At Grove House Nursery School and Children’s Centre in Southall, our overall aim has always been to create a context that enables children to deepen their thinking and learning based on current research on how children learn. Our starting point for improving the quality of our practice and provision was an audit of our planning system (see Part 1). Next, we tackled the problems that the planning system had inadvertently created within our learning environment. The result is a new layout and approach to resourcing that give children more control over their play and greater ownership of the environment.
Planning is the working document that helps us to ‘make visible’ – to see – children’s thinking, interests, questions and misunderstandings, and then to decide what we can do to extend or fill any gaps in their understanding, skills and knowledge. Importantly, planning should reflect the ‘voice’ of each ‘unique child’. The environment provides children with the opportunities for self-expression and creativity.
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