Welcome to the FSF January newsletter
Early Years News
Ofsted has a new Chief Inspector, former Outwood Grange Academies Trust CEO Sir Martyn Oliver. One of his first announcements in his new role has been to pause routine school inspections until inspectors have received ‘significant’ training, led in part by Mental Health First Aid England - inspections in schools are due to restart on 22nd January. However, Early Years sector inspections have not been included in this pause. You can read a response to this omission from the Early Years Alliance here. More about Sir Martyn Oliver can be found in this TES article, and you can also read this Instagram post by Liz Pemberton.
Since 2nd January, working parents in England have been able to start applying for 15 hours of funded childcare for their two-year-old. The programme means that from April, working parents of two-year-olds will receive funded childcare for 15 hours per week during term time – and children from nine months are due to be included from September. Find information to share with families, including the link to begin an application, from the government website.
Don’t forget to contribute to the Labour Party’s review of early years childhood education and care, conducted by Sir David Bell. You can have your say by writing to this open email address education_policy@labour.org.uk
New Content
FSF articles and podcasts
Our January article is by mum, personal trainer and former early years educator, Alicia Wilkins, who shares her reflections on the transition from home to early years setting for a parent/carer.
The newest podcast episode is a conversation with Varinder Kaur Johal about helping children find their voice – what is it that is important to them, what do they want to know about and how can we listen to them? As always, you can find all our podcast episodes wherever you like to listen, or from this link.
Tapestry news and resources
The resource from Tapestry HQ this month is ‘A Beginner’s Guide to Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Inclusion’, written by Gemma Lees who is a Romany Gypsy, disabled and neurodiverse fine artist, poet, actor, facilitator, journalist and theatre-maker. You can download the free guide here.
If you are a Tapestry user, you can keep up to date with the most recent additions to the management system from this post.
Wishing you all a safe and happy January and 2024
From Helen, Steve and all of us at the FSF and Tapestry
From The Forum
Woodland Trust resources and activities for schools
FSF articles and podcasts
Our January article is by mum, personal trainer and former early years educator, Alicia Wilkins, who shares her reflections on the transition from home to early years setting for a parent/carer.
The newest podcast episode is a conversation with Varinder Kaur Johal about helping children find their voice – what is it that is important to them, what do they want to know about and how can we listen to them? As always, you can find all our podcast episodes wherever you like to listen, or from this link.
Tapestry news and resources
The resource from Tapestry HQ this month is ‘A Beginner’s Guide to Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Inclusion’, written by Gemma Lees who is a Romany Gypsy, disabled and neurodiverse fine artist, poet, actor, facilitator, journalist and theatre-maker. You can download the free guide here.
If you are a Tapestry user, you can keep up to date with the most recent additions to the management system from this post.
Wishing you all a safe and happy January and 2024
From Helen, Steve and all of us at the FSF and Tapestry
The Woodland Trust provides a wealth of free resources to help teachers...
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