Meet our Assistant Head Pre-Prep, Natasha Fyfe, and discover her view of Early Years education.

When I ask Natasha Fyfe, Westonbirt’s new Assistant Head Pre-Prep, to sum up her three key ingredients for the perfect education, she smiles, shakes her head and says she’s going to struggle to keep it to three. “A happy and safe environment,’ she starts. That’s the foundation. Nothing else works if that isn’t in place.”

“Next would be, every child should be able to learn in that space, regardless of their skills or their style of learning. My third… an environment that encourages independence and curiosity. Things can be taught anywhere and everywhere. Here for instance,’ she waves a hand towards the view over Westonbirt’s gorgeous grounds, ’What an opportunity for learning that is!”

You can’t help but like Natasha. Easy warmth and enthusiasm are underpinned by an air of calm competence. Her career to date (of which more later) also reveals a spirit of adventure which surely has potential for a school standing in such as fairytale setting. A lively curiosity of all things Early Years continues to motivate her to develop her academic understanding, and she draws on research and the most current thinking when she talks.

As predicted, she fails to limit her ideas to three. “Reading!” she exclaims, “There should be a strong culture of reading, for adults and children. For pleasure; a real love of reading.”

While my question was really just an ice breaker, focusing on the essential ingredients of an Early Years education could not be more relevant than right now, when Westonbirt Prep is in the midst of exciting change and development. With Head Rebecca Mitchell a year in post, work is well underway on a new build to transform the Prep’s learning spaces. And what an opportunity to challenge thinking on what the ideal classroom should look like and contain! Everything about the physical environment must be planned to support the learning that will take place in countless small, fizzing brains.

Nowhere, Natasha points out, is this more vital than among the school’s youngest children. “The Early Years stage is fundamental to a child’s development – children with a strong foundation at five years do better at GCSEs and A-Levels. We are setting them up for success way into the future.”

Natasha cut her teaching teeth in London, but when her then boyfriend (now husband) was offered a teaching job in China, she grabbed the opportunity, and took a role at Hurtwood House Shanghai. The biggest adventure was still to come, when she was invited to develop the Kindergarten (Year 1 and below) of brand-new Wickham Abbey, Chagzhou. “I was setting up classrooms, building the curriculum, developing policies. It was quite a challenge to manage all the processes and systems, but an amazing learning opportunity for me, and I was allowed to try all sorts of new ideas.” With a starting roll of 400 children, the school had grown to 550 by the time she and her husband decided to move back home.

Applying for jobs when you’re not in the country is a challenge, but after reading her application, Head Rebecca Mitchell was happy for Natasha to go through the process remotely. “It was amazing. I got such a good feeling about the school even though I hadn’t actually set foot in it. I just thought it was worth the risk.” Rebecca thought the same, and offered Natasha the job.

Arriving at Westonbirt, Natasha immediately saw how engaged the Early Years staff were, with a great Head of Nursery already in place. “It’s exciting to be arriving at a point when so much is happening. Rebecca has a strong vision for the Prep School and there are amazing opportunities, such potential.”

Within Rebecca’s vision, Natasha’s objective is to create a properly designed curriculum for the youngest children, matching the sophistication and nuance that you would expect for much older students, but rooted in play.

“Children play naturally. But it’s never just playing. Play is a vehicle for learning in the early years. Children need to be active, exploring, engaged, motivated to learn about the world around them.”

Natasha advocates for continuous provision, where resources are available at all times and children can access and use them in whatever way they want. “Children are not just sitting listening to the teacher; they are trying new ideas and experiencing the outcomes for themselves. It’s sneaky learning; learning without knowing. All the research shows that understanding becomes embedded much more quickly this way.”

It is worth clarifying that free play is not just about letting children loose and leaving them to get on with it. It may feel that way to the child, but there is an invisible structure behind it, and the role of the adult in scaffolding learning is critical. Staff watch for opportunities to augment a child’s experience, to pose challenging questions, develop their vocabulary and language skills, and suggest how they might take something to the next level.

“Brand-new, purpose-built classrooms will allow us to set up an amazing space to support this type of learning, where children fully engage. We can choose resources that target the skills they need to develop, and concepts they need to learn. That’s how they get the deeper level of understanding, and also how they build independence, resilience, problem solving, critical thinking. These are the skills which will enable them to be successful wherever their individual interests and talents lie.”

It is fascinating listening to Natasha talk; her ambitious plans to deliver the optimal experience to the children in her care, the focus on long-term outcomes for these children who are only just starting out on their education. Much of what she is setting out to do will be invisible to the pupils and their parents; the preparation, staff training, development of the curriculum and the style in which it is delivered. These cogs and wheels that underpin each child’s education are not on display, but they all combine to fulfil those three vital elements of an outstanding Early Years education – a safe and happy environment, the flexibility that allows every child to learn in their own way, and an environment that encourages independence and curiosity. (And a love of reading!)