Hygge Case Study "Our planning across the school was based on pre-planned ‘topics’ which were the same every year"

"We are a local authority school with 215 children on roll. We are in the process of transitioning from an Infant to a Primary and Nursery School and currently have Nursery (3-4 year olds) to Year 4. There is a high social deprivation rate and a high proportion of our children are eligible for Pupil Premium funding.

Before

We were first drawn to the concept of ‘Hygge’ and how the course could benefit us during the first COVID lockdown in 2020. The school was open for a small number of pupils, vulnerable children and those with key worker parents. Our Early Years resources were old and tatty. Our classrooms cluttered and not respected or taken care of. Our children (and adults!) were in a mindset of a replaceable, throw away culture. Our planning across the school was based on pre-planned ’topics’ which were the same every year and followed themes such as ‘Superheroes’ or ‘Under the Sea’ – leaving no room for learning that half term to take a different route – everything was ‘set in stone’, expectations of adults were to dress the environment to reflect the theme in an immersive sense. As an SLT we were looking at ways to develop our ‘tired’ looking school, improve wellbeing and engagement of pupils, instilling our school values of Responsibility, Respect and Compassion, but additionally tackle challenging behaviour across the school.

I began the first few course modules and quickly realised this was exactly what our school was in need of. Although we have a large staff team, we were already like a family and I knew this would benefit the children and staff alike, everybody was on board!

Implementation

We began by concentrating on the school environment, developing our Nursery and Reception classrooms; getting rid of the garish plastic, collecting natural objects found on our daily 1 hour walks! We painted the bright yellow walls a nice neutral grey. The environments gradually became calmer, less bright and over stimulating. We set up areas in the provision based on the Loose Parts module, planned for our home corners to be permanent a year long (including family photos we asked parents for) and organised resources to be accessed independently. We set up provocations following the children’s interests or to spark curiosity. When our children returned to school in larger class groups there was an undeniable change in behaviour, engagement and purposeful learning. Using the Leuven Scales, we were able to

track the levels of wellbeing and involvement in our children – thinking back to how they would have scored previously it was astonishing! We wanted our environments to act as the ‘third teacher’; promoting the Characteristics of Effective Learning and encouraging independence. With open ended resources, children use their imaginations, problem solving and co-operative skills constantly. We swapped the ancient pretend plastic food for real food and the plastic doctor’s kit for a real stethoscope, syringe tubes and bandages – the quality of play was so much higher!

Following the lockdown, when children returned to school midpandemic we introduced ‘Toast, Talk and Tales’ from Reception –Year 4. This takes place every morning, when the children first come into school. It is a time where children independently make their breakfast, sit down and talk with their peers/adults and share stories as a group before the formal learning begins. We looked closely at our timetables and wanted to ensure there were long periods of uninterrupted play. Previously our (dictated) timetables in Early Years had been jam packed full of different ‘sessions’, stopping for snack, breaking up the flow of play throughout the day. As Early Years Lead, I recognised the importance of uninterrupted play, in depth child initiated learning and the role of the adult in this. We changed our practice to include a rolling snack, scrapped Reception’s ‘playtime’ with the rest of the school, planned adult inputs at key transition points such as just before lunch so as not to break the flow of play midmorning etc and upskilled ourselves on ‘Planning in the Moment’ to follow the children’s interests, recognising them as unique individuals. Documentation became more purposeful, with a focus on child voice and recording the impact of adult interactions. Each class has a ‘Learning Journey’ display board outside their classroom, documenting the journey the learning has taken, this is stuck into a floor book at the end of each half term; the children then use this to recap prior learning.

We are lucky enough to have an established Forest School setting on our school site, led by a fully trained Forest School HLTA – she plans sessions following the Wanderlust Child Nature Study and has found this an invaluable resource. Alongside our children visiting the School Forest weekly, we were keen to bring nature indoors too. We budgeted for every classroom to have real plants, seasonal flowers, for example at lunchtime the nursery children sit around the table (my old wooden dining table with the legs sawn down!), with fresh flowers on whilst chatting and eating lunch. We also developed our outdoor provision to make it more natural and open ended. For example, planting a herb garden in the mud kitchen in nursery – the children now help themselves to different herbs to add to their creations.

Each class has an allotment bed to grow their own fruit, vegetables or flowers, children take sole responsibility for this and use the produce however they wish. Nursery grew pumpkins last year and then used them in the Autumn to roast the seeds for atasting session and practice our hammering skills with golf tees!

We have redesigned our whole school curriculum with hygge principles in mind. It is called ‘Making a Difference’ and is based on social action and global citizenship, making links with our community and having a positive impact on the world.

Last summer some children in Nursery noticed lots and lots of bees visiting the flowers we had grown from seeds. Initially the children were scared of the bees and wanted to hurt them. I felt there was a real misconception here and was passionate that this was explored with the children. Their initial reaction prompted lots of discussion and research about bees, their purpose and why they are important. We learnt about pollination, honey and together, discovered just how clever bees really are! The children’s attitude completely changed – they showed great concern when they learnt that bees need to be protected. We invited a beekeeper (who also happened to be our local town Councillor!) in to share some artefacts and show him the bee friendly garden planted by the children. We embarked on a project to ‘Save the Bees’; putting together a little gift pack including children’s art, a packet of bee friendly seeds and a little handmade decoration. The children delivered these packs to the

houses local to the school to spread the word! As well as aiming to improve children’s wellbeing, we recognised the wellbeing of staff is also critical. One INSET day per year is

dedicated to wellbeing; last September we voted to go Tubing at the local dry ski slope and this coming September staff will be enjoying a day at the beach together! The first staff meeting of every term is a yoga session led by a professional yoga teacher.

Impact

Personally I have found the Accreditation has influenced my everyday life and helped me prioritise things important to me. I practice gratitude daily by thinking of those things I am thankful for. I also try and bring this sense of gratitude into my teaching, even with young children I encourage them to think of the things they are grateful for in their little lives, or model gratitude for example, simply stating, “I am feeling grateful for the rain today to help our seeds in the garden grow”. In Early Years the behaviour, engagement, levels of independence and attitudes of our children have drastically changed. Children respect the school environment, use it independently and have built secure relationships with peers, showing high levels of compassion for each other and the world around them. Staff focus on the wellbeing and personal interests of each child, forming strong relationships whilst moving learning on in the moment. We work hard to build a strong partnership with parents and carers; sharing their child’s learning with them regularly and valuing their input. When a child begins in Nursery or Reception, we give the parent a little ‘care package’. This token gesture is intended to help the parent feel at ease leaving their child with us on their first day of school…

Since developing our environments, changing the timetable, slowing down and introducing In the Moment Planning, we have found that children settle quickly into school life. We rarely have children who struggle to separate from their grown up on arrival and many want to come at the weekends according to their parents!

The Accreditation has had a huge impact on the wellbeing of pupils and staff, appreciation/raising the profile of nature/outdoor learning and the quality of teaching and learning across our whole school, not just in Early Years. Visitors to the school rarely

leave without commenting on the inspiring environment andlevels of engagement at our setting.

J Robbins

Discover more at https://www.hyggeintheearlyyears.co.uk/.../2cLmLo2H/checkout