Welcome to the FSF December newsletter

Early Years News

Sir David Bell, Vice Chancellor and Chief Executive of University of Sunderland, has been asked by the Labour Party to undertake a review of early childhood education and care. A letter from Sir David Bell has been published and shared, which explains that he and his team will be looking to:

·         review eligibility for, and access to, affordable education and childcare provision for children ages 0-4

·         examine ways to increase the quality of provision in early years, both inside and beyond the school system

·         consider a long-term plan for the early years’ workforce

The review team are keen to hear from those currently working in the sector, and there is now an open email address you can contribute to and perhaps shape future policy: education_policy@labour.org.uk

One of the requirements the new Early Years Qualification and Standards guidance lays out is guidelines for qualified and unqualified staff in relation to ratios in early years provision. For more information and clarification on this, you can read this news item from the Early Years Alliance

Early Education have an upcoming course for the Spring and Summer, led by early childhood specialist Kerry Murphy. This course will focus on Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Neurodiversity. You can find out more here.

And Laura Henry-Allain is running an action research two-part professional development course on supporting every child with their Communication Language and Literacy, which will begin in January. Go to this forum post to see more details.

FSF articles and podcasts

We end the year with an article from early years lecturer Emma Davis, who reflects on how we offer challenge to children in the Early Years.

Our podcast episodes this month were with Sarah Sudea, founder of Finding the Flex, who discussed the ways in which more flexible schooling could be offered to children and their families. And we chatted with Beatrice Merrick, Chief Executive of Early Education, about child-centred pedagogy, practice and policy and what the future may hold. This conversation was recorded to recognise the centenary of Early Education. As always, you can find all our podcast episodes wherever you like to listen, or from this link.

Tapestry news and resources

The team at Tapestry HQ have been busy with a round of updates on the invoicing section of the management system. The main addition is the ability to record and allocate payments, and view the account balance for each child. You can find out more from this link, and you can learn more about all of the Invoicing feature here.

There is also a new resource to support your practice and pedagogy. Independent education consultant and trainer, Sejal Payne, has written the Beginner’s Guide to Supporting Children Learning English as an Additional Language. The guide is free to download from this link.

Wishing you all a safe and happy December and winter break

From Helen, Steve and all of us at the FSF and Tapestry.