New module added to DfE's Early Years child development training

Supporting physical development in the early years:

The Early years child development training is an online programme that is free to access. It has been designed by early years professionals to help early years practitioners working with children 0-4 years strengthen their knowledge and understanding of child development.
 
Module 5: Supporting physical development in the early years is now available, along with 4 other modules on child and brain development, personal, social and emotional development (PSED) and communication and language.

This new module covers:

• the typical stages of physical development in the early years
• potential factors that can affect physical development
• how physical skills impact on learning, development and behaviour
• the importance of curriculum, environment and relationships for promoting physical development

To access this module, you will need to complete modules 1-3 of the training. If you are already signed up to the training and have completed modules 1-3, this module is available to start now. You can access it from your My modules page in the training.

Further modules will be added during 2023. If you haven’t yet accessed the training, and would like to learn more and register, please visit Early years child development 

Foundation Years live event in Birmingham

Book places now and hear from the DfE and Ofsted amongst others……..

Foundation Years are running another event for practitioners working within the EYFS.

Chaired by James Hempsall, they will be joined by a fantastic range of speakers, including:

• DfE on the EYFS consultation, 
• Coram Family and Childcare,
• NCB EYSEND,
• Education Development Trust – EYPDP,
• Astrea MAT,
• Ofsted. 

Places are FREE and limited so register today!  The agenda is available on the booking site: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/foundation-years-live-engage-connect-and-share-best-practice-tickets-635412384547

Professional Qualification in Early Years Leaders

Registration open for October 2023

The NPQEYL is a professional development course which has been specifically designed by early years experts to address the challenges faced by early years leaders.

The NPQEYL will help you develop essential knowledge and skills that underpin successful leadership of a high-quality nursery, including how to:

• Establish an effective culture across the nursery
• Deliver a high-quality and ambitious curriculum that meets the needs of all your learners and ensures all children experience success
• Support staff to engage in effective professional development
• Manage resources effectively
• Work successfully with parents, services and other early years settings

Find out more and register for this fully-funded course by visiting Early years leadership NPQ (education.gov.uk).

Launch of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Consultation is now live on Citizen Space

The Department for Education has launched a consultation on the EYFS to offer providers increased flexibility and alleviate known burdens, exploring giving providers more choice over how they operate and making it easier for them to deliver the EYFS. It is their intention that these changes will support settings to deliver the new entitlements announced at the Spring Budget.

They hope to hear from many people and organisations before the deadline on 26 July, so they can gather a broad range of views to help them reach well-informed decisions. The Department for Education and Foundation Years are also planning some engagement events for stakeholders, so please look out for this.

To note, this consultation builds on the measures consulted on in Summer 2022. The changes to 2 year old staff to child ratios and supervision whilst eating are due to come into force in September 2023, subject to parliamentary procedure.

Please see attachments with your briefing.

For more information click here

Supporting young children with SEND

The importance of early intervention and partnership working

In a new blog on the Foundation Years website, Christina Welsh and Adi Soni from the EYSEND Partnership share the important work they have been doing to support the educational experiences of young people with SEN and disabilities in England.
 
Members of the EYSEND Partnership work at a strategic level by bringing together local authorities, parents/carers, setting and school staff, health colleagues, and other representatives from across the sector. The aim is to gather all stakeholders in the same space to develop more coherent and robust systems for young children to access the support and care they need.
 
Their latest report shows how the early identification of SEND, including through formal diagnosis and obtaining a support plan in the early years, paves the way towards a positive experience at school in later years.

Read the blog on the Foundation Years website here. 

Professional Development Guide

Are you thinking about how to support your staff’s professional development?

If so, the EEF have published a new guide to understand components of effective professional development in the early years. It focuses on four key areas:

• Building knowledge
• Motivating staff to adopt and maintain changes to their practice
• Developing specific techniques
• Embedding new approaches.

The guide also includes insights from early years professionals who share how they’ve refined their professional development provision.
 
The EEF, in collaboration with DfE and Stronger Practice Hubs, is also offering early years settings access to several funded professional development programmes. Taking part gives you the opportunity to receive promising professional development free of charge. There’s also a contribution to the costs for staff to engage in training too.

Search your setting to explore opportunities.

Free Children's Wellbeing Resources

National Day Nurseries Association 

Increasing levels of well-being in the first five years of a child’s life is key to their future mental health. The National Day Nurseries Association have created a range of free well-being resources that early years practitioners can read, download and use at their settings for the benefit of their children.
 
Visit the website to access:

• Free children’s well-being policy template
• Free factsheet with top tips on supporting children’s emotional well-being
• Free well-being training course
• Free children’s well-being guide e-book

National Week of Play

The Early Years Alliance will be running its third annual National Week of Play from Monday 19 to Sunday 25 June.

This year's event will focus on how we can ensure that play in the early years fosters and supports a sense of positivity and  inclusivity, regardless of age, gender, or background.

The National Week of Play will celebrate play through a range of activities, including:

• Free virtual events exploring the importance of connecting through play
• A range of tips, ideas and activities for early years professionals to try throughout the week
• Ideas and resources to encourage parents and carers to get involved. 

Parents, carers and early years professionals can register to take part in this year's National Week of Play, and to receive a free resource pack here. 

Pyjamarama is back for 2023!

Spend a day in your pyjamas to raise money for BookTrust and be part of something amazing.

On Friday 16 June, children all around the country – in schools, nurseries, and at home – will spend the day reading, enjoying, and sharing stories all in the comfort of their pyjamas to raise vital funds to help every child get a bedtime story.

Five great reasons for getting involved:

• Taking part in Pyjamarama gives schools, nurseries, libraries, clubs, parents and carers a great way to encourage children to read for pleasure.
• By getting involved, you can raise vital funds to help make sure that no child misses out on their bedtime story.
• Pyjamarama is easy and fun to organise: all you need to do is to ask parents to keep children in their pyjamas on 16 June and bring in £1 to support our work getting more    children reading.
• New for 2023! Exclusive video content from your favourite authors
• You can wear your pyjamas all day!

To find out more click here

Sign up to take part here

50 Things to do website

Did you know that our 50 things website has a Google Translate feature? This is a fast and simple way to translate our website into a different language. This can be a good tool for language learning or for people whose second language is English.

Website: https://warwickshire.50thingstodo.org/app/os#!/welcome