Abingdon Living Nov - Dec 2023

The Value of
Independent Early
Years Education
By Sarah Hollingsworth, Head of Gresham’s Pre-Prep School and
IAPS’ recently-appointed Pre-Prep and Early Years Subject Adviser
Albert Einstein famously said: “Logic will
get you from A-B. Imagination will take
you everywhere.” More recently, worldrenowned
education expert and adviser
Dr Ger Graus noted: “Children can only
aspire to what they know exists.”
These two much-quoted comments
have a common theme and highlight the
power of what children are exposed to
during their early years and the impact
this has on their future.
Early years educators like myself have
been entrusted with the important task
of empowering those in our care with
opportunities to develop essential life
skills such as resilience, independence,
kindness and imagination. But early
years education has to start with what
parents expose their children to at
home, not least lots of love, exposure
to reading, role modelling, but also
choosing the best setting to entrust one
of the most important people in their
lives to.
This is where it all begins. The period
from birth to age eight is critical for
cognitive, social, emotional and physical
development. Optimal brain development
requires a stimulating environment,
nourishing food, top-quality care-givers
and social interaction.
Unsurprisingly, this is a hot topic for every
government, not to mention the Princess
of Wales, who has spoken recently about
the importance of early years education.
A massive part of that is having the best
practitioners delivering this education
and having the right opportunities and
environments for them to learn in.
I have been fortunate to work across
the state-maintained and independent
sectors and benefited from some of
the very best training and guidance
during my professional career, including
incredible continuous professional
development and leadership training. I
am also the daughter of an early years
teacher and, growing up, I witnessed
how hard my mother worked and how
much energy she gave to the children in
her care.
For the last seven years, I have been
in a unique position as Headmistress
of Gresham’s Nursery and Pre-Prep, a
co-educational day and boarding school
on the North Norfolk coast. The school
has three parts: Nursery and Pre-Prep,
The Prep School and The Senior School,
each based on a different campus,
allowing the children to have the security
of friendships growing with them as
they move through the school at crucial
transition stages.
Gresham’s believes that each child
is different and has a gift. Our very
youngest children, aged just two, are
exposed to many opportunities, with
access to all the school’s facilities as well
as acres of woodland, swimming pool,
astro turfs, tennis courts and sports hall.
They experience opportunities which
open their eyes to future jobs, interests
and passions and also enjoy lessons in
ballet and music, languages, computing,
cooking, and outdoor learning half days.
Research demonstrates high-quality
opportunities help children to succeed.
The independent sector is fortunate to
have small class sizes and all the facilities
and resources to offer this.
There is no one more precious than
our children. They are the future – and
the future for a hopeful world. So, our
task is simple. We work to create an
environment where happy, relaxed, calm,
courteous and curious children can
flourish and be their best.
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