A keynote presentation by Samantha Jaspal Steed at the Learning Works English Conference on 18/11/2014

1. Leading
Change
with Parents
November, 2014
Moor Hall, Maidenhead
Samantha Jaspal Steed, B.A. (QTS)
Headteacher, Berkhamsted Pre-Prep

2. Perceptions of Pre-Prep
Early Brain Development
Enabling Environments
The Importance of Play

3. Perceptions of Pre-Prep

4. Perceptions of the Pre-Prep

5. Pupil Profiles
Likelihood to SURVIVE
Apgar Vital Signs at Birth
1. Appearance
2. Pulse
3. Grimace
4. Activity
5. Respiration

6. Pupil Profiles
Likelihood to SURVIVE
Apgar Vital Signs at Birth
1. Appearance
2. Pulse
3. Grimace
4. Activity
5. Respiration
Likelihood to THRIVE at School
Educational Vital Signs
1. Articulacy, Literacy and
Numeracy
2. Getting on with Teachers
3. General Knowledge
4. Contributing to School
5. Wide Friendship Groups

7. Pupil Profiles
Well-rounded
Articulacy, literacy and numeracy
Getting on with teachers
Wide friendship
General Knowledge Contributing to School

8. Pupil Profile
Imbalanced
Articulacy, literacy and numeracy
Getting on with teachers
Wide friendship
General Knowledge Contributing to School

9. Hothousing
Too much too soon?
“The faster a child develops skills, the
better he does on tests, the better he’ll do
in life”.

10. Hothousing
Too much too soon?
“The faster a child develops skills, the
better he does on tests, the better he’ll do
in life”.

11. Hothousing
Too much too soon?
Children now spend far more time being taught and
tested on literacy and maths skills than they do
learning through play and exploration, exercising their
bodies, and using their imaginations.
“It is a miracle that curiosity
survives formal education.”
Albert Einstein

12. Hothousing
Too much too soon?
Childhood is not a race!

13. Early Brain Development

14. Early Brain Development
Blooming and Pruning
In the first 3 years a child’s brain has twice as many
synapses as it will have in adulthood.

15. Early Brain Development
Blooming and Pruning
Why create more synapses than needed?
A brain will fine tune itself according to the input it
receives from the environment
(clip)

16. Early Brain Development
Sad Kitten Story
X

17. Enabling Environments

18. Enabling Environments
The fact that children are affected by their
surroundings is almost to obvious to bear repeating.

19. Enabling Environments
The environment of a child’s earliest years can have
effects that last a life time.

20. Enabling Environments
Sad Rat Story
The absence of play can cause significant social
and emotional problems later in childhood.

21. Enabling Environments in Schools
Communication Friendly Spaces

22. Enabling Environments in Schools
Communication Friendly Spaces
The CFS approach focuses on the role of the
environment in supporting speaking and listening skills,
emotional well-being and general engagement.
“It is critical to understand how the physical space
should connect with its intention.”
Elizabeth Jarman, Founder of CFS

23. Enabling Environments in Schools
Communication Friendly Spaces

24. Communication Friendly Spaces
Speech sounds stimulate activity.
If the amount of input increases (if more speech is
heard) synapses will be activated more often.

25. Enabling Environments in Schools
Communication Friendly Spaces
“Reading and writing flow on a sea of talk.”
James Britain

26. The Importance of Play

27. The Importance of Play
Play is practical, it is problem solving and
children are wired to do it!

28. The Importance of Play
Play in the Pre-Prep
Our capacity to be creative thinkers and innovative
problem-solvers comes from using our own mental
processing to explore the world.

29. Samantha Jaspal Steed, B.A. (QTS)
Headteacher, Berkhamsted Pre-Prep and Day Nursery
Email: preprephead@berkhamstedschool.org
Twitter: @preprephead
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/samanthajaspal
Blog: www.preprephead.blogspot.com