Today I am visiting Sunnyside Pre-school in Chertsey, Surrey, to practise using the observation tools developed by Professor Ferre Laevers and team from Leuven University. The visit this morning is part of a new practitioner-led action research project exploring how to use these tools to support children's learning and development by making improvements to the outdoor provision. The starting point is observations of the children's experience, their levels of well-being and involvement in the activities and environment on offer.
International research evidence already shows links between access to outdoors (natural environments in particular), mental health and well-being and children's learning. But while the EYFS guidance and other early years documents emphasise the physical benefits of being outdoors and stress children's entitlement to outdoor provision, there is little research that explicitly demonstrates how the quality of the provision outdoors affects outcomes.
There is increasing pressure on schools and settings to demonstrate the impact of the work they are doing on outcomes for children. In this project, we are setting out to support practitioners to do just that - by tracking children over the course of a year, and making changes to support their interests and projects outdoors. We are also using Learning through Landscapes' Cycle of Change and materials from its new Early Years Toolkit.
LOTS TO SEE
Our visit is on a beautiful but cold day and there is lots to watch:
- A four-year-old girl in a pink sequined dress and plimsolls with white tights is flitting around the outdoor area. She is watching what the others are doing - moving from one area to another, mostly just watching, shifting her weight from one foot to the other in constant motion.
- Three boys are driving around on the trucks and bikes. The space is small and they often bash into various obstacles, such as other bikes lying on the ground and the fence of crates separating the pre-school from the vast and unused main school playground. There are conkers in the basket of one of the bikes, which sometimes spill over and roll across the ground.
- A group of children are making some kind of collage with a teacher at a table. Other children approach often and look over the shoulders of the little crowd gathered round the table and then run off again - there is little space for them to join in.
- There is a pulley fixed to the beam of the canopy. Several times children approach it and pull it up and down before running off again.
- In the far corner there is a little den in the bushes. Approach and you hear a hum of happy conversation coming out of the foliage. Occasionally a child emerges and runs off, only to reappear shortly with something else to take back into the den - play cups, conkers, a cushion.
OBSERVATION TIME
After about half an hour of observation time, we go indoors to share the questions raised by what we have seen and to discuss the possible implications, for the individual children that we have observed and also for the quality of the learning environment outside.
- Why did the child in the pink dress seem unable to engage with the other children or the resources that were on offer?
- Did she have suitable clothing for outdoors?
- Were there particular circumstances or developmental needs making this child appear isolated and slightly withdrawn?
- Could the engagement with bikes be extended to provoke more elaborate forms of play, extend language and learning and reduce apparent frustration? Perhaps painted parking bays and moveable road signs or a makeshift petrol station would increase language and motivation. A role-play 'building site' and a 'builder's merchant' would offer a 'real' context for transporting materials in the cars and bikes.
- Could the bike area be extended into the school grounds when they were not in use, to increase physical challenge and space?
- Could the conkers, sand tray and other resources be co-located with the pulley, which was obviously popular, but not engaging children in prolonged or more complex activities that stimulated learning?
- Could the adult-led collage activity be developed and organised differently so that more children could engage with it independently?
- What was making the den a place of such prolonged and active involvement?
WELL-BEING
Helping us to collect and interpret our data are Gerlinde Snoek and Bart de Clercq, two members of the Leuven University team. The pre-school's practitioners, who obviously know the children well, are encouraged to lead on making observations and assessments and reflect on what actions to take as a result.
Using the Leuven scales, practitioners look for indicators of high levels of well-being and involvement. For example, for well-being, such indicators include:
- Being happy - acting cheerful, smiling, beaming
- Being spontaneous - being oneself and being expressive
- Talking to oneself - playing with sounds, humming, singing
- Being relaxed - not showing any signals of stress
- Being open, by appearing approachable to teachers and other children
- Being lively, by radiating and reacting energetically
- Expressing self-confidence.
Where such indicators are not present, practitioners are encouraged to look for possible explanations for this and to take actions to improve the situation for children. We also look for the level of involvement that children have with what they are doing. The more engaged the children are, the deeper the learning taking place. We discuss how factors such as the physical space, resources, adult/child interactions, organisation and routines might affect the children and what improvements can be made to create a more enabling and enjoyable environment for deeper level learning.
Bart de Clerqc explains, 'Observing well-being and involvement is the key in this joint project to set up powerful action research leading to rich outdoor provision, giving children all the challenges they need.
'The keystone for success is constantly the positive impact outdoor has on children. With well-being and involvement as the focus, we can demonstrate this in an even more explicit and pronounced way.'
STARTING POINTS FOR SUPPORTING WELL-BEING OUTDOORS
- Begin with observation. Where are we now? What is really happening outdoors? Which children are benefiting? Which children are not? Which 'areas' are working? Which areas not? Why?
- Ask the children to bring in a teddy or soft toy and let them individually take it on a tour of your outdoor space. The children lead, but you can ask, 'Can you show teddy a quiet where he will feel comfortable and happy?' You can then go on to explore places which might be uncomfortable/safe/unsafe. 'How might we make this area nicer for Teddy?' This encourages children to develop communication and social skills, awareness of their own sense of well-being and consideration for others, as well helping you find out about their responses to the existing outdoor space.
- Ensure that children's physical needs are taken care of first. Appropriate clothing, sun protection, drinking water area, possibilities for shade and shelter when needed, are all essential before children's social, emotional and learning needs can be met.
- However small your space is, make sure there are growing and living things in it. Access to trees and plants and sensory gardens can have a beneficial effect on well-being and can even help a process of emotional recovery or readjustment. Herbs, fruit and vegetables can feed all the senses and teach children a lot more.
FURTHER INFORMATION
- For more on the Leuven University model of well-being and Involvement, go to www.cego.be
- PlayOut - Early Years Toolkit from Learning through Landscapes, at www.ltl.org.uk
- 'The Sky is the Limit - Outdoor Learning in the Early Years' is new resource with one section relating specifically to mental and physical well-being. Visit www.earlyeducation.org.uk
- Well-being from Birth by Rosemary Roberts is a new book published by Sage exploring further dimensions of well-being
Annie Davy was adviser to Learning through Landscapes and was seconded from her position as head of early years with Oxfordshire County Council