Early Excellence Podcast

Young children have a natural desire to explore their world and share ideas through creative expression. In this week’s episode, we’re joined by artist Emma-Jo Bairstow as we discuss key ways to develop provision and practice in relation to expressive arts and design. Develop your practice by joining Emma-Jo Bairstow for our Every Child an Artist courseLooking for some festive inspiration? Join us for our free Magic of Christmas twilightWatch our Building Creative Approaches in the EYFS and KS1 videoFind out more about Emma-Jo’s work with school’s and settings via Twitter @artworksedu

As one of the prime areas of learning, physical development underpins children’s overall learning and development. Yet how often do we consider children’s physical development in real depth? In this week’s episode, we talk with Helen Hawes about her support work in schools and how small changes to our practice can have a big impact for our children.Find out more about our "Let's Explore Physical Development" courseExplore our Outdoor Resource CollectionsContact Helen to find out more about her work in schools. Helen is on Twitter @futuressporty. You’ll also find her on Facebook @sportyfuturesuk

In this week’s episode, we talk to Trisha Lee all about the importance of nurturing and celebrating children’s storytelling. Trisha tells us all about her work in schools and also about her new book, The Growth of a Storyteller, which explores the practice of using helicopter stories to value, nurture and inspire young learners.Order your copy of The Growth of a StorytellerExplore our Themed Role Play Resources

In this week’s episode, we’re joined by Kate Gingles and the EYFS team at Newcastle High School for Girls. As part of our chat, we talk about the team’s key focus on developing enjoyable and rich mathematical learning opportunities for their Nursery and Reception children. Find out more about our “More than a Maths Scheme” Course Read our blog: Mathematical Musings by Jude Twani Download a free copy of our Maths Provision Audit

Children’s books provide us with wonderfully rich opportunities to nurture and provoke imaginative writing ideas. In this week’s episode, Andy and Llewella share some fantastic children’s books for inspiring young writers. Browse our 3-5 Yrs Book Resource Collection Find Out More About Our Let’s Explore Language and Communication Training  Explore Our It’s More than Reading and Writing Training

In this week’s episode, we chat to Ruth Swailes and Aaron Bradbury about their fantastic new book - Early Childhood Theories Today.They discuss the links between theories and practice within the classroom, the benefits of the book, their writing process and much more.Purchase a copy of Early Childhood Theories TodayExplore our EYFS TrainingDiscover our KS1 Courses

Do you have wordless books within your classroom provision? In your setting, are wordless books used to support children’s language development and storytelling skills? Join us for this week’s episode of The Early Excellence Podcast where we explore and review some great wordless books and discuss how the books can be used to support the development of a wide range of skills. Watch the Video “The Piano” Book on to our webinar - It's More than Reading & Writing Explore our range of books

This week, we’re joined by Professor Sam Wass from The University of East London. Sam is a child psychologist and neuroscientist specialising in concentration and stress in young children. You will probably remember Sam as the on-screen child psychologist in the popular Channel 4 programmes The Secret Lives of 4 Year Olds and The Secret Lives of 5 Year Olds.Order The Secret Lives of 4, 5 and 6 Year Olds bookWatch Sam’s TED Talk on How the Modern World is Changing Young Children Inspire your EYFS team with our Early Excellence Child Development webinar package

There are often stark differences in approaches to teaching and learning once children move in to year one, but, does this have to be the case? In this week’s episode, we explore how a rich, well-planned learning environment in Key Stage One can provide both the continuity and the challenge that young learners need.Explore our Guide to Continuous Provision for Key Stage 1Access our Free Webinars focused on KS1Order Julie Fisher’s Book - Moving on to Key Stage 1

Children have a strong drive to repeat actions. They can become fascinated by transporting objects, moving in circles or creating enclosures as they explore, and make sense of, the world around them. In this week’s episode, Llewella explores how to identify these repeated patterns of play, known as schemas, and begins to consider how practitioners can use schematic play as a means of tuning in to, and extending, children’s thinking. Read the Blog Watch our Let’s Explore Schemas Webinar Explore the Best Practice Birth-4yrs Programme