early years Archives - Education North Tyneside

Foundational skills for early writing – building on firm foundations

This package helps Early Years leaders assess the core writing skills in their curriculum. It guides whole-team development and boosts educators’ ability to support children’s writing in both adult-led and child-led activities. The focus is on giving children rich chances to practise key skills—oral composition, mark-making, fine motor control, and handwriting—at the right time. Educators…

Inside the Sensory World, Environments That Help Children Thrive

In the Early Years, every child is discovering who they are and how they learn. Some children may be curious explorers, others quiet observers. Some may need extra time, sensory support, or communication tools to help them thrive. Our role as early years practitioners is to create environments where all children feel safe, valued, and able to…

The Path to Inclusion: Building a Strong Universal Offer for SEND Success

In early years education, every child is unique—and it’s our responsibility to create an environment that brings out the best in each one. Success in Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) begins with a strong foundation: a universal offer built on empathy, flexibility, and high expectations. Why Inclusion Is Essential Since COVID-19, classrooms have transformed…

All Change Please – September Is Nearly Here!

As summer winds down, the familiar buzz of a new academic year begins to stir. Thoughts of your new cohort, classroom setup, staffing and planning are likely starting to surface. It’s a time filled with anticipation—and a few challenges too. Reception lunch duty, for example, can be a physically demanding task (especially if you’re tall!),…

Supporting transitions into school for Early Years children with Special Educational Needs or Disabilities

Transitioning into school or nursery is a huge milestone for all Early Years children that can bring with it a whole host of feelings. Some children may be excited, they love the idea of playing with new toys and being ‘grown up’. Some children may feel nervous or worried, it’s a big change, an unfamiliar…

Nurturing Possibility Thinking, Block by Block

Discussions around curriculum design and enactment in 2025 are dominated by knowledge acquisition. Educators rightly want to ensure that both teaching programmes and pedagogical approaches support schemata development so that children learn and remember more. This is the case in all key stages, including the early years foundation stage. The statutory framework makes explicit what…

Welcome to the Wonderful World of Early Years.

Early Years Children Playing with an Educator

Moving to Early Years? Have you just been told that you are moving from key stage one or two into early years? Or maybe you have a new colleague coming into the early years team? If you, or they are currently rocking, sweating and wondering ‘what have I done to deserve this?’ Well, they are…

Education North Tyneside Early Years Conference

The Education North Tyneside Annual Early Years Conference was held on 28th March at The Linskill Centre. 100 delegates attended from across North Tyneside, from regional authorities and North East Combined Authority. Speakers The keynote speaker was early years consultant and expert Ruth Swailes. Workshops were led by New York Primary School, Shooting Stars Childcare,…

Wonderful wordless works of art

Some of our most engaging books for younger children are those which have very few words or no words at all. The illustrators of these wordless books are incredibly skilled in spinning a narrative through an unfolding sequence of pictures so exquisite, so imaginative, so carefully considered and sequenced that readers are immediately captivated and…

Sensory Play: The Enchantment of Treasure Baskets

Ever wonder why on Christmas morning young children are more fascinated with the wrapping paper, packaging and cardboard boxes than the gift inside? That’s because these objects provide many opportunities for children to engage with their senses such as touch, smell, taste, sound, sight and bodily movement. The wrapping paper may make an interesting noise,…