For this assignment one will be discussing and outlining three chosen learning and teaching strategies and telling of the way in which they are utilised within education settings by education professionals, such as teachers and learning support assistants. One will be outlining the way in which the three chosen strategies are put into practice within the education setting in which one works. The education setting is a primary school, with ages ranging from ‘Flying Start’ age up to KS2 age. The setting also has an on-site Special Educational Needs centre, which is made up of children of a wide age range. One will be majorly focusing the discussion on the environment in which one is involved with daily, within the early years foundation phase (EYFP) or alternatively known as, reception class, which is collectively made up of children aged four to five years. 
The three strategies that one has chosen that support beneficial learning and teaching within the early years foundation phase are the most commonly used learning and teaching strategies throughout the vast majority of all early year’s settings. These strategies or specialised learning styles are: Kinaesthetic learning, Visual learning and Auditory learning, as a collective these learning styles and strategies are extremely beneficial to the early years foundation phase, most importantly the setting in which one works, as the strategies maintain the way in which young children learn and develop very rapidly. Kinaesthetic, Visual and Auditory learning styles are the most commonly utilised and widely known within all education settings from early years foundation phase right up to further education settings as they complement each other well and are extremely beneficial practical strategies (R. Drury).
Within all education settings, children need to be focused within their environment and it is essential that they become increasingly familiar and comfortable within their daily surroundings. The key focus on learning is maintained through the inclusive space provided for learning and ultimately the way in which activities are taught and delivered by the class teacher and how this is then supported by both teaching and learning support assistants. Within the early years foundation phase classroom in which one is involved with daily as a learning support assistant, the classroom is extremely modern and is very large in size, in comparison to many older school buildings. The great accessibility to space is utilised very well by the classroom teacher, with many stations including a variety of topic themed activities spread out around the classroom, allowing multiple opportunities to hourly offer kinaesthetic, visual and auditory learning both within the classroom and in specialised outdoor learning areas that surround the school. Providing a Maria Montessori style approach to the classroom. These learning styles enable all children to be engaged whilst instructions are being delivered and throughout the course of the learning activities. This is extremely beneficial within the early years foundation phase as learning tasks are matched to learners, enabling children to ‘learn about learning’ (C. Watkins).  
The provided opportunity for children to learn about their own learning increases engagement with both teaching staff and other children, allows positivity to be created within the classroom, allows children to activate their prior knowledge when giving feedback about certain activities undertaken and ultimately preparing children for their future of learning and understanding in a wide variety of settings (C. Watkins). These chosen learning strategies are keen ways to motivate young children into developing their personal learning, through active learning opportunities.
Kinaesthetic, visual and auditory learning strategies allow the early years class teacher to meet a wider range of learners, both delivering to the class as whole or in smaller groups and ultimately allowing the children to feel in control and in charge of their own learning, which is extremely important for children within early years foundation phase (University of Leicester). 
Children within the early years foundation phase are very familiar to routine and rituals which occur daily. Within the class in which one is involved with, lessons are delivered with relevant, simplistic language from both the class teacher and learning support assistants, this is often then supported by the use of visuals or audio clips on the electronic whiteboard. Many lessons incorporate song and rhyme with lots of actions and repetitions, supporting language learning as very often these are many children’s first attempts at copying and sequencing. This allows of all three learning preferences to interact and engage within the lesson and activities and allowing all children to be included and knowing how each child learns individually (R. Drury & L. Robertson).
Children who are kinaesthetic learners within the early years foundation phase require a relevant curriculum and a class teacher who can implement it well to enable the maintaining of focus. The kinesthetic children within the class are the active and physical members. The children learn best by engaging in physical activities which are undertaken both inside and outside of the classroom to provide enhanced opportunities for the children, such as within the outdoor construction area, the sensory garden or the mud kitchen. 
At present within the classroom, the children are learning about the story of ‘The Three Little Pigs’ and the classroom environment has been transformed to allow all lessons and areas to be surrounding the same theme, such as mathematics, literacy, topic and free choosing time. The ‘small world/tuff tray’ area allows children to rein act and re tell the story to other children in the group, using finger puppets and raw materials such as Lego bricks, straw and sticks. The children are able to use the materials to re tell the story. There is also the playdough area, where children have instruction mats with pictures telling them what to make, such as recreating the characters from the story of the three little pigs or making the various materials used to build the houses mentioned in the story, allowing the children to be in charge of their own creations. Kinasthetic learning provides children with an opportunity to play and explore in a controlled way. Teachers and learning support assistants can guide the children non-verbally through demonstrating an alternative idea, allowing the children to think deeper (R. Drury & L. Robertson). 
Children that are the visual learners within the class, retain information well when presented with images and pictures. Throughout education settings it is noted that visual learners recognise and remember numbers and letters with greater ease in comparison to their peers (R. Drury & L .Robertson). Within the early years class in which one assists with, children who learn more effectively through using visuals have benefitted greatly from having the opportunity to use the IPads to watch an animated story of the three little pigs. Key relevant information has also been placed around the classroom, such as numbers one to twenty, which also holds the theme of pigs, ultimately still focusing on the theme of ‘The Three Little Pigs’. The visual learners within the class also benefit from work and key information being on display around the classroom. The classroom have also incorporated actions and gestures for certain key words or phrases, such as when the class teacher or a member of support staff raises their arm in the air, it is a signal for silence, which has been grasped very quickly by the visual members of the classroom. The class teacher and support assistants have also incorporated sign language when communicating with the children in the classroom, which has had an extremely positive on their individual learning. ‘Read, Write, Inc’ is a beneficial aspect of visual learning for children within the early years foundation phase, as the children have the opportunity to learn letters and sounds through using pictures on flash cards. 
Auditory learning incorporated within the early years foundation phase curriculum is essential. Within the early years class in which one is associated with, as previously highlighted, all children have the opportunity to explore and understand their classroom environment and explore their active learning styles. The class teacher and support staff adhere to utilising simplistic and relevant language at all times, using a variety of tones when delivering information, enabling listening to be much easier and interesting for all children whilst keeping them completely focused on the learning task, limiting any barriers to learning. The class teacher also uses a ‘repeat back to me’ method, in which the children re-tell any instructions back to the teacher, therefore allowing children a second chance to listen and understand. 
The class have been re-telling the story of the little pig as a collective, with help from the class teacher becoming less and less, the children understand that the words have physical actions and each character in the story has a different tone of voice. The children also have the opportunity to listen to the story of ‘The Three Little Pigs’ using headphones the IPads, providing them with the opportunity to listen to the story in many more ways. The majority of the lessons and activities incorporate song and rhyme, allowing visuals learners to learn through their preferred method of learning (University of Leicester).
 The use of kinesthetic, visual and auditory learning strategies within the early years foundation phase allows the class teacher and learning support assistants to observe the children in lesson activities and also during activities which the children have chosen themselves during their own free ‘choice’ opportunities, this enables teaching staff to view which learning style suits which individual child best and how the learning strategies can be incorporated within each lesson in order for each child to gain the best possible outcome from their learning, through the way in which they have understood the instructions and tasks set. These three learning strategies have been told of how they work effectively both in small and large groups, both working well for the class teacher and the children, as learning and retaining information has been extremely effective for the majority of the children of the class. 


References
Drury, R & Robertson, L. Https:// www.naldic.org.uk ‘Strategies For Early Years Practitioners.’ [Accessed October 2017]
Gray, C & MacBlain, S. 2012; ‘Learning Theories in Childhood’. Sage Publications: London. 
Hunt, C. 2017: ‘Lecture 1 Notes’. University of Wales Trinity Saint David.
Hunt, C. 2017: ‘Lecture 2 Notes’. University of Wales Trinity Saint David.
Hunt, C. 2017: ‘Lecture 3 Notes’. University of Wales Trinity Saint David.
Keenan, T & Evans, S. 2009: ‘An Introduction to Child Development’. Sage Publications: London.
University Of Leicester. Https://www.2.le.ac.uk ‘Effective Teaching Strategies’ [Accessed October 2017]
Watkins, C. 2000: ‘Learning About Learning – Resources For Effective Learning’. Routledge: London.