By the time they are five, Scotland’s least advantaged children will be 18 months behind in vocabulary and 13 months behind in problem solving skills compared to their most advantaged peers. A playful, open-ended approach to the arts can be instrumental in transforming the lives of those children.

Join the Starcatchers team for a day of practical training and discussion as we explore the role practitioners can play in helping to close the equity gap using a creative, playful approach to the arts. Andy Cannon will share some of the learning from Talking Tales, Starcatchers’ pilot project looking at playful ways to explore language and support language development with children aged 0-3 using stories and storytelling, and will be joined by Dr.Rachel Drury, who will explore the role music and the arts have in child development.

This training is aimed at Early Years practitioners from across sectors who have previously taken part in the Creative Skills Programme and assumes a working knowledge of creative, open-ended approaches to the arts in early years. We hope it will be an excellent opportunity for practitioners from across the country to meet and share practice, be inspired and gain new practical skills.