The Aistear Síolta Practice Guide
The Practice Guide aims to support Early Years services to use Aistear and Síolta together, to develop a quality curriculum and to support children’s learning and development.
The Practice Guide consists of Curriculum Foundations and 6 Interconnected Pillars of Practice.
Curriculum Foundations are an important starting point when thinking about curriculum. Curriculum Foundations are rooted in the principles, values and attitudes that shape each practitioner’s work and that of the setting. The Foundations include the following four elements:
Element 1: Developing your Curriculum and Curriculum Statement
Element 2: Principles including Rights of the Child and Practitioner Image of the Child
Element 3: Themes in Aistear
Element 4: Professional Practice
The 6 Interconnected Pillars of Practice are
- Building Partnerships with Parents
- Creating and using the Learning Environment
- Learning Through Play
- Nurturing and Extending Interactions
- Planning and Assessing, using Aistear’s Themes
- Supporting Transitions
Each Pillar is presented in the same format and includes
- An Overview
- Self-Evaluation Tools (This section includes a number of Elements. Each element has a series of statements to assist the service to reflect on their current practice.)
- Examples and Ideas for Practice
- Resources for Sharing (Tip-sheets, Templates and Sample Presentations)
- Action Planning Tools
- Gallery
The Practice Guide includes a range of resources, to help practitioners to critically reflect on their curriculum, and to identify what works well. Additionally, the resources can help practitioners to identify priorities for development and to plan actions for positive change.
For further information visit www.aistearsiolta.ie
