21st Century Learning: Contexts

Flying Start

Flying start is an initiative that is in Wales alone. It is a playgroup that runs for two and a half hours every day on weekdays. This initiative is available for all children and their families who live within the area of where a Flying Start is being run. This is for children aged two to three years old, and it offers the children many opportunities to help them develop many skills and also prepare them for when they go onto nursery and full time schooling.

During the two and a half hours that the children are at Flying Start the children have access to a range of types of play that are based indoor and outdoor.

The sort of opportunities that Flying Start offer are creating and developing skills such as friendship, communication, basic knowledge of key topics within a nursery setting and also get used to following a routine. These are done through individual activities, group activities and assessments. Children will enjoy these activities and developing these skills through the main developmental play areas. These are imaginative, creative, manipulative, physical and symbolic play.
An example of each play area that is used on a daily basis within Flying Start are, imaginative would be some sort of role play. Creative would be something using material such as painting or chalks. Manipulative would be using toys from small world play such as cars or animals. Physical would be anything from riding a bike to running around. Symbolic would be using another object to mean something else.

Arts and Crafts can be used for all four areas of play.

These children are given many opportunities to communicate with each other during free play, structured activities, circle time and snack time. The staff within Flying Start will use every opportunity to help children develop their speech and communicate.
When I did placement in a Flying Start there were a few children who had delayed speech or speech difficulties because of various reasons. To help these children develop their speech more I would use their interests to help them talk by asking about characters or for them to tell me their favourite part or character.

Forest Schools

Forest schools are basically a school based in a forest or woodland area where the children explore, experiment and learn through outdoor activities and using natural resources. Forest Schools began in Scandinavia but then they started to develop over here in 1994. Knight (2009, cited in Farstad, 2005, Pg. 14) stated 'Theres no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing.' This is a quote from the Scandinavian tradition.

There are many forest schools within the UK which children can attend, but forest schools have now been introduced in schools as well. The school will take a class to either a woodland area on the school grounds or to a woodland elsewhere that they have access to.
The children have the chance to experiment and explore the outdoor environment and choose their own choice of learning within this environment.

Forest schools can provide many learning opportunities for children. This gives the children a chance to gain new experiences in and gain new skills. The children will either work in a team or work as an individual to do activities which will help them learn and develop in all areas of development.Forest schools encourage children to play together and be creative with the natural objects such as logs or leaves. Using forest schools as a second class has been proven to help children develop their speech. 'Successful pilots have been run to encourage speech and language in Foundation Stage children.' (Hopwood-Stephens, 2013)  The children will learn about boundaries, and the children respect and listen to these boundaries as they are given the freedom to do what they want to do. Children also build their confidence and self esteem a lot when in forest schools as it seems that all children gain more confidence when outside the classroom as they have freedom to express themselves. They will also gain friendships as the children may find that they have the same interest as another child that you would not find out within a classroom environment. These similar interests could be anything, for example a few children may have an interest in insects or mud so they will form these friendships through these interests.

Montessori Approach

Maria Montessori believed that children learnt through play, she found out this theory by observing the children, and she also found out that children should have hands-on education and learning. She believed that children should be in control of their own learning rather than being told what to do. Also for children to be able to learn at their best the room should be well prepared with all of the equipment they need to be able to develop and learn. Montessori did not encourage imaginative play she would encourage children to do real life activities such as giving out meals or cleaning. 

As stated Polk Lillard (1972) 'By "work" Montessori did not mean mechanical drudgery, but physical and mental actively chosen by the individual-activity that has mean to him because it promotes to his own growth or contributes to society.'

There are six learning areas in a Montessori school, these are Practical life and daily living, Refinement of the senses, Communication, language, literacy, Mathematics, Cultural aspects and knowledge understanding of the world and Creativity. In a Montessori school the children are allowed to choose what activity they would like to do by choosing a coloured tray with the toys on. Children are also allowed and are encouraged to do real life activities such as cleaning. In a Montessori school the tables and windows may be left dirty as the practitioner knows that some children may want to do that as their activity. Also before the children even enter the classroom the teacher will shake the children's hand and give them all an individual greeting, this is a sign that the teacher respects the children as individuals. 

Foundation Phase

The foundation phase is a document which has all of the seven learning areas which children will learn in early year’s settings for age 3 years to 7 years old. This document has seven learning areas, these are Personal and Social Development, Well-Being and Cultural Diversity, Language, Literacy and Communication Skills, Mathematical Development, Welsh Language Development, Knowledge and Understanding of the World, Physical Development and Creative Development.
When this document was published there was seven aims within this document that all settings must promote to ensure that children receive the best kind of learning and education. 

           'We aim to ensure that all children and young people:

           • have a flying start in life and the best possible basis for their future growth and development 

          • have access to a comprehensive range of education, training and learning opportunities,                        including acquisition of essential personal and social skills 

          • enjoy the best possible physical and mental, social and emotional health, including freedom                  from abuse, victimisation and exploitation 

          • have access to play, leisure, sporting and cultural activities 

          • are listened to, treated with respect, and are able to have their race and cultural identity                        recognised 

          • have a safe home and a community that supports physical and emotional well-being 

          • are not disadvantaged by any type of poverty.' (Welsh Assembly Government, 2006)

The foundation phase encourages practitioners to use the indoor and outdoor environment to help the children get more exciting experiences using different materials and in different environments. Within this document with each learning area there is a list of opportunities that the children should be given and also how the children can be given these opportunities. The Foundation Phase (2007) states that a lesson that is planned well will encourage the children to be creative within their work and also know what they must build on within their learning. This is why the practitioner must plan activities that will cover a few topics for each day, using the indoor and outdoor environment. Within the Foundation Phase (2007) it says that 'Active learning enhances and extends children’s development.' For the children to be able to get the best experience and learning and be an active learner from the Foundation Phase they must be provided with new and unique activities and tasks to do. these activities and tasks should be hands-on as this is what the Foundation Phase is about.

The children should be given opportunities to work as an individual and also within a group. This will help the children gain new understanding and skills with what they are learning. Therefore the practitioner must know the abilities of the children within the group to ensure that they provide them with challenging activities. Also to a certain extent risky challenges so that the children can learn what their boundaries are when it comes to learning and also see if they can push these a touch to further their learning.

Reference List

Knight, S., 2009. Forest Schools & Outdoor Learning in the Early Years. London: SAGE Publications.

Hopwood-Stephens, I., 2013. Learning on your doorstep: Stimulating writing through creative play outdoors for ages 5-9. Oxon: Routledge.

Government, W. A., 2006. The Learning Country 2: Delivering the Promise. Cardiff: Welsh Assembly Government.

Lillard, P. P., 1972. Montessori: A Modern Approach. New York: Schocken Books.