Gillian Davies started the full pathway at Edge Hill in September 2008. As she began her second placement in a pre-school in Southport, a new child started who had English as an Additional Language. Gillian knew she would need a lot of support to settle, understand routines and access activities.
Observing the child, Gillian saw that while she appeared confident accessing activities and interacting with other children via body language, she never spoke to peers or adults.
Gillian then arranged an informal meeting with the child's mother, who could speak a small amount of English. Gillian suggested that the child might enjoy poems and stories in her native language. She had already researched traditional songs and brought them to the meeting. Together they worked to pronounce the words phonetically and discuss the meaning of the songs. Gillian also shared this with the child's key person and introduced the songs at circle time.
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