1.       Putting children at the centre

The political conversation about the early years sector is led by a focus on enabling parents/carers to work. For families, balancing the economics of working and having children is a daily - and worrying - consideration. Phrases such as ‘free childcare’ are designed to make them listen. But where are the children in this discussion? Putting children at the centre of policy making would change the conversation – and society’s perception of early childhood education.

2.       Supply that meets demand

While the government is phasing in 30 hours of ‘free childcare’ for every child over the age of 9 months with working parents by September 2025, we have early years settings closing at record rates and a recruitment crisis. The Spring Budget did include a ‘token offer’ (Neil Leitch, CEO of the Early Years Alliance) to encourage more childminders into the sector,  but this is unlikely to provide significant extra capacity. So even if families are eligible for funded places, there may not be a place available for their child. Meaning that those who could work may still not be able to – and it remains women who are impacted most by putting their work on hold, or leaving it completely, to do the parenting. Developing a policy which ensured supply met demand would positively impact children, women, and the early years sector workforce.

3.       Closing the gap

There’s no such thing as a free lunch, and the same could be said of ‘free childcare’ - there are terms and conditions. Entitlement to the new 30 hours funding offer remains linked to adults in the household working for at least 16 hours per week. So children in non-working families continue to be unable to access this ‘free childcare’. These are the children who may well benefit the most from the extra provision. Rolling out the 30 hours offer to younger children, with the same terms and conditions as the previous funding, deepens disadvantage. What would happen if we had entitlement to funded places for all children? A policy that could contribute to closing the gap for disadvantaged children.

4.       Language and status

Throughout the Spring Budget (and beyond) the word ‘childcare’ is used. This continues to move political and public perception of the early years sector away from ‘education’. It devalues this most crucial developmental period in a child’s life, one that influences their future. And it devalues the roles of all those who work with our youngest children. Language is a powerful thing. If our politicians led the way and used terms such as ‘early childhood education’, this change in language would raise the status of the Early Years.

5.       High quality provision for all children

The Chancellor confirmed a change to child ratios for 2 year olds in early years settings, from 1:4 to 1:5 staff to children, with the upper limit being ‘optional’. An ‘optional’ reduction in the required number of children to staff could lead to greater negative impact for children from disadvantaged families. And there was no mention of further training and qualifications of our dedicated early years workforce to enable early years professionals to provide high quality early childhood education with potentially fewer adults. Nor was there mention of improving pay, which would recognise the knowledge and skills required to provide that high quality provision and increase recruitment and retention of the sector workforce. Imagine the impact if politicians understood the formula: improved qualifications + recognition through pay = high quality early childhood education for all children.

By Jules Mickelburgh 

This includes having the right skills to feel confident with finances in later life, including finding the best mortgage deal or savings rate.

Prime Minister, The Rt Hon Rishi Sunak MP, January 2023

When the above announcement was made, it was met with a mixed response. On the surface of it, it could be a good idea. However, for it to be a success, it needs adequate funding, it needs teachers who have the right training to deliver these lessons, and it also needs to have clear objectives.

Children are introduced to maths from an early age, through learning songs like “5 Little Ducks” and experiencing engaging activities based in real-life problem-solving situations that help them grasp what a number is. As they go through school, they then develop their maths skills and learn new ways of manipulating numbers so that they can become confident mathematicians. However, for some children this doesn’t always work out as expected, and their confidence in maths - and working with numbers later as an adult - can suffer because of this. The effects of this “numeracy illiteracy” is that there are some adults who are unsure about things that may influence their daily life, such as budgeting, or the effects of interest rate changes on saving and loan accounts, all of which can lead to other social problems. Would giving a bigger focus to “real life maths” in the lessons taught in school help break the stigma that it’s ok not to be good at maths, because you don’t need it once you leave school?

Research by Ofsted has shown that there is a varied approach to teaching maths in schools, and that this has partly resulted in a wide attainment gap forming between the low and high achievers in maths in England. If this is the case for the first 16 years of a child’s life, then how does subjecting them to a further 2 years of compulsory maths help provide them with the support they need? This is where the clear objectives of this plan and how it will be implemented need to be addressed and shared, so that students are not expected to continue with the same work that has led to their lack of confidence in working with and understanding numbers. Practical lessons on dealing with money and understanding interest rates, as well as budgeting, are all areas that will be useful for young people as they begin to navigate their way into the world of personal finances for themselves. More lessons on angles and geometry, whilst useful if you go into lines of work where these are required, are not generally topics that are revisited once the GCSE exam is done.

The other argument against the plan of continuing maths until 18 is…what about those students who don’t enjoy maths, and no longer wish to continue with it. The plan could be seen to show a somewhat disrespectful stance against the arts, when we know how important the studying of arts and humanities is for so many different kinds of industries that are a vital part of this country’s future and also a big part of its history. Understanding how maths and the arts compliment one another could bring a positive angle. And let's not forget there are only a certain number of hours that students are able to be taught for, so where do these extra maths lessons fit into those timetables?

For now, there have been no follow up details about how the plan is going to be implemented, so until then, it’s important to keep an open mind, but we can only hope that even though the plan was introduced as “more maths”, what was actually meant was “financial preparation” which would be of some benefit to all.

By Ben Case 

Apart from taste though, there is so much more to our enjoyment of food that we need to develop – the texture, the smell, the look and in some cases, the sound! In October, baby food brand, Ella’s Kitchen, launched a campaign calling on the government to introduce sensory food play in all early years settings in a bid to improve childhood nutrition.

At the same time, over on Twitter, a discussion began around the use of food in play, with some saying that the use of food, when some families are struggling to make ends meet in order to feed their children, is not wholly appropriate.

The disagreement between the two sides of the argument possibly comes from how sensory food play is defined. Is it simply using food as a resource that then gets thrown in the bin after being used in a session?  If most people are honest about their practice, after a group of children have finished exploring and playing with an item of food, the chances of it remaining edible/in a condition to use for cooking are slim, although there are certainly times where this is possible. However, if sensory food play is approached as an experience, in which the children are actively engaged in sourcing the food (either by growing it themselves or buying it from the shop) to preparing it for eating and then enjoying it as a meal, then this process seems to give the children a wholesome approach to exploring food, whilst not leading to wasted resources. Cooking/making a meal is also a sensory-rich experience, investigating what foods are in season so that there are plenty of them in the shops, preparing them to eat with others, and taking home what has been made to share with their families.

Oral exploration is a key developmental stage and helps children learn about taste and texture. When working with very young children, we need to ensure that safety is the highest priority. Many resources that we would happily provide for 3- and 4-year-olds are obviously not appropriate in a baby room.  Paint, for example, tends to go straight into the mouth of a baby or young toddler, and regardless of whether the product is ‘non-toxic’, we know that consuming it is not ideal and could lead to a bad tummy.  In these scenarios ‘taste-safe’ sensory alternatives can be considered, which feel like an appropriate use of food (usually just some corn flour).  This situation can also be found when working with older children with learning differences.  Taste-safe play doh, or even slime, can be an amazing sensory resource (especially if smells are incorporated too), whilst giving peace of mind that a child won’t be consuming something that could be harmful.

Food-based sensory resources can be created so that they are reusable. For example, using PVA glue and some grains such as rice, you can create a sensory resource that can be reused. Creating something like these ‘sheets’ of glue (once dried) and grains allows for ample exploration where children can lie on them, run their hands across them or walk on them with bare feet.

Considering carefully how food-based sensory resources can be reused, adapted, and easily cleaned will contribute to reducing food waste too. We encourage children to explore and investigate whilst being respectful of the resources around them so that we do not have to replace resources often. We can do the same with food, encouraging children to understand how to explore and investigate food whilst being mindful of how they do so, i.e., how much they use, when they would add liquid, and how they can make it reusable too!

So, whilst using food for sensory play may not always be the most appropriate resource, there are certainly ways to ensure that if you do, it is not an exploratory opportunity that leads to food waste.

By Ben Case, Stephen Kilgour and Anya Edwards 

A new working paper documenting research carried out by Lee Elliot Major, Professor of Social Mobility at the University of Exeter and Dr Sam Parsons from the UCL Centre for Longitudinal Studies is titled The Forgotten Fifth: Examining the early education trajectories of teenagers who fall below the expected standards in GCSE English Language and Maths examinations at age 16 (funded by the Monday Charitable Trust).

The three-year study reveals that assessments of children in the early years are strong predictors of whether they will secure good GCSE results in English Language and Maths, showing that just under a half (48%) of teenagers who fail to secure standard passes in these core subjects were identified as falling behind by teachers at age 5. The researchers stress the need for high quality support for children during their early years development and education.

You can read the working paper here.

In a conversation facilitated by Jamelia on The Table, educators spanning all phases of a child’s education come together to discuss The Miseducation of Our Children. Early Years antiracist trainer Liz Pemberton, educator Joanne Benjamin-Lewis, and Urban Youth Specialist and Lecturer Craig Pinkney talk about the need to start in the early years with support for children, and families. Their conversation includes social, emotional, and behavioural aspects of a child’s development, and how a lack of cultural understanding by the education system affects children’s education. And that is why I say Nursery, Primary School, is where a lot of the attention needs to be put in, because people start mentoring programmes when they are at secondary school – it’s too late then. (Joanne Benjamin-Lewis).

You can watch The Table discussion here.

Charitable foundation Kindred², which works to improve early education and early child development, commissions an annual survey of primary educators. This year, the findings reported that 50% of children are not ‘ready’ to start school (the survey defines ‘ready’ as a combination of basic social, physical, emotional and academic skills). On their website, Kindred² also share information about the strong economic sense of intervening early in a child’s education and learning: Research shows that for every £1 invested in pre-school education, £7 would be required in adolescence to have the same impact. And every £1 invested in the early years saves £13 in later interventions.

You can read the survey here.

With yet another change coming up in those who dictate education policy, we can only hope that they listen, and act.

“I asked some of my local childminder colleagues about their path to becoming a childminder. Only 1 of the 5 I asked had always been in Early Years, the others came from various sectors and professions. The single similarity is, that following the birth of their child/ren they became home based early educators. The sector is highly educated, sometimes graduates leaving senior management roles and/or successful careers in an attempt to have work life balance, an income and be home based.

So what is a childminder? What do they do and how are they different from other settings in the Early Years sector? At a nursery or larger settings, multiple staff are dedicated to various responsibilities covering all aspects of running the setting. An Ofsted registered childminder does everything. As the owner, manager and practitioner the buck stops with them for all aspects of their business.  

They are:

·         Lead professional – from tracking changing legislation to remain compliant, to completing starting points, learning journeys and planning for children’s individual development needs

·         First aider

·         SENCO – making referrals when required, designated safeguarding officer – working in partnership with other professionals

·         Key person

·         GDPR / data protection named officer – including when marketing, advertising and using social media

·         Admin secretary – ensuring policies, procedures, permissions, contracts are up to date

·         Finance officer, including accounting and invoices

·         Cleaner

·         Caretaker – including maintenance and general fixer

·         Chef – food hygiene and rating required

·         Health and safety officer

·         Fire warden - on call out of hours for parent support

·         Family counsellor

·         Sleep consultant

·         Behavioural management expert

·         Administer of medication

·         Emergency contact for children at school in loco parentis

I could go on… these tasks mean that they work beyond their operating hours in the evenings and weekends. Living at your place of works means it is often difficult to switch off. No two childminder settings are the same. They each adapt their service based on the needs of the families who use them or local community. Their service can be highly flexible e.g., they may provide weekend and overnight care, extended care (e.g., I have had an older sibling whilst mum was in hospital having the newest baby). They can support shift workers, students, and home-schooling families amongst many situations and dynamics that can’t be supported by other setting types.”

It was exhausting just to listen to Doreen talk about the long list of roles she is required to adopt.  One thing that came through strongly was that her setting was ultimately a place for learning. 

The conclusion of Doreen’s presentation provided an opportunity for some ‘myth-busting’ about this particular career, including the fact that this isn’t a profession only occupied by women, and that children don’t spend their day watching the TV!

Doreen Barton, speaking at the APPG for Childcare and Early Education at Westminster on Wednesday 29^th June 2022

I can vouch for everything that was said by Doreen in this important space, because when my first child turned 12 months old, I entrusted my most treasured possession in her care for the next 2 years.  The things he learned from her and the values that Doreen helped to shape are still so obvious when you meet the 6-year-old he has become.  For a third of his short life, Doreen was a huge influence on him, so much so that when he had a bump in the local park, in the first few months of our new life 300 miles further north, the first thing he said was ‘we need to get the train, I need to see Doreen’.

The work of Childminders needs sharing and elevating.  The Doreens of this world are priceless.

By Stephen Kilgour, SEND Advisor 

The new exemplification materials were eagerly awaited, following the publication of the revised ELGs. However, when they arrived they weren’t quite what teachers were expecting. Gone were the examples of observations; these were replaced with videos of teachers talking about a child in their class, and why they thought they were either emerging or expected for the ELG. Whilst being able to ‘listen in’ to these conversations is really useful, they’re not really the type of exemplification materials that people were used to. Maybe these shouldn’t have been called ‘exemplification materials’, but that’s a discussion for another day!

However, there is a good reason why these videos have been recorded and released. The new framework is very clear that there is no longer a requirement to have a collection of evidence for your judgements, so recreating exemplification materials as before, would not have been suitable; it would encourage teachers to start collecting all that unnecessary evidence again. What the videos do provide though is guidance on how school teams can meet to discuss the children and whether or not they have met the early learning goals.

The children discussed in the videos have varying levels of attainment and different rates of progress; they are not all expected to meet the early learning goals – and this provides a great opportunity for staff to discuss what they’re doing to support the child. This reinforces the approach of making sure that everything we do is centered around the child and how we can adapt our provision to suit their learning needs.

It’s interesting hearing the teachers talk about the knowledge and skills that the child has learned throughout the year, referring to specific examples. It is clear from the videos that it’s much easier to talk from memory about a child’s learning and development in PSED or KUW, (for example, leading their play, playing cooperatively, making friends, talking about different countries and cultures...) but that we all need some form of recording, to remind us of each child’s attainment in other areas of learning. It’s impossible to remember each child’s level of understanding in phonics or number, for example. Whilst staff may not have lots of observations to refer to, these videos show the importance of keeping some record of your planning and how the children have accessed the planned provision, including any areas where they may have needed extra support.

Of particular interest is how the teachers discuss several areas of learning at once (video 1 discusses the interaction between EAD, KUW and Maths). This reinforces the way in which children learn and reflects the way in which the early years framework has been designed – to plan activities and experiences that help support the development of the whole child.

So how can we make use of these videos as we come to the end of the reception year, and what implications does this process have for future years?

The videos model how a moderation session might look within a school:  a discussion between the early years educators and the senior leadership team. These conversations cannot and should not be replicated exactly; the children in your setting will be different to the ones in the video and your curriculum is likely to be different too. The questions posed, however, are useful for senior leaders to hear and to see how the conversations can develop from asking effective, open-ended questions. Asking questions that lead into explanations of why things were planned for that child and how they responded gives a good indication of how secure the child is in that early learning goal.

Useful questions used in the videos were:

·         How has practice changed following the reforms?

·         What more does the child need to do to meet the expected standard?

·         Tell me about this child’s word reading skills, or this child’s relationships with children and adults…

·         What did you see towards the end of the year that made you think this child is achieving the ELG?

·         Do you want to talk a little bit more about what helped with this child’s vocabulary?

·         How do you think that (observation) matched to the ELG?

·         Can you give me examples of how their language has increased?

·         What makes you confident in your judgement….?

·         How were you seeing that in class? How was that manifesting itself?

·         What should the Year 1 team do in terms of supporting this child’s development further?

As with all moderation sessions, it’s useful to note that these videos are only focusing on a few children in a few areas. There is no need for educators to talk about all the children in all 17 early learning goals. What is important is that the practitioner demonstrates confidence in talking about the selected child and areas of learning so that the senior leadership teams can have confidence in all the ELG judgements that the teacher has made. Referring to written or electronic notes, photos, videos and so on, can support those judgements and act as a memory jog/prompt for the teacher.  It’s worth noting that the video clips of the children engaged in their learning are explicit examples of how short, yet focused, video observations can be, capturing the learning you’re seeing in the classroom. But we all need to bear in mind to keep those observations manageable!

The reflective conversations between educators we’ve seen in the exemplification videos would be extremely beneficial throughout the year, not just at the end of the reception year. If you have a system for recording reflections about children’s learning, so much the better. For example, Tapestry's Reflections feature will allow you to do this easily - sharing comments, observations, photos and videos with colleagues to determine how well the children are engaging with your curriculum and provision, and to identify any adaptations that might be needed to meet the needs of every child.

A final point of interest in the exemplification materials involves the children moving onto Year 1. One of the questions listed above encourages the teacher to think carefully about, and to describe, the future learning opportunities and support the individual child will need in Year 1. Having these reflective conversations, or sharing Tapestry Reflections, with the Year 1 teacher is essential, helping the Year 1 staff prepare for their next cohort and preparing the groundwork for continued good progress.

Local authorities are no longer providing moderation events, so having reflective conversations in school, or within a locality / cluster of schools, will benefit educators immensely and in turn, help them to provide more focused provision for the children. And all this can be achieved without the need for endless data, which can only be a good thing!

By Ben and Helen, from our education team. 

The ‘headlines’ of the paper were released at midnight on Tuesday before the full paper was published around 10 hours later.  Many education organisations had already formulated blogs spaces and responses by the time I woke on Tuesday (6.30am-ish, pretty good for my 2-year-old human alarm clock!).  I was a little underwhelmed by the headlines – and also by those initial responses.  I am generally left feeling cold when huge sums of money are thrown about by the government – fully aware that the quantities feel impossible to conceptualise but also easy to manufacture and spin.

When I got a chance to consume the contents of the full paper in more detail, the underwhelming emotion turned to one of frustration.  There were obviously some decent suggestions featured amongst the main selling points (simplifying and digitising the EHCP process and improving workforce training being a couple).  There were also some dubious ideas (limiting the number of schools a parent can choose from seems the opposite of inclusive). 

The frustration for me however stemmed from a deeper-rooted issue – that of institutionalised ableism.  There were 296 mentions of the word ‘needs’ across the document, including 46 references to ‘high needs’ and 22 references to ‘complex needs’.  There were also numerous mentions of ‘identifying needs’.  There must be a change in mindset – all our children have the same ‘needs’ – the need for high quality education, the need for high quality responsive educators, the need for compassion, the need to feel safe, the need for representation in the people working in our nurseries and schools, the need for strong links with families.  These needs shouldn’t require deeper scrutiny or identification for our children with learning differences or disabilities.  They should all be obvious before a child even arrives at a setting.  Previously when I’ve raised the issue of language linked to ‘SEND’, I have had responses along the lines of ‘you are focusing on the wrong thing, it’s just semantics’.  I strongly believe that until there is a change in mindset around the systems we have in place to support young children with learning differences and disabilities then we can’t make effective progress in this area.  As Emily Lees stated in her recent ‘Beginners Guide to Ableism’, ‘language shapes our beliefs and attitudes’. 

What must be identified are the barriers to education and learning.  What adjustments are necessary for us to be truly inclusive?  The green paper unfortunately re-enforces the notion that children with ‘SEND’ are problems to ‘fix’.  All the money in the world won’t make that the appropriate mindset for our learners.  We need to celebrate differences and diversity, and change our provision so it can effectively meet every child’s needs.

The most concerning thing I read in relation to the SEND Review was also published before I woke on Tuesday morning. One of the main headlines on the BBC news website that morning read: SEND review: Children to receive earlier support in new government plans.  Good coverage I thought.  Towards the bottom of the article there was a comment from a headteacher (who I am very confident has the best of intentions, but who is working within those systems where a mindset change is necessary).  She was talking about a new trial where ‘experts’ use ‘data’ to identify children who might need earlier support (I’d need a whole other coffee break to expose that particular topic).  The following quote from the headteacher relating to earlier autism diagnosis left a really sour taste: "We can just get on with treating the child and getting the best education for the child as soon as possible," she said, adding she hoped every school could benefit from the same model.   I am sure that this article was read hundreds of thousands of times last week.  I am also sure that the vast majority of readers didn’t feel a hint of negativity when they read about this great new scheme that helped accelerate the treatment of autism.  And therein lies the problem.  

We ALL need to talk about ableism.

By Stephen Kilgour, SEND Advisor 

The consultation for you to add your views on the SEND Review green paper is open until 1st July 2022. You can find it here. 

Dressing up for World Book Day has become something of a tradition over the years. For many children, getting to be someone else for the day, and maybe even see the adults around you dress up as well, is imaginative and fun. There can be lots of learning - thinking about book characters, what they look and act like, and getting creative with things that will help you to ‘become’ them. But how inclusive is dressing up for a special day? For some children and adults it can be a source of anxiety and stress.

So what’s wrong with dressing up for World Book Day?

For lots of reasons, there will be many staff and children who don’t like dressing up. They may find it uncomfortable or embarrassing. For neurodivergent children and adults a dressing up day may mean people being unusual because they are acting out a character, changes to routines, and confusing sensory experiences. Lots of grown-ups don’t like fancy dress parties and choose not to go. Children are also entitled to choose not to dress up – but in doing so they may then feel left out.  

Family life is hectic. And for some it will be more hectic than for others. Finding the time to sort a costume can be a big ask and adds to the pressure of everyday life that week.

Dressing up can cost money. With supermarkets and online stores hijacking the dressing up tradition associated with World Book Day, some parents and carers may find a solution to the problem of costume sourcing by buying a ready-to-wear outfit. But many families won’t be able to do this, or don’t want to…

…and often these ready-to-wear costumes are worn once and quickly grown out of, meaning they are not great environmentally either.

But getting back to the reason for World Book Day in the first place, the focus on dressing up takes the focus away from books and stories and reading. It becomes all about the outfit.

What are settings and schools doing instead?

Some settings and schools have opted to have a Pyjama Day, with everyone coming in their PJs. The thinking being that PJs are something that most people have already, and also that they are about bedtime, which is often a time for reading a book.

Or how about a visit from an author or illustrator to talk about their books or do some writing or artwork with the children?

Time for reading is precious. Just a day with more time to read with children, talk about books, make books, listen to stories and experience the magic they can bring would be more than enough to celebrate World Book Day.

No costumes required.

Watch some wonderful people read a bit of their favourite book for you.

Read a bit more about Pyjama Days here.

Check out the World Book Day website.

So, with the new-found confidence of what was now possible virtually, we set about considering how we could help childminders, nurseries or schools when it came to their professional learning.  Increasingly, we as an Education Team found that we were accessing CPD in vastly different ways.  The traditional view of CPD being a day out of our setting, where we would gather with tens/hundreds of other educators and share a sandwich platter for lunch, was no longer possible (and some might say this was a good thing!). These large in-person training events enabled us to make connections, and now educators needed to find new ways to connect to enrich their CPD. We were entering a period where professional learning needed to be accessible - where we wanted it, and when we wanted it.  Like me, many education advisors switched to providing on-screen support. And educators themselves found opportunities to learn from podcasts, blog posts, or an image on Instagram. While the need to approach all CPD with a spirit of critical enquiry remained as important as ever, the notion of ‘consumable’ professional learning was such a refreshing change. The really powerful bit was considering that these changes didn’t necessarily need to be temporary, until everything had blown over – there was a real, tangible benefit to thinking outside the box – for both providers and consumers.

The timing of the pandemic also coincided with some significant changes in the EYFS.  Increasingly, data-driven practices were being called out, and the idea of a renewed professional trust was gaining momentum.  The asterisk to this was that this would only be possible if the workforce’s professional development needs were appropriately addressed.  If our staff teams were no longer relying on a guidance document to inform their understanding of child development, then what needed to happen instead?

We approached the well-respected Siren Films to discuss the possibility of working together on CPD materials that would support practitioner understanding of child development.  We also linked with Leyton College and their experienced Early Years team to consider the appropriateness and quality of the content we wanted to create.  These collaborations resulted in our first ‘content’ which we trialled with students from the college as well as gaining thoughts from respected Early Years professionals.  The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, so we pushed on and considered other areas which would be helpful to focus on.  As well as child development, we wanted to create CPD courses and modules for educators working with children with learning differences, and also content for Tapestry users to help them make the most of having Tapestry as a tool to support them in their settings.

The intention is that our bank of CPD materials will continue to grow over time and provide a genuinely useful tool for managers and senior leaders to embrace.  Our plan is to continue to focus on child development materials as well as more specialist content, and also seek input from a host of highly knowledgeable and skilled experts in their fields.  The best bit is that the initial content is freely accessible for everyone – you don’t need to be a Tapestry user.  Please have a look at the CPD feature (from the link below) - we’d love to hear your thoughts.

You can find out more about Tapestry CPD here.

This article was written by our SEND Advisor, Stephen Kilgour. 

A Beginner’s Guide to Ableism is designed to be a starting point for vital conversations and learning. 

Everyone needs to have a better understanding of what ableism is and why we need to combat it.

Read more about the need for this guide here.

You can download A Beginner's Guide to Ableism, which is a free resource, here.

The thinking is that many of these young people will go on to have a role in a baby’s life – whether that is as a parent/carer, uncle or aunt, sibling of younger children, babysitter. And as I read the article, I also thought of those who may become early years educators.

The recent changes to the EYFS have fuelled a renewed emphasis on early years professionals having a knowledge of child development. Understanding how a baby’s brain develops is part of this knowledge - recognising the vital part that every interaction and experience with a baby has in creating new neural circuits in the brain, and therefore in their development as a whole. It is also important that everyone recognises this – it is part of the incredible work that EYs professionals do to support our youngest children to develop.

The 5 Big Questions survey, conducted by the Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood in 2020, discovered that only 24% of participants ‘recognise the specific importance of the 0-5 period for providing lifelong health and happiness.’

In raising awareness of how pivotal the early years of our lives are to our future, perhaps:

·         families will know the huge part they play in their child’s development through those early interactions with them as babies

·         early years professionals will be more valued by society for the part they play in each child’s present and future life

Whether or not those teenagers learning about babies’ brain development end up later having roles in the life of a baby, their exposure to the science of early childhood will hopefully stay with them as they become adults, and they may be better champions of the early years as a result.

Both documents, written by the Early Years Coalition or Julian Grenier respectively, have much insight and knowledge to offer. Neither should be used as a ticklist, though. That they are not is the expressed wish of the authors who offer descriptors as a few illustrative examples of what children with typical development might do. These are not designed as 'must-do' milestones. Yet our sector has been abuzz with numerous requests and attempts, some commercial, to reverse engineer each new guidance into a ticklist, with some very dubious denials: 'It's not a ticklist -- it's a checklist!'' 'It's a highlighting sheet' 'It's a tree where you colour the leaf with the statement when it's done!' And so on.

We've also seen moans and groans about not being able to tick statements under EYFS2021 on Tapestry. I always found the whole process of fitting the square pegs of children's unique experiences into the round holes of a descriptor a tedious, time-consuming task offering little value. So, on a purely personal basis, I am glad this feature is gone!

But if not ticklists then what?

An answer I’ve come up with is Personal Profiles. For anyone who grew up reading Smash Hits, Shoot! or other youth magazines, it’s a familiar format of Q&As on an individual ‘star’. Only the star in this case is the child, and the revealing insights relate to their learning and development.

To use Personal Profiles click on this link and enter the name of your key child, select their chosen gender (this is purely for generating the pronouns in the questions), choose a level of challenge, and this free website will generate a set of 21 questions plus three relating to the Characteristics of Effective Learning. Then create a new observation and paste the questions.

As you answer the questions you build up an overview of the whole child. As your child learns and develops, you alter your answers to reflect this progress. If a child’s attainment starts to go beyond the scope of the question, you find a more challenging question. There are three sets of 21 questions, each set being progressively more challenging.

I developed Personal Profiles as a new way of staying on top of what key children are achieving, while dramatically cutting down on paperwork. How I’ve done it is I curated some salient descriptors from the guidance documents and adapted the developmental statements, inverting them into open questions that enable a wide range of nuanced answers to be recorded. The result is a format that helps to vividly tell the story of each child, providing meaningful, qualitative information for parents, rather than generating a bland series of numbers and letters as data such as 30-50 E.

In August 2021, Ofsted’s guidance for Registered early years providers stated:

Inspectors will want to find out about the story of the child, including:

• What they could do when they started at the provision

• What they can do now and how you got them there

• What your plans are for that child so that they are ready for their next stage of learning

The Personal Profiles can help you comfortably fulfil on this. The story of the child is documented because the words you write are unique, especially about each individual, not copied from a guidance document written by someone who does not know the child. Regarding the above bullet points, firstly, to retain a record of what a child could do when they started, you can use Tapestry’s Edit History to see an early version of their Personal Profile. Alternatively, you can paste the Q&As for the Prime Areas into a new document to establish a baseline / starting point. Secondly, you can record what a child can do and how they got there by simply answering the questions. The question format makes providing information quicker, and there is no need to ‘evidence’ what you know. You simply say what you know and how it was achieved. Conversely, you can also see at a glance what you don’t know, for example, if you cannot yet answer mathematical questions about your child. Finally, you can use a Personal Profile to create a plan for the child’s next stage of learning by reflecting and identifying which is a child’s strongest area and which is their most challenging area, as a basis for supporting a child in both.

By asking the right questions, Personal Profiles can be a game-changer in knowing your key children better than ever before.

For more information about them, visit https://www.eyfspersonalprofiles.com

This Coffee Break was written by Kuen-Wah Cheung, creator of Personal Profiles. 

All this brought to mind an approach used by Dirk Gently, the fictional detective created by author Douglas Adams, who also wrote The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Gently haphazardly, but with surprising success, solved crimes by considering the fundamental interconnectedness of all things.

Let’s apply that to the current issue – giving it a worst-case scenario plot twist!

Fuel distribution crisis >> not enough fuel for everyone >> therefore educators can’t get to schools and settings >> therefore children can’t attend >> therefore parents and carers have to remain at home with children >> therefore parents and carers can’t go to work

We could get a really complicated mind map out of it (Dirk Gently would have done), but you get the idea.

Of course, a fuel distribution crisis has an impact on the infrastructure of other vital services too – the NHS, food supply chains.

But what Dirk Gently’s philosophy of life demonstrates is that education is at the heart of so much in our society. Schools and settings are more than places where learning and development happens. The knock-on effect on the care they offer, the breakfast clubs and lunches, the support services they provide and seek – all this and more pauses when education is affected.

Those in education know this, and during the pandemic we have all experienced the ways schools and settings strive to continue everything they do in the face of huge challenges. So let’s always remember with gratitude the key part education plays in the fundamental interconnectedness of all things.

I am familiar with CO2 monitors because we now have them in the rooms in our office building as part of our own workplace COVID precautions. We also keep the windows open. I find the presence of the monitors very comforting. They do their job well – if an extra person enters a room, or if a number of people are talking in a room, the monitor will start to bleep after a little while. It is quite persistent.

Once the bleeping starts there is a flurry of activity. The extra person might leave, or the windows get thrown open even more widely, no matter what the weather.

Sometimes all of the above has happened, and the CO2 monitor still isn’t happy. More bleeping.

I should add that there are never many people in a room at any one time (also part of our COVID safety precautions) – we’re talking 4 or 5 adults.

All of this can be quite funny. Recently one of my colleagues was in a Zoom meeting, while sitting in a room on her own. What’s that bleeping? she asked. You guessed it – all by herself she had set off the CO2 monitor – quite an achievement!

When I heard about the provision of CO2 monitors for education settings, I couldn’t help but wonder how this would work in reality. Will every room where children are learning have one? I imagined a classroom of 30 children, all breathing out (a necessary part of the breathing process) and one extremely persistent CO2 monitor. And a lot of What’s that bleeping…?

As with all things, educators will no doubt rise above the challenges. They, and their children, will get used to the bleeping. Windows will be opened, learning spaces will be bracing, and children will continue to learn.

And with that thought I must go – I can hear bleeping…

I would like to note at the end of this piece that the DfE has said that while nurseries and pre-schools receiving early education funding will be provided with CO2 monitors, childminders have not been included. Please read this post on the Early Years Alliance site for more on this.

To read more about this, and how we should be changing the discourse from achievement gap to ‘educational debt’ read a presentation by Janet Goodall at the Tapestry Education Conference: Reflecting on Parental Engagement, guest hosted by Tom Harbour from Learning with Parents.

Partnership with parents and effective parental engagement are central to the EYFS, and those play-based interactions that are so prevalent in the Early Year’s learning environment can be replicated at home. This, in combination with the many communication strategies Early Years settings put in place, means parents can feel supported to engage in their child’s education.

As children progress through the key stages, effective parental engagement can feel harder to achieve. There is more terminology and new methods for parents and carers to get their heads around and teachers do not always have the time or tools to communicate these with families. As a result, parents can start to feel they no longer have an important role in their child’s education.

However, effective parental engagement needs to be happening for every child in every key stage if all children are going to fulfil their potential.

Here are five easy to implement top tips for schools to consider:

1.       Let parents know how important they are in supporting their child’s education

Parents and carers do not necessarily know how important their input at home is, but they are the adults who know their children the best. Letting parents know how valued they are and that you want to work with them in partnership can do so much to set the right tone at the beginning of the year.

2.       Reassure parents and carers it is the simple, playful interactions that have the greatest impact
The real difference is going to happen at home in the small but valuable interactions between parent and child. It is these interactions which schools should be encouraging first and foremost. Parental engagement is not just about helping with homework; we need parents to be promoting education and supporting all learning every day. This could include playing number bond games on the bus, or playing ‘Simon Says’ using phonics sounds.

3.       Think about the language you use when communicating with parents and carers
When talking to parents about the curriculum either in conversations or school reports don’t assume they know terminology such as ‘grapheme’ or ‘partitioning.’ Providing families with simple tools to understand these new terms can do a lot to empower them to support at home.

4.       Be aware of the power dynamic
Parent Ping, a daily survey app for parents, reported that only 4% of primary parents are happy being called ‘Mum’ or ‘Dad’ by their child’s class teacher but a quarter of teachers use this when talking to parents. Learning parents' and carers’ names can do so much to shift the power dynamic from the teacher to an equal partnership between teacher and the parent. Similarly, if you are offering face to face parents’ evenings, you could sit side by side with the parent or carer rather than across the table from them. 

5.       Avoid the term ‘hard to reach’
No parent or carer walks around thinking of themselves as ‘hard to reach’ and schools should do the same. Think of the barriers that parents face as something which can be overcome. For example, a common barrier that parents experience is ‘I do not have the time to help my child at home.’ Think about the homework you are setting - are you giving families enough time to complete it? Do they have the tools to do it without having to come into the school building? Is it flexible enough to fit in with home-life?  

And finally, remember all parents and carers want to support their child’s learning...they just need to be given the tools to do so.

By Amelia Ernest-Jones, School Partnerships Manager, Learning with Parents

Calm your own expectations or fears (remember your child is imperfect just like you). Enter into your child's world, think about the experience from their point of view. Listen to what your child might have to say.
 

Focus on solutions and creating opportunities for children to learn how to make amends. Below I go into depth with solution-based heartfelt approaches, this is also a great opportunity for us to reflect and learn. It’s also great to let children know, that you yourself are still learning life: let them see you make mistakes, cry embrace and learn, we need to become advocates of our own teachings. And never expect too much from these little souls: yes, they will make the same mistakes that we once made, and that’s perfectly fine. We can’t always be in control and neither can they. I call this reflective learning from what we see in the mirror, whilst knowing that we are also our children’s mirror on learning and understanding.

We are to guide them to be the best they can be from learning about themselves and also learning from us - you have to “know thy self” as they say. And children are doing this daily, it’s just in a more raw, unique and untainted way. We are not to alter this if we can help it.

1. Listen with curiosity not judgement

When your child has hurt someone or made a mistake and you believe they might need help making amends, try to find out their side of the story. Before insisting that your child say sorry, stay open and curious about what happened. It might sound like “Can you tell me what happened?” or “I’d like to know what is going. Maybe I can help.”

2. Avoid blame, you and them

Aiming for understanding without blame translates to your child, making them feel like they are safe to express themselves honestly, even if they did make a poor choice or unnecessary choice. Having a blame and shame free conversation can lead to the child feeling a fruitful sense of regret.

3. Activate Empathy

Encourage your child to notice how they are feeling about the situation or mistake. And then also encourage them to think about how someone else is feeling and what they might be thinking. Even pre-schoolers can answer simple questions like “How are you feeling about what just happened?”  These are all small but important steps towards learning how to channel empathy for making amends.

4. Patience and Flexibility

A hurried sorry is not nearly as esteemed as a thought-out apology. People often need time to process their mistake before they feel genuinely remorseful and ready to make amends. Admitting a mistake can be tricky and emotionally traumatic! Allowing time and healing for genuine feelings to emerge (which might involve tears and denial before acceptance kicks in) is more “teachable” to a child than being rushed to express feelings that are made up from what the adults wants rather than from the children. This also works for adults. Always think would I like this if this was me?

5. Notice the Sincere Apologies

Apologies from children that are truly genuine and heartfelt tend to be spontaneous. A smile, a big hug, or offering to share a favourite toy, a letter, changed behaviour, tone of voice or facial expressions. Encourage this when done - expression in these forms is great, it can lead to story making, vast imaginations and even poetry and letter writing.

Children might apologise in ways that we adults just don’t expect, and this is ok. We aren’t to expect, but just to aid and to help enhance.

Blog post written by Joss Cambridge-Simmons, known as the UK's leading 'super manny', and founder of Jossy Care, a leading childcare service, established in 2007. 

We recently recorded a podcast with Joss - you can listen here. 

When the new EYFS Framework was released, it brought in some changes; some were widely accepted, others have caused many discussions amongst practitioners and advisors. One thing that almost everyone who works in early years understands though, is just how important it is to put the child at the centre.

The new EYFS Framework that early adopters have been working from since September, and which becomes statutory for all settings from September 2021, does try to move things away from assessment that ends up just on a spreadsheet, and towards ensuring that any assessment made benefits the child and their development.

For many, this is a welcome change, but it is still a scary prospect to let go of the data that helps ‘prove’ so much. The questions should be – who is the data for and who benefits most from it?

Let me start by saying why I think tracking children through age bands isn’t always going to be the best thing for their development. When we focus on a few statements in a narrow age band, it’s easy to become fixed on these, and wanting to rush the child through the age bands as soon as we have ‘ticked off’ what we have seen. Almost every page of the current Development Matters contains the following:

Children develop at their own rates, and in their own ways. The development statements and their order should not be taken as necessary steps for individual children. They should not be used as checklists. The age/stage bands overlap because these are not fixed age boundaries but suggest a typical range of development.

Even with that statement listed so often, it became common to see spreadsheets and data collected that did exactly this. Children were tracked through the age bands as if every child would develop the same way, achieving the same things at the same age. The reality is that this is not how child development works. Some children will start to walk before their first birthday; for others they may be nearer to their second birthday before they consider even trying. Does that mean the child who learned to walk at a slightly later stage won’t make the ELG in Physical Development? Of course not – there is so much more development for them to go through before even considering that. But by focusing on statements and age bands we risk thinking about the “end point” (where we want the child to be at a certain point) instead of considering what their actual needs are for their development right now.

The other thing that the new framework is encouraging is for there to be less focus on providing evidence for a child’s development, and more emphasis on trusting practitioners’ knowledge of a child. This doesn’t necessarily mean that observations shouldn’t be taken though. It just means that the observations that are made should be short and concise to serve as a memory jog for practitioners when they are considering their children’s development. The link with home remains a vital aspect of early years, and the ability to quickly share observations with families, and for them to send observations to you too, is so important, especially when you are considering the development of the child as a whole.

...on Tapestry 

To help support educators with all of this, Tapestry has developed a new feature called ‘Flags’. These flags will allow you to make an observation on a child as before, but instead of worrying about assessing that observation, practitioners need only ‘flag’ the areas that they feel are relevant for that observation. For example, if you are making an observation that involves a group of children creating a den outside with large building materials, you may want to flag PSED, CL and PD to start with.

These flags are then all pulled together in the ‘Areas of Concern’ screen which is a space that allows you to consider the children’s development and raise any concerns for children that you may have in each of the areas. The reason we did not use the terms ‘On Track’ and ‘Not on Track’ was because we were worried about what people would compare these to. By having them as concerns that are not related to any age band, they are able to be used as you wish for any child. If you have a child with learning differences who is developing as you would expect them to be with the support you have in place for them, there is no reason why they could not be a ‘No Concern’ for the whole year.  Similarly, if you have a child who is a high achiever when they join you but then starts to struggle with the challenges you are providing them with, they may be marked as a concern so that the staff are aware and able to try new approaches to support the child.

A lot of people are worried about how they are going to be able to ‘show progress’ to SLT, management, or Ofsted. The first thing to remember is that the new EYFS framework is trying to move away from tracking and assessment as it currently is. That’s not to say that you don’t need to assess your children – that would be a recipe for disaster if no one was keeping an eye on how the children are developing! The shift in assessment is about moving away from where a child is on a tracking document to thinking about how you can support that child so they make good developmental progress. For most children, your ‘bread and butter’ every day teaching will support their development. These children are the ones who you would class as a ‘No Concern’ on the Areas of Concern screen. That doesn’t mean that you’re not considering anything about them. It just means that you are meeting their needs through your teaching and activities that you provide for the children and therefore they are continuing to make good progress. Those children who may be struggling to access these activities or to follow the taught sessions would be your ‘Concern’ children who then have extra support put in place for them. As that support helps the children, and they make accelerated progress so that they are no longer a concern, you can see the impact of your provision. So whilst you may not have spreadsheets and charts showing how a child is moving through the age bands, progress is very much still monitored and if anything, all children are having the best opportunities available to them to ensure that they are making progress.

Hopefully you will agree that the changes in the EYFS Framework around assessment are going to help reduce the time spent producing spreadsheets for tracking that do not benefit the children, but instead allow for the assessment that is made to really impact on the children’s development.

If you would like to find out more, Ben and Stephen, from the FSF and Tapestry Education Team, recorded a webinar discussing the new EYFS framework on Tapestry. 

Taking a moment

The other day I was re-reading Joanna Grace's article about using the 'settle jar' sensory resource to support a child to regulate their emotions and feel calm. In it, Joanna reminds us that having a way to step back and take a moment is a strategy that is useful to all of us:

Ultimately what I would hope to gift the child in doing this is a way out of distress. So that when they felt the unpleasant sensation of anger, they could go to the jar, shake it and take a pause to watch the glitter settle, breathing deeply as they did so, and reach that place of calm where a resolution to whatever the problem was might be easier to get to. It's a skill many adults could use too.

Developing a 'toolbox' of strategies that can support children to regulate their emotions is something that educators work towards every day. But do we offer ourselves that same gift in our lives? The time to find our own calm and perhaps see a little more clearly.

Pause, breathe... take a moment.

'Mistakes' are opportunities

I recently made a mistake at work. Nothing terrible, but it sat with me for a few days. It hung around at the back of my mind, pestering me. I was giving myself a hard time about it.

When this kind of thing happens, I often think of particular sections of the Characteristics of Effective Learning in the Early Years guidance document Development Matters:

Playing and Exploring – Taking a risk, engaging in new experiences, and learning by trial and error

Active Learning – Bouncing back after difficulties

Creating and Thinking Critically – Reviewing how well the approach worked

Helping the children we work with to see ‘mistakes’ as wonderful opportunities, as places where invention and understanding and knowledge happen, is one of the most positive gifts we can give them. But do we offer ourselves that same gift? The opportunity to find the place where things happen?

Now, I am going to ignore the blatant bias of the survey’s creator, my own bias as a lover of games and the rational part of my brain which knows gaming and eSports are not going to be an official part of the curriculum any time soon, if at all. And I’m just going to wax lyrical for a bit about how much I love this idea.

The bottom line for me is, video games are an art form. And if you’ve never experienced them as such then I suggest strolling through the sun-dappled woods of Wyoming in a game called Firewatch; Roll around any of the 40 hand-painted maps of Bastion; or triple-jump your way into New Donk City in Super Mario Odyssey and you will see what I mean.

So maybe a specific class solely dedicated to playing and studying video games is too radical for now, especially in early, primary and even secondary education. But video games are a resource like any other. It’s the same as reading a book or watching a YouTube video. Why don’t we incorporate video games as part of our English, Maths, Drama lessons? I could write an entire curriculum, covering every current subject, using the basis of video games. Give me one long weekend and my filter coffee machine.

There are numerous reasons why video games aren’t more prevalent in schooling at the moment - funding being the most obvious and unsurprising one. But stigma is an issue as well. No matter how many studies prove the contrary, the idea that video games are a waste of time, offer no benefit or learning, or (harking back to the most persistent headline of the noughties) “make kids violent” persists. This is something we can move past with education and communication.

There is clearly some confusion and difference of opinion when it comes to schools, parents, children and video games. The survey I mentioned earlier concludes that 86% of parents play video games themselves. But, according to the Argus, only 25% of surveyed parents would want them incorporated into schooling. However, 40% of parents and 55% of children think gaming could lead to a future career and 70% of parents think video games can help improve skills decision making and problem solving. So there is clearly some disconnect between people’s feelings toward this topic – hence the need for more communication and education.

This article in the Guardian explains how a school’s closer partnership with parents became pivotal when starting to use video games in the classroom.

In conclusion, I think they can be a fantastic resource to aid and enhance current practice. Video games can be beautiful, thought-provoking, challenging, inspirational, and so much more. Also, if you’ve ever had the following thought as a teacher, video games are the answer:

“How can I make this fun?”

Game Over.

Lady Doreen Lawrence, who has spent the many years since the racist murder of her son, Stephen, campaigning against structural racism, said in response to the report: They [the report authors] are not in touch with reality basically. That’s what it boils down to. When you are privileged you do not have those experiences.

So those who sit behind this report [saying] that racism doesn’t exist or it no longer exists need to speak to the young boys who are stopped and searched constantly on the street.

She also pointed to the power within this report to take away the voices of Black and Brown people who speak out when they experience racism:

I think if you were to speak to somebody whose employer speaks to them in a certain way, where do you go with that now? If a person is up for promotion and has been denied that, where does he go with that now?

As we read through even the early pages of the report, we were distressed to see language and phrases that serve only to perpetuate the narrative of white privilege: language and phrases that feel as though they are stuck in the past, but that are all too present in the discourse of 2021. And because of this report the very real danger is that they will continue to be present, shaping dialogue and offering excuses and references for those who make our policies and lead our institutions.  

We were dismayed by the way the report pushes to shift the focus away from race and racism:

Put simply we no longer see a Britain where the system is deliberately rigged against ethnic minorities. The impediments and disparities do exist, they are varied, and ironically very few of them are directly to do with racism. Too often ‘racism’ is the catch-all explanation, and can be simply implicitly accepted rather than explicitly examined. (p.9)

This shifting of the narrative away from race and racism is continued, including in the section on education (p.59). In the same way that Doreen Lawrence highlights the way the report impacts those experiencing the effects of structural racism in the workplace, so it equally gives the power to deny the voices of families whose children experience structural racism at school.

As reflective educators, we have a responsibility to educate ourselves, to move beyond the report writers and policy makers. We need to look honestly and directly at our own settings and classrooms, at the language we use, the curriculum we offer, how we reach out to and connect with families, and how we make sure all children see themselves reflected back in the resources, environments and experiences we create for them.

If you are looking for resources to help you begin, or continue with, your anti-racism journey, particularly at this moment in the face of the Sewell Report, you can visit the Tapestry Education Conference: Reflecting on Anti-Racism in the Early Years page. Here you will find a recording of the live event with Liz Pemberton, Shaddai Tembo, and Faith Chow, as well as the presentations by Faith and Shaddai to download.

But to meet this responsibility, we need to reflect on our beliefs, thoughts and biases, to recognise that each of us is influenced by our surroundings and our own experiences. To ask questions about a society that is structured by and for white privilege. And to understand how this translates into our interactions with children, families and colleagues.

We need to learn how to become anti-racist. We need to understand what it means to be an ally. It is not up to me to call myself an ally. But it is up to me to show up now, in every way that I can. To listen, to think, to acknowledge mistakes, and to recognise that the impact of what I do prioritises the intention.

We need to do the work.

Here at Tapestry and the FSF we are at the very beginning of our anti-racist journey. We are learning, we will always be learning. This isn’t a journey with a destination where we can get off and say ‘we’re here’.

Perhaps you are also at the beginning of reflecting on anti-racism or wondering how to start doing the work. Everyone is different and will have their own pathway to take. If you are reflecting as an individual rather than in a team, can you link up with someone to have conversations with?

Here is what we have been doing in our education team:

We began by making time. We set aside a regular time each week to discuss anti-racism together. But we also look beyond that weekly discussion time into the work that we do every day. We are working towards anti-racism becoming embedded in everything that we do.

We base each discussion on something we listened to, watched, read, or looked at: a podcast, a book, an infographic, a TV programme, an article, a poem, a video of a talk.

We take it in turns to suggest things and to start off the discussions. If we are reading a book, we might take a chapter each and keep going with it for a few weeks.

We have discovered the value of having honest conversations about race. This requires trust in our team members. We have found we are gradually building our racial literacy, becoming more confident to find the words to talk honestly.

Starting is the most important thing. And then keep going, keep reflecting and looking at how the work you are doing is unfolding in your provision, for children and with families and colleagues.

Here are some things we have focussed discussions on ourselves:

TED Talk – Not all superheroes wear capes, by Nova Reid

Book - This Book is Anti-Racist by Tiffany Jewell

Infographic – Becoming an Anti-racist

Podcast - Dr Muna Abdi’s podcast Becoming an Antiracist

Poem - If I were a Racist by Nate Holder

Article – Got Privilege? By Lori Lakin Hutcherson

On 25^th March, Tapestry are holding an online event, the Tapestry Education Conference: Reflecting on Anti-racism in the Early Years. Places for this event filled up within hours of registration opening, and registration is now closed. However, a recording of the event will be made available afterwards. You can find out more about the conference here.

As part of our reflective practice, we often think about why we’re doing what we’re doing. Why do we store the wooden blocks next to the small world animals? Why do we have a rolling snack time? Why do we do register time like this? Asking ‘why’ helps us to focus – is this supporting children’s learning and development, are we providing for every child, do we need to do it this way, can we do it differently (and better)?

So, why do we celebrate Mother’s Day?  

As with so many things that we do, the answer might be ‘because we always have’. Or perhaps ‘because it helps children to learn about love and saying thank you to their Mummies who look after them’?

Let’s dig a little deeper.

Thinking about being loved, and loving, helps children remember they are kept in mind, they have people who care about them, and to learn ways to show their own love. For many children, this will include their Mummy.

But we can, and do, support children to recognise love and kindness in others and in themselves all the time. In those small, meaningful moments in their day, when we and they can be responsive to a feeling or thought. Perhaps in one of those moments they may choose to make a card, or something else, or use their words, body language, or actions. When this experience has been prompted by the child, or led by a book you are reading together, or by a question you ask, on any day of the year, the learning will be deeper.

Because for many children, Mother’s Day may be a trigger.

There are so many different versions of family and so many family stories.

A child may live with their single Dad or have two Daddies.

There may be a child who is living with their foster family.

Or a child’s Mummy may have died, or perhaps their Mummy’s Mum – their Granny – has passed away and this is a painful time for the whole family.

Perhaps an older sibling is a child carer, looking after everyone in the home. Or there may not be the caring relationships at home that we would hope every child would experience, but we know do not.

These are only a few of the reasons why Mother’s Day is not relevant to every child, and why it might trigger feelings, and perhaps behaviour.

There are also the families at home, who might find Mother’s Day particularly challenging. I know from the experience in my own family, and that of my friends’, that the death of a child can be part of a family story. And we might not always know – for example if a baby was still born or a baby has been lost through a miscarriage. Mother’s Day can be a very sad time for Mummies.

For all these reasons, and more, perhaps we can recognise that Mother’s Day doesn’t provide for and support the learning and development of every child, and that we can learn together about giving and receiving love and kindness and being grateful in so many other meaningful ways, every day.

Jennifer Colwell and Amanda Ince et al.    

This book on reflective practice is aimed at early education students and professionals. It covers all aspects of practice, from the individual educator, their team, the children and families in their community, and their impact on the wider society.  It is written by a variety of contributors, but every chapter is linked, and references are made back and forth between sections. The connectedness across the book is also maintained by the inclusion of the Teaching and Learning Research Programme Principles (TLRP) (2000-12) in each chapter, and which are examined in detail in Chapter 4.

This book is not passive read! It is active and engaging, with reflective activities, expert questions, research summaries and case studies to prompt and encourage participation in reflection. The book doesn’t just give you information, it requires something from you, whether you are reading it as an individual or sharing it as part of becoming a reflective team.

An example of one reflective activity early on in the book, included in the section on Identity, is as follows:

First, without referring to the register or any lists, write down the names of the children you work with. Note which order you listed them in and if you found any children’s names hard to remember. What does the order tell you about which children are more memorable than others, and for what reason? P. 22

Reflective Teaching in Early Education covers all aspects of early years practice, from becoming a reflective professional, to the conditions for learning, pedagogy, theory and curriculum, inclusion, and expertise. It demonstrates that early years educators do not exist outside their cultural, political, economic, historical and social backgrounds, and that we need to be mindful of what shapes our approaches and opinions, and the impact we have on children and families.

It celebrates the complexity of the role of the early years professional, and explores how every part of our practice is linked. While we can’t reflect on everything at the same time, we do need to understand why we are doing what we do, with children at the heart of that understanding.  

The task of the early years practitioner is not just about meeting standards – ‘this role is much more about attitude, ideology and passion.’ P. 389

Helen Edwards, Jules Mickelburgh and Rebecca Swindells contributed to a chapter of this book.

You can find out more here.

You can also visit the website reflectiveteaching.co.uk for more information about reflective teaching and these related books.  

But is childcare separate from education? I would argue you can’t have one without the other; it’s hard to imagine an experience or activity for a child in a childcare setting where learning doesn’t happen. So why are we still using the term ‘childcare’?

It seems to me ‘childcare’ is more about offering a service to allow parents to work. The emphasis is on the economy, and ‘affordable childcare’ crops up in the press time and time again. But what is more important for the children? Surely the quality of their learning experience in an early years setting?

The early years sector has always had trouble gaining the same respect as our school colleagues; many individuals outside the profession think of childcare as ‘babysitting’ where staff need few qualifications, and as long as children are kept safe while their parents are at work, then ‘childcare’ has done its job.

However, early years staff educate children too. Some would argue it’s the most important part of their work, and that care and education go hand in hand. We know that children who feel cared for, and who feel safe and happy, are ready and eager to learn. It’s not just about keeping them safe, clean and fed, and kept busy until a parent or carer comes to collect them.

Child development is complicated and needs the very best individuals in the sector, who are willing to reflect on early education theory and practice, and who are continually learning to be the best teachers and practitioners they can possibly be. This is not ‘babysitting’ or ‘childcare’.

The lack of understanding about what the early childhood sector does is likely to continue until policy makers and relevant government departments fully appreciate that early childhood is the most important time in a child’s life.  A time where teachers and practitioners encourage a love of learning that will stay with them for their entire lives. Early education settings need the same level of respect and recognition that the school sector has; they have an equally important role.

I’d like to suggest we all drop the term ‘childcare’ and use instead 'Early Childhood Education'. We all know it means caring for the children, too.

By Helen Edwards 

To understand the value of this book, an acknowledgement of your place on the road to anti-racism is important.  In addition to this, an appreciation that there is no finish line on the road is vital.  My personal journey, like many other white people, didn’t begin until 2020.  I have a long way to travel, but I feel there is no better companion in the early days of your journey than this thought provoking and informative book.  That is not to say this is only useful for those at the beginning of learning about anti-racism.  I’m starting to see the comparisons between my usual work in early child development, and the work required to facilitate positive change against racism. It’s all very well attending CPD or reading a respected book – but you need to revisit, practice and read again if you want to truly understand and make an impact.

Tiffany Jewell is a Black biracial writer and Anti-Racist Montessori educator and consultant.  She explains in her notes that ‘This is the book I wish I’d had when I was younger.  And it’s the book I will share with my own children.  It contains information I never learned when I was younger, and you will probably not be taught in school’.  It is her hope that the book will be used ‘to start your journey in the big world of anti-racism’.  The look and feel of the book suggests that the target audience is children and young people – it is published by Frances Lincoln Children’s Books and the text is accompanied by Aurélia Durand’s bright and brilliant illustrations. This may well be why a nearly 40-year-old man with a stereotypical track record of poor engagement with books found it so accessible.  Tiffany does however reassure us that this book ‘is for everyone’.

Myself and my colleagues on the Education Team at the Foundation Stage Forum each received a copy of this book at the same time and we spent six weeks choosing a different focal point to discuss in depth at our weekly meetings.  The book enabled us, a group of white people who were all equally new to the discomfort of recognising our white privilege, to talk about race, and to talk about whiteness. I’ve since advised others who are starting out on their professional and personal journey into anti-racism that this is an ideal first text.  I also suggested that this book needed to be read with time for reflection and discussion, supported by the activities woven throughout it.

When you read the book, you will notice that the text is entirely gender-neutral. The author also makes it clear that ‘Black, Brown and Indigenous folx’ are not the minority – they are the ‘Global Majority’.  

I often refer back to the different sections of the book, and it is chapter 5 that has stayed at the forefront of my thinking since reading.  The task is simply entitled ‘Notice who has the power’.  As a white man, the questions that follow caused me to acknowledge the enormity of my white privilege: you don’t just reflect on your recent past, you literally consider your whole life in one incredibly powerful page.

This is the book I wish I’d had when I was younger, and it’s the book I will share with my own children. 

Follow this link to Round Table Books to purchase a copy of This Book is Anti-racist: 20 lessons on how to wake up, take action, and do the work by Tiffany Jewell. 

By Stephen Kilgour