Start Well Early Years Foundation Stage Offer for Schools

Start Well are working in partnership with EYFS providers to deliver the Every Child training offer. The offer is intended to provide key tools to all providers of Early Years education to support every child and start to embed pathways.

There is excellent practice already in many of our schools and settings. The aim is to ensure all practitioners who may benefit have the opportunity to access the sessions as an introduction or refresher. The Start Well team are building on good practice in Bolton and are confident that schools and settings will work together to facilitate roll out and strengthen capacity through supportive networks. This training offer is available for all practitioners.

The Start Well Service has developed three high quality resources ‘The Mark Making to Writing Journey’, ‘The Number Journey’ and ‘The Early Communication and Language Journey’ which provide a framework for development and an ongoing reference tool.

Copies can be purchased at £10 per copy with a minimum order quantity of two of any of the three resources in the series via the Start Well website.

Communication and Language Journey

This 2-hour, practical workshop will help you to support the communication and language development of children in the EYFS with support from the practical Communications and Language Journey resource. The course uses interactive teaching methods, practical activities and group discussion to engage learners.

During this course we will:

• Explore knowledge and understanding of typical communication and language development of children aged 0-7 years;
• Consider how to can identify children below or at risk of communication and language delay and so improve early identification;
• Explore practical advice and strategies to support parents and families;
• Consider how to effectively target further assessments and interventions (such as WellComm, Language through Listening, Nursery Narrative and EYBIC);
• Explore how to make effective use of the Early Years Pupil Premium and Pupil Premium

Who is this course for?

All Practitioners working with children aged 6 months to 6 years and their families.

Mark Making to Writing Journey

This practical 2-hour course will help you to support children in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) to develop the physical skills needed to become confident writers and ultimately improve writing outcomes.

During this course, we will:

• Consider how indoor and outdoor learning environments can enable progress for all learners;
• Provide practical, low cost ideas to enhance your mark making and writing opportunities within continuous indoors and outdoors provision; and
• Combine underpinning theory with practical ideas and opportunities for discussion.

Who is this course for?

All Practitioners working with children aged 6 months to 6 years and their families.

The Number Journey

This is a practical 2-hour course is designed to support Early Years Practitioners to use Bolton’s New Number Journey Guidance to improve outcomes in maths development. It will help you to support children to develop a firm foundation in early mathematical skills, knowledge and understanding.

This course will help you to improve teaching and learning of numbers in your EYFS, to ultimately improve mathematics outcomes.

During this course we will:

• Unpick the number sense concepts and the way they link to improve teaching;
• Provide practical, affordable ideas to enhance your number opportunities within continuous provision indoors and outdoors;
• Share ideas and suggestions to help you meet expectations of Ofsted that parents are involved with in their children’s learning; and
• Combine underpinning theory with practical ideas and opportunities for discussion.

Who is this course for?

All Practitioners working with children aged 6 months to 6 years and their families.

WellComm Speech and Language Toolkit

A 2-hour training course based around the WellComm Speech and Language Toolkit. This course is designed to develop practitioner’s skills and confidence in supporting children under 5 years who are at risk of developing speech, language and communication difficulties. It can also be used to support those with English as an additional language.

The course is designed as a 2 hour in-depth training session focussing on the use of the WellComm Toolkit for screening and delivering interventions with young children. The course uses interactive teaching methods, practical activities and group discussion to engage learners.

During this course we will:

• Understand how to assess children working below their age-related expectations;
• Know how to support children working below their age related expectations;
• Carry out appropriate interventions either in small groups or on an individual basis;
• Accurately monitor children’s progress; and
• Make effective use of Early Years Pupil Premium and Pupil Premium Grant.

Who is this course for?

All Practitioners working with children aged 6 months to 6 years and their families. Training resources includes a copy of the WellComm Speech and Language Toolkit resource (one per setting, for those settings who do not already have a copy).

Phase 1 Phonics

This 2-hour course is essential for practitioners working with funded 3 and 4 year old children, with a focus on quality teaching in developing phonological awareness, the building blocks for reading and writing.

We will:

• Explore the contents of Phase 1 Letters and Sounds and consider effective practice for developing phonological awareness for children working developmentally 30 months plus.
• Through focused discussion and practical activity explore developmentally appropriate activities to support children’s early phonics including general sound discrimination, rhythm and rhyme, alliteration and oral blending and  segmenting (skills required for reading and writing)
• Consider ways in which an enabling environment can support children’s phonological development

Who is this course for?

All Practitioners working with children aged 6 months to 6 years and their families. Schools without Nursery provision and feeder providers may want to work together.

Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ)

A 2-hour training course that explores the ASQ Third Edition (ASQ-3) and ASQ Social and Emotional (ASQ-SE) assessment tools. The two evidenced based screening tools are used by health Visitors as part of their mandated visit for every child in the Healthy Childcare Programme (HCP). This training will support providers in their understanding of the 2 Year Old Progress Check (HCP) and support the Integrated Review.

What will I learn?

• An increase awareness about developmental screening for all young children
• How to use the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ3) and ASQ Social and Emotional (ASQ-SE)
• How to obtain accurate outcomes, using the correct age interval questionnaire. ASQ-3 and ASQ-SE
• How to engage parents in using a developmental screening tool.

Training includes a copy of the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ3) and ASQ Social and Emotional (ASQ-SE) Assessment tools, one per setting according to Start Well records.

Who is this course for?

All practitioners working with children aged 6 months to 6 years and their families.

The Solihull Approach

This course takes place over two days spaced two weeks apart with a task to be completed between sessions. will introduce practitioners to the Solihull Approach model as applied to working with babies, young children and their families in an early years setting and will link to the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS).

Resource

The First Five Years, Solihull Approach Resource Pack will be allocated to settings that do not already have a copy according to Bolton Start Well records. This resource pack has a comprehensive set of handouts for parents, on various issues in the first five years: sleeping; weaning; toileting; playing; emotional and physical development.

The resource pack includes photocopiable handouts for parents.

What will I learn?

At the end of this course, we will be able to:

• Understand how to put the theory into practice;
• Identify how the Solihull Approach model supports the EYFS and how they link together; and
• Know how the Solihull Approach model can add to the understanding of the EYFS.

Who is this course for?

All Practitioners working with children aged 6 months to 6 years and their families.