Sending your child to a pre-nursery?

98. At 00:21am on 19 Oct 2009, Robert Toseland wrote:
I'm a Playworker ( Multi award winning, I might add as their is no character limit ) and playworkers work with children aged three to eleven. We work in Out of School Clubs, Holiday Clubs and even in some schools.

We always joke amongst ourselves that we can spot a teacher a mile off. We see them often as we usually work with children as they come out of school, or before they go in to school for the day if there is a breakfast club available. Teachers are trained to structure, structure, structure... I've met some fantastic teachers who can cope with an overly full classroom of pupils and motivate them and encourage them to join in, but at the end of the day, the structure is the problem.

I have worked with children who at school have daily report cards and usually a reputation that precedes them, as usually all of the school staff know them as a "problem child". Yet, when they attend our settings, they are the most polite, helpful children there. The difference is plainly obvious. Usually these children are violent towards other pupils in school and even teachers and other staff members. With us however, during our usual fire drill tests, they are the first to grab hold of a three or four year olds hand and help them to get outside calmly. Without prompting. It's amazing.

I put it down to our lack of structure. "Play is child driven" as they say. We don't put activities out, or force people to take part. They do anything they want, with our encouragement and help. We encourage children to be themselves and be confident in themselves, and it works. They flourish and learn through play. Yet in a class room, they are forced to conform and abide by the set curriculum and pupils who learn just a little slower than say another child are often left behind. This is one of the reasons a startling amount of children leave primary education unable to read.

The recent debate about scrapping formal was a fantastic idea. Children would do better spending time with Playworkers until they start a formal education. They can learn English, Maths and life skills while in a safe environment that encourages and supports them while they are in their comfort zone, giving them a chance to gain a personality and think for themselves.

Playwork is a massive field, no way near limited to the examples I've pointed out here. We also train in some cases for years to work especially with children with "Special Educational Needs", although I dislike this term personally as all children have needs.

In playwork children are respected as equals and given choice. This is something that lacks extremely in some schools I've had the misfortune to visit or work in. Children "kick off" because they feel they are being pressured and forced in to something, they might not feel comfortable doing. This is not always met with support, a shoulder to cry on or more encouragement. Sometimes this child is branded as problematic and forgotten.

In my professional and personal opinion formal lessons should be scrapped until children are mentally capable of dealing with the pressure and have spend plenty of time in a comfortable, safe setting such as a playwork setting.

Being more radical then the report, I think the formal education age should raise to eight or ten. This would have massive ramifications, including University entry. I am currently at University and twenty years old. I have worked out there in the real world before coming to University and I see eighteen year olds coming straight from college, no idea what the real world is like. University should be more like America, where older students attend, who are physically, mentally and ready to handle the extreme pressure that comes with the workload, as well as potentially having to work your way through university with a part time job.

I don't think the report went far enough with Primary education. The entire system should be re-examined and factor in the large number of Playworkers the country already has and even ships abroad to work with their children.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/markeaston/2009/10/is_primary_education_threatene.html