I was lucky to be part of a group of ten head teachers from Bath who visited Prague on an International Placement organised by the British Council. The aim of the visit was to focus on quality early years provision and gain an overview of the Czech education system. Being based in the beautiful city of Prague was wonderful in itself, with so many amazing buildings to see. We did a lot of walking in our spare time as well as being given a guided tour of the city on our first full day.

Children in the Czech Republic do not start formal schooling until the September after their 6th birthday and was linked with a small nursery school (Materska Skola Adelka) for children aged 3 to 6 years in the town of Nymburk some 30km from Prague. It is a delightful school with a very strong caring ethos towards the individual child so I felt that there was much we had in common but also much to learn from their early years curriculum. The head teacher, Jana, is a sports specialist and this an area in which the nursery specialises with daily gymnastics lessons for all the children. They also spend a week away skiing each year !!

The photographs show the City of Prague, Materska Skola Adelka, the basic school in Nymburk (ages 6 to 15), another nursery school in Nymburk, a nursery on the outskirts of Prague with an ecological theme and a primary school in Prague.

On the final day the group was invited to tea with the British Ambassador to the Czech Republic and we were entertained in the embassy building in the historic Prague Castle area of the city.

Hopefully the heads from Prague will be able to make a return visit here in June.