Welcome to the November edition of the FSF newsletter. How many mud pies have been made, puddles jumped in, buckets filled and carried, and waterproofs hung up to dry over the last few weeks of rainy weather? Nature is always a provider of new interest and opportunities to learn even when it doesn't seem very inviting! For some parts of the country the November rain has caused flooding, and we are thinking of settings and their families who are having to cope with this challenge. 

The main news in the Early Years has been the launch of the DfE consultation on the proposed revised Early Learning Goals. The FSF currently has a thread with more information and discussion about this. Please do add your thoughts here, and take part in the consultation. All early years educators and children are on a journey that leads towards the ELGs, no matter which stage of it they may be at. 

Remaining focused on the moment children move on from the early years nest, the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile 2018-19 results have been published. You can read an analysis of the statistics by the Early Years Alliance here. 

With the new Ofsted Inspection Framework in full swing, here at the FSF Helen has now read 100 of the first inspection reports! She has compiled a series of 5 articles, exploring different aspects of an inspection. They include quotes from the 100 reports, giving you a clear idea of what inspectors have been saying as they use the new framework. You can view them on the front page of the FSF, and you can link to the first one on Revision, Reflection, Evaluation and Drive for Improvement from here. 

We know it's good to have an eye on where children are heading on their educational journey. With this in mind, do take a look at the blog post by Gill Jones, Ofsted's Early Education Deputy Director. She has written a myth-busting piece on Early reading and the Education Inspection Framework, discussing the 'deep dive' into reading that is included in a school inspection. Inspectors will focus on 'how well the school teaches children to read from the beginning of Reception' - so this does include part of a child's time in Early Years. 

We'd like to welcome back members from the following authorities which have renewed their LA subscription:

For their 9th year - Lincolnshire!

For their 13th year - Brighton and Hove and Southampton! 

Members from these authorities need do nothing; their individual accounts will automatically be re-subscribed. 

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 Ventrus team for making us feel so welcome. It was fantastic to meet so many Tapestry users and hear thoughts and ideas. 

Early Years settings are welcoming new families all year round. This can be a worrying time for parents and carers, and means extra time and focus on settling new little people for staff. Rebecca Swindells has written an article on how she supports new families and babies, and the staff who work with them, at Blue Door Nursery. 

We keep a close eye on pedagogical research, and changes to policies, curriculum and guidance documents, so that we can support the dedicated teams out there working with young children. As well as unpicking those 100 Ofsted reports, Helen had a letter titled 'Using Tapestry' published in the 28th October - 10th November issue of Nursery World. She was also quoted in a Nursery World article examining the proposed new ELGs. Do check them out if you haven't seen them already. 

We have a new feature on Tapestry! 'Documents' allows you to upload, store and organise files for easy access by staff or parents. You can control the visibility of your files, so this feature can be used for anything from planning and policies to resources for parents. Managers can enable it through the 'Features' section of the Control Panel and you can read more about it on the Tapestry website. 

Tapestry Reflections has been available on accounts for a few weeks now and settings and schools are exploring how this feature can support their reflective practice. If you use Tapestry, you can enable Reflections from the Control Panel > Settings > Reflections > tick 'Enable Reflections' and 'save'. Take a look at our Tutorials Page for some useful instructions too. 

Happy November!