Key Knowledge Flashcards
How do children develop in the early years?
Children develop physically, cognitively, socially, emotionally and personally in the early years. So, providing a nurturing and stimulating environment is crucial for holistic development.
An example I can share is when observing Ash interact with all the learning areas at Out There. I have been able to assist him with his physical development in coordination using the slack line, critical thinking when building using the loose parts as well as his spatial awareness while climbing. Alongside this, I see his emotional and social development when interacting with his peers and then learning to regulate himself when things don’t quite go to plan and how to solve the problem with his friends and the help of myself and other adults but we are just there as supportive bystanders.
What is your knowledge of the EYFS curriculum?
I have experience planning with the EYFS statutory framework with additional documents like Birth to Five and Development Matters during my PGCE training.
There are 7 core areas;
- communication and language.
- physical development.
- personal, social and emotional development.
- literacy.
- mathematics.
- understanding the world.
- expressive arts and design.
Out There focuses on personal, social, emotional and physical development. But with the other core areas woven into the planning. For example, setting up shop frames for understanding the world or letter and number stickers for postcards which introduce some literacy and mathematics into an understanding of the world activity.
What is your understanding of a child led, play based approach to children’s learning and development?
Child-led play-based learning is where children take an active role in their own learning. My job is to provide a stimulating environment that will enable children to develop holistically by setting up certain areas for free-flow play that are open-ended and flexible. I will observe and understand their interests and look to extend their learning in a supportive role and as a facilitator, I can offer guidance through scaffolding or modelling and offer resources that I think will allow the children to delve deeper into their play.
An example I would like to share is when the children started to pour water on different objects down the water slide. At that moment I started to hand different materials and asked the children to make predictions on which object would be faster. We then thought about why this was. I introduced key vocabulary like hard, soft, heavy, light, long and short. Seeing the children were at a comfortable level of learning I extended the play further by creating a results table so the children could practice recording their results which brought in some science and maths. This was such a fun activity and the children loved it.
What is your knowledge of research related the Forest School approach and benefits to children.
Spending time in nature allows for physical development, children can problem solve when learning to assess risks and make decisions independently and critically think when engaging in risky play like climbing.
Being outside regularly helps children develop empathy and respect for nature and can help with emotional regulation due to the calming effects of nature, while also developing resilience in cold, rainy weather.
Research has also suggested that children who regularly attend a forest school develop an increased motivation and engagement in their learning due to the hands-on, experiential nature of outdoor activities that capture their interest and curiosity.
What health and safety issues are relevant to this age group and how do you manage risks in the environment?
Obviously, carry out risk assessments, make sure we have the correct number of adults per child, create boundaries using the orange cones, discuss the forest school code, regular head counting, and following theissing child procedure if that was to occur. Reminding children of what to do with members of the public, roads, dogs and hazardous flora and fauna. Some of the most common ones are giant hogweed, lords and ladies, nettles and thorns. And just keeping up to date with our health and safety procedures and regularly going over them in the handbook.
Consistently applying the five-step approach to risk assessment for all Forest School activities:
- Look for hazards.
- Decide who may be harmed and how.
- Evaluate the risks and decide whether existing controls are adequate or whether more should be done.
- Record findings, including daily amendments to existing risk assessments based on site visits or
observations. - Review assessments on a regular basis and revise them if necessary.
How would you adapt your planning for different abilities and age ranges at Out There Forest School?
It’s really important to me to create an inclusive space. An example might be that on a rainy, sunny autumn day we might see a rainbow and I wanted the children to say what colours they could see. If I had a child with high sensory needs in my group. If we were doing a nature walk, rather than just saying what we can see, I would take the time to allow for physical tactile exploration of crunchy leaves in autumn for example. I would also let the children stop to see how the light was coming in through the tree. Because this is not only fun for all the children, I am meeting some of the sensory needs of my SEN/D child in an inclusive way.
What is your knowledge of child protection procedures (safeguarding)?
If I observe an indicator of abuse I would tell my safeguard lead. If a child tells me something of concern I will record the information, only ask open-ended questions and then alert my SGL. If the concern was about the SGL I would contact my Local Authority Designated Officer. I also ensure my training and knowledge of local thresholds for intervention are up to date as well as the local safeguarding advice issued by the Bristol Safeguarding Children Board.
Safeguarding is also promoted in my learning setting. As a key person, it is my responsibility to create a safe learning environment and to develop strong positive relationships, so children feel able to speak to me about their concerns.
What is your understanding of the role of a “Key Person”?
- Form loving relationships with all my key children helping them to feel safe and cared for which will help their social and emotional development. Also, their physical safety is my responsibility so ensuring risk assessments are taken, and adhere to be up to date with all safeguarding protocols.
- From a practical approach the key person will keep records such as an “all about me” document, maintain and update records in the child’s personal and developmental files and be responsible for completing the “two-year-old progress check” as well as filling out accident and incident forms.
- Make and write up observations in line with EYFS using the Famly software. Then use these observations to identify and plan for the next steps, providing a unique learning journey for every key child and then sharing the next steps with parents so they can incorporate them into home learning.
- Support their home learning environment understanding that parents are a child’s teacher throughout their life so it’s important to understand what the child is like at home and what they like to do there and what skills they are developing at home.
- To communicate important information to the parents, for example; daily routines, toileting accidents, injuries and other behaviour/ emotional concerns. To liaise with parents and the SEN coordinator if there are any concerns about the child’s development.
- Discuss children with my supervisor about how my key children are developing and progressing and will give regular updates to parents verbally and through observation forms.
- Transition time to the child’s next setting. My role is to make the transition as easy as possible by talking about it to the child and family, helping with any concerns and that we all work together to help the child.
How do you stay safe in the workplace?
- physically fit, own regulatory practice.
Will you be willing to undertake additional training including some evenings and weekends?
Yes, I am always looking to improve my practice through continuous professional development. Even now I try to do a CPD course through the NEU or EduCare every few months and regularly engage in reflective practice and keep up to date with the latest research.
What is the Forest School code of conduct?
The Forest Code is our key set of behavioral guidelines for Forest School sessions, which will be reiterated
at the beginning of each session in a variety of ways. We will endeavor to ensure that each child feels
confident that they know this code well and can demonstrate what it means in practice.
FOREST CODE
1) Keep inside the cones.
2) If you hear the call, come back all.
3) If it’s unknown leave it alone.
4) No pick, no lick.
5) If you need the loo who do you turn to?
What are the values and ethos of Out There Forest School?
Developing social and emotional skills
Encouraging children to work cooperatively and collaboratively
Helping children to manage conflict, find ways to express their needs and emotions
Child initiated learning and child-led projects
Nature-based free play and outdoor learning
Interactive, hands-on learning
Social and environmental sustainability
Building an inclusive and diverse community
Do you have the ability to keep confidential information?
There was a safeguarding issue at my second placement where I had to apply my Prevent training and ensure I completed the process accurately to ensure the case could not be dropped due to a mistake on my behalf. This involved collaborating with safeguard leads and local authorities. But despite the difficulty, it was a testament to my ability to instil trust in a child that they felt able to tell me something of that nature after my only being there for a few months. But I also had to keep this information confidential between me and the SGL.
Working with Ash I also made sure to keep his personal information on his database confidential and any things I was concerned about I only shared to his key person or our SENCO.
How would you adhere to Out There’s commitment to equality and diversity?
I would ensure that all my spaces are inclusive and celebrate each child’s culture, race and gender. I love the books Out There has like My Daddy the Nurse and My Mum the Footballer, mixing those gender stereotypes, as well as The Prince and the Knight which shows two men falling in love and Islandborn. I think these sorts of stories are so important for all children even if you don’t have a diverse classroom, you can still promote and teach equality and diversity.
When I was teacher training during my PGCE I had 7 EAL children all from different countries. I always made sure to adapt my lessons for them and to plan lessons that celebrated them. One lesson I did was on Ramadan, knowing one of our girls was Muslim, I got her to share things with the class about what happens during Ramadan. She was so proud to be given this chance about her culture, it was such a great result and the children found it so interesting coming from their friend rather than the teacher.
