The Foundation Stage Forum Community
Welcome to the FSF – a community for early years professionals. Engage in conversations, offer and receive advice and support, make connections. Discover our library of education articles and podcast episodes to enhance your reflective practice. Working together to achieve high-quality early childhood education.
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A day in the life of a childminder
by Doreen Barton
Childminder Doreen Barton describes a typical day full of adventure and love with the children she cares for.
Podcast: Extending our use of creativity to focus on children's well-being
Jules and Anya chat with Sonia Mainstone-Cotton about how we can extend our concepts of creativity to focus on children's well-being and understanding of themselves. They discuss how the language we use and the environments we develop in these creati…
Social Entrepreneur, Speech and Language Therapist, adjunct lecturer a…
In this article, Warda explains why developing advocacy skills is important and shares strategies on how to do it effectively.
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2024 Nov & Dec - Portage Workshop: A small step approach to learning for children with SEND - 2024 Southampton
Portage Workshop: A small step approach to learning for children with SEND - 2024 This two-and-a-half-day course is the basic qualification certificate in the Portage model of teaching. Session Dates (must attend all) Thursday 14 November 2024 9.15am-4pm Civic Centre Friday 15 November 2024 9.15am-4pm Civic Centre Tuesday 10 December 2024 9.30-11am Online session Who should attend? Those who work with the 0-5 year’s age range and are interested in delivering inclusive learning and play activities. It will be of particular relevance to those who hold the Early Years Special Educational Needs coordinator role in the r setting or those who wish to move into this position. It would also be highly beneficial for practitioners looking to further develop their SEND practice and as part of their work support individual children or lead small group work including children with additional needs. You will be able to: Understand the Portage Principles and model of support Use the basic skills to deliver Portage under supervision Apply Portage skills in one’s own workplace Understand the history and local development of Portage Understand the range of materials and resources Develop confidence in working together using the Portage Model Demonstrate awareness of the National Portage Association Southampton maintained schools and Southampton PVI Early Years & Childcare providers Price: £120 Academies, free schools and other organisations Price: £150 -
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2025 Feb Year 6: Reading, Writing and Maths - Southampton
Year 6: Reading, Writing and Maths Friday 7th February 2025 09:00 – 16:00 Venue - Highpoint Delegates will have the opportunity to reflect on maths teaching in Year 6 with a presentation from the Maths Hub, focusing on planning and teaching the different content domains. We will discuss the 2024 reading paper and consider the implications for teaching reading in year 6 as well as unpicking the different question domains that appear within the reading SATs paper. Attendees will have the opportunity to revisit the assessment frameworks for writing and complete standardisation activities, developing teacher confidence in accurate assessment. Delegates will hear from local schools about how they teach English in their settings. Schools will have time to work together, sharing books and best practice. You will Reflect on the implications for teaching ahead of the statutory assessment period Continue to develop the understanding of writing expectations at the end of Key Stage 2 Revisit systems and process for moderation Please bring along the following Exemplification materials for writing Teacher Assessment Framework Examples of pupils’ writing workbooks for pupils on track to achieve WTS, EXS and GDS Fee for training Southampton City Council Maintained Schools: £40 Academies, free schools and other organisations: £45 Refreshments and lunch will be provided. Please ensure you state any allergies or dietary requirements on your booking form. -
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2024 Nov & 2025 Jan - Safeguarding Awareness Recognising and Responding to Abuse (Level 2) - Children and Young People Southampton
Safeguarding Awareness Recognising and Responding to Abuse (Level 2) - Children and Young People This course is essential for people who have regular contact, or periods of intense but irregular, contact with children and young people to ensure that those working with children and young people understand and know how to safeguard children and how to respond when they suspect abuse. For further information click HERE Session dates Thursday 7 November 2024 - 9am to 4pm - Virtual Tuesday 14 January 2025 - 9am to 4pm - Civic Centre Fee for training Southampton City Council Maintained Schools: £40 Subsidised price for Southampton PVI Early Years & Childcare providers and voluntary organisations: £35 Academies, free schools and other organisations: £50 -
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2024 Nov & Dec - Designated Safeguarding Lead Update (Level 3) - Southampton
Designated Safeguarding Lead Update (Level 3) The course offers existing DSLs the opportunity to receive additional updates in the interim period between attending statutory training. For further information click HERE Session Dates Tuesday 5 November 2024 - 9am to 4pm - Civic Centre Wednesday 11 December 2024 - 9am to 4pm - Civic Centre For more dates click HERE Fee for training Southampton City Council Maintained Schools: £99 Subsidised price for Southampton PVI Early Years & Childcare providers and voluntary organisations: £77 Academies, free schools and other organisations: £115. -
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2024 Nov & 2025 Jan & March - Designated Safeguarding Lead for Education Settings (Level 3) Southampton
Designated Safeguarding Lead for Education Settings (Level 3) This course will offer delegates the opportunity to develop their skills, knowledge and understanding to perform this role. Southampton City Council training includes bespoke local safeguarding updates from professional experts in their subject areas to respond to safeguarding issues within the local context. For further information click HERE Session dates NEW Virtual Session across multiple dates - must attend all 18th, 19th, 25th and 26th November - 9am to 1pm Tuesday 28 and Wednesday 29 January 2025 - 9am to 4pm - Civic Centre Wednesday 5 and Thursday 6 March 2025 - 9am to 4pm - Civic Centre Fee for training Southampton City Council Maintained Schools: £180 Subsidised price for Southampton PVI Early Years & Childcare providers and voluntary organisations: £115 Academies, free schools and other organisations: £215 -
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The importance of reflection in relation to professional development.
Hi, my name is Joe Carreyett and I am near completion of the level 3 Early Years Educator qualification with Learndirect. I am a qualified musician and am wanting to combine my love of music with early years education. I am hoping to train as a Music Therapist in the future. As part of my final module I have been signposted to this forum to discuss theoretical prospectives in relation to reflective practice. I have learned that reflective practice is the process of re-evaluating oneself in order to progress and achieve personal goals. Theorist John Dewy has suggested that it is a ‘ complex, rigorous, intellectual, and emotional enterprise that takes time to do well’. Whilst Gibbs has advised that by using a model which goes through the following stages: ‘description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusions and action plan’, ensures that the participant slows down their thoughts in order to critically evaluate themselves and make important decisions regarding how they are going to progress effectively. I feel at the beginning of my studies I was anxious to get through my modules and I maybe was not critical enough in my evaluation of areas where I needed to improve, and also I was not confident in my successes. By gaining more experience and underpinning knowledge I have been able to see the value in taking time to reflect on my experiences both personal and professional that have impacted on my work. This has given me the necessary building blocks to ensure that I am still on the right career pathway and/or show me other avenues I could explore. I agree with Dewy that it is a complex process, and lots of factors both externally and within your job role can affect your drive and commitment both to yourself and to others. It is important, I feel, that time is given within the workplace for self-evaluation. Within my setting staff supervision and appraisals are processes which provide some opportunities for reflection in a more formalised way. However I think that informal reflection is also beneficial. For example, I suggested that maybe all members of the team had a personal diary which they could complete with comments, ideas, how they are feeling about something which is being practiced within the setting or external influences which may be affecting them at the time. These diaries would be confidential to the participant, and 30 minutes would be given every week during work time for them to be completed. Then if they chose they could discuss points included in their personal diary during staff meetings, or personally with management if appropriate. By writing things down, even if the participant decides not to share this information with others it enables them to evaluate themselves and their own personal practice, which in itself will provide analysis and conclusions which will support their practice moving forward. This I feel is beneficial to the setting as a whole, and therefore the time given for this process is justified. Do any of your settings follow a similar process? Thank you for your contributions. Joe -
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Multi Factor Authentication
Managers can now enable MFA for all managers, all staff, and/or all relatives from within the control panel. Provided that the user’s email is secure and available, this can help to prevent a stolen or guessed password from being used to access a Tapestry account. Once enabled, when a user first logs in with their email and password, they will be emailed an authentication code that they must enter in order to continue with their login. They will need to complete the process of receiving and entering a code every 30 days and whenever they login from a new IP address. Note PIN only users cannot receive an emailed code, but do still need a staff or manager user to fully log in and switch user before they can access Tapestry using their PIN. Our 'How to use MFA' tutorial explains how to enable MFA on your account: -
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iOS 5.2.1.
We have released another update for iphone and ipad users. This is another very small update without any new features, but it should improve your overall experience with the app.
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