What Matters to Children is a book which underpins a whole approach to identifying the principles that form the basis of effective teaching and learning in the early years and beyond.
Written by luminaries including Diane Rich and Mary Jane Drummond, it is the starting point for a programme of conferences and workshops, organised by Rich Learning Opportunities.
Rachel Myer, head of Thongsley Primary and Nursery School, in Huntingdon, who was involved in piloting materials for the book says, 'This isn't an add-on to practice, but a way of being. The approach filters up from the nursery and has become embedded in the whole school. It's about personalised learning and what matters to the child.'
Ms Myers say it helps to attend a conference and read the book. 'When the authors speak it brings the concept alive and you begin to see how this can become a way of life. My practitioners came back from a workshop buzzing.'
At North Lincolnshire Council, Foundation Stage consultant Lynne Edwards sees the 'What matters to children' conference as an opportunity to develop practice. 'The emphasis is on experience and builds on our training around the EYFS, while reinforcing recent CPD sessions,' she says.
Ms Edwards helped pilot the project and found the conference and workshops thought-provoking. 'It showed how the materials could be used as a source of ideas and thinking points.'
Further information
- Members of the What Matters to Children team include:Denise Casanova, Jacqui Cousins, Mary Jane Drummond, Andrea Durrant, Emma Hertzberg, Jennie Lindon, Cathy Myer, Marjorie Ouvry, Sue Pearson, Diane Rich, Jane Turner
- First hand experience: What matters to children - an alphabet of learning from the real world costs £25
- Learning: What matters to children - an alphabet of what learners do will be launched next April
- Two-day conferences and workshops are organised by Rich Learning Opportunities. For details and to order copies of the books visit www.richlearningopportunities.co.uk or telephone 01473 737405.