Pictured: Nick Hynes (left). 

Nick Hynes Head of Inclusion and Children's Services, also spoke at the conference. He says what the States Early Years Team already does locally is integral to the wider work that health and education both do in the islands.

"Ruth's team support and develop preschools, childminders and right to the end of reception year working with schools about what that early development looks like."

He says the earlier support can be given to children and their families the better.

"Sometimes, if we can support and work with children and families earlier and support some of those early intervention to develop language communication, developing play skills, and social interaction, as Prof Laevers says, it's about making sure children have good wellbeing and when we've got children with good wellbeing, the learning comes more easily and more naturally. They're happy where they are and what they're doing  and then the learning can come more naturally."

Prof Laevers himself advocates early years intervention through using the 'Leuven Scale for Well-being' which can be used to gauge the wellbeing of children through identifying key factors in each individual.

He told delegates to look at ways of improving the learning environment so that each child will benefit from more chances to develop.

During his previous research he said he had found that, "everything that deals with learning was too programmed, children were not really engaging in activities, a lot was directed by the teacher and if there was free play it was very limited, only one hour, tidying up took some time away and even sometimes children were only allowed to choose between three of four things, and once they chose they had to keep to that.

"Gradually we felt that, we can change things in practice in the learning environment and in the methods that we offer. Gradually we developed to the point where we said infact, there are a few things that should be there if we have quality, if we want wellbeing. 

"Wellbeing means that the child feels secure, well in his skin, in the setting that it is, not stressed and we have a very simple five point scale to measure that."

• 1. Extremely low The child clearly shows signs of discomfort such as crying or screaming. They may look dejected, sad, frightened or angry. The child does not respond to the environment, avoids contact and is withdrawn. The child may behave aggressively, hurting him/herself or others.
• 2. Low The posture, facial expression and actions indicate that the child does not feel at ease. However, the signals are less explicit than under level 1 or the sense of discomfort is not expressed the whole time.
• 3. Moderate The child has a neutral posture. Facial expression and posture show little or no emotion. There are no signs indicating sadness or pleasure, comfort or discomfort.
• 4. High The child shows obvious signs of satisfaction (as listed under level 5). However, these signals are not constantly present with the same intensity.
• 5. Extremely high The child looks happy and cheerful, smiles, cries out with pleasure. They may be lively and full of energy. Actions can be spontaneous and expressive. The child may talk to him/herself, play with sounds, hum, sing. The child appears relaxed and does not show any signs of stress or tension. He /she is open and accessible to the environment. The child expresses self-confidence and self-assurance.

Prof Laevers said the aim should be for each child to be at 5. Anything below 3 needs urgent attention, while 4 is acceptable. 

"We want education to create a situation where you get as much involved as possible. Three is not enough. That would mean I follow things, I'm not interrupting my attention, but I'm not really focusing in terms of there is no intensity. I can even tell you everything that I've heard but nothing sticks. It doesn't touch me, it does emotionally but  not cognitively. It doesn't make me think further, it doesn't fascinate me. There is a lack of concentration and quality there in the learning.

"Both are needed, the one is needed for the personal, social and emotional development. So if the wellbeing regularly shows to be low, you need to intervene to do something about it. If the involvement is low, it means the child will not develop, because development demands engagement."

The Research Centre for Experiential Education (RCEE), led by Prof Laevers, has produced list of 10 action points that should help practitioners to focus the learning environment on the well-being and involvement of pupils. Prof Laevers discussed these with delegates and encouraged them to be put into practice locally: 

• 1.    Rearrange the classroom in appealing corners or areas.
• 2.    Check the content of the areas and make them more challenging.
• 3.    Introduce new and unconventional materials and activities.
• 4.    Identify children’s interests and offer activities that meet these.
• 5.    Support activities by stimulating inputs.
• 6.    Widen the possibilities for free initiative and support them with sound agreements.
• 7.    Improve the quality of the relations amongst children and between children and teacher(s).
• 8.    Introduce activities that help children to explore the world of behaviour, feelings and values.
• 9.    Identify children with emotional problems and work out sustaining interventions.
• 10.  Identify children with developmental needs and work out interventions that engender involvement.

To read more about Prof Laevers work click HERE.