Early Years Foundation Stage is art of attracting children’s attention, through creating a stimulating and inspiring learning environment. The role of Early Years teachers is to provide children thought provoking, engaging and challenging activities; to support and extend their learning. As Froebel nicely said ‘play is the work of a child’; thus Early Years practitioners should thoroughly prepare activities to intrigue children to explore their surrounding environment. Play encourages hands on approach, enriches children’s firsthand experiences and expands their intellectual growth. Practitioners’ imagination and creativity in preparing indoor and outdoor provision support competent and confident learners. High quality learning environment contributes to child’s development and incorporates all six areas of learning, according to English Curriculum. Play based learning develops problem solving skills and supports children’s understanding of the world. Inspirational activities initiate interaction and become the best opportunity for language acquisition for those learners whose English is a second language.

1. High Quality
Learning Environment in the
Early Years Foundation Stage
By: Anna Cylkowska © Presented at Pase International
Email: a.cylkowska@gmail.com Conference - May 2012

2. • Partnerships • Meaningful
with: • Clear and simple
• children • Easy to follow
• members of staff
• parents
• external agencies
Meaningful Golden rules
relationships
Well Stimulating
organised activities
areas of indoor and
learning outdoor
• Welcoming • Motivating
• Purposeful • Challenging
• Engaging • Inspiring
• Collaborative

3. Meaningful relationships
Children
Synergy
Parents/Carers Early Years team

4. Behaviour management
Parents’ partnership
Enthusiasm
Motivation
Role modelling
Consistency I like the
way you
Approval clap your
hands.

5. Nurturing environment
We can never truly know what it is to bite into ripe juicy
peach until we have actually taken a bite for ourselves.
(Hughes,2006:3)

6. Writing/Mark making area
What should the area
contain?
How does it link with
writing?

7. Writing/Mark making area

8. Creative area
Every child is an artist.
The problem is staying an
artist when you grow up.
Pablo Picasso

9. How to foster creativity?
Creativity is like an explorer’s backpack, cramped with ideas and
adventures; the younger we are the bigger the backpack is and sadly
the older we are the more empty it gets.
Expose to opportunities
Provide with variety of arts experiences
Listen to unexpected
Encourage – What if? I wonder...
Give time and allow freedom
Praise!

10. Music area
Movement is a powerful tool to express creativity.

11. Role Play
What is the purpose of the Role Play?
How to create an environment that Imaginative play stimulates
encourages creativity? children’s divergent thinking.

12. Small world area
Does the area allow children to improvise?
Imagination is more important than
knowledge.
Albert Einstein

13. Book area
How can we encourage reading?

14. Construction
How to encourage children to experiment with the
construction materials?

15. Computer area
Case Study: Developing multimodality in the Early Years
John is three years old. He loves playing computer games with two of his siblings. His
mum says John spends plenty of time after school playing the games, thus she shows
concerns about John’s social skills and academic performance. Once at school, John
recreated the football scene on the paper, after playing the game on his 3DS. He
shared his picture with the teacher and other children.
What skills is John developing through recreating the football game
on the paper?
Planning and organising
Writing (hand coordination)
Communication
Comprehension
Social
Creativity

16. Outdoor adventures
Does the area encourage adventurous play?
In play, children often display the positive attributes and
dispositions that are considered essential to lifelong learning, such
as planning and organisation, problem-creating and problem
solving, concentration, engagement, involvement, participation,
and metacognitive capabilities…
(Wood 113-14)

17. What is the Displays
main
purpose of
displays?

18. How to
start a
display?

19. Who is the
display for?

20. Strong foundations in brain
development

21. Bright future
Every child deserves the best possible start in life to
support their potential.
A child’s experience in the early years has a major
impact on their future life chances.
(DfES 2007)

22. If we change one thing...
Can you think what you would like to focus on
changing/amending/ highlighting in your setting to
create a high quality learning environment?

23. Thank you for listening.

24. References
Athey, C (1999), Extending Thought In Young Children: A Parent- Teacher Partnership, London: Paul
Chapman .
Bilton, H (2002), Outdoor Learning in the Early Years: management and innovation, London:
Routledge.
Edwards, C., Gandini, L and Foreman, G. (ends) (1998) The hundreds languages of children: The
Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education. New Jersey: Ablex.
Department for Education and Skills (DfES) (2003), Every Child Matters, London: HMSO.
Fisher, J (ed) (2002) The Foundations of Learning. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Moyles, J (ed) 2007, Early Years Foundations, Maidenhead: Open University Press.
Penn, H (ed) (2000) Early Childhood Services. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Pugh, G&B Duffy, (eds) (2005) Contemporary Issues in the Early Years, [4th edition] London: Sage.
Riley, J (ed) (2007) Learning in the early years: 3-7, London: Paul Chapman.

25. References
Rinaldi, C (2006), In dialogue with Reggio Emilia: listening, researching and learning, London:
RoutledgeFalmer.
Sylva K.,Taggart,B.,Siraj- Blatchford, I.,Totsika, V., ereky-Stevens, K., Gilden, R. And Bell, D. (2007),
‘Curricular quality and day-to-day learning activities in preschool’, International Journal of Early Years
Education, 1 (1):49-65.
Whalley, M and the Pen Green Centre Team (2007), Involving Parents in Their Children’s Learning,
London: Paul Chapman.
Picasso,P ‘ Every child is an artist. The problem is staying an artist when you grow up’.
http://twistedsifter.com/2012/03/15-famous-quotes-on-creativity/
Kay,J, Good Practice In The Early Years: Growing and Developing: Karen Hardy ‘We can never truly
know what it is to bite into ripe juicy peach until we have actually taken a bite for ourselves.
Pictures: http://ecep.uark.edu/ecep_docs/CC_logo.png
http://www.marlowetheatre.com/page/3200/The-Marlowe-Diddies/158,
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/99/312427606_defa0dfaa8.jpg
http://kidstraveldoc.com/wordpress/dr-neumanns-kids-travel-doc-10-tips-backpacks-children/
http://gymbobuzz.gymboreeclasses, http://apennedpoint.com/tag/medical-errors/
http://wonderopolis.org/category/future/

26. Recommended reading
Alexander, R (2009), Children, their world, their education: Final report of the Cambridge Primary
Review. London: Routledge.
Canning, N (2010), The Influence of the outdoor environment: den-making in three different contexts,
UK: Open University.
White, J (2009), Playing and Learning Outdoors, London: Routledge.
Pahl,K (2007) Creativity in events and practices: a lens for understanding children’s multimodal texts:
Blackwell Publishing.