BRi

Croyland Nursery School & Highfield Nursery School Wellingborough (ENGLAND)

BRIC childhood • public space • democracy

The ‘Young Children, Public Spaces and Democracy’ project (BRIC) is funded by the European Union under the Erasmus+ programme from September 2014 until August 2017. BRIC involves the democratic engagement of young children (under five years) in public spaces in their communities in England, Italy and Sweden. The rationale for the project is that young children are often excluded from access or participation in public spaces and that their democratic engagement is not only a right, but also an essential aspect of their identity, education and citizenship. We contend that there is a need to reconsider the use of public spaces to promote young children’s citizenship, through a combination of voice with action that can lead to genuine participation, inclusion and belonging. The BRIC project is a partnership between Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, UK (ARU), Azienda Speciale Servizi in Bassa Reggiana, Italy (ASBR) and Barnpedagogiskt Forum, Goteborg, Sweden (BPF). The BRIC acronym is derived from the names of the partners. In order to inform the main project plan a pilot project was held in 2013-14 (see the BRIC Website at www.bricproject.org)

For purposes of clarity the BRIC project uses the following generic terms in all documentation.

a. ‘Preschool’ refers to all early childhood education and care institutions involving children under five years and their families.

b. ‘Preschool teacher’ refers to all professionals working in a preschool, including qualified teachers and head teachers.

The objectives of BRIC are to enable:

• an exchange of ‘good practice’ between preschool teachers in three countries;

Introduction• systematic education and training around democratic engagement in public spaces;

• the development of open educational resources and targeted activities to engage preschool teachers, parents, the local community and key stakeholders, including local politicians and representatives from business.

The BRIC project involves a minimum of six preschools in each of the three countries (Italy, Sweden and the UK) where a lead preschool teacher coordinates a systematic and progressive programme of civic engagement, starting from the dialogue between children, preschool teachers and parents. Throughout the BRIC project the ‘voices’, thoughts and impressions of the children, preschool teachers, families and communities involved have helped us build a more profound sense of belonging to the places we live in. A significant part of this process is the ‘traces’ that are left when children and adults visit public spaces. During the BRIC project the preschool teachers defined traces as ‘a gentle mark left either intentionally or unintentionally that can be discerned by others after the event, even temporarily’…and also ‘a memory that someone takes with them from experiences in the public space’. Examples of some of the actions and reflections on experience in public spaces, including the different traces formed in the BRIC project and aspects of community engagement are given in the following Case Study, which is the detailed story of one preschools’ participation in the ‘Young Children, Public Spaces and Democracy’ project.

Tim Waller BRIC coordinator

As from 1st September 2015 Croyland Nur-sery School and Highfield Nursery School formed the Wellingborough Nursery Scho-ols Federation. The federation has one go-verning body and an Executive Headtea-cher.Both the schools have a long history of pro-viding early years education to the families of Wellingborough and are proud to be working together so closely to continue the provision of high quality education, exten-ded services and training.

Highfield Nursery School shares a large site with Rowan Gate School and Victoria Pri-mary School. The Nursery School is Local Authority maintained and offers 120 part time places. Places are offered to children aged 3-4 years of age term time only. From September 2015 we introduced a new pro-vision for children aged 2-3 years for fami-

Croyland Nursery School & Highfield Nursery School

lies eligible for the 15 hours of funded Early Years Education. Initially we offered 24 part time places, but this has increased to 36. Over the past few years we have been more flexible in regards to how parents access the early years free entitlement and in pur-chasing extended sessions for their children. Extended provision includes a lunch club.Croyland Nursery School shares a large site with Croyland Primary School. It is also Local Authority maintained and provides 88 non fee paying, part time places for 3-4 year olds over 48 weeks of the year from Monday to Thursday. The nursery school also provides 36 full time fee paying places, all year round for children aged 2-4. The fee paying provi-sion is fully integrated into the maintained nursery. The nursery school also provides 36 part time free entitlement places for children aged two years.

Today we went on our first visit to the church with the children. We all walked very slowly down to the church. The children held hands either with an adult or with each other. They listened well to in-structions about good walking and stop-ping at the roads. On the way we walked past a Hindu Temple with one large gol-den dome and several smaller ones. One of the children declared “It’s a castle, look it’s got a flag on the top” I asked him who might be inside, he replied “There’s prin-cesses in there” We continued walking.

The children seemed particularly obser-vant today one boy noticed a large wo-oden gate with a smaller gate in the cor-ner. The gate was only about 1 foot wide and 2 feet high. He said “It’s a little gate” I asked him if I could fit in there. He said “No it’s only for little people.” We arrived at the outside of the church and stood to admire the building. The children were very quiet and taking in what they saw. We went down some steps and through a door. The caretaker of the church gre-eted us and showed us into the church

hall. He had very kindly placed some toys on a mat on the floor. The children were immediately drawn to them, they sat and played with them for a while and didn’t appear interested in what was around them. The children began to notice their surroundings. Some of them went up the stairs to the pulpit and looked out onto the church. One of the children commen-ted on the pipes leading out of the organ. He said “It looks like a whistle” another child commented on the microphones standing near the piano “What does this do?” The caretaker turned them on and the child spoke into the microphone she smiled when she heard her loud voice. The children grew in confidence and began to thoroughly explore their surroundings, they were smiling and relaxed. One of the children made a loud sound and realised there was quite an echo in the room. He continued to alter the pitch and tone in his voice to make further sounds, some of the other children realised what he was doing and joined in. The Pastor came into the church hall, one of the children gave him a card the children had made to say thank you for allowing us to visit. He looked through the card and carefully placed it on the side. He offered to show us other rooms in the church building. We thoroughly explored the space going through narrow dark rooms and up steep stairs to a large hall where the children ex-perimented with their voices making the

sound echo around them. We went back down the steep stairs and left the church. We started walking back to nursery ta-king a different busier route. The children were starting to become tired (we had been out for about 1 hour and 30 minu-tes by this time) we came across a post box. The children looked at it closely noti-cing the pattern of the crown on the front and a hole for the key to go in but didn’t say anything. Back at nursery one of the children’s Mum said “Wow” I can’t believe you went for a walk to the church, that’s great”

We usually walk to our church with the children, but the children have been showing a big interest in transport so this day we talked to the children about other ways of going to the church.One child said “We could go on a train” (He always plays with the train set at nur-sery)Another child said “I know, I could go in

On Our Way to Church

my Mum’s car. It is blue”We suggested “Perhaps we could go on a bus to the church”?This caused great excitement and enthu-siasm from the children. We all looked at the bus timetable together and decided that we would catch the 10.05 a.m bus. Some of the children now walk in a pair without holding an adults hand. Initially the staff felt quite anxious about allowing the children this freedom, but after giving the children the responsibility and oppor-tunity to walk independent from an adult the staff commented “We are so proud of the children they have done so well”

We all waited at the bus stop, watching all the different types of transport whizz past. One child called out “I can see the bus, it’s coming” We all put our hands out so that the driver of the bus could see us.The bus was quite busy with members of the public. I noticed some of them were looking puzzled to see so many children getting on. Other people were smiling and saying “Hello” to the children. The children responded positively to them and either smiled, waved or said “Hello” back. We found our seats on the bus some of the people moved along so that the children could sit down. One lady asked us “Where are you all going”? We told her about our visit to the church. She respon-ded “How lovely to see you all out today, it’s so nice to see children out and about.”The children were very animated as the bus started moving. They called out to us when they saw or heard something that interested them. “It’s my Mummy’s work, look” “That’s my house” “I can hear a noi-se”? We sat as quietly as we could and listened to the sound of the engine and the other sounds that we could hear from the people and the environment around us. One of the children spontaneously sang “The wheels on the bus go round and round” this prompted the staff and some other children to join in. At first the other

people on the bus looked a little un-comfortable, but they soon began smi-ling and some even joined in. I heard one old man say “My grandchildren sing that song too” We got off the bus near to our church, but we had to cross a busy road first, but it was okay the children knew what to do because we had crossed the road before. One child loudly tod everyone “We need to wait for the green man”Another child responded “Yes it makes a beep, beep, beep noise”We passed a group of people waiting at another bus stop. An old lady said to ano-ther “They look like little rays of sunshine”

At the church we focused at looking at the outside of the building rather than go in this time. One child noticed a large door. He went over to it and knocked it with his hand, but nobody came. He said “There’s no-one in” We walked all around the building loo-king at the brickwork and the windows. We even got to listen to the church bell chime at 11.00a.m “It’s really loud” said one child, putting his hands over his ears

We visited the church around the time we were preparing to celebrate Mother’s day. The children had been making flo-wer displays at nursery for the special

people in their lives. We decided it would be a nice gesture to make a display of flo-wers from the children to the church. The children helped us to carry the flowers to the church and were very excited to make their bouquet. They had previously deco-rated a container at nursery and Chayce carried it very carefully “I don’t want to squash it” The children gently took the flowers and pushed them into the oasis to stand them up. Chayce held one up to my nose “I want you to smell it. It smells nice” We had provided some paper and crayons for the children so that they could make pictures of the flowers if they wanted to. Charlie was very focused on creating her picture. She glanced at the flower display, then back at her paper and very carefully and deliberately made marks to represent the flowers she could see. She told me “I’m making this for my Mummy”

The flower display was ready for Duncan the Pastor to receive. The children had met on on several occasions by now and appeared more confident to approach him. Jakub was given the job of presen-ting them to Duncan. He very proudly gave them to him and smiled with plea-sure when Duncan said “I will leave these in the church for everyone to see.”

On our way to the church one day we passed some council workmen digging up a flower bed. We crossed over the road encouraging the children to “Stop, look, listen” We approached the workmen, who stopped what they were doing and looked at us in some surprise. I introdu-ced myself and explained why we were out with the children. I asked them if they would be putting new plants into the ground. I asked him if it would be at all possible for us to go and help them. He looked a bit unsure, but did give me a bu-siness card and said that I could telepho-ne the council and ask them. I contacted the local council and asked if we could go and help the gardeners plant the winter flowers in the flower bed we had seen them working on. I talked to her about the BRIC project and the reasons for getting the children out into the community. She said “It’s good, because then the children will have more respect for things because they have pla-yed a part in it.” We walked together to

the flower bed. The council workers were busy working when we arrived, but stop-ped work to greet us. They asked us if we wanted to use their tools. We had some of our own. They put a tray of plants on the ground and told us their name “They are called Polyanthus” The children watched what the workers were doing, then picked up their own tools and began to dig holes in the soil. The flower bed is based on a very busy roundabout with lots of traffic going by. The workers resumed their job and the children worked alongside them. When we had finished the workers offe-red us some empty plant pots and contai-

ners, they also gave us two plants to take back to nursery. I had a conversation with them about BRIC and told them that Swe-den and Italy are also taking part in the project. They were very positive about the children working alongside them

Since September 2015 we have been ta-king the children for walks around the local area and have noticed parts of the town centre with flower beds. We had talked to the children about these areas and have asked what they would like to see there. We contacted the local Borou-gh Council and enquired about the two areas, one being close to Highfield Nurse-ry School and the other close to Croyland Nursery School in the town centre. It was then arranged that the children would

help the Council workers to plant a varie-ty of bulbs in these two areas of the town. We planted the bulbs in the winter so that by the spring we would see beautiful flo-wers. The nursery staff have since taken the children back to look at the flowers and have talked about what they can see.

Plants for the PeopleTwo to Four year olds, from Highfield Nursery School and Croyland Nursery School, helping some Council workers to plant bulbs in the town centre of Wellingborough.

The children are now very familiar with their local area. We often walk around the local community pointing out different features and also asking the children to think of ways in which they could develop it. Having this experience with the local environment and also local people has gi-ven the children a sense of belonging to their community. The public were all plea-sed to see the children engaging with the environment and the children were proud of what they had achieved.

“They are pretty” talking about the flowers planted“We need to water them to make them grow”“What is this?” child holding up the bulb, once explained to them they said “I’ll put it in the ground”

“I am so proud of my son, we will go and look at them on the way home” Father of a 2 year old“It’s lovely to see the children out and about” comment by member of the public walking by.One lady to another said “Oh look, they look like little rays of sunshine all walking out together”How do you as a member of staff believe the BRIC project has impacted the children? “It not only has improved their moods and wellbeing but it has given them a better understanding of their community and the world around them”“We have seen a huge difference with our boys, in terms of their language skills and their attention and listening”“It has given the children a real sense of adventure as they have been able to explore their own local area.”

In November 2016 all of the staff team at both of the schools attended a training session with members of staff from 7 other Nursery Schools in Northamptonshire. The training day was entitled ‘Let’s Go Outside’ Into the Street, Into the Park, Into the Gar-den…Into Our Community’ During this training session the staff had a keynote speaker, Tim Waller, who discussed with the staff the importance of children being outside and engaging with the com-munity and the world around them. The BRIC project was also shared and this really engaged and enthused the staff at all of the Nursery Schools. During the training day the staff were given the opportunity to explore the community around them and go for a walk. After this they then had to present to the rest of the

‘Welly Wednesdays’

group what happened on their walk, whe-re did they go and most importantly how they thought a child would respond if they were to do the same walk. This evoked a lot of discussions and enabled the staff to think about their own settings and whe-ther or not changes could be made to get the children out more. Through discussion in our team at the Trai-ning Day, we decided to turn our usual approach to walks on its head and let the children decide where to go! The plan was for a group of children to head out for a walk each Wednesday – both during the morning and afternoon sessions. One of our three key groups would go out each week – so each child would get a chance to go out into our local community every three weeks. The overall consensus when

we put our heads together was that there should be no planned route, itinerary or de-stination. The only restriction would be that the walk would need to take place within a specific time frame to fit in with shift pat-terns and session times. We decided that there would no initial plan. We would fol-low the children’s lead, with each key group potentially experiencing completely diffe-rent walks each time they went out into our local area.So far ‘Welly Wednesday’ (as we christened it) has been a complete success! Some of our extended-hours children were initially confused when keyworkers stopped at the

top of the driveway and said “Which way shall we go?”, as they have been used to being told a very specific destination with only a limited say in how the trips progres-sed. Some parents were also initially con-cerned – and one or two are still reluctant to let their children come on the walks – however we are hoping that by maintai-ning the regularity of the walks (and the children’s enthusiasm!) we will be able to carry these parents along with us too.We have now completed many cycles of Welly Wednesdays and all of the key groups have been out for many walks. Many of the children decided that they would like a

map for their walks “to find my house”. We have already begun creating maps of the lo-cal area onto which the children have been adding their own features – both things that were already familiar to them and ‘landmar-ks’ they remembered from their walk (“the bin with the snails”). Children also mentio-ned that they would like to collect things next time to bring back and “show everybo-dy”. More parents are also now asking if they can join us on their child’s next walk.This is now an embedded piece of work in the nursery provision and is shared with parents on an evening before the children start. It is now as important as all of the cur-

riculum areas and is a key part to the nurse-ry week. We have had lots of new parents, which have been in the 2 year old provi-sion, asking us whether their children will be taking part in Welly Wednesday when they move through to their preschool year.

BRiwww.bricproject.org