Simple steps to improve the quality of physical development opportunities

10 July 2024

Sinead McMahon, our early years specialist, talks with Dr Lesley Curtis, Headteacher at Everton Nursery School, about ways to implement evidence-based approaches for physical development. Everton Nursery School is the lead setting for Liverpool City Region and Beyond Early Years Stronger Practice Hub.

Sinead McMahon

Content Specialist for the Early Years

Through their physical development, children engage with the world around them and lay the building blocks for their later physical capabilities and health. We are still feeling the effects of COVID 19 and previous lockdowns in relation to physical activity. For example, limited access to larger spaces and baby and toddler groups may have resulted in delayed or reduced competence in the development of certain physical skills. Therefore, opportunities to support the physical development of our youngest children, are vital now more than ever.

The new physical development theme on the Early Years Evidence Store includes three evidence-based teaching approaches to support children’s physical development. It is important to note that whilst research about physical activity and disabled children is slowly accumulating, ‘important gaps in knowledge remain’ as a 2022 report from the Department of Health and Social Care.
acknowledges.

The approaches for the physical development theme include ‘Teaching the skills for movement and handling’ where the educator aims to improve the physical development by explicitly teaching and consolidating the skills needed for movement as well as the skills needed for handling tools such as paintbrushes, scissors and pencils, by using verbal and/or physical prompts.

Evidence suggests that teaching the skills needed for movement and handling may be more effective when educators thoughtfully vary the level of difficulty, give verbal and physical direction, use a playful or motivating context such as dance. Where age and developmentally appropriate, educators may combine some structured teaching time with opportunities for children to practise in less structured time.

With this in mind, it’s important that as early years educators, we have the necessary knowledge and skills to be able to appropriately and effectively support our children.

Taking the first steps

Dr Lesley Curtis describes how initial plans to refurbish Everton’s outdoor environment sparked a wider programme of development for the whole team to improve provision for children’s physical development.

“We wanted to look at how we could improve our offer from an evidence-based point of view, so started off by using the Movement Environmental Rating Scale (MOVERS).” MOVERS is a rating scale used to assess the quality of the environment and pedagogy to improve children’s physical development and movement play.

“Whilst developing our outdoor provision, we wanted to explore our understanding of ways to use the outdoor learning environment, not just to support gross motor control but also fine motor control. We also considered what physical development looks like in the indoor learning environment.

Staff were given an opportunity to reflect and look more deeply into their role, to recognise how what they were doing to support physical development, could impact on the child’s learning.”

As part of the process, the team considered their use of theme specific vocabulary to ensure consistency when narrating and commenting on movements with children. Staff were also trained in how to carry out particular movements themselves. As a result, they could model these movements for the children with greater accuracy and support them more effectively.

The result

The initial intention of developing the outdoor learning space at Everton Nursery School has led to improved skills and confidence for both educators and children. The process has encouraged staff to think more intentionally about why they might encourage children to move in a particular way, as well as making adaptations to cater for individual children’s specific physical needs.

The staff have also become more aware of their own physical development. As a result, they are more confident in modelling movement with the children. Lesley comments that “staff at the school are moving more and they're modelling more, so it’s a’ win, win’ for everybody, the staff as well as the children”.

To find out more about this approach and others, visit the physical development theme page on the Early Years Evidence Store. Along-side written examples, there are videos showing approaches in action – supporting educators to move provision forward.