Tops Day Nurseries believe in an environmentally sustainable and socially responsible world for all. We aim to achieve this through educating our children of today, so they, in turn, can influence the way future generations live.
Therefore we are thrilled to announce we are introducing OMEP-UK Early Childhood Education for Sustainable Citizenship (ESC) in our nurseries. We have started by completing a baseline audit and are now encouraging each nursery to achieve its ESC Bronze Award by September 2023.
We have strongly supported the core principles of the OMEP UK Early Childhood Education for Sustainable Citizenship Award scheme, which provides:
- An integrated and holistic approach to sustainability education rather than any sort of curriculum ‘bolt on’.
- An individualised, child-centred SchemaPlay approach offering sustainability experiences that built upon and extended what the children already know and can do.
- Support for parent engagement and the home learning environment.
- A ‘citizenship’ approach that focuses upon what we ‘do’ and how we contribute towards sustainability, rather than simply learning about it.
The OMEP UK Early Childhood Education for Sustainable Development Award process
OMEP UK initially provided training for the Tops regional managers and trainers in 2022, and the Early Childhood Education for Sustainable Citizenship Award initiative was formally launched at Tops Annual Conference in January. All of the Tops settings have had their initial baseline audit and are now working on their actions ahead of their Bronze Award Audit which will be carried out by August 2023.
The audit instrument that is applied by OMEP is one that has been adapted from an education for sustainable development rating scale produced in an international collaboration supported by UNESCO and involving preschools and academics in ten countries. The audit provides a means by which practitioners can identify areas of the curriculum that they wish to develop further, and it also provides a means by which these developments may be recorded, and reported to show progress.
The OMEP Bronze Award will be granted following evidence of the progress that has been made throughout the year.
We need our preschool parent’s help
In order to achieve the Bronze Award we need the parents and primary carers of our preschoolers to engage in the project.
Parents are provided with fun and educational activities for you to work on with your children and the nursery teams with a check on ensuring all our resources and policies are set up for them too. The activities range from the identification and naming of three wild birds, and the identification of wildlife habitats, to the recycling of waste materials, and the recognition of cultural and linguistic diversity. The activities are followed up within the nurseries and provide an additional focus for staff-parent conversations about each child’s progress, their achievements, and their emerging interests and capabilities.
All parents of pre-schoolers are asked to sign up for Thinkific, to support your child to become a more sustainable citizen, learning about and appreciating their natural environment, showing concern and respect, and learning about their local community.
Registration is completely free so please enrol to support your child by clicking the button below…
If you are a parent of a child in preschool, at Tops, please check your emails as we have sent you information on how you can support us.
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