News

Professor Tina Bruce launched a ‘Creativity in the early years’ conference at CLPE on 12th June with a keynote speech which demonstrated that all children can be creative. She argued that the role of adults is to provide circumstances that are nurturing rather than ‘driving children into the commonplace and depriving them of doing things which are beautiful and original.’ She encouraged teachers to learn from children and to let them lead in their learning.

A choice of practical workshops included: a child-led project to transform play outdoors, the work of the Southwark PPEL project with parents, an exploration of ways to make the environment more creatively enabling, and practical examples of creative problem-solving within Problem Solving, Reasoning and Numeracy in the Foundation Stage.

The conference closed with an inspiring presentation from Linda Sullivan, Headteacher of the Dale Community School, Derby, and Pat Geary, Headteacher of Stonehill Nursery School, Derby. They showed the ways in which they were translating the ‘slow pedagogy’ of the Italian nursery schools of Pistoia into the practice of their own schools and in doing so, transforming learning.

As one participant commented: ‘I have loved today. I feel really inspired again.’

Jane Bunting

For details of CLPE’s new Foundations of Talk and Literacy Project click here

Throughout this year, CLPE have been working with parents on an exciting project to develop children’s early language. Now, with four separate courses coming to an end, we are thrilled at the positive impact they have had.

Research findings from the CLPE Power of Reading Project 2005-09 were presented to a CLPE conference by Olivia O’Sullivan and Sue McGonigle on 22 April 2009. The research is based on interviews, case studies and data collection from the first four years of the project which now involves nearly 900 teachers, 650 schools and over 23,000 children.

Inclusion for all children - together with raised expectations from teachers - is a theme arising from the research. Kathy Maclean, Head of Minority Achievement for Wandsworth Local Authority stressed the key role of the Power of Reading for raising achievement within the LA which has significant proportions of children with EAL. Joan Stark, Senior School Improvement Officer (English) for Cumbria LA, praised the inspirational effect of the POR project on teaching and learning, as well as the effect on standards, particularly in areas of social need. Cumbria is now beginning its fourth year of involvement in the project. Rebecca Lerman, Year 6 teacher from Crampton Primary School, Southwark showed some of the amazing work done by her class based on POR texts such as Wolf Brother (Michelle Paver).

Olivia O’Sullivan

Schools and Local Authorities are currently signing up for 2009-10.
For further information click here.
To download the research summary click here.

Our 'How Does Your Garden Grow?' event on 29th May was considered a fabulous learning day by everyone - from babies to teenagers and adults. The activities demonstrated how easy it is to grow food and have fun in the garden without spending a fortune. They included planting a potato in a plastic carrier bag, growing a packed lunch, painting with fruit and vegetables, decorating pebbles, looking at insects and making a sand garden.

Kalid commented, “I learned a lot about potatoes and how to grow cress. You have been a great help to me.”

Rosie said, “Absolutely fantastic. I think your ideas are brill. Well done.”

And Jordan went off the scale: “U R the best. It is impossible to get any better.”

The feedback was so good that we have decided to run the whole day again on Thursday 23rd July, so that we can give even more families the chance to have fun and learn together. To find out more, please get in touch with Clio Whittaker, Family Learning Coordinator, clio@clpe.co.uk

Tel: 07918759 788 or 020 7902 2297.

CLPE’s Poetry Right Now! with Michael Rosen has provided teachers with a year long opportunity to develop their poetry teaching.

In their end of year presentations teachers shared the poetry journeys they have taken with their classes over the year with Michael Rosen. Freedom was a leitmotif which ran through all the contributions: the new found freedom of teachers who now feel sufficiently confident to make independent choices in how they teach poetry and freedom for children, especially the less experienced readers and writers, to find their poetic voices.