Thriving Language - Early Years

We talk to Ashley Wilson from The Ministry of Outdoor Education (MOE) about the importance of being outdoors, the benefits of natural resources and the necessity of teaching young children about sustainability. Ashley discusses how we must value our planet and share the responsibility of caring for it and how this starts with children, families and educators from the moment a child is born.  Head...

We were really excited to speak to Alison  who is the Early Years Development Manager at the Early Years Alliance  (EYA) we discover what her role is all about and why understanding  Early Years is so crucial.  Alison shares with us her journey through the early years arena and we learn how the EYA works to support families and educators with everything early years.  The EYA are striving to raise...

Here the Beckies chat with Helen Glass  Educator and Author of An Accidental Headship. Helen talks about her journey into education from her own Steiner led beginnings through to being the Head of secondary schools.  She highlights the joy of working with children and her motivation for this and we discover the importance of curiosity in education for all ages. Helen inspires us to think about lif...

Today we  chat with Julia Rose  Education Editor at Famly  Julia talks to the Beckies at Thriving Language about her journey through early years and how her career has evolved. With a background as an educator, manager and NVQ Assessor we hear about CPD and career progression.   Julia gives insight into the different routes early years educators can take whilst still using the valuable skills and...

We are so pleased to chat with  Kara Neill, Marketing Manager at Childcare and Education Expo. What do we need to know about the Expo and how does it help us all to thrive? How can it help us to be inspired and what does it feel like to  amongst other professionals who really care about education? We discover how welcomed you will feel; you can go on your own and be part of this wonderful communit...

Here Becky talks with Nazneen Yasin Founder and Director of Fabula Toys. We discuss the importance of understanding children's communications through their play and supporting language rich environments. We chat about why we sing and use rhymes in children's play and how we can use props to support the foundations of language. Nazneen talks about diversity, inclusion and how children can...

Here The Beckies are joined by Hayley a child and adolescent  psychotherapist. Hayley was a teacher who decided to understand and research further around supporting  emotions in the classroom. She fell in love with play therapy and how to understand and support  children. Working with families and creating robust connections is so important. With the child at the centre and building trusting relat...

Here the Beckies chat with Lynne, an outstanding childminder, we discover all about her latest Ofsted visit.  Grab a cuppa and join us for ten minutes to find out what an Ofsted inspections feels and looks like. Interactions, bonds and relationships were key to what the Ofsted inspector was observing. Independent skills were high up on the list; to help build these skills with the  children Lynne...

Here Becs and Becca (The Beckies) chat about what 2023 brings and where next for early years, speech, language and communication.   They look at how people feel about a New Year and what this means for them. Does the New Year feel like a new note book or a soggy sponge ?? However it feels we are right here with you and supporting your journey... We chat about little steps forward, creating your en...

Today Becs and Becky chat about how everyone in education has a huge responsibility to communicate kindly with children and importantly we talk about the ways children really shouldn't be spoken to or treated. We discuss the need to be professional and use our research based practice.  Communicate how we would to our friends, if a friend did something you thought was wrong what would you do ?...

We are so fortunate to be chatting  with Helen the founder of Make it Wild,  this is a family project turned business that has nature at the heart of its ethos...  Its not our aim to protect nature its our purpose Helen changed her career as a Doctor to pursue her purpose in life... What is nature connectedness and why do we really need to know about this? She talks with us about using our instinc...

Dr Lala talks with us about how we should think of movement as a child's first language, from day one of a babies life movement is crucial. Discover why physical movement relates so deeply to communication.  Childhood is a very important developmental period for sensory sounds, reading and singing to a baby really can help their communications. Tapping into everyday experiences and the child&...

Here the Beckies chat with Lynette  about understanding schema play and supporting children's confidence. Confidence should be the first thing we support, do the children see themselves as a worthwhile person ?  How are the children responded to and are they respected? Noticing what children are say is crucial and how we respond to children's communications is key to confidence building...

Brett has been in education for over 20 years, his mission is for all children to have access to a great education.  He has brought Teach first into 60 countries all around the world.   Today we are here to find out all about tiney and how it can inspire educationalist and families. The mission at tiney is to enable affordable childcare for parents, high quality early education for children and am...

Grab a cuppa and have a listen with Michelle and Mandy from the University of Worcester, as they join the Beckies to talk about short courses and CPD from within their children and families department. They chat about how these are designed with early years practitioners in mind and with the understanding of how busy early years educators are. Discover who would these course suit? Why professional...

Here the Beckies talk with Sarah the founder of the Muddy Puddle Teacher approach and Teacher influencer for the outdoors. What is Muddy Puddle Teaching ?  Sarah has turned teaching on its head and tells us why we should and how we can teach the national curriculum outdoors. The teacher has gone wild  ... what do you think? Sarah has used her vision to inspire thousands of educationalists, she has...

Here Becky talks with Jo who is an amazing Educational Resource specialist We look at the ethos behind recycling, re-using  and  encouraging sustainability with children,  Jo's background is as an Early Years Teacher and a play lead for open access play projects  with the ethos of play being Free to use, free to choose, free to come and go as you please. Jo and Becky chat about the  use of  r...

Here the Beckies chat about why we need to see the whole child?  We unpick how to  understand that each child and adult has something they are amazing at doing however not all subjects are celebrated and not all talents are seen or understood. We discuss why testing children doesn't work and explore why its the educators knowledge of the child that really matters. Becs and Becky chat about th...

Here The Beckies talk with Aggie a student teacher who is studying for her PGCE  for primary education. She chats about what led her to this route and what the passion is behind her choice to work with children as a primary teacher for 5-11 year olds Aggie has her foundations in early years working in a free-flow setting and also Managing a 4-2-11  camp that runs in the holidays. What is it really...

Here the Beckies chat about children and adults not wearing shoes and socks, how does this relate to power in practice and proprioception. We look at risk taking and understanding the child's needs and uniqueness. Would you wear your shoes inside your home ? Why do children need to feel the ground beneath their feet? Why do they need to know what different surfaces feel like ? What is proprio...

Here the Beckies  are delighted to chat with Mandy founder of Soul School for wellbeing and mindfulness. Discover how Mandy progressed in her career as Head of Drama to Wellbeing mentor and bringing this into her teaching and sharing with many Senior and Primary Schools. Mandy has now set up her company 'Soul School' to bring emphasis to all children's mental wellbeing.  We chat abo...

What does this actually mean, are stammering and stuttering the same thing? Here the Beckies chat about what you might see or hear? Children can get stuck on their words this is called 'blocking', you might notice a change to a breathing pattern where children take a big extra breath,  have a listen and discover what else you might notice. Stammering  can cause anxiety for children, so w...

Here the Beckies talk about their Speech & Communication Play sessions with families.  Our sessions are held outdoors without regular toys or equipment. They are in a natural environment that supports the child's choice and ideas.  The space is as large as possible and there is time to play and talk with parents and families.  What have we noticed happening ? What were Becky's concer...

Here the Beckies  and Mindy  talk with the inspirational Gemma Goldenberg all about her research which looks at the  specific effects of the learning environment on children.   Join us and discover how Gemma is exploring  and gaining  a deeper understanding  of  the environmental  effects on the children as they play outdoors and indoors. What is the impact of the environment ? Why does it matter...

Here Becs & Becky, catch up and have a chat about what does it really feel like for adults to be outside with children?  How do we gain confidence in different teaching  environments and how do we gain quality interactions in all environments. How would you feel if you had no other resources apart from you? We talk about observations and how we develop understanding of what they  really mean a...