We were delighted to welcome Erica Mason of DBE Services to our central office last month, to deliver a truly inspiring and informative Early Years training day.
DBE Services is our school improvement delivery partner, offering a wide range of services, including insightful CPD sessions based on the latest research and thinking on curriculum, teaching and learning.
As well as her advisory role, Erica is the headteacher at Whitefield Infant and Nursery School in Nelson. Her hands-on experience and real-life examples brought the material to life in a way that left our school leaders and early years staff excited to apply their new insights and further develop their EYFS planning and provision.
One Trust Leader commented, “It was so lovely to get the opportunity to listen to Erica speak about her wonderful school and to see examples of her practice in action. She is extremely talented and knowledgeable! A wonderful, informative course.”
The day focused on ‘Embedding Firm Foundations in EYFS’. Beginning with an overview of the latest updates in EYFS, the session then focused on planning for ‘firm foundations’, planning for an effective environment and SEND in EYFS. The day ended with the opportunity for Q&A.
Our attendees rated the training day highly, finding Erica’s session on ‘Finding your Why’ a particularly useful starting point. Erica shared her school’s inspiring ‘Why’ statement, and exactly how that informs curriculum decisions and guides learning environments that encourage a ‘life-long thirst for learning’.
Our school leaders are already making plans to run sessions with staff members to discuss their ‘Why’, considering topics from the point of view of earning their place on the curriculum and providing strong foundational knowledge for later school years.
As well as the strategic and planning guidance, Erica presented lots of immediately applicable approaches and set-ups to enhance the EYFS environment.
One Trust Leader commented, “It was good to hear some of the strategies and initiatives that we have implemented following advice from our school advisor are being encouraged, as well as hearing some of the ways in which they plan for provision with a real passion for curiosity and learning through play in the Early Years, which we what we are aiming for.”
Another attendee added, “The explanations and examples of how to use enhancements in provision were really useful.”
During the focus session on SEND in EYFS, the group discussed the TEACCH approach – built around visual structure, individualised learning and predictability.
A big thank you to DBE Services and Erica for delivering such an engaging day with so many valuable and actionable insights. We look forward to seeing our school leaders and staff implement their new approaches and ideas.