Case Study: Loose Parts 2017 - 2019

Our Loose Parts projects over the last three years for Early Years in partnership with the Pier Arts Centre has resulted in a clear benefit to some of our youngest learners and has enabled a wider experience for some of our more remote settings. Early years settings have returned from the Pier Arts Centre to develop the Loose Parts approach into a regular activity/way of working, finding that it fosters engagement, focus and creative thinking amongst the children.

In the last year we have successfully delivered the Loose Parts workshops with Glaitness and Papdale nurseries. In 2017 - 2018 we worked with several small settings from the inner isles, this year however we chose to work with a section of children from two of the largest schools, both based in Kirkwall. The project began with a Loose Parts training session with nursery staff at the gallery which enabled us to delve into the theory and for staff to explore the materials themselves. Working with settings from Kirkwall gave lots of children access to the Pier Arts Centre for the first time. During a summer school based in Orkney for Early Years practitioners from Orkney, Shetland and Moray, the Orkney Early Years Teams gave a presentation to the group and this generated interest from other local authorities and from Tina Bruce, a well renowned author on children’s early play and development. The Early Years Team are now looking for ways of continuing the approaches and partnership working with the Pier Arts Centre as the benefit to both the children in terms of their experiences and to staff in terms of developing their knowledge and confidence in delivering creative approaches have been recognised.