This month on the FSF we have a new article by Early Years Practitioner and Tiney home nursery leader Alicia Wilkins, who offers advice to families looking for a school for their child based on her experience as a mum, reminding those of us who wo…
New things and change can be challenging. Remember the Forum is a place where you can ask questions and offer advice.
Here on the FSF we have an article by Helen Edwards about making observations, one by Varinder Kaur Johal about writing in t…
On the FSF for January we have an article by speech and language therapist Ruth Jones, considering how the early years sector can ensure inclusive practice for neurodivergent children. Browse through all our articles from this link.
Ruth also…
FSF articles and podcasts
In our May articles, Early Years teacher Ann-Marie Piper shares her experience of cultivating curiosity in young children. And book confidence coach and bestselling author Winsome Duncan shares tips and support for par…
Ofsted Inspection Reports for Childminders (Part 2) In this article we look at the quality and standards of the early years provision and outcomes for children.
The Practitioner as an Explorer: Effective Observation Techniques Observation is …
We have published several articles this term. John Blaney (Forest School Pioneer) wrote for us about encouraging 'Street Play' in young children. Michaela Machan wrote us a 'beginners guide to observing children' article. Finleysmaid wrote for us abo…
Child Development: fact or fiction?
Knowledge about child development is an important tool which enables practitioners to make appropriate provision for young children; but if we are not careful it can also be a dangerously limiting illusion that…
After our popular articles covering recent Ofsted reports last year we've brought out a new series, updated after studying over 100 new Ofsted reports from the last three months. We can see certain recurrent themes and in the reports we outl…
Jenny Barber wrote for us this half term 'Shake up! Refresh! How to reflect and move your setting on...'. Jenny's article encourages us to consider how we make changes to our provision that are necessary, understood and consistently implemented by…
In this month's article we have been thinking about the managers who struggle in the first few months of their role. It can be hard to 'manage' colleagues who you have worked alongside as an 'equal' for some time - in her article, Anni McTavish tal…
How do young children learn to make decisions?
Babies and young children are able to make decisions that are relevant to their lives. This article examines what kinds of decisions children can make at different stages of their development and …
Since our last newsletter, we have published articles written by Alistair Bryce Clegg and by Penny Tassoni. Alistair asks us to think about how we prepare and present our setting to ensure that we are encouraging children to be ambitious, inquisit…
This half-term we published David Wright's article Men in childcare, an ongoing debate which discussed the perceptions that people have about men who work in early years. You can comment on the article from here and see David's response to questio…
The Education Team at FSF and Tapestry HQ have been recording more podcasts this month. We have one on Self Regulation, a topic that has been the focus of much discussion since its appearance in the proposed new ELGs. We also have a couple of ligh…
Here at FSF and Tapestry HQ we have been looking outwards in more ways than one!
Earlier in October, Emily and Jules went to Devon to do some training for Ventrus MAT. This was a new experience for us - we don't get out much! Thank you to the …
We have lots of news from FSF and Tapestry HQ this month!
We have recently moved offices - in fact it would be more accurate to say we are now in actual offices! We had a special day to open the new building at the beginning of June and we we…
We have made a couple of changes here at the FSF and Tapestry HQ, and we have had a celebration too!
We are introducing a new Coffee Break item - short and sweet, updated regularly on the home page for you to dip into whenever you have a mome…
Characteristics of Effective Learning: creating and thinking critically
The EYFS describes creating and thinking critically as when ‘children have and develop their own ideas, make links between ideas, and develop strategies for doing things’ (Df…
The Role of the Adult in Early Years Settings: Part 2
Part 2 continues the journey of exploring our role in supporting young children’s learning and development. It outlines the five remaining ‘selves’ of the ‘plural practitioner’ framework that …
A Reception Teacher's Blog (4)
I teach in the Reception class on Wednesdays. This Wednesday I am in the middle of the usual early morning chaos in my house (me, a husband, two teenagers and a 9 year old all attempting to leave at approximately the…
Are You Ready for Your Joint Observation? Observing Practice under the OfSTED Inspection Framework
Why does the joint observation element of OfSTED inspections cause us panic and anxiety? Providers and senior management are the people who have ove…
Choosing 'Next Steps' from your observations
One of the biggest concerns when the EYFS was first published was about doing observations of children. How will there be enough time? How could you observe every child? How much paperwork was this goin…
Objective-led Planning (Alastair Bryce-Clegg)
Objective-led planning has to be the most effective way of taking teaching into children’s play that I have ever used. With objective-led planning you would still group the children by ability based o…
On our forums it has been a very full month with staff beavering away to ensure they have everything ready for the ‘end of the year’ handovers. We constantly monitor our forums to ensure that threads are constructive and welcoming. We also use the …
Twenty top tips for helping to develop self-discipline for positive behaviour management in young children
With increasing numbers of children being diagnosed with special educational needs such as ADHD and autism, managing challenging behaviour i…
