The final of our Highland Early Years selected by Education Scotland for the What Scotland Learned 100 stories of lockdown book and What Scotland Learned is Highland Council’s Early Years Education Support.
We are delighted that Highland Council’s innovative approach to training and improvement using short, snappy and interactive bite-size sessions, tailored to the changing needs of early years staff during the pandemic has been recognised.
The sessions were created and delivered by a collaborative team consisting of Early Years Education Support Officers, Allied Health Professionals, Early Years Educational Psychologist, teaching staff, Excellence and Equity Leads, Early Years Practitioners and Stramash Social Enterprise.
During the first lockdown we reimagined our approach to delivery of professional learning opportunities by utilising digital technologies. This approach will enable continued engagement with large numbers across a very wide geographical area and will strengthen connections between practitioners and settings while Covid-19 restrictions are still in place and beyond.
Some of the initial positive impacts include –
- Reached wide audiences across a broad geographical area;
- Enhanced the use of and skills in using digital tools;
- Increased awareness and depth of play pedagogy in ELC and early primary;
- Sharing of good practice;
- Increased practitioner confidence;
- Reduced isolation and increased connection;
We would like to thank everyone who joined these sessions and all who contributed to their delivery. Read the full story including what we will do differently in the future at Highland Council.
Bitesize sessions are continuing each week during this current lockdown period. These include new topics as well as re-visiting earlier titles for practitioners who missed them the first time or would like to refresh their understanding. Look out for details and joining instructions on this blog.