December Edition 2023
In this issue:
- Professional Development Days
- SVQ News
- Coming Up Next Month
Children & Young People Professional Development Days
On the 22nd and 23rd of November the Foundation Apprenticeship students enjoyed taking part in our Professional Development Days at Midmill School. The students were picked up from their schools and taken by bus to the event for over 170 students over the two days.
We invited delegates from Skills Development Scotland (SDS) to come and speak to the students about possible career pathways within the education sector. We planned the day around five sessions comprised of the five units taught within the National Progression Award (NPA) to allow our students a chance to receive expert knowledge and understanding of the following areas.
- Skills Development Scotland – Career Pathways
- Wellbeing
- Play
- Safeguarding
- Communication
- Development
In each breakout room the students had the chance to explore the subject and hear from our experts how they apply the theory and pedagogy into practice within education.
We have tried to capture as much of the day in the newsletter as possible for you and below is a short description and whistle stop tour of the learning that took place during the days.
Our sincere thanks go to:
The team of colleagues from SDS, Amy
Clark from Aberdeenshire Learning and Education Centre (ALEC
Caravan), Tracey Henderson, The Gordon Schools, Huntly,
Rosemary Harrigan, Kellands School, Caroline Brunton, DHT
Kellands School, Inverurie, Joanne Learmonth, Aberdeenshire
Council Social Work Department, and the Aberdeenshire Council
Early Years’ Team, Claire, Holly, Denise and Linda.
Skills Development Scotland - Career Pathways
Our colleagues from Skills Development Scotland delivered a session on Career Pathway Progressions. It was interactive and full of Labour Market Information (LMI) allowing our students to explore many pathways within the education sector and looking at the meta-skills required for the jobs of the future. The students were given information about Modern and Graduate Apprenticeships as well as sound careers advice.
Wellbeing
Amy Clark from Aberdeenshire Learning Education Centre (ALEC) came to share her experience in education as a primary teacher and then latterly as an ALEC Educator.
She explored the topic of Wellbeing and its importance within the curriculum. Amy challenged the students to think about the ways in which we teach and how we should communicate with children.
She encouraged us to:
- smile
- use open hand gestures
- be non judgemental
- make eye contact by looking at the face area, not just the eyes
- adapt our language to more positive tones e.g. don’t say ‘but’ say ‘thank you’. Say ‘has anyone heard’ rather than ‘does anyone know?’
- use names of children when asking a question
- end with a laugh!
The students learned how to make teaching fun, comfortable and accessible through songs, lighting and adverts and of course puppets.
Many of our students were delighted to re-live childhood memories of primary school days when none other than Harold the Giraffe made an appearance. Students commented on the valuable lessons learnt from Harold.
If adults ask a question, children will comment and wonder why the adult is asking, as they should know the answer but if Harold asks a question, he is more on the level of the child and most children will feel comfortable sharing their knowledge with him.
Some children speak to the puppet more than they want to speak to the adult and this illustrates puppets can be a very powerful educational tool.
Play
Caroline Brunton, Depute Head Teacher at Kellands School came to share her experience as an expert in play pedagogy and the importance of play in the curriculum.
Caroline is an authority expert in the delivery of play and it was great to have her input during both days. Caroline challenged us to think about what high quality play looks like in primary school settings and delivered a fantastic presentation linking it to the meta-skills.
The students had the opportunity to take a closer look at Realising the Ambition, the legislation and policy documents which are pertinent to play pedagogy and which we regularly explore and study during the course.
We had the opportunity to see lots of photographic examples of the play that takes place within Kellands School and how it is embedded through the curriculum from Nursery to P7.
We heard how the global pandemic influenced their improvement plan and gave the staff the opportunity to make fundamental changes to the curriculum. We enjoyed watching videos, hearing from staff and pupils sharing their learning experiences. It was a very informative and interesting session and we are thankful to Caroline for supporting the FA programme.
Safeguarding
Joanne Learmonth from Aberdeenshire’s Social Work Department came to share her knowledge and expert advice on Safeguarding with Children and Young People. The presentation was very informative and allowed the students to consider some of the common misconceptions around the role of the social worker whilst taking part in a true or false quiz.
We were challenged to think about what happens after a safeguarding or child protection concern is raised in schools or early years settings and to think about the place for legislation and frameworks in relation to policy and practice.
The students were given a case study scenario and had to consider the five GIRFEC (Getting It Right for Every Child) questions when discussing and sharing answers in groups. Joanne’s session was informative, interesting and challenging and we are very grateful to her for supporting the FA programme in this way.
Communication
We were privileged to have Tracey Henderson from The Gordon Schools, Huntly come and speak to us on the first day of the Professional Development Days and Rosemary Harrigan from Kellands School, Inverurie on the second day.
Both presentations were excellent, providing the students with a deeper knowledge and understanding of the strategies and resources required to communicate effectively with children and young people, especially those who have additional support requirements, specifically communication needs.
On Wednesday with Tracey, the students learned about PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System), PIXON and Widgits allowing the students to gain more specific knowledge and understanding of the support systems in place for those children who need it as well as the children with more complex needs.
Tracey explored Makaton and the students were given a taster into some of the key words and phrases that would be useful for communication with all children whilst on placement.
Rosemary led the students in a similar presentation with an emphasis on Makaton and Widgit symbols again as well as giving us insight to some of the research going into language and communication to make it accessible for all, especially in the workplace.
Rosemary treated the students to a rendition of ‘Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer’ where they demonstrated the Makaton signs and symbols for the key words of the song.
She kindly provided our students with a Widgit song sheet with the words and the symbols to match.
This helped the students to follow along with the song and try out the Makaton whilst treating us to their lovely singing voices! The students thoroughly enjoyed learning Makaton and now have skills they can take back to their placement for the festive season.
We would like to thank both Tracey and Rosemary for offering their time and sharing their expert knowledge with us. We thoroughly enjoyed their sessions.
Development
The Early Years team answered the question ‘ How do you cater for children between the ages of 2 and 5 in the same environment?’
GIRFEC recognises that children and young people will have different experiences in their lives, but every child and young person has the right to expect appropriate support from adults to allow them to grow and develop a d reach their full potential. Realising the Ambition p37.
In Scotland funded places are provided for some 2-year-olds and it was explained that children from birth need to have meaningful interactions, experiences and spaces. The amount of adult support needed for children in ELC (Early Learning Centres) 2-under 3 – 1 adult per 5 children, 3 and over -1 adult to 8 children.
An adjoining room was set out with play areas for the students to explore.
The Early Years team stressed that all children have to experience the same outcomes from the early level of the Curriculum for Excellence. Discussions followed about the importance of the size of the equipment required to meet the developmental stages of children from 2-5 years old. Also that all staff need to understand how children learn and value play.
Although there will be a difference in size and development of each child it was decided that all ages of children could participate in each activity and when planning a play area, the Early Years team suggested that the adult should observe the environment from a child’s height.
Within a mixed age group safety must be considered, practitioners need to find ways to help them succeed at their task whilst managing risks. Small pieces of equipment may be used to develop fine motor skills, e.g., threading. Children will start threading from around 12 months old when they will be able to start putting sticks into a container or begin to thread pasta.
The students all experienced and enjoyed observing and discussing the play areas.
SVQ News
The SVQ tutors are delighted to see our students continue to enjoy their work experience and grow in confidence whilst developing their professional knowledge and understanding in placement.
Many students will be working alongside their mentor to plan their observation which offers the opportunity to evidence several performance criteria within the level 2 SVQ qualification.
Those students who have already been observed by their SVQ assessor have delivered a rich variety of exciting learning experiences for the young people in their setting. Our FA students have also developed numerous metaskills which are essential for any career pathway they may choose in the future.
Coming up Next Term...
We have now completed two units of the course, Wellbeing and Safeguarding. We have three left to complete, these are:
- Play
- Communication
- Development
Our Play unit is well underway and assessments for this will continue throughout next term. Play and Development go hand in hand and we will make links between the two units.
Whilst we discuss communication within the play and development units, we still have to cover the remainder of the Communication course materials. This is our final unit and we hope to start this toward the beginning of March.
In term 2 we will be continuing with the unit of Development.
This is a lengthy unit with a lot of theory to learn and many study tasks to go along with it. We will be studying the following aspects of development
- Physical
- Social and Emotional
- Language and Communication
- Cognitive
We will also be carrying out research on some of the well-known educational theorists e.g. Vygotsky and Piaget and what they have to say about development as well as studying the influences and circumstances that can have an impact on development.
All study tasks given are useful and helpful for consolidating the learning in class, for researching various aspects and for familiarising our students with the knowledge available to them in the ‘Childcare and Education’ study textbook.
As this course consists of continuous assessment it is vital for our students to keep up to date with deadlines for study tasks and assessments. We encourage them to keep the lines of communication open with their FA teacher as they are always willing to support the students as much as they can.
Children & Young People Professional Development Days
Pupil Voice
We received some fantastic feedback from our students about the Professional Development Days.
Thank you to all of you who took part and for the mature, polite and respectful manner in which you conducted yourselves.
You are a credit to your schools.
Finally...
We would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your continued support with the Foundation Apprenticeship Programme.
We very much value the hard work and effort that goes into supporting our students.
All that's left for us to say is have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Contact Us
If you require further information regarding the Foundation Apprenticeship Children and Young People Course, please do not hesitate to contact adelaine.cox@aberdeenshire.gov.uk
If you or someone you know would like more information about other courses available through Aberdeenshire’s Foundation Apprenticeships, please get in touch with andrew.ritchie@aberdeenshire.gov.uk or mary.obrien@aberdeenshire.gov.uk
Visit us on the web www.dywaberdeenshire.scot or check out our Foundation Apprenticeship Aberdeenshire Council Facebook page.
