We're delighted to share news about the five projects which have been awarded a Froebel Trust Practice Support Grant this year.
As part of the Froebel Trust's commitment to funding practice development and innovation in early childhood education and care, we offer small grants of between £3000 to £5000 to early years settings and schools in the UK interested in further developing an aspect of Froebelian practice.
This year's successful projects which will receive a Froebel Trust grant cover diverse topics with great relevance to contemporary issues in the Early Years.
These include:
- supporting families to have more opportunities to engage with nature post-lockdowns, in a community that has suffered one of the highest COVID-19 mortality rates in the country
- integrating a gardening project in the curriculum for nursery and infant school children, involving the local community’s expertise to develop understanding, across the generations, of biodiversity and ecology through active learning.
- ‘slow pedagogy’ in Froebelian approaches to early learning and childcare, which starts from Froebel Trust funded research being carried out by Dr Alison Clark
The five Froebel Trust grants have been awarded to:
1. Falkirk Council Children's Services: Falkirk Froebel Network involving Larbert Day Early Learning and Childcare Centre Glendevon ELCC, Bantaskin Primary School ELC
'Working on implementing Slow Pedagogy in early learning and childcare settings through Froebelian Principled Practice.'
2. Stepping Stones Nursery
'Working on implementing and sustaining Froebel's Occupation of woodwork and sewing'
3. Balgreen Nursery School, Edinburgh
'Working on rediscovering the benefits of Clay'
4. Annan School, Sussex
'Working on promoting ecological understanding through engagement with gardening in the nursery and infant age group.'
5. Kay Rowe Nursery School and Children's Centre, London
'Working on Connecting with nature for children and families most affected by COVID in our nursery garden and further afield.
The independent reviewers’ comments reveal that the successful applicants had:
- shown good knowledge and understanding of a Froebelian approach
- built on that knowledge to identify an area for exploration or development
- explained the reasons why this mattered
- set out plans for their project work that were focused, manageable and achievable
- provided clear routes and methods for sharing their learning with others beyond their own settings or schools
- described how their projects might involve and / or affect their colleagues, the children, families or local communities.
You can see more of the fantastic projects we've funded in the past in our last Froebel Trust Annual Review.
