In nursery we have a fantastic team of teachers and nursery nurses. While all of these staff are female, we do have male teachers throughout the primary school. I sent a plea for help to the male teachers asking if they had a spare ten minutes in their planning, preparation and assessment time to come and read to the nursery children. I thought that this would show the boys in nursery that men also read!
Some were able to come and read to the children, comments from the staff were positive and one said how much he had enjoyed spending time with the youngest members of the school. The children were excited about a new face coming into nursery.
We are lucky that we now have a male volunteer who helps in the nursery one day a week. He is encouraged to read to the children on a one-to-one basis, in small groups and also before dinner.
MODELLING WRITING
Writing is one area we are trying to develop across the EYFS and we want to improve outcomes for all children.
A few days after the men came to read to the children, I planned for the nursery staff to role-model writing a letter of thanks to them. Children were asked to recall who came to read to them, what story was read and anything else that they could remember.
In groups of 15, on large sheets of paper, writing was modelled and a letter was made, thanking the teacher for coming to read. All children were then encouraged to mark-make their name. For some this was the first time they had held a pen. The adult modelled how it was done and the children had a go at signing the letter. The emphasis was not the end result of writing their name, but having a go and ascribing meaning to their marks.