Literacy is a specific area of learning within the EYFS, and many literacy strategies focus on things such as reading, writing and speaking. For Reggio specialists, however, spontaneity, curiosity and the ability for children to talk freely are emphasised.
‘Reading the world’ is a two-day conference from the Sightlines initiative. ‘At a time when we are seeing literacy devolved into technical exercises’, says the conference blurb, ‘the presentations will emphasise the intrinsic meaning-making of spoken and written language, its place in making sense of the world, and its relationship with other languages of expression.’
The day featured presentations from leading settings, including an Italian Reggio specialist, and local authority early years leads, and was chaired by Professor Peter Moss from the Institute of Education.
Louise Lowings, head teacher of Reggio-inspired Madeley Nursery School, says the day provided a series of useful examples of good practice, which meant the staff then had to think of their own strategies to arrive at the model presented. As a result of the training, she says there is now a concerted effort to link knowledge of children’s phases of development with observations of children at play in the setting. ‘Children come out with amazing things and inspire you, but you have to remember that they are operating in a two-year-old body so a real understanding of child development knowledge is important,’ she says.
Another highlight was a presentation from Worthing nursery school Reflections about story-making for two-year-olds.
The setting’s project on children’s narratives in play began with the introduction of a baby figurine, which became the subject of a story about babies and monsters. The children made different worlds for the protagonists out of art materials, and investigated good and bad, power and vulnerability, danger and defiance.
Another interesting facet of the project, for Ms Lowings, was that children could create their environment – adults made a space for them to use and leave as they saw fit.
