Give children opportunities to complete activities to their satisfaction.
Encourage children to explore and talk about what they are learning, valuing their ideas and ways of doing things.
Explain why it is important to pay attention when others are speaking. Give children opportunities both to speak and to listen, ensuring that the needs of children learning English as an additional language are met, so that they can participate fully.
Self-confidence and Self-esteem
Invite people from a range of cultural backgrounds to talk about aspects of their lives or the things they do in their work, such as a volunteer who helps people become familiar with the local area.
Support children's growing ability to express a wide range of feelings orally, and talk about their own experiences.
Encourage children to share their feelings and talk about why they respond to experiences in particular ways.
Explain carefully why some children may need extra help or support for some things, or why some children feel upset by a particular thing. This helps children to understand that when it is required their individual needs will be met.
Help children and parents to see the ways in which their cultures and beliefs are similar, encouraging them to contribute to everyone's knowledge and understanding by sharing and discussing practices, resources, celebrations and experiences.
Making Relationships
Support children in linking openly and confidently with others, for example, to seek help or check information.
Ensure that children and adults make opportunities to listen to each other and explain their actions.
Be aware of and respond to particular needs of children who are learning English as an additional language.
Explaining the rules - In a reception class, a practitioner supports a child to discuss what has upset her and help her understand the need for boundaries. [transcript]
You can watch the video via modem or slow / fast / superfast broadband connections. If you are behind a network firewall, why not click here to view a flash file of the video. You do need to have the flash plugin.
Meeting individual needs - In the nursery class, the practitioner supports an individual child in his home language while exploring a till and money. [transcript]
You can watch the video via modem or slow / fast / superfast broadband connections. If you are behind a network firewall, why not click here to view a flash file of the video. You do need to have the flash plugin.
Behaviour and Self-control
Be alert to injustices and let children see that they are addressed and resolved.
Ensure that children have opportunities to identify and discuss boundaries, so that they understand why they are there and what they are intended to achieve.
Help children's understanding of what is right and wrong by explaining why it is wrong to hurt somebody, or why it is acceptable to take a second piece of fruit after everybody else has had some.
Involve children in identifying issues and finding solutions.
Self-care
Give children opportunities to be responsible for setting up, and clearing away, some activities.
Praise children's efforts to manage their personal needs, and to use and return resources appropriately.
Sense of Community
Strengthen the positive impressions children have of their own cultures and faiths, and those of others, by sharing and celebrating a range of practices and special events.
Encourage children to talk with each other about similarities and differences in their experiences, and the reasons for these, supported by props for telling stories, reflecting experiences of children who are both like them and different from them.
Develop strategies to combat negative bias and, where necessary, support children and adults to unlearn discriminatory attitudes.
Communication, Language and Literacy
Effective practice
Language for Communication
Encourage conversation with others and demonstrate appropriate conventions: turn-taking, waiting until someone else has finished, listening to others and using expressions such as "please", "thank you" and "can I...?". At the same time, respond sensitively to social conventions used at home.
Show children how to use language for negotiating, by saying "May I...?", "Would it be all right...?", "I think that..." and "Will you...?" in your interactions with them.
Model language appropriate for different audiences, for example, a visitor.
Encourage children to predict possible endings to stories and events.
Encourage children to experiment with words and sounds, for example, in nonsense rhymes.
Encourage children to sort, group and sequence events in their play, using words such as: first, last, next, before, after, all, most, some, each, every.
Encourage language play, for example, through stories such as 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears' and action songs that require intonation.
Value children's contributions and use them to inform and shape the direction of discussions.
Language for Thinking
Ask children to think in advance about how they will accomplish a task. Talk through and sequence the stages together.
Use stories from books to focus children's attention on predictions and explanations, for example, "Why did the boat tip over?".
Help children to identify patterns, for example, what generally happens to 'good' and 'wicked' characters at the end of stories; to draw conclusions, "The sky has gone dark. It must be going to rain"; to explain effect, "It sank because it was too heavy"; to predict, "It might not grow in there if it is too dark" and to speculate, "What if the bridge falls down?".
Take an interest in what and how children think and not just what they know.
Linking Sounds and Letters
Talk to children about the letters that represent the sounds they hear at the beginning of their own names and other familiar words. Incorporate these in games.
Demonstrate writing so that children can see spelling in action. Encourage them to apply their own grapheme-phoneme knowledge to what they read and write.
When children are ready (usually by the age of five), provide systematic regular phonics sessions. These should be multi-sensory in order to capture their interests, sustain motivation and reinforce learning.
Reading
Create imaginary words to describe, for example, monsters or other strong characters in stories and poems.
Discuss and model ways of finding out information from non-fiction texts.
Explain to parents the importance of reading to children, ask about favourite books, and offer book loans.
Help children to identify the main events in a story and to enact stories, as the basis for further imaginative play.
Make story boxes with the children. Practitioners should maximise the opportunities that these reading activities present to reinforce and apply children's developing phonic knowledge and skills, particularly once they have started a programme of systematic phonic work which will enable them to recognise words and read them for meaning. For example, demonstrate using phonics as the prime approach to decode words while children can see the text, for example, using big books.
Encourage children to recall words they see frequently, such as 'welcome', their own and friends' names, 'open' and 'bus stop'.
Play word bingo to develop children's grapheme correspondence, so that they can rapidly decode words.
Writing
Act as a scribe for children. After they say a sentence, repeat the first part of it, say each word as you write, and include some punctuation.
Encourage children to use their ability to hear the sounds at the beginning of words and then in the order in which they occur through words in their writing.
Play games that encourage children to link sounds to letters and then write the letters and words.
Encourage children to re-read their writing as they write.
Handwriting
Teach children to form letters correctly, for example, when they label their paintings.
Encourage children to practise letter shapes as they paint, draw and record, and as they write, for example, their names, the names of their friends and family, or captions.
Continue writing practice in imaginative contexts, joining some letters, if appropriate, for example, at, it, on.
Problem Solving, Reasoning and Numeracy
Effective practice
Numbers as Labels and for Counting
Encourage estimation, for example, estimate how many sandwiches to make for the picnic.
Encourage use of mathematical language, for example, number names to ten: "Have you got enough to give me three?".
Ensure that children are involved in making displays, for example, making their own pictograms of lunch choices. Develop this as a 3D representation using bricks and discuss the most popular choices.
Add numerals to all areas of learning and development, for example, to a display of a favourite story, such as 'The Three Billy Goats Gruff'.
Make books about numbers that have meaning for the child such as favourite numbers, birth dates or telephone numbers.
Use rhymes, songs and stories involving counting on and counting back in ones, twos, fives and tens.
Emphasise the empty set and introduce the concept of nothing or zero.
Calculating
Show interest in how children solve problems and value their different solutions.
Make sure children are secure about the order of numbers before asking what comes after or before each number.
Discuss with children how problems relate to others they have met, and their different solutions.
Encourage children to make up their own story problems for other children to solve.
Encourage children to extend problems, for example, "Suppose there were three people to share the bricks between instead of two".
Use mathematical vocabulary and demonstrate methods of recording, using standard notation where appropriate.
Give children learning English as an additional language opportunities to work in their home language to ensure accurate understanding of concepts.
Shape, Space and Measures
Ask 'silly' questions, for example, show a tiny box and ask if there is a bicycle in it.
Play peek-a-boo, revealing shapes a little at a time and at different angles, asking children to say what they think the shape is, what else it could be or what it could not be.
Make books about shape, time and measure: shapes found in the environment; long and short things; things of a specific length; and ones about patterns, or comparing things that are heavier or lighter.
Be a robot and ask children to give you instructions to get to somewhere. Let them have a turn at being the robot for you to instruct.
Introduce children to the use of mathematical names for 'solid' 3D shapes and 'flat' 2D shapes, and the mathematical terms to describe shapes.
Ensure children use everyday words to describe position, for example, when following pathways or playing with outdoor apparatus.
A picture of my family - In a pre-school, a practitioner supports two children to think about biggest, smallest, tallest and shortest, as they discuss the pictures they have drawn. [transcript]
You can watch the video via modem or slow / fast / superfast broadband connections. If you are behind a network firewall, why not click here to view a flash file of the video. You do need to have the flash plugin.
Knowledge and Understanding of the World
Effective practice
Exploration and Investigation
Help children to notice and discuss patterns around them, for example, rubbings from grates, covers, or bricks.
Encourage children to raise questions and suggest solutions and answers.
Examine change over time, for example, growing plants, and change that may be reversed, for example, melting ice.
Designing and Making
Discuss purposes of design and making tasks.
Teach joining, measuring, cutting and finishing techniques and their names.
Encourage children's evaluations, helping them to use words to explain, such as 'longer', 'shorter', 'lighter'.
ICT
Teach and encourage children to click on different icons to cause things to happen in a computer program.
Ensure safe use of all ICT apparatus and make appropriate risk assessments for their use.
Time
Sequence events, for example, photographs of children from birth.
Use stories that introduce a sense of time and people from the past.
Encourage children to ask questions about events in each other's lives in discussions, and explore these experiences in role-play.
Compare artefacts of different times, for example, garden and household tools.
Make the most of opportunities to value children's histories. Involve families in sharing memories. This might include celebration of a travelling background or of African-Caribbean roots.
Place
Use appropriate words, for example, 'town', 'village', 'road', 'path', 'house', 'flat', 'temple' and 'synagogue', to help children make distinctions in their observations.
Help children to find out about the environment by talking to people, examining photographs and simple maps and visiting local places.
Encourage children to express opinions on natural and built environments and give opportunities for them to hear different points of view on the quality of the environment.
Ensure all children have opportunities to express themselves and learn the vocabulary to talk about their surroundings, drawing on and encouraging the home language to support the learning of English.
Encourage the use of words that help children to express opinions, for example, 'busy', 'quiet' and 'pollution'.
Communities
Introduce children to a range of cultures and religions, for example, tell stories, listen to music, dance and eat foods from a range of cultures. Use resources in role-play that reflect a variety of cultures, such as clothes, symbols, candles and toys.
Extend children's knowledge of cultures within and beyond the setting through books, videos and DVDs, and photographs; listening to simple short stories in various languages; handling artefacts; inviting visitors from a range of religious and ethnic groups, and visiting local places of worship and cultural centres.
Ensure that any cultural assumptions and stereotypes that are already held are countered in activities.
Physical Development
Effective practice
Movement and Space
Encourage children to use the vocabulary of movement, such as 'gallop' and 'slither'; of instruction, such as 'follow', 'lead' and 'copy'; and of feeling, such as 'excited', 'scared' and 'happy'.
Help children communicate through their bodies by encouraging expressive movement linked to their imaginative ideas.
Talk with children about body parts and bodily activity, teaching the vocabulary of body parts.
Help children to think about how their movements and actions can impact on others.
Pose challenging questions such as "Can you get all the way round the climbing frame without your knees touching it?".
Talk with children about the need to match their actions to the space they are in.
Encourage children to be active and energetic by organising lively games.
Provide opportunities for children to repeat and change their actions so that they can think about, refine and improve them.
Help children to be aware of risks and to consider their own and others' safety.
Take time to review individual needs for space and equipment for a child who may require modifications to either or both.
Show children how to collaborate in throwing, rolling, fetching and receiving games, encouraging children to play with one another once their skills are sufficient.
Health and Bodily Awareness
Promote health awareness by talking to children about exercise, its effect on their bodies and the positive contribution it can make to their health.
Help children to understand the thinking behind the good practices they are encouraged to adopt.
Be aware of specific health difficulties among the children in the group, such as allergies.
Be sensitive to varying family expectations and life patterns when encouraging thinking about health.
Find ways to involve children so that they are all able to be active in ways that interest them and match their health and ability.
Discuss with children why they get hot and encourage them to think about the effects of the environment, such as whether opening a window helps everybody to be cooler.
Using Equipment and Materials
Encourage children's large arm and hand movements and activities that strengthen their hands and fingers, for example, throwing and catching.
Introduce and encourage children to use the vocabulary of manipulation, for example, 'squeeze' and 'prod', and the language of description, for example, 'spiky', 'silky', 'lumpy' and 'tall'.
Justify and explain why safety is an important factor in handling tools, equipment and materials, and have sensible rules for everybody to follow.
Teach skills where necessary and then give children the chance to practise them.
Teach children how to use tools and materials effectively and safely.
Talk with children about what they are doing, how they plan to do it, what worked well and what they would change next time.
Creative Development
Effective practice
Being Creative - Responding to Experiences, Expressing and Communicating Ideas
Support children in expressing opinions and introduce language such as 'like', 'dislike', 'prefer' and 'disagree'.
Be alert to children's changing interest and the way they respond to experiences differently when they are in a happy, sad or reflective mood.
Exploring Media and Materials
Help children to gain confidence in their own way of representing ideas.
Talk to children about ways of finding out what they can do with different media and what happens when they put different things together such as sand, paint and sawdust.
Help children to develop a problem-solving approach to overcome hindrances as they explore possibilities that media combinations present. Offer advice and additional resources as appropriate.
Alert children to changes in properties of media as they are transformed through becoming wet, dry, flaky or fixed. Talk about what is happening, helping them to think about cause and effect.
Creating Music and Dance
Support children's developing understanding of the ways in which paintings, pictures and music and dance can express different ideas, thoughts and feelings.
Encourage discussion about the beauty of nature and people's responsibility to care for it. Help children to support other children and offer another viewpoint.
Developing Imagination and Imaginative Play
Be aware of the link between imaginative play and children's ability to handle narrative.
Carefully support children who are less confident.
Introduce descriptive language to support children, for example, 'rustle' and 'shuffle'.
