Welcome to the FSF March newsletter.

In an ever-changing landscape, we continue to adjust to the ‘strategy for living with Covid’ recently announced by the government in England. As Covid restrictions are lifted, the final report of a project funded by the Economic and Social Research Council titled ‘Essential but undervalued: early years care & education during COVID-19’ has been published. You can read the report here.

Meanwhile, a recent survey conducted by YouGov of almost a thousand primary teachers has found that educators feel 50% of children ‘are not ready to start school’. Whatever we think of the term ‘school readiness’, and whether it is school that needs to be ready for the child, you can find out more about the survey here.

There will be settings who have children, families, and staff affected by the crisis in Ukraine. And children may have seen or heard the news, or adults having conversations, that lead them to ask their own questions. Having these conversations with young children is difficult but necessary.  

This month on the FSF we hear from Alicia Wilkins, who shares her experience of connecting with families and children through her home nursery/childminding business. Alicia opens her article with what it's like for herself as a parent connecting with her own child’s early years educators. You can read more here.  Our Coffee Break this month reflects on whether it is time to rethink dressing up for World Book Day. Take a look from this link. 

As always we have a great collection of new podcast episodes. We chat with Adam Vasco who leads on the 3-7 Early Years Post Graduate Route at Liverpool John Moores University about transitions and representation in education – for all ages; Johnoi Josephs and Albert Adeyemi, founders of Black Men Teach, talk about black male teachers – wanted, needed or both; and writer and educator Naomi Clarke discusses opening up outdoor learning. You can listen to our podcasts from this link, or wherever you usually find your podcasts. 

At Tapestry HQ the team were very proud to be included in the Business Cloud’s Ed Tech 50 choices for 2022, alongside other fantastic ed tech providers.

Wishing you a safe and happy March,

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