It is self-evident that, given a group of very active young children and four walls within which to contain them, certain decisions have to be made fairly rapidly: what happens, where it happens, and when seem to be the most obviously pressing. When and how does differentiation come into play? Is it only when making decisions about grouping the…

This article first appeared in FORUM, Volume 46, Number 1, 2004, pp.19-23, and appears now as a tribute to the late Annabelle Dixon. In this article Annabelle looks at the nature, potential and changing character of the spaces provided for younger children in present day schools from the viewpoint of an Early Years teacher. In typically elegant…

That young children need space seems an unsurprising statement. So unsurprising that it scarcely needs further examination, to say nothing of further thought. But what is really meant by "space" when considered in the context of young children in school and their developing needs? Various studies have mostly described the actual physical spaces…