Skills on Show at Brearley & Teviot Nursery

It always astounds me the social and personal developments that take place during a child's first year in education at Nursery school.

I've had the privilege to work at Brearley and Teviot Nursery for the past twelve months and have witnessed huge changes in the class of 2011. As a new intake in September 2010, the children enjoyed experiencing clay in a physical and tactile manner - squidging, flattening and experimenting with simple hand tools.

The majority of children I worked with on Wednesday had advanced to the point where they wanted to produce objects as opposed to playing with the material.

The first animals, (mouse/elephant) although charming with all the correct features in the right places, were constructed out of solid lumps - destined to explode if they were ever to be fired. In an attempt to challenge the children's learning, I demonstrated the pinch-pot technique as a way of creating a hollow form - a technique normally reserved for older children.

The results were astounding - perfect pinch-pots executed with great skill and dexterity.

We took this technique outside, producing bowls, vases and other vessels to contain the dandelions, daisy and other vegetation the children had collected.