Nursery World - Case study: Bilston Nursery School, Wolverhampton

* On their return from a visit to the pre-schools of Reggio Emilia, staff from Bilston Nursery School were fascinated by the depth of project work they had observed, by children's ownership of the direction and flow of a project and by the sustained shared thinking apparent throughout the process. The practitioners' two big questions concerning their own practice were:

The practitioners' two big questions concerning their own practice were:

* What happens if children lead the learning?

* If children take the lead, what is our role as practitioners?

Over time both these questions were answered for them by the children.

The starting point After a period of absence from the nursery, a boy named Brandon arrived back remembering his favourite book about a bear hunt. Soon they noticed that Brandon and his friends had taken the story of the bear hunt outside and adapted it for their play. Throughout the grounds the excitement of the children could be heard as they travelled the journey of the bear hunt and took turns being in the cave.

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