On Sunday 13th February Mrs Corr headed to Bologna in Italy to take part in a course for Preschool Teachers. The course was run by the Erasmus Learning Academy and was funded through one of our Erasmus Plus projects. There were 10 teachers on the course, 6 from Spain, 3 from Estonia and Mrs Corr! During the course we learned about the different preschool approaches in the Bologna region of Italy - Reggio Emilia, Montessori, Outdoor preschool and the non formal learning approach. All the participants shared presentations about their schools and it was really interesting to learn about each others settings and see what differences and similarities we had.
On the Tuesday we learned all about the Reggio Emilia approach and how we could reflect it in our practice but could never be considered Reggio Emilia unless from that specific town. It was like a dream come true for me to visit the Loris Malaguzzi Centre in Reggio Emilia & I was certainly not disappointed. One thing I will bring back to Windmill and my class will to never give children all the answers, it is best to let them explore new objects and topics and learn for themselves rather than being told what to think. I brought back a beautiful poster of The 100 Languages of Children to have in nursery as a reminder.
On the Wednesday we heard from a Montessori teacher and she showed us how her day ran and how the children used specific resources to learn and develop independence, unfortunately we couldn't visit the school in person because of Covid restrictions.
On the Thursday we had the chance to spend the morning in an outdoor school which was set on a site of 4 hectares with 2 classes of 17 children, one class for 2-3 year olds and one for the 4-6 year olds. It was a wonderful preschool and I would love to have been able to take my class there for a day as I know they would love all that outdoor space.
On Friday we learned all about non formal teaching approaches and everyone agreed that this was something we preschool people are very good at! We received certificates and all one tout for a meal that evening to say goodbye.
We had a cultural afternoon too in Florence which was amazing. The course was brilliant and well organised & I made some new friends that I hope to keep in touch with and have links for our classes.
It is sad to attend these courses knowing that the UK is no longer part of the amazing Erasmus Programme.
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