Early Vision nursery equipment

Oak House Nursery School, located just outside Ross at Brampton Abbotts, was rated 'outstanding' in its last Ofsted report. But it's not just the wide and imaginative range of activities, including a multi-sensory room, that sets this highly regarded establishment apart. The nursery school has created an offshoot company, Early Vision, producing role-play resources for young children that are now sold throughout the world.

The company is run by Oliver Marshall - whose mother Sue is the Nursery Head - and includes DVDs, CD ROMs, play packs, puppets and dressing-up outfits in its range. 'The idea really came from not being able to take children out on visits,' says Oliver. 'Children are spending more time in nursery - you've got two parents working to pay a big mortgage so children don't tend to go out and see as much as maybe they used to, and there are also all the health and safety considerations involved in taking young children out on visits these days. So we thought perhaps we could bring the real world in to them - we started with little films of nearby locations and it just grew from there. '

The settings for Early Vision's films include a café, garage, travel agent, airport, police station, vet, Italian restaurant and Chinese take-away among many others, and the project involves extensive filming in the local community - 46 different locations at last count. 'We've filmed the postman, the greengrocer and the estate agents and roped in various friends and family,' he says. 'Half of Ross are in our films in one form or another. We were filming at the fire station in Gloucester last week.'

All of the disc reproduction is done in-house and the DVDs are sold to thousands of schools as far afield as Europe, the US, Brazil, Australia and South Korea. Business comes fromexhibitions and conferences as well as articles in the education trade press, where the products are frequently commended and shortlisted for awards. 'We use them to teach little children about the world around them so they can role-play with knowledge and understanding,' he says. 'Their play extends their learning across the whole curriculum through writing lists, speaking on the phone, weighing goods and learning about different trades and occupations. We also get lots of feedback about how well they support children with special needs who can't always get out and about and also those who are learning English as an additional language.'

The connection with the nursery means the resources are completely in sync with educational developments as they happen - indeed, one of the government's latest initiatives is for primary children to learn about worthwhile occupations. 'According to current research, a high percentage say they don't need to do lessons because they're going to be footballers, WAGs, or X Factor stars anyway,' he says. 'So this is the perfect resource - it's about informing children that there are real jobs out there, not just celebrities.'

Herefordshire Education Authority has been extremely supportive, says Oliver, and feedback from teachers overwhelming positive. 'It's been amazing. Teachers in early years education are really passionate about what they do - they have to be because there's not much money in it!

'It's a very simple idea that's been massively well-received and is pretty well transferable to any country, although obviously there are some limitations in terms of language and cultures,' he continues. 'Some of our titles have been translated into Welsh and the plan is to re-film some titles in Australian locations next year to make them more relevant for that market.Lots of people make software and resources for the education market but they're mostly based on cartoon images as opposed to the real world, so they aren't as meaningful to the children.'

Despite the runaway success of Early Vision, the day-to-day focus remains the nursery school, which employs more than 20 staff and is attended by around 65 children every day. 'The nursery is a fantastic testing ground for all our resources,' he says. 'We like to practice what we preach.'