will support leaders to complete an audit and create an action plan with regards to the statutory requirements for the EYFS (early years foundation stage) with particular focus on the safeguarding and welfare requirements (section 3). The requirements are a focus at inspection and the audit/action plan will ensure that both the early years team and senior leaders know how to ensure that your school is compliant. Follow up support can be booked as a result of the audit.
Audience - School leaders
Time - 3 hrs
Effective Leadership in EY for headteachers
This package offers six/eight hours of support to identify priorities for early years and begin to implement change.
It provides opportunities to consider the quality of provision in relation to the four key principles of the EYFS. Using the audit tool will help Headteachers to identify what they already know about early years, then engage in an accompanied learning walk to check, look harder and discuss the provision. Support will be given to identify areas for improvement and a further learning walk will be used to identify training needs around very specific aspects of practice which are emerging as priorities. Specific training will then be provided and an action plan devised.
Audience - Headteachers
Time - 6-8 hrs
Understanding, monitoring and evaluating early years mathematics
Developing a shared understanding of mathematical practice and provision across all key stages is central to ensuring effective curriculum progression and maximising progress across the subject.
This CPD offer enables senior leaders, subject leaders and practitioners to work and talk together to understand the mathematical curriculum in early years.
Practical tasks, discussion and exploration of provision supports the whole team to learn more about how mathematical understanding and ideas grow and develop over the phase, and how this is best supported through practice and provision.
Audience - These sessions are available to any practitioners across school but are most effective when both senior leaders and practitioners attend, opening up conversations around curriculum plans and progression, resourcing, staff knowledge and skills, timetabling, effective assessment, child development and use of the indoor and outdoor teaching environments.
Time - 6 x 1 hour sessions covering;
- Learning and development requirements in the statutory framework – education programmes and early learning goals.
- What to provide for an effective learning environment and meaningful resourcing.
- Progression in learning and development across the themes of; pattern, set making, counting / number operations, shape and measures.
- Planning and delivery.
- Record keeping and assessment.
- Review of current documentation and curriculum plans in school.
Year 1 Matters - training and support to develop practice and provision in Year 1
Moving from Early Years provision, into Year 1 is one of the most complex and challenging moves children make in their whole school career.
Post Covid, many schools report growing numbers of children who enter Year 1 with complex needs, or who have not yet reached a Good Level of Development (GLD). As a result, traditional models of practice and provision in Year 1 can struggle to meet children’s needs.
This training and support package proposes a model for organising and resourcing Year 1, which creates a constructive, achievable approach, bridging the gap between traditional Early Years and Year 2 organisation.
Drivers for adapting Year 1 provision might be centred on supporting those under resourced children, but, might also be driven by the need to provide a model for teaching and learning which sees direct teaching followed by practical experience, enabling children to apply what they have been taught in meaningful contexts.
This model of provision aligns with; specific year 1 curriculum skill development, making reasonable adjustments, quality first teaching, increasing use of accurate vocabulary, supporting autonomy and independence.
- 1 hour meeting with Leaders and Year 1 practitioners to outline and discuss the model
- 3 hour meeting with Year practitioners to;
- Explore teaching space and suggest layouts.
- Map out and present resourcing plans linked to the subject areas of; Maths, Science, Art, Design technology, Geography and History. Resourcing will enable children to work in specific curriculum areas, but also to make meaningful links across and between areas.
- Exemplify how children will share their ideas, approaches, successes and plans for future enquiry.
- Exemplify a possible approach to organisation and management of the space, in terms of teaching and learning.
- Exemplify and support staff to create tools which enable children to work with growing independence to know and remember more - using dual coding, scaffolding and worked example strategies.
Optional; 2 hour follow up to review and develop progress and application of the model.
Testimonials
‘A key focus was determined to be quality interactions and understanding how these would be pivotal in the setting as part of the ongoing assessment process. Rebecca led training for our team and the EYFS lead ensured that quality interactions became part of embedded practice across our early years. A cycle of monitoring was put in place and this has ensured that valuable assessment information has been gathered on all children over the course of the year as well as opportunities to secure and challenge learning.’
Headteacher, Backworth Park Primary School
“Just to say a big THANK YOU to Rebecca for her support with Ofsted Talking the Talk meeting. It was so valuable to spend the time with someone who has been through the process. She helped me clarify my thoughts on what I need to say and include and also what I don’t need to say; I talked far too much! I have made short, focused notes from the session and now hopefully when the pressure is on, I know what I need to get across to an inspector.”
EY Lead, Holystone Primary School
'The curriculum review session with Rebecca was very useful as it has helped myself, as a new EYFS Lead, to evaluate and develop the year-long curriculum plan for Reception. We worked through each area of learning, ensuring that we had the correct coverage, progression and “assessability” throughout. I now have the skills and knowledge of the process that will allow me to evaluate and develop the nursery curriculum.’
EY lead from Backworth Park Primary School.
“I found it a really supportive process, it helped me to highlight the strengths in our setting and the team was there to provide support in areas that weren't so strong. Emma has empowered us to look differently at our curriculum. For anyone considering a review I would highly recommend, the team are so knowledgeable and not scary at all.”
EY lead - St Bernadette’s Catholic Primary School
“It was a useful process, allowing us all to work together so that we were all aware of policies and procedures and how the curriculum is taught in EYFS. Joanne and Lauren were able to talk about the provision they offer and how it fits in with the EYFS curriculum.”
EY lead - Whitehouse Primary School
‘This year our newly appointed EYFS lead worked with Rebecca to review our curriculum provision and create an action plan. As a new lead, this was invaluable support in helping her identify strengths and areas to focus on for the year ahead. A key focus was then determined to be quality interactions and understanding how these would be pivotal in the setting as part of the ongoing assessment process. Rebecca led training for our team and the EYFS lead ensured that quality interactions became part of embedded practice across our early years. A cycle of monitoring was put in place and this has ensured that valuable assessment information has been gathered on all children over the course of the year as well as opportunities to secure and challenge learning.’
Headteacher at Backworth Park Primary School
I have to say I’m by no means an expert in early years, but I am on a journey. I was confident in a lot of areas and early years, but not monitoring or challenging staff. Rebecca came into school and worked with me. We initially did a learning walk and audit which showed strengths, a lot of strengths but some areas that needed to be reviewed.
More importantly for me was that following Rebecca’s visit and following the template and knowing everything that was going on in early years and what was being addressed, I knew that, for example, auditory attention was an issue. So I knew that when I went on a learning walk that I was looking for activities and things that were addressing that.
I was able to triangulate the experience that child was having from what the staff were saying they were doing to seeing it in action and seeing how much progress that child was making’
Headteacher at Battle Hill Primary School
“As a new Headteacher, I looked at the areas I knew I needed to develop. I spent the majority of my teaching career in Key Stage 2, supported staff in Key Stage 1, but didn’t spend much time in Early Years. My understanding of the Early Years curriculum was basic and my knowledge of continuous provision and environments needed developing so I spoke to Catherine Worton about my leadership package and we devised a programme of support that not only supported me but also supported my nursery teacher who is an ECT. The support I received from Catherine was superb and the knowledge I now have of Early Years ensures that I can support and develop Early Years staff and ensure that our Early Years curriculum is based on reflecting and adapting what we do to ensure every child makes progress in their learning and development – becoming more knowledgeable, skilled, thoughtful and confident. Catherine supported me in supporting staff with developing environments, enabled me to support my ECT and she coordinated visits
to other Early Years provisions. This gave me the opportunity to speak to Headteachers, Early Years Leads and Early Years teachers and gave me the chance to look at the varying ways different settings and curriculums are organised as well as allowing me time to make connections with staff in different schools. If you, like me, feel that you need to develop your knowledge of Early Years, I couldn’t recommend this package highly enough “
Headteacher at Greenfields Primary School
‘We worked collaboratively with Emma on our curriculum to ensure it was bespoke to our setting, taking into account our vision, the unique characteristics of our school and children’s cultural capital and backgrounds, therefore fostering a more personalised approach to our children’s education.
Once we were happy with our curriculum, we worked with Emma and looked at our learning environment. We had to ensure our curriculum could be enacted and therefore changes needed to be made. Emma guided us to create a well-resourced and impactful learning environment, considering both the physical space and the resources available. We worked on progression from Nursery to Reception, with the aim being for children to build upon knowledge and skills to make progress. The level of collaboration with Emma has had a significant impact on our practise and the continuity of our provision from Nursery to Reception. We are now confident that our curriculum allows children to develop knowledge and skills across the early years so children make progress and our learning environment and skilled staff enable this to happen. By sharing, with all members of the team, the rationale, goals, content of the curriculum and together working on our learning environment and resources has ensured a coherent and consistent approach to early year’s education at Hazlewood.’
EY lead at Hazelwood Primary School
OFSTED May 2023- Children enjoy their time in the early years. Leaders have developed a strong curriculum. In early years, children thrive. They quickly become confident and independent learners.