In the Moment Planning
In the Moment Planning:
In April 2021, we made the exciting decision to adopt ‘In the Moment Planning’, an approach advocated by Anna Ephgrave that is becoming widely recognised as being fully child-focussed, backed by research in children’s brain development and is something we felt passionate about initiating here at Station House.
How does it work?
In the Moment Planning focusses on prioritising quality teaching interactions between practitioners and children that really ‘make a difference’ through: modelling language, showing, explaining, demonstrating, exploring ideas, encouraging, questioning, recalling, providing a narrative, facilitating, setting challenges, providing equipment, adapting the environment and establishing expectations (Ofsted definition of Teaching).
It removes the concentration on time consuming forward planning and excessive (and often un-meaningful) observation write ups that take the practitioner away from time with the children, allowing more time for quality relationships to develop and inspiring teaching moments to take place.
As it says on the tin, ‘In the Moment Planning’ is all about being in that moment. Children learn best when they choose their own play, become fully engaged in their learning style and show Level 5 Involvement (where they are happy, engaged, motivated, confident, curious, calm, independent, resilient, creative, communicating, risk taking, interacting).
It is the role of the skilled practitioner to observe their play, assess whether their teaching input could make a difference and plan their next step teaching, which will be delivered in that moment. This process ensures that current interests and sparks of understanding can be captured and utilized immediately, rather than planning a next step for the future when the spark may have passed or been forgotten.
Focus Weeks:
These ‘teaching interactions’ occur between practitioner and child, 100s if not 1000s of times a day, yet will only be recorded during the child’s termly ‘Focus Week’ to ensure time is being prioritised on actual teaching rather than paperwork. Working in ‘Focus weeks’ also ensures that the learning and development of each and every child is prioritised and that parents are encouraged to work in partnership with practitioners on a regular basis.
In the lead up to the child’s focus week, parents will be invited to share their knowledge of interests, skills and any questions in their child’s development. Such information will be used alongside the practitioner’s own knowledge as a baseline for the child’s holistic development and their unique current interests can be used to develop invitations to play that will enable the child to feel valued, respected and able to take the lead, therefore promoting opportunities for high quality teachable moments to take place.
Following the child’s focus week, their EYFS Tracker will be updated and shared via Tapestry, alongside the recorded teaching interactions with their parent/carers.
These will then be discussed between parent/practitioners, where any queries can be addressed, support shared and achievements celebrated!