Step Inside Atelier: A Room-By-Room Tour Of Our Outstanding Nursery
Step Inside Atelier: A Room-By-Room Tour Of OurOutstanding Nursery
“Always be unwavering in your commitment to rich, beautiful environments that children deserve to work and play within.”
Clare Crowther, Atelier Director
In this episode of Atelier Talks, we’re taking you on a full virtual tour of our OFSTED Outstanding rated nursery. From the baby nest to the studio, and from our piazza spaces to the garden room, we explore how each part of the Atelier environment is purposefully designed to reflect our philosophy, placing children at the centre of every space, every decision, and every invitation to play.
This is a behind-the-scenes look at how our learning environments come to life and how nursery managers and educators might adapt and reimagine a setting to better meet the needs of Early Years children.
In this episode:
- A room-by-room breakdown of Atelier’s learning spaces within a mixed-age, free flow setting
- The role of block play, real tools, open-ended resources and loose parts across age groups
- Practical tips on how to build autonomy and sequential learning into physical spaces
- The power of artist-led studios, Atelier’s ‘Gallery School’, and embedding community connections
- What it means to “wallow in learning” and the importance of building opportunities for children to slow down into your Early Years setting
- How our garden space supports risk, growth and gross motor development
- Why your team’s intent, autonomy and curiosity matter as much as the children’s
Standing on the shoulders of giants
The magic of Atelier draws on foundational thinking from a range of influential Early Years theorists and educators. Those mentioned in today’s episode are as follows:
- Loris Malaguzzi – for the Reggio Emilia concept of the environment as the third teacher, and the Hundred Languages of Children
- Friedrich Froebel – for his philosophy on block play and large-scale movement
- Simon Nicholson – for the Theory of Loose Parts and the value of open-ended, natural materials
- Elinor Goldschmied – for her work on treasure baskets, heuristic play, and supporting the youngest children
- The Hundred Languages of Children – a guiding principle in how we design spaces for creative, multi-modal expression
Find out more:
Website and newsletter: ateliernursery.co.uk
Instagram: @ateliernurseryltd
Consultancy enquiries: Contact us via our website
Together, we’ll unlock the potential for incredible growth and learning.
Atelier Talks is a Decibelle Creative original podcast
Produced by Decibelle Creative – decibellecreative.com / @decibelle_creative
Keywords: Early Years environment, nursery design, Reggio Emilia, loose parts, heuristic play, Froebel, child-led spaces, block play, atelier studio, garden learning, outdoor provision, gallery school, creative learning environments
Transcript
>> Clare: Welcome to Atelier Talks, the Early Years
Speaker:Collective.
Speaker:This is the podcast brought to you by the Atelier, Nursery
Speaker:team, exploring the art and science of early years education.
Speaker:We're here to share knowledge and insights from our unique
Speaker:research led approach. So if you're passionate about
Speaker:early years education, you're in the right place.
Speaker:Let's find out what's in store for you on today's
Speaker:episode foreign.
Speaker:>> Clare: Hello and welcome back to Atelier Talks.
Speaker:Today I'm joined by the lovely Laura, Lauren and
Speaker:Beth.
Speaker:>> Lauren: Hello. Hi everybody.
Speaker:>> Beth: Hi
Speaker:>> Clare: So today we want to follow on from one of our previous episodes
Speaker:and take you inside the
Speaker:atelier doors. so we're really aware that what we're
Speaker:talking to you about on a day to day basis, might
Speaker:begin to make sense to you as listeners but also might
Speaker:appear a little bit confusing. So we wanted to break it down a little
Speaker:bit and start looking at the physical environment of Atelier.
Speaker:So Laura, can you give us a little bit of an overview of
Speaker:the different rooms and the different spaces that we're going to be exploring?
Speaker:>> Laura: Of course. So within our nurseries we
Speaker:have got lots of special spaces that each have their
Speaker:own theme and design and reason for being there. So
Speaker:we've got the beautiful baby nest where we do
Speaker:lots of nurture. Ah, it's very calm and it's very
Speaker:centred towards our youngest children who are pre walkers, are pre
Speaker:callers who really need that sense of belonging and that sense
Speaker:of safety. We've got our beautiful studios
Speaker:which are our creative hubs where we see lots of
Speaker:really beautiful project work around artists,
Speaker:sculpture, clay. We've got our
Speaker:piazzas where we do lots of building with
Speaker:blocks and large scale
Speaker:construction which again comes from fro but on our block play which I'm
Speaker:sure we'll touch on later. We've got our discovery rooms where we
Speaker:do our baking, our sewing, our weaving.
Speaker:We've got our explorer spaces where we
Speaker:have another space that's designed for our younger children but it's a little
Speaker:bit more exciting than our baby nest. So
Speaker:there's more for them to tip and pour a very schematic
Speaker:play. And then we've also got our beautiful gardens
Speaker:where our children can access outdoor provision all day long
Speaker:in all the weathers and all the seasons.
Speaker:>> Clare: So Laura, you've given us a really quick run through
Speaker:of each of the spaces there. So Beth, could you take
Speaker:us a little bit deeper and perhaps start with the baby nest,
Speaker:and start describing this space for us. What kind of
Speaker:Experiences and opportunities are there for our
Speaker:youngest children within our nest.
Speaker:>> Beth: So the nest space is purposely
Speaker:designed and set up for our youngest of children.
Speaker:Obviously we are free flow, we're mixed age. So our older
Speaker:children do still come in, they visit, they join
Speaker:in with some of the learning opportunities that are happening within that space.
Speaker:and it could be that they want to come and just check
Speaker:in with a younger sibling or actually they're having a new
Speaker:baby at home so they're more interested in those younger children
Speaker:and they're wanting to come and explore and be in that space, space a bit
Speaker:more. But it is the only space where actually
Speaker:when our babies need to have their bottles or they need
Speaker:to have some love or they need to have that
Speaker:time just to have a space, then we would
Speaker:ask our older children to kind of step outside for a little bit.
Speaker:Give them the time that they need. It might be routines that are
Speaker:happening so they're having, going to bed, things like that.
Speaker:so, yeah, so once you walk into the space,
Speaker:everything's really low level. Even our youngest of children are able
Speaker:to access all of the resources that are available to
Speaker:them. and you'll just little pockets of
Speaker:invitation. So there's a basket with some beautiful
Speaker:fabrics just hanging out over the edge. You'll have a
Speaker:box filled of kind of these mirrored
Speaker:objects that they can just go and touch and feel.
Speaker:We always have sand and water available to our youngest of
Speaker:children. There'll always be a cosy, comfy
Speaker:space so they can sit with their key people to have a bottle,
Speaker:to have a story, to get into their pyjamas. Those sorts
Speaker:of things are really, really important. Those
Speaker:times in the day should never be rushed. It's that time where you
Speaker:have one on one opportunity with your youngest
Speaker:children. So, yeah, take that time really
Speaker:seriously. Get the most out of it. there'll
Speaker:always be drapes hanging down for those
Speaker:peekaboo moments and that just that natural
Speaker:curiosity of play alongside an
Speaker:adult. I think it's really important that your
Speaker:baby room team are on the floor.
Speaker:There are no chairs in that space. They are on the floor, they're led down,
Speaker:they're on their tummies, they're ah, kind of real
Speaker:facial expressions. Alongside those
Speaker:youngest of children is really, really important. We
Speaker:have loads of clay, loads of paint opportunities.
Speaker:we're really lucky in the fact we've got beautiful,
Speaker:beautiful treasure baskets. So, we give our team
Speaker:a bit of an allowance every kind of now and again and they go
Speaker:off and they choose the resources that fit what their
Speaker:children are interested in that match the purpose of
Speaker:a treasure baske. So they go and understand
Speaker:why there's a treasure basket and what it's there for
Speaker:and what the impact that has for our children.
Speaker:So it's really important. They're never just given stuff actually they
Speaker:understand the purpose of it and why it's being used in that
Speaker:space.
Speaker:>> Clare: I think that's a really valid point, Beth, I think is it when we're
Speaker:resourcing the environments and we're looking at the investment
Speaker:of the resource that we're putting into place, it's
Speaker:so important that the team have an awareness of the hows and the
Speaker:whys. So actually when we're thinking about an
Speaker:item and a resource like the treasure basket, really
Speaker:understanding that it isn't about having
Speaker:a basket full of stuff, as you call it, it's
Speaker:around actually making sure that there is a balance of wood and
Speaker:of leather, of metal, of something that they
Speaker:can, that will be heavy, of something that will be light, of
Speaker:something they can contain. And actually really understanding what
Speaker:Eleanor Goldschmidt was saying right at the beginning about that
Speaker:opportunity for children to truly
Speaker:immerse themselves and you know, to act as those
Speaker:really, really early scientists and explorers
Speaker:and to So I think what's really important within
Speaker:all of those environments, but particularly for those youngest children, is that
Speaker:everything as you said, is still open ended
Speaker:and is still accessible at all times
Speaker:to them, regardless of them being very, very young. And for some of those
Speaker:children being non mobile, the importance of actually
Speaker:enhancing that environment so that actually they still have the
Speaker:opportunity to be in the dough in the morning or the clay in the
Speaker:afternoon or the gloop halfway through the day. Because
Speaker:actually they need us as educators
Speaker:to facilitate those experiences within the practical
Speaker:environment. So our babies have that special
Speaker:space, that special space where we can
Speaker:ask some of our older children to leave if they need to so
Speaker:that our babies can feel rested and protected. But we
Speaker:then have the explorers. So Lauren, that's one of your
Speaker:favourites. So talk us through explorers or what we
Speaker:call the snug, in baths.
Speaker:>> Lauren: So that is the next step to what we would call the main
Speaker:floor. So once the children are mobile
Speaker:and able to explore different
Speaker:parts of the nursery, they generally navigate and
Speaker:find themselves in explorers. So it's a bigger space,
Speaker:it has a wide variety of resources.
Speaker:The furniture varies in height, so there are
Speaker:some lower surfaces for our youngest children, but then
Speaker:also some opportunities for children to cruise
Speaker:and develop new physical skills. So it's a bit like an
Speaker:opening of a whole new world. Once you cross the bridge and you move
Speaker:from the nest to explorers and it's always at their pace as well.
Speaker:So they make that discovery and they, when they feel
Speaker:confident to start to move towards
Speaker:explorers that's on that
Speaker:they make their decisions. Yeah. So it's
Speaker:a bit like stepping into the new door
Speaker:and finding new opportunities. So we have again we have
Speaker:lots of opportunities for malleable play. So
Speaker:clay often we look at providing
Speaker:a softer clay so it's the.
Speaker:>> Clare: Porcelain clay isn't so smooth and we're.
Speaker:>> Lauren: Really looking at that sensory exploration and that
Speaker:immersion for the children. In Explorers
Speaker:we also have dough out and we're looking
Speaker:at the sensory element of dough. So whereas in other spaces
Speaker:we might look at using quite complex tools to
Speaker:manipulate dough. For older children we're
Speaker:looking at the smell of the dough, the texture of the dough. Can we add more
Speaker:water? Can we add more oil? Experimenting with that
Speaker:to give them those real hands on learning experiences.
Speaker:We also have sand and so we have a beach which
Speaker:is a bigger open area of sand so
Speaker:the children can sit and what we'd call wallow really put
Speaker:their whole bodies into the sand, put their feet into
Speaker:the sand. Whereas in the nest we've got it's more
Speaker:smaller spaces of sand so they can start to put explore in a
Speaker:smaller scale. The beach is natural resources
Speaker:which mirror the same resources like Beth was talking about in the treasure basket. So
Speaker:you will have natural driftwood, large
Speaker:stones, pebbles to touch, and explore.
Speaker:Lots of opportunities for children to explore like
Speaker:we were saying about gravity, movement,
Speaker:mass, weight. All of those kind of
Speaker:really important concepts can be explored in the beach.
Speaker:yes. And if you end up with sand absolutely
Speaker:everywhere that means you've had a good day. Well I often have sand
Speaker:in every crevice because exploring
Speaker:the beach. So if that's too much information for a good
Speaker:day, what else do we have in the snug and explorers?
Speaker:Water. So yes again it's a larger quantity
Speaker:of water, high level water table, a low level water table
Speaker:so the children again can take those risks and m
Speaker:make those new connections with
Speaker:a larger scale of water to explore. And again we're looking at sensory
Speaker:aspects of the water. So experimenting
Speaker:with texture, colour,
Speaker:smell, taste. So we'll often have lemons in the
Speaker:water for the children to pull out and suck and
Speaker:explore to really
Speaker:support their learning. In all areas we've
Speaker:got a variety of
Speaker:containers. So, we go from small scale to large scale. Whereas in
Speaker:the nest you'd have lots of, of more small scale
Speaker:objects for the children so that they can actually be able to hold
Speaker:the equipment. There's more challenge in the
Speaker:explorers. So the children will have
Speaker:two litre jugs, right down to 500
Speaker:millilitre. and the way that they're displayed
Speaker:gives children freedom and enhances
Speaker:challenge. So the younger children might start to gravitate towards
Speaker:the smaller resources, but then think, oh, I'm going to try the two litre
Speaker:jug today, come on, let's have a go. and in that way they're
Speaker:exploring.
Speaker:>> Clare: New things and I think it's a really valid point, is it, Lauren? The
Speaker:way in which we set up those environments, even for those
Speaker:youngest of children, will still promote the next
Speaker:challenge or the next opportunity. So actually what you
Speaker:might find is, you know, you've got a toddler who's so,
Speaker:so determined but can't actually lift the weight of the largest
Speaker:jug. But they're still going to be determined to have a go and have a
Speaker:try. right the way through to some
Speaker:of the really big old copper teapots that actually,
Speaker:we know, that would have produced, I don't know, 50
Speaker:cups of tea in years ago.
Speaker:Actually, our children now are using in different ways to be able
Speaker:to pour and to contain and to look at
Speaker:capacity and flow as they're actually working through within those
Speaker:aspects. So our babies and our toddlers clearly
Speaker:have the best of opportunities, the richest of
Speaker:environments. So what does it look like as we move through
Speaker:into the discovery room? A bath.
Speaker:>> Clare: Bath.
Speaker:>> Clare: Take us through what that space is looking like.
Speaker:>> Beth: so this space, is, it's very
Speaker:immersive. You walk into that room and you feel
Speaker:like you're walking into
Speaker:Kew Gardens.
Speaker:the children, have really led the
Speaker:setup and the look of that space at
Speaker:the moment. So, they've shown strong interest
Speaker:in, botanicals, in plants, in roots
Speaker:and growing. and actually
Speaker:in every corner of that space there is something that
Speaker:they have been working on. So whether it's the clear
Speaker:glass with the water and the roots growing through, or
Speaker:whether it's, Actually they've took
Speaker:some stems off of a plant and they're trying to propagate it,
Speaker:or they're growing their tomatoes this year. so
Speaker:that actually it links into what's happening outside and the
Speaker:cooking that happens in the, in the kitchen at the nursery
Speaker:as well. whether it's the
Speaker:magnifying glasses that are set up to the laptop
Speaker:so that they can look really closely at the pattern in the
Speaker:leaves. there's a kind of
Speaker:a mark making station set
Speaker:up so that children are able to freely access
Speaker:paper, and any type of
Speaker:mark making tool really. so that they can document
Speaker:their learning. They are constantly observing, watching,
Speaker:writing, drawing, taking their own notes, taking their
Speaker:own images so that actually they're seeing the changes
Speaker:as that happens. we've got a beautiful long
Speaker:string that runs across the nursery room, so
Speaker:that actually they can explore the process of drying flowers
Speaker:and what that looks like in the stages of that as well.
Speaker:>> Clare: I think it was really interesting what you were saying about having
Speaker:all of the mark making and the mark making station,
Speaker:because actually the botanicals provocation that's in the
Speaker:discovery room at moment, the really started from
Speaker:that provocation of children questioning are they scientific
Speaker:illustrators or are they artists? And I think when
Speaker:we start thinking about those physical environments and the
Speaker:setups that you were, kind of describing there,
Speaker:it's a really, it's a really impactful way
Speaker:to stop and think about the children's learning
Speaker:and really analyse what is it they're doing when they're working.
Speaker:So by having. And I was, my daughter Eve actually works in
Speaker:the discovery room. And so I was really sad to see
Speaker:all of my aliums go over this year. But actually
Speaker:she cut 50 allium heads and just took them into the
Speaker:discovery room. And you're absolutely right, it did feel a bit like Kew
Speaker:Gardens in there, didn't it? Because they had them hanging from
Speaker:the ceiling in terms of drying. They had them against the magnifying
Speaker:glass and the laptop so that they could actually really look
Speaker:closer. but they also were using
Speaker:them within the clay work. So
Speaker:whereas, Laura and Lauren have described the use of the clays
Speaker:for our babies and that porcelain clay being really soft and really
Speaker:gentle in the discovery Room, they're actually using
Speaker:slices of clay to then imprint the allium heads
Speaker:onto. So it's all about that sequential learning
Speaker:that's just very carefully threaded through the
Speaker:environments. So when you walk into that
Speaker:discovery room, Beth, one of the things that I want our
Speaker:listeners to be able to really understand is the feel of
Speaker:the space. So how does that feel, feel when you walk
Speaker:in there?
Speaker:>> Beth: it's always a really strange one because you think when you
Speaker:say, oh, it's a mixed stage, free flow
Speaker:nursery, you expect it to be busy, but
Speaker:actually there's a big, open,
Speaker:vast space. So we've got, skylights in
Speaker:the Top of the, in the top, top of the roof, in the window.
Speaker:you've got a peaky window that looks through into
Speaker:the next door which is the piazza space. So actually our
Speaker:children are able to visibly see each other across the whole of the
Speaker:nursery. And you.
Speaker:Yeah, they're really busy, they're engaged. It's
Speaker:their learning, they've led their learning. So they want
Speaker:to be in that space. you've then also got a mixture of,
Speaker:yeah, like you said, the clay wheel at the side. So the potter's wheel
Speaker:is going every day. so you have the
Speaker:buzz of that and the noises of that and then children working out
Speaker:the mechanics of that as well. So some children that are
Speaker:interested in tools and mechanics of things
Speaker:and how things work are actually still really benefiting from being
Speaker:in that space. But even if they're not solely
Speaker:purposes to be in there to look at the botanicals, you've
Speaker:then got your loose parts space just kind of tucked
Speaker:around in a little corner. So we try to encourage those
Speaker:communication friendly spaces. So actually even
Speaker:though the drawers are
Speaker:like the shelving is kind of waist height, you can still
Speaker:see in round if you needed to. But actually they've got a bit of
Speaker:privacy to be able to play and to chat
Speaker:and to do what they want. The loose parts they
Speaker:tend to take out on their own accord. So they'll use it
Speaker:either with pattern making or whatever they feel
Speaker:fit to use it for. so that is a space that our oldest
Speaker:children tend to go. I'm going to set that up now. And, and it looks
Speaker:beautiful because they've seen and they know how to engage with
Speaker:it. They know how to use those tools because they have them there
Speaker:all day, every day. I'm trying to think what
Speaker:else is in that space as well now. And everything's all
Speaker:really open. So the shelving is open, there's
Speaker:little baskets. They access the clay tools, they
Speaker:can access the jelly printing, and pick and
Speaker:choose how they want to add to the work that they're
Speaker:doing. Really.
Speaker:>> Clare: So Lauren, you were picking up that point about the immersion. Do you want
Speaker:to take us through that?
Speaker:>> Lauren: Yeah. So we have. Beth's been
Speaker:working really hard on both sites about trying to think
Speaker:about. Imagine you were a child
Speaker:within the setting and within the room and feel about what
Speaker:sensory elements are coming through when you're in the
Speaker:nest and explorers and you're rising one.
Speaker:RISING two. Your sensory immersion is
Speaker:going to be very hands on, and
Speaker:visceral I guess when we move up. When we think about
Speaker:our older children, how are we
Speaker:helping them really engage in the
Speaker:world and feel like they are at Kew Gardens or feel
Speaker:like they are at, the newt. So
Speaker:we've invested in, huge projectors and,
Speaker:screens which are not used all the time, but when we
Speaker:want to create a feeling of
Speaker:being inside a bee's nest.
Speaker:>> Clare: Yeah.
Speaker:>> Lauren: if you want to imagine that you're inside a nest of a bee,
Speaker:we can have that projection up on the screen and the children
Speaker:can be observing, the slides of
Speaker:bees under the microscope or
Speaker:within bath. We've got the
Speaker:nature sounds. It's. What does Eve love
Speaker:to watch? Is it Gardeners?
Speaker:>> Clare: Well, Gardener's World.
Speaker:>> Lauren: Yeah. So the children feel like, okay, and they've
Speaker:got the garden that they can go and explore
Speaker:outside, the real life garden. But actually when they're
Speaker:really immersed and within their environment,
Speaker:inside, we want to kind of make sure that
Speaker:they're getting that sensory feedback that links to their experiences.
Speaker:So, yeah, projectors and
Speaker:sound as well, we can use to really
Speaker:increase the sensory input in a
Speaker:tolerable way. Yeah, yeah. but we're
Speaker:always really mindful, aren't we, about acoustics and what
Speaker:it feels like for that child. So it's not all the time. We don't have
Speaker:white noise playing all the time, but when we feel like it's
Speaker:appropriate, we set that up.
Speaker:>> Clare: And I think it's one of those things, you know, atelier, we, we
Speaker:don't ever do anything because it's nice. We don't ever do anything
Speaker:with that kind of, what we call that Pinterest pedagogy.
Speaker:>> Lauren: It's.
Speaker:>> Clare: There has to be a reason, there has to be those observations of those
Speaker:children that's been taken place and analysed to know what
Speaker:the next steps are, that we're going to offer those children.
Speaker:And I think when we look in our next episode about that
Speaker:regio approach and how actually some of those theories
Speaker:of learning are coming through in terms of light and projection
Speaker:and the windows that offer that connectiveness between
Speaker:each of those spaces, I think that's going to be really important
Speaker:to sort of share in a little in a lot more depth because I think
Speaker:you're absolutely right, Lauren, that immersion in their learning is so, so
Speaker:important. So we then move through. So
Speaker:you kind of on this visual walk as we move through the nurseries.
Speaker:So we're now at the piazza. So our piazza is a
Speaker:space that we originally designed with our boys
Speaker:in mind when we Recognised about,
Speaker:gosh, probably about seven or eight years ago now, that our
Speaker:girls had all hit the end of their reception year and had hit
Speaker:100% of good levels of development and our boys were
Speaker:only at 97. And we were really frustrated, even
Speaker:though we smashed the national average, that our boys only had
Speaker:good levels of development at 97% at the end of their reception
Speaker:year. And so, as we've talked about in previous
Speaker:episodes, you know, as a leadership team, we really challenged our
Speaker:thinking and how were we going to get our boys on board
Speaker:with their learning even more. And so we did
Speaker:something that I think probably for a decade we'd
Speaker:been told we couldn't do and that was to look at how
Speaker:boys learn best. But, actually
Speaker:recognise that those boys were learning within a
Speaker:gender specific way. They were
Speaker:interested in blocks, they were interested in
Speaker:construction, they were interested in large scale.
Speaker:And I think where we had for so long been really
Speaker:focused on making sure everything
Speaker:had equity and that we were really
Speaker:promoting every child's learning. We'd actually
Speaker:missed a little bit about those boys and we'd missed
Speaker:that they needed to lie on their tummy and have those large
Speaker:scale movement on. We'd miss that they needed to have
Speaker:engineers paper, we missed that they needed to have
Speaker:architectural drawing boards. And so we
Speaker:designed the piazza. So our
Speaker:piazzas are full of beautiful
Speaker:community play things, blocks. And I don't hesitate to
Speaker:say community play things because if you're going to buy blocks, buy community
Speaker:play things.
Speaker:>> Lauren: Yeah.
Speaker:>> Clare: The process that goes in behind the thinking
Speaker:of every single aspect of the design,
Speaker:the unit, the size, the measure, the shape, the
Speaker:scale, the, is phenomenal
Speaker:and our children recognise that. So we now
Speaker:have the most able and
Speaker:creative learners. And
Speaker:the way in which they work with mathematical design, the
Speaker:way in which they work to develop
Speaker:their thinking and to build upon their ideas,
Speaker:is absolutely second to none. So this week in Bath,
Speaker:the children went on a visit to the Bath Museum at
Speaker:work. And they brought back with them a whole
Speaker:arrangement, array of ideas about scale and
Speaker:construction and the way things can fit inside
Speaker:of each other because the unit blocks are all designed for
Speaker:them to be able to do that. And it's now the
Speaker:most beautiful, I always has been beautiful, but it is now
Speaker:the most engaged, beautiful space
Speaker:where we have some
Speaker:incredibly complex design and
Speaker:some incredibly complex construction
Speaker:taking place. And the best bit about it of all
Speaker:is yes, our boys have now hit 100% of good levels of development
Speaker:but we are going to be putting out in 15, 20 years
Speaker:time the highest number of female architects Bath has ever
Speaker:seen. Because our girls, being typically girls, are
Speaker:giving the boys just as much of a run for their money and are
Speaker:using that space to create in their own way. And
Speaker:so the dialogue and the
Speaker:negotiation and the awareness of each
Speaker:other within that space I think has kind
Speaker:of really improved and has really consolidated in the
Speaker:ways in which the staff access that space.
Speaker:So actually I think when you're faced with £10,000 worth of blocks
Speaker:and you know there's blocks on every unit and every wall and that's all there is within
Speaker:that space. You know, some of the staff look and they kind of
Speaker:go, I don't know what to do while I'm in that. I don't know how to be there. So
Speaker:we've had to spend a lot of time, haven't we, with the staff team in really
Speaker:investing the value of blocks and
Speaker:actually all of those Frobilian influences
Speaker:around block play and actually how they can be
Speaker:used in so many ways to develop
Speaker:children's thinking, and for them to form their own
Speaker:hypothesis. So, yeah, there's some wonderful, wonderful
Speaker:learning going on in there. So when we move through
Speaker:from the piazza, we go into the
Speaker:studio. So Lauren, can you talk us through some of the,
Speaker:some of the work that happens in the studio with our lovely resident artists
Speaker:and our creative practitioners?
Speaker:>> Lauren: Yes. So the studio is
Speaker:a real hub of creativity.
Speaker:We think about the hundred languages in that room and we think about
Speaker:the different medium that children can use to express their thoughts and
Speaker:ideas, collaborate and engage in
Speaker:ongoing projects. I love the way
Speaker:that in every space we have open ended resources
Speaker:that don't really change that much. We adapt
Speaker:them and we, we adjust the rooms according
Speaker:to the way that the children interact with them.
Speaker:But actually the studio, or the
Speaker:bare bones of the studio is exactly the same as it was
Speaker:four years ago and exactly the same in Bath and exactly the same
Speaker:as in Chippenham. So the children have got a wealth,
Speaker:a wealth, of resources to share and we give
Speaker:children authentic resources and that's really important.
Speaker:So we don't shy
Speaker:away from using thin sticks of
Speaker:charcoal, which can be crumbled up and spread
Speaker:in all different manner of different ways because we want children
Speaker:to have authentic exploratory
Speaker:experiences with art media. And I was talking to
Speaker:Harriet, Harriet's mum is an artist
Speaker:and she was telling me about the children need that
Speaker:freedom, they need the variety and they need that
Speaker:early exploration to be able to inspire future
Speaker:artists. So that's what the studio is all about.
Speaker:the children have, were very much,
Speaker:inspired by Reggio Emilia in, in the studio, I think you can really
Speaker:feel and you can really see the values coming through in that
Speaker:space. Everything is. There's a
Speaker:huge variety of resources and a high number of resources,
Speaker:but they are organised
Speaker:intentionally, immaculately. The children know where
Speaker:everything belongs. And that's so important because
Speaker:when the children are creating, they're
Speaker:doing some mop painting and the mops
Speaker:are falling from the
Speaker:stand. They know that, oh, we need to
Speaker:attach it. What material could be used to attach. They know where to go for the
Speaker:string, they know where to go for the tape, they know where to go for the masking tape and they can
Speaker:trial all of those different solutions to any problems that they
Speaker:overcome. our resident artists,
Speaker:inspire learning and creativity. So it
Speaker:really comes from the wealth of experience and knowledge that our
Speaker:educators hold and what is what they are passionate about.
Speaker:So we've got Mary, who can
Speaker:absolutely throw her hand to any kind of. So magical,
Speaker:any skill. But her real passion at the moment is,
Speaker:in crochet and weaving. So the
Speaker:resident artists will
Speaker:work alongside the children on ongoing projects, teaching
Speaker:them authentic, real skills. Mary
Speaker:is after a, ah, portable
Speaker:weaving. She's got one,
Speaker:yeah, which was inspired by Felicity.
Speaker:So we had one of our wonderful grandparents,
Speaker:Felicity, come in and teach us the skill of weaving.
Speaker:And now we've invested in the authentic resource so that the
Speaker:children can practise those skills
Speaker:as inspired by an artist.
Speaker:>> Clare: And I think what's really, really important there is, it's
Speaker:that full circle, isn't it? So, you know, that whole
Speaker:provocation started from Mary
Speaker:visiting the Holborn Museum and looking
Speaker:at a beautiful exhibition, as part of Black
Speaker:History Month. Actually, that came about and when actually that came
Speaker:through, those children then were using that
Speaker:knowledge from their visit and from their trip to ask
Speaker:those, you know, ask those questions about the hows and the
Speaker:whys and what about the looms and what about the threads and
Speaker:how do, how can we reinvent this back at nursery?
Speaker:And I think you're absolutely right, that skill of those artists
Speaker:comes in empowering not just the children but also the
Speaker:staff. So actually when we look at the difference
Speaker:of skill set and the difference in their
Speaker:training and the difference in their expertise, our artists, whether
Speaker:it's Mary, whether it's Erin, whether it's Emily, whether it's
Speaker:Sara, you know, they come not looking at it
Speaker:from a curriculum perspective and not looking at it from an
Speaker:educational perspective, but just looking at it as a
Speaker:how can we make that happen. And so they.
Speaker:They match with our, educators
Speaker:and together just have the
Speaker:best opportunities. And I think you're absolutely right. That
Speaker:ability within the studio as to whether it's weaving,
Speaker:whether it's, you know, crocheting, that finger crocheting
Speaker:that goes from one length of the room to the other, or whether
Speaker:it is that external use of
Speaker:galleries, of theatres, of the community
Speaker:itself, the studio really represents
Speaker:every aspect of artistic learning and
Speaker:development. So, Laura, in your setting, you've got a bit of
Speaker:a special artist. The lovely Emily. And
Speaker:Emily has, together with the team,
Speaker:designed and implemented what we
Speaker:call gallery school. So we know gallery school isn't
Speaker:actually within the physical restraint of our building, but talk us
Speaker:through that because that's such a huge part of the. The
Speaker:creative learning that takes place at atelier.
Speaker:>> Laura: Yeah, huge. Russ and Chippenham. So the. The basic
Speaker:premise of Gallery Space school is that we wanted to take our children who were
Speaker:really artistic, who showed real interest in
Speaker:creating, a real interest in being artists in their
Speaker:own right, to, attend different,
Speaker:exhibitions, different,
Speaker:theatres, different, museums,
Speaker:to really get, an understanding of other artists out
Speaker:there, of other ways of creative expression. so they
Speaker:would get their high vis jackets on and walk down to the train station,
Speaker:they'd go to an exhibition. The. One of my favourites
Speaker:they went to was Mr. Doodle, who was at the hot. Was it.
Speaker:and Mr. Doodle just creates the most incredible,
Speaker:artwork just using really thick black lines and they're
Speaker:very.
Speaker:>> Clare: It's a consistent line. I think you're. Isn't it that he.
Speaker:>> Laura: I think, yeah, some of them are, yeah. And
Speaker:so the building. Emily took with her a big
Speaker:sheet of paper and some black pens. And then the children
Speaker:watched the videos of Mr. M Doodle. They saw his
Speaker:illustrations on the walls and then they laid down on the floor.
Speaker:And they spent ages trying to recreate
Speaker:the doodles that they'd seen and actually make their own doodles that reflected their
Speaker:own experiences. And then the children came back to nursery,
Speaker:and then for weeks, afterwards, they were just
Speaker:continuing to use Mr. M. Doodler's inspiration. So they
Speaker:would cover the walls in paper and they'd have black paint.
Speaker:they'd then be experimenting with different colours to see whether they could
Speaker:incorporate different colours into their work. and it's just
Speaker:really magic to see the influence that artists
Speaker:out there have on our children and actually inspire our children to
Speaker:then feel like artists in their own right who can then create
Speaker:things that are important to them, that mean something.
Speaker:To them. And one of the lovely things that we do is we
Speaker:display the work of the children as if they were in their own gallery
Speaker:as well. So every piece of work has meaning,
Speaker:is valued and is allowed to have that space on the
Speaker:wall or on the side so the children can show the
Speaker:other children, the educators, the parents who might walk
Speaker:through just how special their work is as
Speaker:well. So they've also gone to the theatre. So
Speaker:they've seen some beautiful theatre shows and they've come back and wanted
Speaker:to reenact their own theatre shows. One of
Speaker:our boys who went to school last year wrote his own story
Speaker:that Emily then turned into a film, which
Speaker:they then watched in their little cinema over tea.
Speaker:so it's just really taking that learning
Speaker:outside of the nursery off kind of the,
Speaker:the well worn track and giving them other ways to explore
Speaker:in, in new ways
Speaker:that they might not necessarily have, have done before. So
Speaker:gallery school continues to be something really important and meaningful
Speaker:to the children of Chippenham.
Speaker:>> Clare: I think it's such an important concept. I think we need to do a whole
Speaker:episode just gallery schools. We need to get Emily and Mary in
Speaker:the room enough sometimes have a feel about what that looks
Speaker:like as well. So the other big space that we
Speaker:haven't touched on yet is obviously our garden room,
Speaker:our cabins and our at absolute outside space.
Speaker:So both of the nurseries have had a little bit of an overhaul this
Speaker:year in terms of the garden space and how we're using it.
Speaker:the team themselves have still got even bigger plans for how they want
Speaker:it to be. So we've got Mary and Eve,
Speaker:who are two of our practitioners heading over to Denmark,
Speaker:fairly soon to be having a look at some of the outdoor learning
Speaker:provision from some of our European colleagues. So
Speaker:Laura, that garden room and that garden space, can you talk
Speaker:us, us through that? And then perhaps Lauren can join us as
Speaker:well about some of the developments that she's been making.
Speaker:>> Laura: So in our garden room in Chippenham, it's a quite a
Speaker:newly developed space but we found that we needed somewhere
Speaker:for our children to explore, scientifically as well.
Speaker:The outdoors, insects, planting in a
Speaker:space that they could really use microscopes,
Speaker:magnifiers, look at books, look
Speaker:at projections on the walls in a space that was really designed
Speaker:for that. So we've got our garden room, which is our scientific hub
Speaker:and where we've got lots of budding scientists who are looking at the roots
Speaker:of, of plants or questioning how a seed would turn
Speaker:into a tomato.
Speaker:>> Clare: I loved the fact that I walked in and there was a funginarium going
Speaker:on and there was mushrooms, types of
Speaker:fungi coming through from every different corner to
Speaker:really enable the children to experience, you
Speaker:know, the, the properties of fungi and how important
Speaker:they are to us.
Speaker:>> Laura: so our lovely Clare in Chippenham, spends a lot of time in
Speaker:there. They've recently come, done a project on bees. So the children
Speaker:saw a bee in the garden and it, it brought up all these questions of what
Speaker:are bees for, or what is their purpose? And
Speaker:then they've looked at hives, they've looked at honey, they've looked at
Speaker:wax, they've looked at pollinating beekeeping. So
Speaker:lots of beautiful things have come from that. So it's
Speaker:almost kind of like bridging the gap between outside and inside. So as
Speaker:you move through our garden, when we then come into the garden where the children
Speaker:can then take their trowels or take their magnifiers
Speaker:and go and find things in the garden, garden. So as you come
Speaker:into our garden in Chippenham, you're faced with a really
Speaker:lovely long space which the top is
Speaker:paved. So they've got a space where they can again
Speaker:investigate different materials. So for some of our younger children
Speaker:walking on uneven surfaces, they're getting to build their
Speaker:confidence on walking on the, the pavement. And
Speaker:then it goes onto our grass where then we've got a lovely
Speaker:hill which they love to ride their bikes up to the top and then
Speaker:put their legs up as they wheel down and see how, how quickly
Speaker:they can break before they get to the bottom. and then at the bottom
Speaker:we've got a barked area as well, which is shady. They've got a boat where
Speaker:they love to go on adventures together. And it's a really
Speaker:great space, role play, a lot of negotiation, sharing.
Speaker:and then recently Lauren has been working really hard on
Speaker:our outdoor beach. So we have every or both of our
Speaker:nurseries have an outdoor beach. So like we spoke about inside
Speaker:having the indoor beach, our explorer space, our gardens have an
Speaker:outdoor beach where the children again can investigate sands, but
Speaker:it's in a different way from inside. So inside the sand is
Speaker:dry, and it's very much used for tipping and pouring
Speaker:and looking at the, the way it travels. Whereas
Speaker:outside they're able to build with it and sculpt more as if they can add
Speaker:water to it. so Lauren, you've recently helped us to build
Speaker:a sand crane that goes into the sand pit,
Speaker:and raise the sides a little bit so the sand can be
Speaker:deeper so they can use those Bruce motor
Speaker:skills to dig deeper. Ah. And really test those, test those
Speaker:muscles. and you've also invested in a water wall as
Speaker:well. Do you want to talk us through a bit about why we chose to go with a
Speaker:water wall and a sand pane?
Speaker:>> Lauren: Yes. I think renovating the garden and adjusting the garden environment
Speaker:is one of the most challenging areas to
Speaker:to take on as a project. Because some of our children, our garden
Speaker:is open all day every day and some
Speaker:children spend the majority of their time outside. And we've got
Speaker:to make sure that within that garden space they are
Speaker:gathering that wealth of opportunity that we have inside. We have a
Speaker:lot of variety inside. We have a lot of different resources inside.
Speaker:How can we make sure that the children that are outside
Speaker:are exploring their interests, having
Speaker:opportunities to revisit their learning, but also opportunities
Speaker:to extend their learning and provide them with new opportunities.
Speaker:So we have a number of projects that sort of run out in the
Speaker:garden. A lot of the projects are linked with movement.
Speaker:So we've. When we were looking at renovating the garden and making some
Speaker:adjustments, we needed to think about how can our
Speaker:youngest children be involved in movement and developing their gross
Speaker:motor skill but then also really having that challenge
Speaker:for those four year olds going to school, having
Speaker:some, what would you call it,
Speaker:m Cardiovascular exercise or
Speaker:really physical exertion. because we know that
Speaker:those children that's, that's essential for their well being.
Speaker:And if we have a garden space that has
Speaker:small resources and doesn't have any risk or
Speaker:any height to explore, actually
Speaker:they won't, they won't exercise in the way that we need them to
Speaker:aerobically be exercising. So we've
Speaker:made a few adjustments. The water wall. So the water wall,
Speaker:was thinking about how can we
Speaker:explore gravity, height
Speaker:and movement of water. And the children are really interested
Speaker:in m. The trails that water
Speaker:creates. So the water wall
Speaker:involves pumping water from one tube up
Speaker:to the top and then it can flow down. And there's lots of different ways the
Speaker:children can adapt the
Speaker:shoot. So the shoots the. Yeah,
Speaker:guttering so that they can experiment with that. So
Speaker:we wanted to include some kind of gross motor
Speaker:physical skills to the water play. So hopefully we've done
Speaker:that. Well, it's been a bit of a.
Speaker:>> Laura: Heel exertion doesn't it to pump the. It's not
Speaker:just sort of a tip and pour. It is a real pull it back and
Speaker:Then push it forward to get the water to go all the way up the
Speaker:tube to then come down. So that really helps with that
Speaker:cardiovascular.
Speaker:>> Lauren: We've got a working water pump as well, so the children can pump water
Speaker:that way. Or we've got the hose, which the children absolutely
Speaker:love accessing. So different lengths of hoses so that the children
Speaker:can really experiment with on and off is
Speaker:they just love turning it on, turn it off and,
Speaker:changing the speed of the water. So there's something for everything, everyone in the
Speaker:garden. And that's what you really need to think about when you're
Speaker:resourcing an environment, isn't it? What can the babies get out of this?
Speaker:And what can our school leavers get out of it?
Speaker:>> Clare: Absolutely. So I guess for our listeners, as we kind of
Speaker:conclude that that virtual tour of the
Speaker:nursery, I guess what's really coming through from each of you
Speaker:as you're talking is about how each of those spaces
Speaker:collectively embody the philosophy and values
Speaker:of atelier. So whether it's about, just as you were saying,
Speaker:Lauren, that respect for our babies, how are our babies able
Speaker:to access the sand indoors and outdoors? How are our
Speaker:preschoolers able to build that core strength,
Speaker:those elbow, shoulder, finger pivots, ready for
Speaker:the next steps in their learning, but also around
Speaker:those characteristics of learning, aren't they? So it's not just
Speaker:about the areas of learning that we're thinking about covering.
Speaker:It's how are all, all of those environments promoting
Speaker:playfulness? How are they promoting
Speaker:motivation? How are they promoting that, what we call that
Speaker:skill, the will and the thrill of that learning?
Speaker:How are we really offering children the
Speaker:opportunity to develop
Speaker:hypothesis and to test their hypothesis? And how are
Speaker:we working in a way that actually empowers and
Speaker:enables our children to be the
Speaker:best learners they can be, for want of a better term, but to actually
Speaker:be immersed. And I love that word you use right at the beginning, Lauren,
Speaker:that ability to wallow. To wallow in their learning,
Speaker:to take time, to process, to take time
Speaker:to experience, to take time to.
Speaker:To be without there being a rush of moving
Speaker:on to the next thing. but actually that they are also
Speaker:interconnected. So if you happen to be in the studio and you're
Speaker:experiencing light and projection, that
Speaker:that's also representing in the discovery room. And that's also
Speaker:then magnified through, as you're looking at
Speaker:the, you know, the bees that are in the garden room. And
Speaker:how actually is. It's kind of the threads of thinking,
Speaker:isn't it, that run throughout the whole of the Setting and the
Speaker:threads of thinking behind our own pedagogy and our own
Speaker:philosophy that are then shared throughout all of those
Speaker:learning spaces. So Beth, one of the jobs that
Speaker:you have, on a day to day basis really is talking about
Speaker:the, to the staff and with the staff about their intent
Speaker:for learning. So is that something you always have
Speaker:consideration too in terms
Speaker:of the environment? Are you always seeking the
Speaker:educators to consider their environment when you're within
Speaker:those planning meetings?
Speaker:>> Beth: Yeah, absolutely. I think you,
Speaker:like you said, we don't do anything for
Speaker:the sake of it, like just because it looks nice. I think
Speaker:there's always an intent and I think
Speaker:sometimes it doesn't always
Speaker:happen. Like we might, sometimes we get that intent
Speaker:wrong and the children take that learning in a totally different
Speaker:way. but again I think that's where our
Speaker:environments lend to that way
Speaker:of working because they are adaptable.
Speaker:You can quickly look at your environment and go, oh,
Speaker:we need a space now that focuses on this because this
Speaker:is what our children are telling us. and also trusting
Speaker:your team, like, yeah, they know what
Speaker:their children, they know their observations, they know what their children
Speaker:need. And so having those conversations with them
Speaker:and alongside them and getting their ideas, in
Speaker:that process and, and that set up within their environment
Speaker:is really important. so I think, yeah, them
Speaker:always knowing why they're doing something and how they're going to
Speaker:do it is important, but also
Speaker:allowing them to know that it doesn't always work out and that
Speaker:is okay as well because that's still reflecting, you're still developing,
Speaker:you're still working on your environment. Just because
Speaker:something hasn't worked once doesn't mean it might not work next
Speaker:time round. How do you encourage those children
Speaker:through, invitations or small snippets
Speaker:of group work? Play alongside different children to
Speaker:develop the skills and the experiences they need to then understand
Speaker:that further, really.
Speaker:>> Clare: So when we're thinking about this tool, we hope that
Speaker:we've inspired, inspired our listeners. Laura, what advice
Speaker:would you give to our listeners on creating an enriching
Speaker:space for young children?
Speaker:>> Laura: So I think it always goes back to us for thinking from
Speaker:our kind of Reggio perspective of the environment being the third
Speaker:teacher. So you really have to be in tune with your environment.
Speaker:You really need to get down onto the level that the children are at and
Speaker:actually see it through their eyes, see how they're going to, to
Speaker:navigate the space, look at what you can provide.
Speaker:>> Clare: Provide.
Speaker:>> Laura: That's really going to be at their level, that's going to
Speaker:meet their needs. So we always talk about planning with the child in the
Speaker:centre, so looking at the interest of the child and
Speaker:then using the environment around them to facilitate
Speaker:that learning. So as Clare spoke about with the piazza and
Speaker:actually adding the blocks, we knew that a big interest with our boys
Speaker:was building scale, size. So enriching
Speaker:the environment with materials they could then use to do that,
Speaker:ensure that their needs were being met and they were then
Speaker:using resources in a purposeful, meaningful way for
Speaker:them. And I think much like in the garden as well when we're talking about
Speaker:enriching it and I suppose noticing those
Speaker:gaps or exploring where we can be adding
Speaker:more to the environment to enrich it, it's all about
Speaker:making sure that everything is done with that
Speaker:purpose. It's done with your children in mind, their
Speaker:next steps, their interests and
Speaker:what's going to really give them the
Speaker:opportunity to learn and to get to that next
Speaker:stage of development and that sequential learning.
Speaker:so I guess my top tip would be just to walk your space, to be
Speaker:on the level of the children and really see
Speaker:it through their eyes. See it through the eyes of
Speaker:your children who are interested in movement. See it through the eyes of your
Speaker:children who are younger who are interested in schematic play
Speaker:and really pull it apart and look at what you can add
Speaker:to really enrich their learning opportunities.
Speaker:>> Clare: Nice. Thank you. Laura and Lauren, what would be your
Speaker:piece of advice to give on people looking to
Speaker:enhance their spaces, the old children?
Speaker:>> Lauren: I think Beth talked a lot about
Speaker:empowering your team and giving your team
Speaker:autonomy, and control of their space. So
Speaker:give them the tools and the opportunity to
Speaker:discuss the tweaks in their environment
Speaker:so that they can make it reflective on the children's needs.
Speaker:>> Clare: Okay. And Beth, one finally
Speaker:from you, I.
Speaker:>> Beth: Think mine would be be really open minded
Speaker:if you're stuck in a. So this is the
Speaker:next step and this is how I'm going to teach it and this is the end
Speaker:result. You're not going to grow, you're not going to be able to see
Speaker:the possibilities of what you can provide and what your
Speaker:children can do. so I think yeah, when you're looking
Speaker:at your observations of your children, think really
Speaker:open minded. When you're seeing children play with
Speaker:vehicles, don't just think, oh, they're interested in vehicles
Speaker:actually what else is out there? Is it about
Speaker:movement? Is it about the wheels rolling? Is it
Speaker:about travelling and actually seeing different
Speaker:places? Don't be really narrow
Speaker:minded because it can open up a possibility to
Speaker:greater things.
Speaker:>> Clare: Beautiful. And I think from us the biggest message of
Speaker:all is just play. Play in your
Speaker:environments, look at your environments, make sure they're resourced
Speaker:as fully as they can possibly be. I loved what you said
Speaker:Laura, about seeing it through the eyes of the child. Think about how things
Speaker:are positioned, think about the height, think about the scale and the
Speaker:space. and actually always be unwavering,
Speaker:unwavering to our commitment about having rich,
Speaker:beautiful environments that the children deserve to have. to work,
Speaker:and play within.
Speaker:So we hope that you've enjoyed stepping
Speaker:through the doors of Atelier and that this run through of the physical
Speaker:environment will have helped you to gain a better perspective
Speaker:of what we're trying to achieve on a daily basis. That will feed through
Speaker:into the rest of our episodes. But we are really grateful for you joining us
Speaker:today and we look forward to sharing more about Atelier
Speaker:soon.
Speaker:>> Clare: Thank you for joining us for Atelier Talk. If you
Speaker:enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe, share and
Speaker:leave us a review. It really helps us to reach more educators,
Speaker:parents and early years professionals just like you
Speaker:for more insights into our unique research led approach or
Speaker:to find out more about our services at both the nursery or the
Speaker:consultancy and how we can help you in your early years
Speaker:practise, visit our website or follow us on social media.
Speaker:All the details you need to find us are in the show
Speaker:notes. In the
Speaker:meantime, it's goodbye from us. Thank you for joining
Speaker:us. We look forward to seeing you next time for another episode of
Speaker:Atelier Talks.
Speaker:>> Clare: Thanks for listening.
