Making use of online or real-life professional networks can change early years training courses from an experience that is quietly forgotten to one that really impacts outcomes for children.
This is according to early childhood consultant Kathryn Peckham, who teaches a ‘learning outdoors in early years’ module on the Centre for Research in Early Childhood’s MA in Education (Early Years) course. She says practitioners should choose training courses that enable them to forge links with fellow students who will encourage, inspire and inform each other in the future.
‘When you’re in a network with people who have done the training course you did, you see what they’re achieving,’ she says. ‘It’s those kinds of conversations and sharing that really progresses practice.’ In former roles as a nursery manager, Ms Peckham recalls her staff would return from continuous professional development (CPD) courses full of inspiration, but later ‘nothing would really come of it’.
Community support
Early years practitioners who want to develop their provision to include more outdoor learning can access a myriad of online and offline resources. While local authority funding cuts have led to a reduction in the kinds of council-led groups that offered peer-to-peer support about a decade ago, thriving communities exist online on Facebook, Twitter and dedicated websites set up by organisations, consultants, practitioners and settings that want to share their experiences (see box).
‘A picture says a thousand words,’ says Miss Peckham, pointing out that seeing images of other settings’ outdoor areas and practice on social media can be inspiring. However, she warns that it is also important to view such content with a ‘trained eye’. She warns against spotless mud kitchens, which look great but have no mud in them for children to play with, or the colourful allure of plastic. A big muddy hole may not look as picture-perfect, but could be much more enriching.
She advises that if practitioners cannot find the kind of network they want to, they should start their own. ‘One of the benefits of Covid-19 is that we have all become so much more savvy with chat rooms and that kind of technology,’ she suggests. ‘So get on there and do it. Make it tailored to what you need, and make sure it keeps running.’
Online content
The Nursery World website has more than a decade of content available on outdoor learning. This includes many articles written by Play Learning Life director Julie Mountain, such as her series on the 7Cs Approach to Early Years Outdoor Space, which focuses on a particular design philosophy for creating high-quality outdoor spaces.
‘It’s a really strong way of auditing what you have and thinking about how you can change it to add depth to the provision,’ says Miss Peckham. ‘It’s a really good one for people who are really wanting to think about how to make some significant changes.’
CASE STUDY: Outdoor Owls
The Outdoor Owls team, who opened their first outdoor nursery in Richmond, south west London last year, use networks and resources to inspire and inform their practice.
‘The owner Helene Mark is from Denmark,’ says co-founder Charlie Briscoe. ‘We initially started off with some field trips to Copenhagen. We networked by contacting the principals of nurseries, or local councils that run nurseries there. That gave us a lot of grounding into how we do play outside, activities, and also really care for children in all weathers.’
Mr Briscoe and staff read books on outdoor education, including those by Sara Knight and Richard Louv. Websites they regularly turn to for help include Learning Through Landscapes, the Forest School Network, and a Facebook group called Early Years Outdoors (see Further information).
In September, the nursery opened a new setting in Cobham, Surrey. Ahead of this, Outdoor Owls networked with the Surrey Wildlife Trust and booked a day of bespoke training from one if its staff. ‘We wanted someone to come in to give us more general inspiration around how to use organic resources and make them playful,’ says Mr Briscoe. ‘We have our curriculum branded into six “roots”. She focused the training around those.’
Further information
Websites
- nurseryworld.co.uk/activities/outdoors
- creativestarlearning.co.uk
- Learning Through Landscapes: www.ltl.org.uk
- internationalschoolgrounds.org
- earlychildhoodoutdoors.org
- NoSuchThingAsBadWeather.blogspot.com
- forestschoolassociation.org
- forestschoolnetwork.com
- wildlifetrusts.org
- nationaltrust.org.uk
- https://www.english-heritage.org.uk
- Council for Learning Outside the Classroom: www.lotc.org.uk
Facebook groups
- Early Years Outdoors
- Outdoor Learning & Play Research and Articles
- Loose Parts Play
Hashtags