Realising the Ambition: Being Me builds upon the original principles and philosophy of Pre-Birth to 3 and Building the Ambition. The new guidance retains the relevant content from the previous guidance which it replaces, extending and strengthening it in line with current research and evidence about how children develop and learn.

This refreshed early years national practice guidance for Scotland presents key information about the characteristics of child development based on research and evidence.

In essence, ‘Realising the Ambition: Being Me’ increases expectations of high quality but still provides the necessary support for all who work in the early years sector and beyond.

Explore this resource

High quality provision consists of many different interconnected aspects. The imagery of tartan has been used in the guidance to remind us of the uniqueness of our Scottish context – with each section seen as an interconnected thread contributing to the whole piece. Although each section has been developed so it can be used in any order to meet different needs and different contexts, we must always be mindful of this bigger picture.

The terms of ‘when I am a baby’, ‘when I am a toddler’ and ‘when I am a young child’ have been used to illustrate developmental needs over time – but these should not be seen as rigid lines of progression. All babies and young children develop their individual skills, knowledge and attributes at different rates according to who they are. The guidance can be used to support children with more complex needs by taking this into account.

The guidance can be used individually, or in short informal group settings where practitioners have time to come together, or as part of a more substantial CPL programme. We would recommend that at points of transition between ELC and primary school, the guidance can be used by designated staff working together to promote a clear understanding of curriculum progression and continuity in children’s learning and development.

Please note that the link to the Leuven scales on page 50 is no longer live. Alternative links are provided in the ‘Related links’ section below.

Challenge questions

The Challenge Questions PowerPoint contains suggested challenge questions for each section of Realising the ambition: Being me.

Webinars

Our live Realising the Ambition sessions have already been delivered to thousands of early years educators across Scotland. We now have a recorded version available to enable you to share or recap on the themes.

1. Realising the Ambition overview part 1 discusses the guiding principles and the importance of the imagery used in the guidance.
2. Realising the Ambition overview part 2 looks at pedagogy in practice and transitions.
3. Realising the Ambition Overview for Childminders was produced in partnership with the Scottish Childminding Association.