Hi everyone, hope you are well.

Every half term I will be writing a BLOG about all things early years. I thought about new beginnings and the importance of reflection for this first one.

September is the perfect time to begin a fresh journey with our children and families. Starting a new academic year is an important time for us to set the climate for our year ahead. It is also a great time to reflect, plan and implement new strategies that can create even more enriching learning experiences and better enabling environments.

1. Reflection

Take a little time to reflect on your previous year’s successes and challenges. Think about your teaching, learning environments, curriculum, and classroom management techniques to identify areas that have worked well and those that you could improve. This reflection will allow you to make small adjustments and try new strategies that will enhance the learning experience for all your children. Please let me be clear, time to think about these things may be as simple as focusing on your routines on your journey to work.

2. Goals

Make the most of this opportunity to set small goals for yourself and the children. Have you established clear learning outcomes and milestones that you aim to achieve throughout this term? Do you have a clear curriculum path to follow that allows flexibility in how children learn the concepts and knowledge you know will be important to them? This learning will be specific to your setting, your community and your children. By setting goals, you create a roadmap for teaching practices and ensure that you and your colleagues are working towards the holistic development of all children in your care. If not, what first steps can you make towards these goals? Start small.

3. Relationships

This term you will be building strong relationships with children and their families, based on taking time to get to know each child individually, their interests, strengths, and areas for growth. This understanding will allow you to tailor teaching and behaviour support approaches to meet the unique needs of each child. Additionally, when you establish open lines of communication with parents and carers you will foster and build a collaborative partnership in supporting the child’s learning and development. You may have already done this in transition times, but more conversations will always help. Be sure to continue to catch parents or carers with many positive comments as this will pave the way for any difficult conversations that may occur in the future.

The beginning of a new year is an opportunity for all EYFS practitioners to renew their commitment to providing high-quality education and nurturing the potential of each child in their care. By embracing this new beginning, early years educators set the stage for a year filled with learning, discovery, and endless possibilities, and who doesn’t want that?

Keep on doing your best. Early Years Power!

Amanda Quirk
EYFS Lead
aquirk@wpat.uk

*Source: Time Well Spent Poster was created for educators