Our reflections on the hygge accreditation.

Hygge In The Early Years Reflective statement

 January 2021

Before starting the Hygge accreditation we knew we wanted to make changes to our practice and we were almost there but we just needed direction and this is exactly what working through it gave us.

One of the first things we reflected on and worked on as a team was our vision and values and our approach and how we would ensure this was embedded throughout our setting. Our vision and values tell our families in a nutshell what we offer. We are a play-based setting, we have high-quality resources that are natural and spark children’s curiosity, we love loose parts and have highly skilled practitioners who follow in the moment planning, which creates a calm environment where learning comes naturally. We have created staff and parent information packs from the accreditation which have helped our families understand our practice. We ensure from day one parents understand we are a child led play-based setting and that the children will work at their own pace and although supported by the staff we will not make them do something they are not ready or interested in, the accreditation gave us the confidence and support to do this.

The accreditation has also made us reflect on our practice personally it has taught us to be much more present ‘’with the children’’ we have slowed down and we now plan using ‘’in the moment planning’’, we feel this has meant we are more ‘’in tune’’ with our children’s needs and interests as they happen. Staff are less stressed and paperwork is less, which gives us more time with our children. The accreditation also has taught us to think about us as staff and not just the children all the time. We have changed our staff room spaces to make them a place to relax and unwind on lunchbreaks, we introduced a fruit bowl and biscuits each week for staff. We added rugs, blankets, diffusers, cushions and fairy lights, and personal pictures to the space, so it feels homely.

We have invested in wellbeing workshops for our staff, they attended wreath making, nature plaster workshops and the whole team had a mindful day exploring seasons, Mandela’s and lose parts on a nurture play course.

As a nursery owner, I am more mindful of ensuring staff’s wellbeing is looked after and try and encourage this is small gestures often, be it a round of coffees and cake, or a summer dinner out, or a walk on a lunch break.

 We have also been very proud of the Hygge changes we have added to our rooms, we have many more authentic resources now, fairy lights, cushions, blankets and a calmer approach. We work a lot more with nature and the seasons and we have lots of seasonal displays and we work outside a huge amount more than we ever did. We particularly enjoyed the wanderlust course. We have implemented nature explorer bags we use often and we have discovered a vast amount of learning can be achieved just by stepping outside into our local community during the different seasons. We have changed the way we teach phonics and now do this as part of our everyday language with the children rather than at set times using phonics flashcards, this has meant that the children have all been able to learn at a pace when they are ready and it just becomes part of our everyday language and practice rather than something we do.

We have realised less is in fact more, we have decluttered and are much more mindful of our resources and what the children actually need and use. We have monitored the children through the Leuven scales and noticed their wellbeing and involvement has become higher, they are calmer and more engaged as the pace is slower and we are in fact not doing so much to interrupt their play.  

Our next steps for future development are that we would like to do more to transform our outside spaces and the learning opportunities our children have in them, including a hammock, shade sail, water wall and extend our loose parts outside. We would like to continue to embed our hygge practice and ensure that all staff including any new staff have a clear understanding of it.

We would like to offer mindful workshops for families to take part in together such as making scented seasonal play-dough, making decorations using what we find on our walks, and story sacks. We are hoping to do this once Covid has lifted.

Please see our photos below: