Learning Journals Blog
Here's where you'll find what we hope are interesting and useful articles!
What Does Sustained Shared Thinking Mean in EYFS?
Interactions are important in a child’s early years of development. By engaging in activities and conversations with adults and their peers, children
What Are the Different Pedagogical Approaches to Learning?
There is a big demand for high quality education. Parents want to be confident their child is receiving a good education as
How To Set Up a Private Nursery
If you’re considering setting up your own nursery, then you’re not alone. There is a high demand of nurseries as attitudes to working has changed. This means parents rely on these services to provide an environment where children feel safe and secure. In this blog post we’ll identify the different considerations when setting up your own private nursery.
Development Matters: Using the EYFS Framework and Curriculum for Excellence
The development of each child is so important as it not only affects their learning in the classroom but also in future life. For a child to effectively develop, their educational needs must be fulfilled. This is just one of the many responsibilities of a nursery school practitioner as they need to ensure all activities are age and stage appropriate. There are certain standards nursery teachers
must meet to ensure each child is receiving a good quality education.
SEND Code of Practice: Caring for Special Educational Needs and Disabled People
Every child should have the right to fair education.
Regardless of a child’s ability, they should still receive the same quality of care and teaching.
This is not only important in education but also wider society, as it ensures those with special needs or disabilities, feel included and equal. In nurseries and schools, teachers should be aware of individual needs and should understand how to cater for them. This enables a child to develop and to feel confident in their own abilities.
The SEND code of practice is statutory guidance for organisations that work with young adults and children with special needs and disabilities.
Preparing For Your Teaching Observation in Early Years Learning
Teaching observations are perfectly normal and ensure children are receiving the best possible learning experience. Whether you’ve worked as a nursery practitioner for 3 years or 30 years, these observations are a crucial part of your job role. However, for many teachers, they can cause a certain level of anxiety as they know their performance and how the children behave are being monitored. But don’t panic! There are lots of things you can do to prepare for your observation to ensure it runs smoothly. By being prepared it gives you peace of mind that you have planned the lesson thoroughly and know what topics you are going to teach beforehand.
What Our Clients Say
Staff View – Fox Covert Early Years
Carol Thabet, early years officer at Fox Covert Early Years explains how Learning Journals has benefitted the staff and parents at their nursery in Edinburgh.
- How parents benefit from easy access
- How staff can note significant learning
- How everyone is on the same page with support and learning
"It's really, really made a big difference to families".
Manager View – Flying Colours Nursery
Arran Black, owner of Flying colours nursery goes into detail about how Learning Journals has worked from day one at his nursery.
- How parents have embraced the system
- Surprised how easily parents have taken to interacting with the system
- We've not looked back
"The person I think it benefits the most is the nursery manager quite simply because they can find everything in one place".
A Parent’s View
Jo Morris, a parent with a child at nursery tells us about how Learning Journals helps to keep her informed. She love's the ease of use, the simple and easy access and how all the information is exactly what she needs to have.
- Really easy to use!
- A very stress free way to share with my partner
- We have a full library of his time at nursery
"Keeps me completely up to date with what he's doing ".
Manager View – Stockbridge Nursery
Caroline Munro is the head of Stockbridge Nursery. Here she talks about how Learning Journals has made a huge impact to her nursery, children and parents.
- How they save so much time and no longer need to take work home
- How observations are now straight to the point with a clear focus
- How the system is so quick, so instant
"Parent's have really engaged....the children are learning at home more now".
Head Teacher View – Stockbridge Primary School
Kathryn Collier is acting head of a primary school. Having used Learning Journals for a couple of years she gives us some insight into how the system benefits pupils and parents from a teacher's perspective.
- How parent contributions help her track wider achievements
- How the system acts as a prompt for conversation in the class
- How it now helps to effectively communicate with parents
"A really nice way of engaging the school, the child and the parent".
Manager View – Waterfront Nursery
Vicki Shiels is the manager of the Waterfront nursery, a very large childcare provider with hundreds of children in their care every day. With so many children to care for Vicki was very keen to have a system that would help save her time while still allowing her to provide the same high quality service as before.
- How we save time and money with Learning Journals
- How children are more involved
- How even staff uncomfortable with technology find the system easy to use
"It's much cheaper!"