Early Years Foundation Stage Hub

Main aims of the project

The Early Years hub offers high quality professional growth for Early Years teachers and leaders. The hub is led by two headteachers: Perina Holness (Thomas Coram Children’s’ Centre) and Laurel Robin (Brookfield Nursery and Primary School) who share their expertise in promoting communication skills and encouraging dispositions for effective teaching and learning through a play- based, integrated day and curriculum. We deliver each session in a different Camden Early Years setting where we explore outstanding indoor and outdoor learning environments, encourage collaboration and the sharing of innovative practice.

We start each year with a co-creation meeting to ensure our agenda over the year meets the needs of our practitioners and schools. We then select inspiring speakers from our links with Early Education, Oxford University and beyond.

This year, as well as responding to participant enquiry, we intend to offer the following sessions:

  • ​Ambitious curriculum design with a focus on Expressive Arts and Design
  • Communication – widening vocabulary and successfully implementing phonics schemes and promoting early reading
  • Inclusive Early Years practice: upskilling support staff, working with parents and practical strategies

Members of the hub will also have access to the Camden Learning Hub Early Years conference.

Activities planned for this year include:

Launch Event - A response to Camden data, Building on skills and development from Years 1 and 2 Curriculum design and innovation
Learning Environment Crawl - Experience a day seeing another setting and showing your own
PHSE and Boys - Put together a case study about a boy in your setting. The purpose of this is to think strategically about those boys who may not be ready for KS1 at the end of EYFS
The Well Balanced Child - How do we ensure the children are getting a range of high quality and appropriate opportunities
The Big Day Out - Following the success of last year’s event to the Design Museum, we will do a similar thing to influence practitioners in their settings
Exercising Muscles and Mind - A workshop to development movement and cognition
A Half Day Review - This session will review an aspect related to your setting's data and its effectiveness on learning
Impact Day - Bringing together our learning and experience to evaluate the hub work this year

Contacts

Lead Schools

Brookfield Primary School & The Thomas Coram Centre

Laurel Robin

Headteacher Brookfield Primary School

Perina Holness

Headteacher Thomas Coram Centre

0207 520 0385