Creating a love of learning

In late February, The Elms hosted an event titled “Creating a love of learning”. It was focussed on equipping parents of Pre-School children with the knowledge and tools to aid the transition up to the Reception classes, ahead of the new academic year in September 2020.

Sharing specialist knowledge

Leading the event and sharing their words of wisdom were EYFS experts, Lucy Savage, Assistant Head of Early Years and Infants and EYFS leader/ Reception teacher Stephanie Bikow.  The duo have extensive knowledge to pass onto families after having guided many children through this crucial stage of their educational journey, as part of their careers as experienced teachers and EYFS leads for professional associations and authorities.

Facilitating learning

Specially developed by the EYFS team at The Elms was a comprehensive goody bag for families that has a dual purpose; to enjoy at home as well as acting as the building blocks to an effective education. Miss Bikow explained, “In EYFS children will want to learn if it is fun” – so the contents of the bag was exactly that! Inside was a range of activity suggestions and tools, which all linked to the seven areas of learning within the EYFS curriculum. From bubbles to improve vocabulary to an extra-large paintbrush to assist with the development of the motor movements required for writing.

The Elms recipe

Miss Bikow was keen to highlight that learning doesn’t just happen within the classrooms. Parents can facilitate learning opportunities in endless ways and by experiencing a subject with a variety of objectives such as practical, purposeful and fun, children can learn even quicker. A relatable example of this is using maths to weigh ingredients, to identify house numbers on a walk as well as incorporating counting in a dance routine.

The recipe card included in the event bag was also full of accessible ideas to bring learning to life outside of their current Pre-School setting.  Here are a couple of examples of how day-to-day activities can be aligned to prime areas of development:

Developing young bookworms

• Story time does not need to be limited to fiction books, instead introduce information texts and poetry to your child.
• Make reading real by highlighting your use of reading in day-to-day life such as a recipe or on food packaging.
• Demonstrate that adults enjoy reading books by demonstrating role-model behaviour by sitting down with a book without any technology distractions.

Mix up play

• Deconstructed role play rather than themed allows children to all think differently, for example a box can become a pirate ship to one child and a washing up area to another.
• Inspire creativity and perseverance and allow your child to use recycled materials along with sellotape and glue to make a model. Empower them to make the decision on what they can make.
• Encourage children to be reflective. Arts and crafts projects can be re-visited the following day and elaborated on. Follow this up and ask your child to justify what they have added and why.

The Elms environment

After the talk, parents headed over to the recently refurbished Reception classrooms with their children to experience some of the learning techniques implemented within the school. Activities included mark marking on different materials, cosy story times and imaginative play maximising the small world and deconstructed play areas.

Stronger together

Lifelong learners are the creation of The Elms and parents working closely together to instil a love of learning across the curriculum areas.

To join us on this journey and enable your child to go further in their education, please contact our Admissions Manager to discuss the availability of school places in September.