In sunny Sussex it seems that Spring may have finally sprung. However, last term we seemed to  encounter every different kind of weather and many of us suffered 'snow days'. We are now expecting the 'African plume' which will bring a heatwave our way. The job of the manager or head teacher is always a difficult one and never more so than when the decision of whether to close a school due to inclement weather needs to be taken - whatever decision is made - it's always wrong!  Similarly, senior staff will now have to make tough decisions about when it is too hot to play outside. They can't win! Here at the FSF we understand how hard it is and helpful threads like this one about the recent 'Snow days' are a perfect example of how our members come together to support and advise one another in tricky situations.

Since our last newsletter there has been much to keep up with in the the world of EYFS.  Last week we heard that NFER had been awarded the contract for the Reception Baseline Assessment; this is despite the misgivings felt by much of the early years community. At the end of February, Ofsted announced that the online SEF was being scrapped. As a result, our members talked together about how they were going to present their self-evaluation in preparation for inspection.  The Family and Childcare Trust's report explained clearly the impact of government initiatives on the sector. More recently, the 'Stop Start report produced by Professor Kathy Sylva's team at the University of Oxford painted a bleak picture of what has happened to children's centres across England.  We work hard to keep you abreast of all the news headlines as they relate to early years, if you would like to be notified when a new news item is posted you can choose to 'follow' this forum page.

We have been busy at FSF HQ helping you steer your way through the requirements of the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). As well as providing explanations and thoughts in line with the ICO '12 steps to take now' guidelines we have produced resources to support you.  There are some extremely useful hints and tips from colleagues on the 'preparing for GDPR' threads.  

If you are a Tapestry user, you will have received our recent newsletter. In the last half term we have added a comments tool and an accident form feature to the Care Diary. The comments tool allows you to send messages between relatives and you can use the accident form to record any incidents throughout the day, as well as record parent’s signatures digitally! Alongside this, we have also added two new tracking screens; the Montessori Summative Assessment screen, which will allow you to track and manually override Montessori assessments and the Staff Observation Count screen which shows you how many observations staff have made on your account. You can find tutorials to help you use all these new features from our Tapestry tutorials page. If you think you might like to try Tapestry in your setting or school you can access a free, no obligation, trial from here

We'd like to welcome back members from the following authorities, which have renewed their LA subscription. Members from these authorities need do nothing; their individual accounts will automatically be re-subscribed:

For their 4th year – Rutland

For their 6th year – Central Bedfordshire

For their 8th year – Cornwall & West Sussex

And a special welcome back to Suffolk renewing for their 13th year

Our last newsletter was published in February. Since then we have commissioned several articles from well-respected members of the early years community. This half term we have worked in collaboration with national trauma expert Jane Evans, in our article 'Observing and evaluating wellbeing'. In the article we discuss the usefulness of using quantitative measures to assess children's emotional wellbeing. In a continuation of Ofsted's mythbusting 'mission', Gill Jones, Ofsted's Early Education Deputy Director, has written for us about 'Keeping little children safe' in early years. Following several forum threads about working with children who have speech and language issues, Kathryn Stinton, who is a SEND consultant, wrote about 'Supporting Children’s Speech, Language and Communication Skills'. As we approach the moderation period of the academic year, Kate Cahill tackled the perennial issue of how much 'evidence' do we need to provide to substantiate the judgments we make? Kate's article 'Observational Assessment and paperwork - how much is enough?' gives a sensible and balanced view in an effort to make teachers' workloads more manageable. The Education Policy Institute works to collect, collate and present research to government and other stakeholders. Their Associate Director of Early Years, Sara Bonetti, wrote to enthuse and motivate teachers to realise how much difference they can make to education policy by engaging with consultations and discussions. Sara's article 'You are more than 'just a teacher'' should inspire you to get involved in decision making.

We have reviewed two books this half term to help you reflect on your professional knowledge. Firstly 'Outdoor Provision in the Early Years' by Jan White which explores the different ideas surrounding outdoor provision and sets out how shared visions and values for outdoor play can make a real difference in early years settings.  Secondly, we reviewed 'Wise Words. How Susan Isaacs Changed Parenting' . We found the book to be a fascinating read which will captivate early years specialists, parents and social historians alike.