Teaching Tips: Nursery World Show 2015

Hello Bloggers!

As you know I went to London on the 5th-6th February 2015 to go to the Nursery World Show (NWS). This focuses on Early Years teaching and how we can make our practice the best it can be, to fit the needs of the children. I found this experience to be so helpful and enriching, being able to talk to skilled practitioners in the profession as well as listening to inspiring speakers who gave us vital information and advice. For me this show has helped me confirm what age I want to work with. Early Years is such an interesting age range for me that I cannot see myself anywhere else at this time. Of course to gain more experience I would teach in other years, however I am glad I am specialising in Early Years.

I enjoyed every single one of my seminars and found them to be particularly useful. I just wish that I could have gone to more of them! The seminars gave me lots of advice to put in to practice when I start teaching in Reception and has also given me more confidence. Everyone I met there reassured me that I would be brilliant when I started teaching. I also met two teachers from a nursery in Leeds who invited me to come and see how they work. What I forgot is that events like this allow you to network with professionals who can help you. I know that the contacts I made there will help me grow into the teacher I want to be, the best kind to help my class achieve their potential.

The NWS had plenty of different stalls selling lots of different resources, however one that I was particularly intrigued by was the Actiphons Stall. This made phonics so much more fun and engaging. I find that some children (mainly boys) struggle to be engaged by phonics because it doesn't interest them. This programme integrates phonics and physical activity. This is important in Reception and I think if used correctly it could work well in most classrooms. Actiphons works with many different phonics approaches so even if you were using Read, Write, Inc it can still be incorporated with this. I really liked their ethos and I would seek to use this if I had a class of my own.

You can find their website here: http://actiphons.com
You can also follow them on twitter: @actiphons

If you're a trainee teacher/qualified teacher check their website out and let me know what you think!

The NWS will be running again next year and I would advise any Early Years Professionals to sign up and go. It was worth every penny I spent just to get the experience and advice from the professionals. They have lots of stalls and live demos going on so there is definitely never a quiet minute!

If you want to know more about my experience you can message me using my links below!

"The rest is still unwritten"

Megan

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Keeping the bond

Life always has it's ups and downs and everyone knows that when times get rough it's the support around you that helps you get through it. The sad thing is that we go through life and the people around us change all the time. I think it's bad that when we become closer to people we seem to forget the people we were close to previously. It's ok to make new relationships and friendships, but why would you want to completely forget the people who used to mean everything to you?

One of my regrets in life is that over the years I have lost some of my closest friends because of loss of contact and because it was difficult to keep in contact. If I spoke to them now some wouldn't even remember me and others wouldn't know how to hold a conversation with me. In short these people have become strangers to us. We don't know everything about them like we once used to and the trust that was previously there is now just a scar of what was before.

Why write a blog about this? Well since moving to university I have realised how important it is to make new friends as well as appreciating the existing friendships I already have. The more friends you have, the more support you receive when times are hard. My friends have moved to different parts of the UK and although I don't see them I still text them. Some are easier to keep in contact with like Abz because we have so much in common and because before she left we were so close. In all honesty I think I miss Abz the most. I miss going into sixth form and plugging in my iPod listening to 'Now That's What I Call Disney'. I also miss having our late night snapchat sessions whilst watching our favourite YouTubers. We called last night and tried to FaceTime, but it is difficult with her internet at University.

One friend who I wasn't as close to before University was Hannah. We were childhood best friends and she lives about an hour and a half from me now. However distance is no longer the obstacle, it is my timetable and funds! I think this is the worst I have felt. The feeling I get when I know I could see her but that I can't get there is the worst!

One thing I want to advise to people who are already at University or maybe thinking of moving to University or even people who are moving around or have friends moving, make sure you keep in touch with your current friends. It is nice to think that when you return home for the holidays you can be reunited with your old friends and have a good catch up! I think we take people for granted this time and once you lose a friend it is really hard to remake the bond you once had. Don't have any regrets with friendships or relationships you have lost. Life is too short for regrets.

"The rest is still unwritten"

Megan