In the HighScope Approach...

"...education is defined by the extent to which children are actively engaged in a rich learning environment with genuine opportunities for self determined work and for in depth conversations with adults and peers."
’How High/Scope Grew’, David P Weikart

"...all children - whether they are infants, pre-schoolers, children with learning disabilities or above average intelligence - are active learners... The range and depth of children’s understanding of the world is continually changing and expanding as a result of their day-to-day transactions..."
’Supporting Young Learners’,
Amy Powell

The influence of HighScope can be seen in the Principles underpinning the Early Years Foundation Stage:

’Every child is a competent learner from birth who can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured.’

‘Children learn to be strong and independent from a base of loving and secure relationships…’

‘The environment plays a key role in supporting and extending children’s development and learning.’

‘Children develop and learn in different ways and at different rates.’

"HighScope GB finds itself in a powerful position to build upon its existing work with practitioners, children and families to embrace the changes and to improve their experiences of the child care and education system."
                                    ’High/Scope at Work in the UK in the 21st Century’
                                        Jo Basford

What can HighScope do for you?

Training:

• Short introductory courses
• In-depth training for practitioners who want to implement the HighScope Approach in their settings
• Longer training for practitioners who want to become HighScope Trainers themselves
• Courses tailored specifically to your needs including courses for those working with :
  • children with special educational needs
  • children under 3
  • children in the family day care setting
  • also: parent courses

Consultancy

HighScope GB provides consultancy services to many different organisations and partnerships.

Quality Assurance

HighScope Quality Assurance provides an invaluable tool for embedding reflective practice.
It has Investors in Children status.

Resources

HighScope GB carries a wide range of materials including books, videos/DVDs, research materials, course material, assessment documents etc. Materials can be purchased additionally from the HighScope Educational Research Foundation online store

Extracts from recent Ofsted Inspections in settings using the HighScope Approach

Northfleet Nursery School, DA11 9JS inspected October 2010
• ‘Children’s considerable enjoyment in learning, ability to work well as a team, take responsibility for their own learning and demonstrate considerable independence are key factors in their development of workplace skills’
• ‘The school is promoting and encouraging the children to take ownership of their learning effectively by ensuring they are actively involved in planning, leading and reflecting on their learning each day.’
• ‘Some of the key features of the outstanding teaching seen are the very good relationships adults have with children, the considerable subject knowledge of the highly trained staff, and the particularly effective way all adults make and use assessments to ensure all children achieve extremely well.’

South Tyneside Early Excellence Children’s Centre, NE31 1QY, inspected February 2011
• ‘Children’s outstanding spiritual, social and cultural development and their ability to learn through independent and group working are key factors in making them ready for the next stage of their education.’
• ‘Children thoroughly enjoy learning and achieve well. They have great enthusiasm for school. They eagerly join in planning activities with adults and classmates and, as active learners, they quickly seize opportunities to explore and investigate on their own or working together. Their excellent listening skills come to the fore when they contribute to discussions in both large and small groups’.
• ‘Teachers and assistants exploit their knowledge of how children learn in order to prepare and support activities that foster children’s independence and curiosity. The successful basis for teaching and learning in the school is the highly effective session of guided discussions. During these times, with the support of adults, children plan the things they wish to do when playing and learning. Of particular note is their discussion of memorable moments that have occurred during the day’.
• ‘An exemplary feature is the way that teachers and teaching assistants reflect on children’s work at the end of the day and plan individual activities to follow on the day after’.

Sure Start Central Locality, NE22 5JS, inspected July 2011
• ‘The nursery provides an exceptional range of effective learning experiences and play opportunities based on children’s individual interests. Consequently, children make excellent progress in all areas of their learning and development’.
• ‘Each child is treated as an individual and their needs carefully planned for. Staff’s approach to planning is based on careful and sensitive listening, observations and reflection, thus enabling them to give the utmost priority to child-initiated spontaneous play. The arrangements for monitoring and tracking the individual progress of children on a day to day basis are outstanding and feed into assessments of what children know, can do and understand’.
• ‘Children’s confidence and self-esteem improve rapidly because all staff value them as individuals and listen to their ideas’.
• ‘The thoughtfully planned, stimulating environment and easily-accessible resources enable children to think and play imaginatively and solve problems themselves. For example, two children built a chair from large blocks, negotiating with each other which lengths of blocks to use, agreeing that the blocks needed to be strong. To demonstrate their skill, they then asked a member of staff to test it out by sitting on it, reassuring her that it was strong’.
• ‘Themes within the nursery are dictated by the children’.