This paper presents selected findings from a questionnaire completed by 509 primary school teachers in Scotland. Drawing on policy enactment theory, the paper focusses on teachers' personal experiences of physical education and perceptions of the importance of physical education in their schools. More than half (56%) reported that physical…

The benefit the outdoor environment has for young children's development is widely documented. However, there is less literature outlining practitioners' experiences of assessing learning in the outdoors and factors which impact the level and quality of assessments undertaken. This study, based on a pragmatic mixed methods approach, undertaken in…

This research explores the impact of the Reading Education Assistance Dogs (READ) scheme on reading engagement and motivation among Early Years Foundation-Stage children using a case study approach at a primary school in the English Midlands. There is a notable lack of UK-based research into the READ scheme, which offers a potential alternative…

In a climate where, it is claimed, children now spend very little time out of doors because adults fear for their safety and impose a "zero risk childhood" on them, Forest School aims to offer learners the opportunity to take "supported risks". This study investigated perceptions of risk associated with the outdoors, held by…

This study aims to consider children's perspectives about free time activity choices. Through the use of drawings, favourite free time activities of third culture kids in Albania are compared with those of children in the UK. The sample comprises four boys and three girls from four to eight years from each country. Further conversations reveal…

The Forest School approach to Early Years education, originally developed in Scandinavia, is influencing learning outside the classroom in England. An inner city primary school in Yorkshire investigated the nature and purpose of Forest Schools in Denmark, through a study visit, prior to developing their own Forest School in the midst of an urban…

School partnerships to manage transition between primary and secondary settings are well developed. However, studies show that some aspects of transition in Modern Languages leave much to be desired, as mentioned in a recently published report on KS3 provision ([Office for Standards in Education. 2015. "KS3: The Wasted Years?"…

Sustained shared thinking (SST) has been identified in the Teachers Standards (Early Years) (2013) as contributing to good progress and outcomes by children. In this paper, I define SST and discuss the outcomes of a study of practitioners' understandings of SST, its challenges and benefits. Writing frames, questionnaires and focus group interviews…

This research examines the perceptions of education practitioners to the proposed changes to the school sport partnership (SSP) programme in England and in particular its implications for primary school physical education. It aims to explore insights into the dismantling of this partnership programme. The SSP system developed club links, increased…

This research describes and evaluates the application of a child-led approach to scientific enquiry (the Community of Scientific Enquiry, CoSE) to children aged 8-11 (Key Stage 2) in Northern Ireland. Primary teachers were introduced to CoSE at a workshop and asked to evaluate its implementation with their class. Results from children (n = 364)…

In the Storyline approach, a fictive world is created in the classroom, with learners working in small groups, taking on the role of characters in a story. The story develops as they work on a range of tasks which integrate the practical and theoretical content of the curriculum. This article reports on a study based on the syllabus for English,…

India is a democratic, socialistic republic that is committed to providing high quality elementary education to all children. This research paper examines and analyses the effects of school, teacher and home factors on learning outcomes in elementary schools in the urban slum areas of Varanasi city and assesses the learning outcomes of students of…

Some methodological issues are discussed that arise from our comparative research conducted since the early 1990s into primary schooling in Finland and England. This research has been identified as part of a "new" comparative education that uses qualitative research strategies and which prioritises sensitivity to cultural context in data…

This article reports on the findings of a recent qualitative grounded theory research study in a metropolitan area in the south-east of Canada examining one junior/senior kindergarten classroom's engagement with nature. It focuses on the role of the learners, the children and the teacher, in co-constructing two very different learning experiences.…

In Taiwan, English was only officially taught at the secondary and tertiary levels before 2001. Since 2001, English courses have been formally incorporated into the curriculum in primary schools. Research on teaching and assessing English in primary school education is relatively new compared with research on other levels of education in Taiwan.…