On 8^th of January, 2019, the first EYFS training course run by the British International Education Association E-League project team was successfully concluded in Shenzhen. This training course lasted for 4 days and was attended by a group of early years educators who were interested in new teaching ideas and the intentional development of British early years education. The course was led by Ms Sharron Fogarty, BIEA’s E-League Teaching and Research Director who has been named as an “Outstanding” inspector by the British Education Standards Institute. She started the course with a basic run-through of EYFS in the UK and then led the teachers through the current status of adoption of EYFS in China.

During the four-day training teachers learned the basic content of the “EYFS Programme Document”. Under the leadership of Sharron, they learned the relationship between EYFS games and learning, how EYFS games promote children’s independent learning, and how that ties into the key message of the EYFS system. Sharron also explained the role of the key person system and how the design of the learning environment is involved in many important aspects of the field and to successful learning outcomes.

Sharron gave a lecture on the various problems faced by EYFS adoption raised by students and elements of the cultural differences between China and the UK which could cause complication. This kind of theoretical learning combined with games that reflected the practical problems of EYFS implementation was welcomed by the teachers.

When talking to the teachers about their thoughts of the training, a teacher from a private nursery in Xi’an commented that; “I have benefited a lot from attending this training class. Sharron is very professional and her lecture was very interesting. The organizers also provided us with the corresponding textbooks to facilitate our preview and review. I am now eager to go back to share and discuss the adoption plan with the director.”

The recognition given by the trainees for the quality of the training session has given the BIEA E-league team confidence and motivation to continue to provide British early years education support to teachers who are in China and looking to adopt EYFS in their own settings. We look forward to providing the second phase of the EYFS training in March which will bring more in-depth and practical EYFS knowledge to early-years education practitioners.