Whoever
it was that wished for wet weather to get the 'real' Scottish experience got their wish!
Setting off in the bus with our little picnic bag of goodies prepared by Sabine I heard comments wondering if what we were due to see today could possibly be as
inspiring as the previous settings! Time will tell.....
On
arrival the group was split in two with one group going to the forest school
site with Jane and the other to the centre as we are a rather large group. At
the centre we were warmly greeted by Lynn McNair, Head Teacher, who has been awarded an
OBE from the Queen for the work she does with young children, and Leanne
Higgins who has been a member of Cowgate for 20 years. Lynn shared information about their centre with us. Cowgate is owned
by Edinburgh City Council and is open from 8am until 5.45pm for children aged
from birth to 5 years for 52 days per year.
This purpose built setting was opened in 2002 and is a non profit organisation with skilled,
mature, qualified staff. This centre presents with the ethos of a Froebels
centre, natural colours, furnishings, avoiding bright colours, plastic - the
children bring the colour. They follow a Froebelian Curriculum. Froebel believed that from the
beginning the child must be surrounded by kindness, understanding and
beauty - staff at Cowgate share this belief! Children are consulted on
most aspects of their care and the staff recognise a holistic view of
each child's development. They consider themselves protectors of
childhood and will guide and facilitate rather than instruct. Lynn also
feels that adults need to relinquish power over children and that
children are not a homogenous group.
Children
are seen as individual, not a homogenous group, they are not judged by
chronological age and although there is a 0-3 year and 3 - 5 year old rooms,
the doors are open and children have access to the whole space including the
reception area. Siblings right to be together is respected. There is also a
faith and trust in children, children of all ages make their own decision on
what to wear outside and if they are cold they will know and come back for
appropriate clothing.
Planning
happens with the children and they take advantage of their central inner city
situation with access to the castle, meadows, museums, libraries etc.
The
forest school site is a small 1/2 acre site about 10 minute walk away, owned
by the Scottish Wildlife Trust, a small natural oasis in the middle of Edinburgh city. Sir Patrick Geddes had the foresight to
preserve some natural spaces within the city. The children spend half a day at
a time here running, building, exploring and creating. In this small space there
were nettles, brambles and other "prickly" plants but the children
soon learnt which ones to avoid.
We
were touched by the small but exciting space for children and many members of the group felt that this
was really a Secret Garden. Dark corners, tunnels formed by the
vegetation, uneven track, trees to hold a rope swing, small and
colourful wild flowers, rose bushes and wild raspberries were some of
the opportunities. There are disadvantages to the site and staff need to
clear the area of litter and remove possible dangerous objects such as
needles before the children are able to enjoy the space but the benefits
far outweigh any risks.
The
children also have access to "Stickland", a 26 acre site which they
access 2 or 3 times a week making fires, cooking, using tools and exploring. They
were very excited that they were due to receive a heated Yurt!
Claire
(Mindstretchers) and Eboni (AISWA) thanked the Cowgate team for their
hospitality and presented the team with a selection of books for the children.
Gail (Darwin) and myself (Inspired EC) also presented small gifts.
The
majority of the group elected to stay and explore Edinburgh so the huge bus
returned with only 6 .... We hope the
rest find their way back to Dunblane by train!
So very jealous - I've always drooled over this place :)
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ReplyDeleteCowgate is a very inspirational nursery. I have been to visit it myself (coming from a Dundee nursery) but I would LOVE to see it in action, with the children exploring and learning around me so that I could get a feel for how it comes together.
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