Over the past year, Holy Family Nursery School in Kirkintilloch has been teaching three- and four-year-olds like Lucia Doyle and Andrew Harris (pictured) the rudiments of chess as part of a regional pilot scheme. Staff introduced chess as a topic, starting with a fairy castle and knights theme, from which the children learned the names of the chess pieces.
Anne Smith, head of early years and childcare at West Dunbartonshire Council, masterminded the move. She said, 'Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education are saying that children need more challenge, and we also wanted to challenge adults' thinking about their capabilities. It's great to have high expectations for children and staff. We're hoping all our nurseries will have chess sets.'
Audrey Hinton, the nursery teacher at Holy Family, wrote a booklet based on how the children were taught the game, which is now being distributed to 50 early years centres. 'Initially it was quite daunting because none of us knew how to play at all,' she said. 'Mr Dibble, who teaches the chess club at the primary school, came in to coach the staff for six weeks and we started after the first session.
'All the children move at their own pace. The older children moving up to primary develop skills like spatial awareness, concentration levels and problem solving.'