Our students' first years at School are very important for their future School development, preparing them for subsequent stages in their education. That's why it is also very important for the School, that parents should have a deep understanding of the British curriculum, so that they can also help their children from home. With this in mind, the School has organized in October, a variety of workshops about Early Years, talking about this essential stage in children's education. These have covered a number of important subjects, such as knowing how to set limits from an early age.
Our “Infants Study Programme” workshop run by our Head of Early Years, Catherine Stewart, and Anne-Marie Rackham, tries to explain the content of our programme and show parents how children learn in their first years at school. There are 7 learning areas in Early Years. The 3 main ones are personal, social and emotional development; physical development; and language and communication. And the 4 more specific ones, Reading and Writing; Maths; Environmental Awareness; and Art and Design. The teaching staff develops activities in each of these areas to promote progress and development in each of our students.
Our education model takes into consideration the needs of each child as an individual and we also understand the importance of the classroom environment, in order to promote interest and facilitate learning. That´s why it is so important to help children, to play, to explore, to investigate, to remain active and to be able to interact. But it is also important for them to learn how to listen, to think for themselves, to help them develop their own ideas and imagination...
As well as on the more academic side, the School also wanted to organize an informal talk come workshop, about the importance of knowing how to set limits for our children, from an early age. Understanding where behavioural limits lie, helps children to distinguish between right and wrong, teaches them to understand their own boundaries, makes them understand the virtue of patience, and helps them develop empathy and respect for others.
The workshop was led by Ángeles Barragán. She highlighted the importance of not shouting or getting cross with children, but rather the need to be clear, firm and decisive with them. Being able to explain to them the very real, practical and normal consequences of not respecting those limits. Barragán also emphasized in the need to start doing this from an early age. It is actually from around the age of 2, when it is most important to start setting boundaries and then be able to reinforce these, year on year.