Today is the 2nd of June and in England we are celebrating the Platinum Jubilee of Her Majesty the Queen. Imagine spending 70 years of your life doing the same job, no I can’t either. Not only is it a special day for her, but she is the first British monarch to celebrate 70 years of service. I remember in 1977 being one of many thousands of school children holding a torch along the Windsor mile to greet the Queen at Windsor Castle.
Up and down the country there are going to be street parties, individual parties and even a 70-plane flyby, including the Red Arrows and other planes, jets, and helicopters. We have been trying to work out a vantage point to see the aeroplanes and take part in the experience. I still vividly remember the excitement from 1977, and I would like the foster children to have the same experiences that they will remember in another 35 years.
If you would like to know more, the link here will take you to the official Platinum Jubilee website.
In early year settings and primary schools’ children have been painting pictures of the Queen, flags, crowns, and any other variation on celebrations and families and England and the Commonwealth and the world. Can you imagine the wealth of social, physical, intellectual, communication, and emotion learning that will have taken place. I have just gone back to my NNEB years, SPICE, but it works. Or, for this generation, the areas of learning and development, how would celebrating the jubilee support them?
Personal, Social and Emotional – Sharing paints and other craft supplies
Communication – Lots of new words!
Physical – Fine motor skills will no doubt have been in abundance the past few weeks!
Mathematics – Patterns on flags
Literacy – Reading/being read to, on books about the Queen, families, service
Understanding the World – Learning that the Queen is head of the Commonwealth – lots of different countries over the world
Expressive Arts and Design – Again, creating something.
This is only a brief list of learning – my Marketing guy has to limit the words on the personal blogposts I write here, otherwise it would take our readers an hour to get through them 😊
As an NNEB I love how everything is holistic. Think about that 4-year-old making some flags/bunting. There is almost every area of learning and development covered in that one activity.
However, you are spending this long weekend, as a fan of the queen, with family, or sitting in the garden with a drink and a book, we hope you have a great, relaxing one!
Suzanne
