Play and Active Learning Thematic Review
glasgow city council
education services
glasgow city council
education services
Contents
Introduction
The Establishments
Rationale
Children’s experiences (QI 2.1)
The curriculum (QI 5.1)
Teaching for effective learning (QI 5.2)
Assessment for learning (QI 5.4)
Management and use of resources and space for learning (QI 8.3)
Conclusions and Recommendations
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Play and Active Learning Thematic Review
Introduction
This report is intended to stimulate reflection on aspects of
effective practice in terms of active learning and play across the
early years and primary stages and is illustrated throughout with
examples of good practice.
The report is based on evidence of very good practice obtained from visits
to three early years’ establishments and three primary schools during early
2010 who agreed to take part in this thematic review. The review teams
included Quality Improvement Officers from both the primary and early
years’ sectors together with an area education manager, and headteachers
from each of the sectors. Establishment visits lasted for either a full or a
half day. The review teams visited playrooms and classrooms, talked to staff,
children and parents and discussed the approach taken to play and active
learning in each establishment with the headteacher.
In the course of the review the review teams used a number of quality
indicators from Child at the Centre as benchmarks for very good practice.
They also looked at the views of parents, staff and children as well as the
transition processes being used in each establishment
The quality indicators looked at were:
2.1 Children’s experiences
5.1 The curriculum
5.2 Teaching for effective learning
5.4 Assessment for learning
8.3 Management and use of resources and space for learning
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The Establishments
The review team thanks the following primary schools and early
years’ establishments for their willingness to participate in the
review and for the enthusiastic and reflective nature of their
contribution to the discussions.
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Play and Active Learning Thematic Review
Cloan Nursery School
Cloan Nursery School serves part of the community of Drumchapel in
the North West of the City. The nursery is part of the Drumchapel High
Learning Community and caters for children from 2 to 5 years.
Westercraigs Nursery School
Westercraigs Nursery School serves part of the community in the
Dennistoun area in the East of the City. The nursery is part of the Whitehill
Learning Community and caters for children 3 to 5 years.
London Road Nursery School
London Road Nursery School serves part of the community in the
Dalmarnock , Bridgeton and the Calton areas in the East of the City. The
nursery is part of the Eastbank Learning Community and caters for children
2 to 5 years.
Garnetbank Primary School
Garnetbank Primary school serves the City Centre community of Glasgow.
It is part of the Hillhead Learning Community.
Langside Primary School
Langside Primary serves the community of Langside in the South East of
Glasgow. It is part of the Shawlands Learning Community.
St Rose of Lima Primary School
St Rose of Lima Primary School serves the community of Craigend in the
East of Glasgow.The school forms part of a joint campus with Garthamlock
Family Centre. It is part of the St Andrew’s Learning Community.
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Rationale
Curriculum for Excellence, for the first time ever, brings together
as one level, the curriculum for the early years’ sector and the
early stages of primary. Approaches that are used with children
in nursery such as active learning are now being further extended
into the early years of primary school.
For the purposes of this review, we have chosen to adopt the following
definitions of ‘play’ and ‘active learning’
Play is freely chosen, personally directed, intrinsically motivated
behaviour that actively engages the child... Play can be fun or
serious. Through play children explore social, material and
imaginary worlds and their relationship with them, elaborating
all the while a flexible range of responses to the challenges they
encounter.
From Best Play – what play provision should do for children
Children’s Play Council (2001)
We have chosen to use the term ‘Active learning’ as an umbrella
term referring to several models of instruction. These focus the
responsibility of learning on the learners themselves and actively
involve learners in cooperative learning tasks.
Adapted from Bonwell, C.; Eison, J. (1991). Active Learning: Creating Excitement in
the Classroom AEHE-ERIC Higher Education Report No.1.
Washington, D.C.: Jossey-Bass.
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Play and Active Learning Thematic Review
This thematic review therefore seeks to share examples of very good
practice in Glasgow primary schools and early years’ establishments.
Active learning as such may be defined as learning which
engages and challenges children’s thinking using both real life and
imaginary situations taking full advantage of the opportunities for
learning which are presented by
•
Spontaneous play
•
Planned purposeful play
•
Investigating and exploring
•
Events and life experiences
•
Focused learning and teaching
All areas of the curriculum can be enriched and developed
through such an approach.
Learning and Teaching Scotland website
When children draw, paint, dance, construct, model, make music and
indeed, play, they are engaged in the active process of making sense of their
world in a way which is unique and individual to them, and over which they
are in control. The enthusiasm with which young children engage in these
kinds of activities is an important pointer to their significance.
A child who has experienced the excitement of finding things
out for themselves or of solving problems is learning to take
risks, to persevere and to become an independent learner.
Whitebread, D (Ed) in “Teaching and Learning in the early years”
Routledge 1996
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Learning and teaching are serious activities which need to be fun,
particularly when they involve young children.
Children enjoy learning when they are in control of what they are doing
and more importantly, are having fun. This usually only occurs as a result
of the work of skilled teachers, child development officers or parents. The
alternative to what is commonly regarded as formal teaching methods are
not random informality but carefully structured situations in which children
work with adults, other children or alone as they master the skills and
concepts they need to function effectively.
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Play and Active Learning Thematic Review
Children’s Experiences
Children’s experiences across all establishments observed during the course
of the review included the following notable features:
Children were enthusiastic and highly motivated. They were actively engaged
in their learning and obviously enjoyed learning through play. Children
enjoyed the challenges when working in the ‘stations’ approach that was
being used to support active learning in the primary school settings.
Children, including those with English as an additional language, were
able to exercise choice and to lead their own learning. All the children
were confident working in pairs, in groups and as individuals. Staff were
responsive to children’s interests, needs and ideas. Children were consulted
and staff consistently ensured that children’s voices were heard. Children’s
interests were sustained by the range of activities which were designed to
allow children to learn independently and take responsibility for their own
learning.
In all the establishments, children were able to learn effectively through wellplanned play activities. In the early years’ centres, children directed their
own learning through free flowing play. Staff organised the nursery to ensure
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an appropriate focus on the development of children’s literacy skills which
permeated across the defined curricular areas. In all cases, children were
consulted on the themes for play and were empowered to lead their own
learning through imaginative role play.
In one nursery, children’s interest in dinosaurs had prompted a visit to
Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh. Another nursery visited the Burrell Collection
following the children expressing an interest in princesses. Visits such as
these were used by the staff to support and develop the learning experiences
of the children within the nursery setting.
Staff successfully used ‘big books’ in early years’ establishments to plan
learning themes and activities in consultation with the children. The starting
point for each big book is the shared learning outcomes for that period of a
plan which keeps the focus firmly on learning and teaching.
Big book planning begins with all the children making a cover for the book
to ensure they have ownership of it. Through the technique of big book
planning, children begin to see that their thoughts and ideas are valued.
The big books help them re-visit their learning over the course of a short
term planning period. It allows learning to be re-visited in depth and also
supports younger children to see the connection between the written and
the spoken word. Big books also provide good opportunities for self and
peer assessment.
Children played very effectively with each other in all of the establishments
visited. They were guided by the staff to take turns and share appropriately.
Staff encouraged them through the use of open questioning.
Play activities were regularly changed with children involved in the decision
about the changes. Some primary schools had set up separate play rooms
or used open areas outside classrooms. In these areas, a ‘stations’ approach
was used with children moving round the stations in groups. The stations
were linked very effectively to children’s learning in literacy and numeracy.
Role play was an important and very successful feature of children’s learning.
Children were involved effectively in the assessment and evaluation of their
own work in a number of ways. In some establishments, children’s work was
immediately displayed for others to share then revisited with comments from
the children themselves. In other establishments children used learning logs,
play diaries and ‘talking partners’ as a useful way of reflecting on their own
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Play and Active Learning Thematic Review
learning. Children’s assessments of their own learning were evaluated by
staff and progression across the eight areas of the curriculum were recorded.
All establishments had developed very attractive and effective methods of
recording and reporting children’s progress to parents.
Play in Practice
In St Rose of Lima Primary School, the ‘stations’ approach to active learning
is employed very successfully for developing skills in literacy and numeracy.
A ‘theatre workshop’ is offered as one of the stations and a stage area is set
up in the corner of the literacy room. This offers children the opportunity
to negotiate with each other, to organise themselves and to build their
confidence through putting on a performance related to the story that the
children had been focusing on during the literacy activities.
During the review visit, the children were observed performing the story of
‘The Ugly Duckling’. The children organised who would take the key roles,
who would narrate the story and what the lines would be. Some of the
groups observed had very enthusiastic and ambitious stage directors!
St Rose of Lima Primary School
The active learning here is absolutely phenomenal, I’ve never
seen anything like it!
Probationer teacher on placement
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Play in Practice
In Westercraigs Nursery School staff broaden children’s experiences by
taking them out into the community on visits as much as possible. They visit
the local supermarket to shop for snack ingredients, go on walks to identify
environmental print, visit the local optician, and go to the local charity shop
to donate items.
Such visits allow the staff to expand children’s learning experiences and
provide opportunities for learning to be developed in real and meaningful
contexts
These visits are organised following discussion with the children and they are
all very enthusiastic about going on a ‘trip’.
The children enjoy the whole routine of going out of the nursery and are
thoroughly engaged in the whole experience from initially planning where
they are going, getting ready to go out and with the visit itself.
Westercraigs Nursery School
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Play and Active Learning Thematic Review
The Curriculum
All establishments were making good progress developing Curriculum for
Excellence and were using the Experiences and Outcomes to plan the
curriculum.
In the establishments reviewed, the development of the curriculum was
based on children’s interests, needs and learning styles. It allowed the
children to make progress in their learning. Staff across both primary and
early years’ settings were enthusiastic about their involvement in developing
the curriculum.
Signposts for Improvement:
When planning to adopt a play based approach to learning, staff across all
sectors should ensure that:
•Personalisation and choice underpins the curriculum.
•The curriculum has breadth and fosters true depth of learning.
•Learning opportunities and experiences are delivered through the
context of play and used to link children’s learning across all areas of
the curriculum through real life contexts or through active learning
approaches.
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•Planning shows evidence of consultation with children and
responsiveness to their interests.
•Children are involved in setting their own personal learning targets.
Our children are very positive about active learning in their
classrooms
We feel really well informed about what is going on in school.
The teachers send us class newsletters at the start of each
term saying what the class will be working on. This helps us
feel involved in the learning. We like the ‘challenges’ homework
which is set, we love working with our children in solving these.
Sometimes it is a simple task like learning a poem or a more
complicated one like working out all the uses for a household
item’
Parental interview
Across the early years’ establishments visited, children were able to freely
access all learning areas and were able to take their learning outdoors. They
were free to make choices from both staff led activities and supported free
play opportunities.
Children were well engaged in activities such as imaginative play within role
play areas such as the ‘café’ and ‘shop’ and these areas allowed the children
to lead their own learning. The contexts for learning reflected children’s
interests. For example, the theme of fantasy was based on the children’s
interest in knights and castles.
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Play and Active Learning Thematic Review
The primary schools, generally timetabled slots for children to have
opportunities for ‘free play’. The organisation of this varied from school to
school.
In one school, children had access to a wide range of play resources
during timetabled afternoon play sessions. All the children were involved
in choosing overall themes and projects based on their preferences. For
example, the children had negotiated that they wanted to explore the theme
of ancient Egypt in a way that differed from the children at that stage the
year before.
One school had ‘challenges’ in place for children throughout the school.
This involved the children being posed problem solving activities to work on
in groups in various areas of the school and across curricular areas. Some
schools and early years’ centres also set ‘challenging’ homework tasks which
involved parents working with their children to solve tasks at home.
In all establishments, there was a clear system of planning to deliver
outcomes and experiences to all children through an active learning or
play based approach. Play was used as a context for the delivery of a
diverse range of learning experiences and interdisciplinary activities. In all
settings, children were encouraged to contribute effectively to planning and
resourcing their own learning. Staff took account of their views and valued
and used children’s responses to support and inform planning.
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Play in Practice
In Cloan Nursery School, children take their learning outdoors on a daily
basis. One member of staff has responsibility for planning activities outdoors
and children are able to access the large outdoor area at any point during
the day.
The outdoor area is used as an additional playroom. Children are involved in
risk assessing the activities they want to undertake outdoors and have been
involved in some very creative tasks including constructing a rope swing and
building a ‘fire’ to cook on outdoors. The nursery has built up a stock of
good quality outdoor clothing and footwear. The children are able to access
this and get ready to go out independently.
Cloan Nursery School
The children love learning outdoors. They work together and
help each other. On cold days they love sitting in the log cabin
drinking hot chocolate.
One child asked me if she could take me to visit her local park. I
said yes. We planned it together and she chose a friend to come
with us. I ensured that as we planned I assessed for any risks.
Staff Member
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Play and Active Learning Thematic Review
Play in Practice
In St Rose of Lima Primary School aspects of mathematics are taught
through the context of having a shop set up within the maths room using
a ‘stations’ approach. The children are able to move between the different
areas where they can learn about stock control and pricing by engaging in
shared discussion alongside imaginative play.
St Rose of Lima Primary School
I’m learning all about numbers
Pupil in P2
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Transitions:
All transitions are memorable occasions and stepping stones;
an inevitable and vital part of learning and growing. With this
in mind it is important that while children and young people
feel that the transition from one stage of learning to another
is smooth, they should still be able to look forward to the
excitement of starting nursery, primary school, secondary
school and finally to moving on to positive and sustained
destinations.
Successful Transitions- advice for schools and centres.
Glasgow City Council Education Services April 2010
The processes and procedures involved in effective transition varied from
establishment to establishment. However, across all of the establishments,
effective transition between stages and between early years and early
primary was identified as a key mechanism ensuring effective progression and
continuation of very effective learning strategies.
Signposts for improvement:
•Cross sectoral visits could be organised allowing children across both
settings to become involved in collaborative play opportunities.
•Children in early years’ settings on shared campus sites could have
access to books and other resources in the primary school (and vice
versa).
•Staff from the primary and early years’ settings could spend time in each
other’s settings on a regular basis.
•New entrants at early stages primary could have freedom of movement
and choice which mirrors the practice from their early years’ settings.
•Children could share their learning journals with parents and P1
teachers.
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Play and Active Learning Thematic Review
Teaching for Effective
Learning
Across all establishments, the learning climate and teaching approaches
shared some of the following components:
The climate was very positive in all establishments and staff were open
and friendly with the children. Staff used imaginative and creative teaching
approaches and they knew when to step in to promote learning and more
importantly, when to step back and let children develop their own learning.
Learning and teaching approaches were challenging and enjoyable and
sustained children’s motivation. Experiences and activities that were offered
to children built on their prior learning and staff intervened appropriately
to make tasks more challenging. Staff made very good use of ICT in both
classrooms and playrooms to support learning. Children had opportunities
to engage with an extensive range of ICT equipment including cameras,
computers, electronic whiteboards, and programmable toys.
Staff used a wide range of learning environments in all of the early years
establishments visited. Children were freely able to take their learning
outdoors.
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Children in most establishments benefited from opportunities for energetic,
physical play through the day.
There was some excellent interaction observed between staff and children
in all the establishments reviewed. Staff created a climate which encouraged
children to take risks in learning.
Staff listened to children and used skilled, open-ended questioning to
develop children’s knowledge and language skills. They responded well to
questions and observations made by children which helped to promote
further curiosity. All staff gave clear instructions and ensured that children
understood the purpose of the lesson or activity. They gave children thinking
time before asking them to respond. Staff questioning built on children’s
prior learning. Assessment was based on what had been learned. This was
achieved through a balance between skilful questioning and the effective
use of praise to encourage children. Staff were enthusiastic, caring and
supportive of children. High quality dialogue was evident throughout most
classrooms and playrooms.
Signposts for Improvement:
•Staff should make appropriate judgements and intervene to challenge
and scaffold children’s learning when necessary.
•Systems should be in place to ensure next steps in children’s learning are
taken forward.
•Children should be engaged in planning and evaluating their activities.
•Staff should make regular observations of children’s learning to
contribute to a clear profile being constructed for each child.
•Staff should share learning intentions and check children’s understanding
through discussing what success criteria would look like.
•Plenary sessions should be used to assess and evaluate learning and
teaching.
•Staff should use a variety of contexts to assess children’s learning.
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Play and Active Learning Thematic Review
Play in Practice
In Garnetbank Primary School, the children are challenged in their learning
by having homework tasks where they have to involve their parents.
Challenge features in many areas throughout the school and children are
set challenges which have to be solved by the children engaging in an active
learning approach.
Parents are very well informed about the actual learning intentions that are
being set through a curricular newsletter.
Garnetbank Primary School
Active learning really engages and motivates the children. There
are no behaviour issues when children are well engaged
The Challenge Glasgow materials are well used in the upper
stages and these complement the active approaches at P1 and P2
Staff Member
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Assessment For Learning
Approaches to assessment were very strong throughout all establishments
visited.
Play in Practice
In London Road Nursery School, assessment strategies are completely
embedded in all aspects of the life of the establishment. Children are
consulted in a variety of ways about all aspects of their environment from
what they want to learn about, to whether they want the curtains open or
shut in the sensory room.
The children on the day of the review had been involved in a mind mapping
exercise to determine what a ‘quality review’ was about and identified that
they thought their nursery was good because, amongst other things, they
had rules about not running indoors!
London Road Nursery School
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Play and Active Learning Thematic Review
Play in Practice
In Cloan Nursery School, each child has their own learning journal (A4 ring
binder) which documents their learning across the curriculum.
These are located in an easily accessible area for staff, children and parents
to access at any time.
Different kinds of evidence are used to reflect progress such as photographs,
children’s comments and staff comments. Staff and children are able to
contribute to the journal and this is done at the end of each short term plan.
Children are confident in making their own contributions to their learning
journals and take pride in their achievements.
Cloan Nursery School
Establishments involved in the review were able to evidence ‘next steps’ in
children’s learning and their use to inform future planning.
In most establishments, children were involved in evaluating their own
learning using Assessment is For Learning strategies such as ‘three stars and
a wish’. Some establishments, particularly those in the early years sector,
shared learning intentions and encouraged children’s comments using a wide
variety of techniques such as speech bubbles, mind mapping and floor book
planning. They also used digital video and digital still cameras to evaluate
learning.
Across those primary establishments, teachers were involved in regular
liaison with pupil support assistants and playground supervisors to assist
with the overall assessment of children. Within one primary establishment,
staff received constructive evaluative feedback on their forward plans. The
parents in particular in this establishment felt that they were very well
informed about children’s progress and welcomed the fact that they received
termly plans from the teachers. In addition, individual class newsletters
reviewed what learning had taken place and indicated what was planned next.
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Signposts for Improvement:
•Assessment is for learning (AiFL) strategies should be well embedded
into playroom and classroom practice.
•Photographs can provide evidence children’s achievements.
•All staff should be involved in gathering information and noting children’s
progress.
•Children should actively be involved in setting their own learning
intentions and in self assessing their work.
•A high level of parental involvement should be encouraged in the
assessment process.
•A variety of approaches to track and assess children’s learning should be
used e.g. mind maps, children’s planning meetings etc.
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Play and Active Learning Thematic Review
Management and Use of
Resources and Space for
Learning
Accommodation, display and presentation was of high quality in all
establishments.
In one school, children used a ‘hot desk’ system in the classroom where they
chose seats to suit the flexible working environment.
Another school improved the children’s learning environment by including a
mock ‘single end’ within the P2 classroom. In all early years’ establishments
visited, children made very good use of the outdoor learning area to
explore and investigate a rich variety of resources. Children had free access
to well-equipped outdoor areas and were able to free flow from indoors
to outdoors as they chose. Staff planned activities for the children to
participate in outdoors and the outdoor play environments were very well
resourced both in terms of the range of very good quality natural outdoor
play resources to stimulate and support learning and the organisation of, and
access to, the outdoor area by staff and children.
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Very good arrangements were in place to ensure the health and safety of
children.
Children were, however, encouraged to become independent, confident
individuals by being allowed to take risks. Good protective clothing allowed
children to play and learn outdoors in all weathers.
The use of walkie-talkies in some schools and early years’ establishments
improved security between inside and outside areas. One nursery head had
created a number of informative resources which were made available to
parents and provided them with very user friendly information on a variety
of health and safety and hygiene issues.
•Health and safety had a high focus for staff across all the establishments
involved in the review process
•Outings were well organised to ensure adult/child ratios were
appropriate
•Risk assessments were carried out in advance and used as reference for
sequential visits
•Good security systems were in operation
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Play and Active Learning Thematic Review
Play in Practice
Langside Primary offers its children an opportunity to develop and learn in
the real life context of its ‘Learning Street’. This is a large area which is set
up and resourced according to the chosen theme. Children are able to play
independently at areas designed to promote skills in literacy, numeracy and
in other areas of the curriculum as well as skills for life and skills for learning.
The base is also used as a teaching area, with lessons being taught in the
context of the theme.
At the time of the review the children had expressed an interest in fantasy.
This became the theme and the set up of the room was adapted to include a
castle.
One infant class was encouraged to use a variety of instruments to ‘measure’
the foot of the giant from a story the class was doing. This followed on
from an introduction by the class teacher which involved the children in
contributing to a discussion about vocabulary to describe the size of the
giant’s feet.
Staff and parents saw evidence of the impact of ‘The Learning Street’ in the
enthusiasm the children had for learning, in their confidence, and in their
achievement and attainment.
Langside Primary School
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Play in Practice
London Road Nursery School has a sensory room which is equipped with
materials to enhance the five senses. The room has low lighting, colourful
images of deep sea creatures are projected on to the wall, and soft music
is played in the background. A number of tactile soft toy sea creatures are
available for children to touch while they relax.
Children are shown relaxation techniques, including head massage. Staff
interact and intervene in response to the children.
Staff believe that the room has a very positive impact on the children as it
has a calming effect on their children.
Throughout the establishment, the resources available to children both in
the nursery and in the outdoor area are of a very high quality easily accessed
by and freely available to children. The outdoor area in particular has a range
of natural materials, e.g. logs, which foster physical activity as well as giving
opportunities for curricular coverage across the curriculum areas outdoors
in a fun and challenging environment.
London Road Nursery School
Signpost to improvement
•When considering how to make best use of space for learning,
establishments should consider how they use both their indoor and
outdoor areas.
•Children’s work and photographs should be used to document their
learning.
•Children’s writing should be prominently displayed throughout
establishments.
•Children’s work should be valued by staff and used as a basis for
discussion with parents.
•Learning bases in the primary school settings could be used flexibly to
accommodate a variety of groups and teaching situations.
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Play and Active Learning Thematic Review
Parental involvement
In some of the settings visited, the parents were very actively involved in
evaluating children’s homework activities and active learning tasks through
questionnaires issued by the centre.
Parents who were interviewed during the course of the reviews were very
positive about the value of learning through play. Some felt that it worked
particularly well for boys. Parents felt that their children were valued, safe
and secure and would have lasting happy memories of their educational
experiences across the early level.
In some establishments, teaching and learning was considered by the parents
to be a major strength.
Across all establishments, there were regular opportunities for staff to share
assessment information with parents both formally and informally. Those
nursery establishments reviewed had very good informal daily links with
most parents. This was due to the fact that parents tend to drop off and
collect their children in person through the course of the day.
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Conclusions and
Recommendations
Effective practice was demonstrated in all six establishments visited. Staff
used a wide variety of approaches to support children’s learning through
play whilst following the philosophy enshrined in Curriculum for Excellence.
Children were the key decision makers in planning their own learning
journey.
In each of these establishments, such approaches helped children to have
real enthusiasm and motivation for learning, a determination to reach high
standards of achievement and most importantly to have fun while they were
engaged in learning.
Children were confident and had respect for themselves and for others.
They were able to work in partnership and in teams, to take the initiative
and to lead, to plan their own learning and to apply critical thinking in new
contexts.
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Play and Active Learning Thematic Review
As a result of this review, we now plan to:
•Support staff across both the early years’ and early primary stages, to
share best practice. To achieve this, a series of joint in service courses
will be developed during session 2010/2011 to explore the links between
‘free play’ and ‘active learning’ in more detail to share best practice
between the sectors.
•Support establishments to develop approaches to ‘learning in the
outdoors’.
•Invite those establishments that have been identified as having
particularly good practice to host ‘Open Doors’ events to share aspects
of their practice with other establishments.
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