Welcome to the FSF May newsletter.

The Early Years sector continues to be discussed by policy makers this month. After reports in the media that the Prime Minister is considering making a change to childcare ratios as a way of cutting costs for parents and carers, the Children and Families minister Will Quince confirmed on Twitter that the government were looking at the Scottish model for early years ratios. You can read that Twitter thread here.

Ofsted’s 2022-2027 strategy has now been published in full, with a pledge to ‘develop the evidence base about early years education’, and ‘act on it’. Both a summary and the full document are available.

And new guidance designed to support early years educators when they are completing the 2 year progress check has been published. You can find the Progress Check at age 2 guidance from this link.

On the FSF this month, we have an article about the early years ratios debate. Nathan Archer, Director of the International Montessori Institute at Leeds Beckett University, reflects on the arguments against relaxing ratios. You can find out more from this link. 

We also have an article by Ann Lowe, Early Years Inclusion Office for Doncaster Council Early Years Service. Ann shares the journey to the creation of the Reflection Toolkit which she worked on with SEND Advisor Stephen Kilgour. The Reflection Toolkit is a free resource developed to encourage practitioners to consider areas where provision may need adjustment to support children with learning differences. Ann’s article and the downloadable Reflection Toolkit are available here. You can also listen to Ann and Stephen discussing the resource in this FSF and Tapestry podcast episode.

Our other podcasts this month include a conversation with Reception teacher Laura Bimson about how she has adapted her provision in the light of the revised EYFS, and a discussion with senior leader and consultant Audrey Pantelis about some of the challenges for children, families and educators living and learning with SEND. You can find all our podcasts here, or wherever you usually listen.

At Tapestry HQ, the team are very excited to share some news about the upcoming Management System on Tapestry. This system is going to be released in phases, the first of which will be available this summer. Tapestry subscribers will be able to add and create bookings and generate a printable register for custom rooms.  Phase 2, which includes capacity planning, will follow shortly. The rest of the phases will be released over time and will bring extra features such as billing, invoicing and digital registers. As with all new features on Tapestry, the Management System will be available at no extra charge. If you’d like to know more, take a look at this preview video (the look may change as development continues).

This month we end the newsletter with something interactive! We have created a short survey about teaching and learning, and professional development. We will use the findings in our articles, to support our public relations and marketing, and to inform the development of Tapestry and the FSF.  We would love to hear your views. To take part in this 5 minute survey, please follow this link.

Wishing you a safe and happy May,

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