Joggy Bear fun for nursery children

First Steps Nursery welcomed Lizzie Webb, founder of The Joggy Bear Education Programme, to Chichester College on Monday morning.
Lizzie and Joggy Bear lead the classLizzie and Joggy Bear lead the class
Lizzie and Joggy Bear lead the class

Lizzie, who has a regular morning spot on a popular breakfast show in the 1980s and 90s, held an energetic Joggy Bear class for 12 children aged three and four.

Sue Carpenter, senior childcare manager at First Steps, said: “Our children were very excited to take part. It was a lovely extension to the learning they have been enjoying at nursery with a focus on numbers and phonics and it was wonderful to see their confidence build over the session. They especially enjoyed learning the Joggy Bear song with all of the actions!”

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The Joggy Bear Education programme, featuring a fun, six foot bear, is for pupils in the Early Years Foundation Stage and Key Stage One and supports the National Curriculum. This multisensory programme enables children to acquire knowledge with physical movement, focusing on literacy, numeracy and personal development.

The children 'thoroughly enjoyed the session'The children 'thoroughly enjoyed the session'
The children 'thoroughly enjoyed the session'

Lizzie’s visit to Chichester was not only an opportunity for the nursery children to experience and enjoy the innovative programme but a really interesting learning opportunity for some of the college’s students who observed the class and were able to ask Lizzie and her team questions about their teaching technique.

Following her time with the nursery children, Lizzie and her team joined Sam Cooke, group director of Maths and English at Chichester College, to share their teaching technique with a group of older students.

Sam said: “It has been an incredible afternoon with Lizzie and her team. The students were slightly anxious about participating in a times-table challenge but Lizzie quickly settled their nerves. It soon became clear that the students’ confidence was rapidly growing throughout the session. They were active and learning and left with a far better knowledge of their seven and eight times tables which was impressive in just a one hour session. One student said that he felt much more able to answer the maths question at the end of the session compared to at the start.

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“After our experiences with Lizzie and her team today, we will certainly be including more active activities in our maths lessons. Our students thoroughly enjoyed the session and are more confident as a result of the experience.”

Lizzie said: “The Joggy Bear Education team thoroughly enjoyed their visit to Chichester College. The response and enthusiasm from the participating children was excellent and we hope they will continue to enjoy their experience of “learning on the move” with all the activities they learned today with their teachers at Chichester College.”