Early Years Training in Aberdeen

It was a pleasure to return to Aberdeen this month to deliver an Early Years training session with practitioners from a number of nurseries, primary schools and outdoor education provisions across the city.

Our focus was on using the concept of ‘coggle vision’ when planning, delivering and reflecting on emotional learning and literacy with young children.

Part 1 introduced the Emotion Works ‘Component Model of Emotion’, and outlined how to make use of the 7-part adult dialogue tool to help scaffold staff dialogue and understand young children’s emotional reactions and responses.

It was great to have extra input from Emotion Works trainer Terri Harrison at this session. Terri shared her own excellent example of using the tool for adult dialogue with her staff team at the Nature Nurture Project, Aberdeen.

Part 2 went on to look at the different ways we can prepare young children for emotional learning and literacy by developing emotional language and introducing the first five emotion cog concepts using the opportunities that exist within a nursery context.

This particular session provided examples of emotional learning and literacy arising from…

• Everyday events and experiences
• Stories
• Songs
• Small world / Role play
• Favourite characters
• Outdoor play

We finished the session with an interesting discussion about the use of concrete materials and picture supports to help young children to engage with the cog concepts. Many thanks to those who attended and offered feedback on our idea for the development of a new early years ‘link-up’ system.

“I think Emotion Works is fantastic and the workshop was fab. It helped me see how I can link different activities to the Emotion Works model. I like to build stories and scenarios around music, and can now work with the cogs as a prompt for unpacking the story with the children… Also, I love the idea of the concrete link-up system. These hands-on materials will be a real asset in helping young children to understand how events, thoughts, feelings and behaviours are all linked.”

Jill Birch, Early Years Music and Forest School Practitioner, Aberdeen

Terri Harrison will be delivering this Early Years training again at Camphill School on Thursday 19th May, 4:30-7pm.

To book your place at this event – download booking form

Terri and Claire are also available for inservice bookings for Early Years specific training.

For more information please email bookings@emotionworks.org.uk