Case study: Sandra Mathers, A+ Education

Who are you and what do you do?

• I am head of the URLEY research team (University of Oxford, A+ Education Ltd, University of London)

Which products are you using?

Play & Learning at School

Event & Time Sampling

How do you use them?

• As part of a professional development programme with nursery and reception class teachers. Using Research tools to improve Language in the Early Years (URLEY) is based on the use of research tools as a framework to support self-evaluation and quality improvement, with the aim of improving children’s language skills and personal, social and emotional development. We are being funded to provide the programme by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) as part of a large-scale randomised controlled trial, testing whether the programme is effective in improving children’s outcomes.

What problem did using Siren’s products solve for you?

• Finding DVD footage of really high quality adult-child interactions is really difficult! Siren films are always of the highest quality; and the DVDS we use as part of URLEY have provided us with examples of the extended pedagogical interactions we need to demonstrate the language learning principles which underpin our programme . The teachers on our course have really connected with and been inspired by Becky from the ‘Playing and Learning at School’ DVD and the warm, respectful interactions she has with her class. One teacher told us that her main aim following the training day was to be ‘a bit more Becky!’

Would you recommend us to a colleague?

• Yes