EYFS 2014 – What you need to know in ten simple points

July 27th, 2014

EYFS 2014

Hi everyone

With holidays on our minds September seems a long way off, but when it arrives so will the new EYFS 2014 regulations. Hopefully you will get at least one quiet day during August to just digest the changes and prepare your setting for the new framework.

To make it as easy as possible we highlight here ten key things we think you should know about  EYFS 2014. [Content protected for Members only, please either login or become a member to read this content]

Thanks for reading,

Amanda

Source used in the document: 

Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage (2014) March 2014 – DfE

Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage changes 2014 – Foundation Years

 

The information contained in our blogs, newsletters, resources and website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by us and we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to our blogs, newsletters and website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website, blog or newsletters for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.

In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of our blogs, newsletters, resources or website.

 

Moving on to School

June 24th, 2014

Hi everyone,

It is that time of year when thoughts turn to the summer holidays and dare I say it…. what happens at the end of them. It is likely that many of you will have children in your setting that will be moving on to school in September and you may be thinking about how you can support the child to make the transition as seamless as possible. You may well have already set the foundations, but if not we have some ideas and a new resource to help:

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We have launched our first Childminding app!

May 18th, 2014

Our first app is now available

We are very excited to announce that our first app is now available to download from the App Store and Google Play.first aid picture

Our ‘Child Accident App’ can be downloaded onto your smartphone or tablet and can be used to both record an accident that has occurred and to inform the child’s parents. It is simple to use, just fill in a few details and the app will keep an electronic record of all accidents. It will also email the details to you and the child’s parent, requesting them to reply to confirm receipt.  This is very useful as it has come to light via the 2012 iteration of the paediatric 1st Aid course that accident reports need to be kept until the child’s 18th birthday regardless of whether or not you continue to look after them. Given this we suggest you keep the electronic replies from parents safe in a password protected area of your computer.

This app has been developed through a collaboration with one of our members, who asked us if we knew of an existing accident recording app. We couldn’t find one so together we decided to create the app and make it available for everyone to purchase.

The app can be purchased for £1.49. It would have been great to make it free for members but it has cost quite a lot to develop and we want to use the proceeds of the sale to cover these costs and to support the development of other apps….. we already have ideas for the next one!

How do I get the app? 

On your smartphone or tablet, simply click on your App store / Google play app and type ‘Child Accident App’ in the search bar. This should bring up a few apps, one of which looks like this:

first aid picture

 

 

Child Accident App.

 

 

If you want to purchase the app, please click through the instructions on your device until it is downloaded.

How do I use the app?

The app is designed to be very simple and easy to use. The home page looks like this:

Front page

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here you can choose whether to report a new accident, view existing recorded accidents, or change your details. We suggest that you first click ‘Change my details’ and then add your details. This will mean that you do not have to add them every time you record an accident.

When you want to report a new accident, click the top option. This will take you to a new page that looks like this:

Report page

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Complete this page and click to continue, this will open a diagram of a body outline which you can press on to indicate where the the child was harmed.

body outline page

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now click to proceed to the ‘Send info’ page and add your details (if not already completed) plus the details of who you want to send the report to. Finally click to send the emails and record the information on the app.

The app will send an email to the parent and will include a request for the parent to reply to confirm receipt. The app will also send an email to your email address and we suggest you keep both this email and the parent’s reply for your permanent records. It is worth noting that

If you do purchase this app, we would love to know what you think about it. Also, if you have suggestions for other apps you would like us to develop, please let us know.

Thanks for reading

Amanda

The information contained in our blogs, newsletters, resources and website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by us and we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to our blogs, newsletters and website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website, blog or newsletters for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.

In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of our blogs, newsletters, resources or website.

Early Years Entitlement for Childminders

April 25th, 2014

New Early Years Entitlement resources

Introduction

We have been contacted recently by a member who has been encouraged to include early years entitlement (EYE) relevant resources in her business by her local authority. She has asked us to help by developing some resources to support her with this.  It may be that your local authority will not expect you to have this paperwork for you to offer EYE but you may find the resources useful in the management of your childminding practice if you do offer EYE hours.

Can I offer EYE funded hours?

If you are not already offering EYE funded hours you may well be able to. It should be that if you are rated ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’ you will be entitled to provide EYE funded hours to eligible 2-year olds. It seems that the eligibility rules for offering EYE funded hours to 3-4 year olds are currently less clear-cut. We therefore suggest you speak to your local authority Childcare Development officer to confirm eligibility in your area.

EYE factsheet for parents

Our first resource is a practical factsheet that you can give to parents to let them know more about EYE funding, whether their child is eligible, how to access the funding, how it can be used, and what restrictions are placed on its use. This is a general factsheet and you may need to amend it to make it relevant to your specific area.

EYE letter to parents

This resource can be given to parents to inform them that you are able to offer EYE funded hours. It also encourages parents to speak to you to find out whether you are able to offer the specific hours that they may be looking for.

EYE Charging policy

If you are offering EYE funded hours it is good practice to have an EYE charging policy so that you and parents are clear on how the funding will be implemented. Our EYE Charging policy, used in conjunction with our general Fees policy, sets out how you will charge parents, taking into account their early years entitlement. In particular it gives guidance on aspects that are a requirement of offering EYE funded hours:

  • How you can only attribute the hours to the child’s early years entitlement if this has been agreed and notified to your local authority within their required timescales and adheres to their rules on early years entitlement provision.
  • How you will not ask parents to contribute financially to the hours that are funded through the early years entitlement.
  • How you will not insist that parents pay for other charges during your funded hours.
  • How you can charge for snacks and meals but that you will also give parents the option of providing food for their own child.

Sample invoice with EYE hours

Finally we have developed a sample invoice that includes spaces for EYE funded hours so that parents can clearly see the hours used through EYE funding as well as those that they need to pay for.

Thanks for reading,

Amanda

Source used in the document: 

Various .gov.uk websites 

The information contained in our blogs, newsletters, resources and website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by us and we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to our blogs, newsletters and website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website, blog or newsletters for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.

In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of our blogs, newsletters, resources or website.

 

L&D: Expressive Arts & Design – Part 2/2

March 21st, 2014

Aspect: Being Imaginative

Introduction

This is the last blog in our series on the 7 areas of learning & development (L&D). So far we have looked at what the 7 areas of L&D are and have discussed why they are important. We also looked at the three prime areas of learning & development: ‘Personal, Social & Emotional development’, ‘Communication & Language’, and ‘Physical Development’. After this we moved on to look at the four specific areas of learning & development.  For each area we have suggested activities that promote each of the aspects which sit within the areas.

We have now moved on to look at the fourth specific area of learning & development, Expressive Arts & Design. This area of L&D consists of 2 parts, which are known as ‘Aspects’. Each aspect leads to one of the 17 EYFS early learning goals (the knowledge, skills and understanding children should have at the end of the academic year in which they turn five). The diagram below shows how the Expressive Arts & Design area is made up of two aspects and two early learning goals:

summary diagram

The EYFS framework document describes how “Expressive Arts & Design involves enabling children to explore and play with a wide range of media and materials, as well as providing opportunities and encouragement for sharing their thoughts, ideas and feelings through a variety of activities in art, music, movement, dance, role-play, and design and technology.”  The two aspects each support this aim.

Our previous blog introduced the specific area of ‘Expressive Arts & Design’ and discussed its first aspect. This blog completes the series by focusing on the second aspect within this specific area of Expressive Arts & Design: Being imaginative.

Being imaginative

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It is worth noting that the allocation of activities to aspects and areas of L&D is often subjective and many activities cover more than one aspect and more than one area of L&D. Further the activities can cover multiple characteristics of effective learning and can be a mix of adult-led and child-initiated. So these are suggestions for you to adapt and work into your practice in a way that best suits you and your setting across all your planning. Always remember to supervise children and ensure the activity is safe and age and development-appropriate.

I hope these suggested activities have given you some inspiration. You could incorporate them into your planning as ad hoc activities or as part of a wider theme. For example the Bang fun! activity could be part of a month’s theme on senses.

I hope you have found this series of blogs useful – it has taken a while to work through each of the seven areas of learning & development but we did it!

Thanks for reading,

 

Source used in the document:

Early Years Foundation Stage Framework, DfE 2012

Development Matters in the Early Years Foundation Stage, DfE 2012

 

The information contained in our blogs, newsletters, resources and website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by us and we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to our blogs, newsletters and website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website, blog or newsletters for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.

In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of our blogs, newsletters, resources or website.

L&D: Expressive Arts & Design – Part 1/2

March 9th, 2014

Aspect: Exploring and using media and materials

Introduction

This is our penultimate blog in our series on the 7 areas of learning & development (L&D). So far we have looked at what the 7 areas of L&D are and have discussed why they are important. We also looked at the three prime areas of learning & development: ‘Personal, Social & Emotional development’, ‘Communication & Language’, and ‘Physical Development’. After this we moved on to look at the four specific areas of learning & development and our last three blogs concentrated on the ‘Understanding the World’ area. For each area we have suggested activities that promote each of the aspects which sit within the areas.

In this blog we begin to look at the final area of learning and development, the ‘Expressive Arts & Design’ specific area. This area of L&D consists of 2 parts, which are known as ‘Aspects’. Each aspect leads to one of the 17 EYFS early learning goals (the knowledge, skills and understanding children should have at the end of the academic year in which they turn five). The diagram below shows how the Expressive Arts & Design area is made up of two aspects and two early learning goals:

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Childcare regulations are changing…..again

February 16th, 2014

Government proposes changes to the regulation of childcare

Introduction

Last week the Department for Education published its document ‘Regulation of Childcare – Consultation report and government response’. In this document the DfE draws conclusions from the results of its recent consultation ‘The regulation of Childcare’ and proposes changes to the regulation of childcare based on these conclusions.

Subject to Parliamentary approval, the DfE intend to amend childcare regulations in April 2014 with a view to them coming into force in September 2014. The Department also intends that a revised EYFS which reflects these proposals will be published alongside the amended regulations.

The proposed changes

Here we summarise the proposed changes, picking out the parts that we feel are most relevant, and putting forward our understanding of what it will mean in practice. Please take a look at the entire document, available to download from our DfE & Ofsted page, for the full story.

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This obviously is not good news for childminders, however childminders do still have the unique selling point of being able to offer registered childcare within a home setting. To compete effectively we feel childminders need to highlight the advantages of this wherever possible, and we will continue to help you in as many ways as we can.

 

Thanks for reading,

Amanda

Source used in the document: 

The Regulation of Childcare – Consultation report and government response, DfE February 2014

 

The information contained in our blogs, newsletters, resources and website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by us and we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to our blogs, newsletters and website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website, blog or newsletters for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.

In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of our blogs, newsletters, resources or website.

 

L&D: Understanding the World – Part 3/3

January 26th, 2014

Aspect: Technology

Introduction

This is the sixteenth blog in our series on the 7 areas of learning & development (L&D).  So far we have looked at what the 7 areas of L&D are and have discussed why they are important. We also looked at the three prime areas of learning & development: ‘Personal, Social & Emotional development’, ‘Communication & Language’, and ‘Physical Development’. After this we moved on to look at the four specific areas of learning & development and our last set of blogs concentrated on the ‘Mathematics’ area. For each area we have suggested activities that promote each of the aspects which sit within the areas.

We have now moved on to look at the third specific area of L&D: Understanding the World. There are three aspects that fall within this area and our previous blogs discussed the ‘People & Communities’ and ‘The world’ aspects. In this blog we move to the third of the three aspects within this specific area of L&D– Technology.

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I hope these suggested activities have given you some inspiration. You could incorporate them into your planning as ad hoc activities or as part of a wider theme. For example the cake making activity could be part of a month’s theme on mixing things. In our next blog in the series we move to look at the seventh and final Area of learning & development: Expressive Arts & Design.

Thanks for reading,

 

Source used in the document:

Early Years Foundation Stage Framework, DfE 2012

Development Matters in the Early Years Foundation Stage, DfE 2012

 

The information contained in our blogs, newsletters, resources and website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by us and we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to our blogs, newsletters and website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website, blog or newsletters for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.

In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of our blogs, newsletters, resources or website.

L&D: Understanding the World – Part 2/3

January 19th, 2014

Aspect: The world

Introduction

This is the fifteenth blog in our series on the 7 areas of learning & development (L&D).  So far we have looked at what the 7 areas of L&D are and have discussed why they are important. We also looked at the three prime areas of learning & development: ‘Personal, Social & Emotional development’, ‘Communication & Language’, and ‘Physical Development’. After this we moved on to look at the four specific areas of learning & development and our last set of blogs concentrated on the ‘Mathematics’ area. For each area we have suggested activities that promote each of the aspects which sit within the areas.

We have now moved on to look at the third specific area of L&D: Understanding the World. There are three aspects that fall within this area and our previous blog discussed the ‘People & Communities’ aspect. In this blog we move to the second of the three aspects within this specific area of L&D– The world.

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I hope these suggested activities have given you some inspiration. You could incorporate them into your planning as ad hoc activities or as part of a wider theme. For example the Bug expedition activity could be part of a month’s theme on living things. In our next blog in the series we move to look at the third and final aspect within the Understanding the World area of L&D: Technology.

Thanks for reading,

 

Source used in the document:

Early Years Foundation Stage Framework, DfE 2012

Development Matters in the Early Years Foundation Stage, DfE 2012

 

The information contained in our blogs, newsletters, resources and website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by us and we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to our blogs, newsletters and website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website, blog or newsletters for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.

In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of our blogs, newsletters, resources or website.

L&D: Understanding the World – Part 1/3

January 12th, 2014

Aspect: People & Communities

Introduction

This is the fourteenth blog in our series on the 7 areas of learning & development (L&D). So far we have looked at what the 7 areas of L&D are and have discussed why they are important. We also looked at the three prime areas of learning & development: ‘Personal, Social & Emotional development’, ‘Communication & Language’, and ‘Physical Development’. After this we moved on to look at the four specific areas of learning & development and our last two blogs concentrated on the ‘Mathematics’ area. For each area we have suggested activities that promote each of the aspects which sit within the areas.

In this blog begin to look at the ‘Understanding the World’ specific area. This area of L&D consists of 3 parts, which are known as ‘Aspects’. Each aspect leads to one of the 17 EYFS early learning goals (the knowledge, skills and understanding children should have at the end of the academic year in which they turn five). The diagram below shows how the Understanding the World area is made up of three aspects and three early learning goals:

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Our new Learning & Development Tracker

December 16th, 2013

Our new Learning & Development Tracker

We have had a couple of requests recently from members asking for a single tracker sheet to record the progress of children in their care across the seven areas of learning & development. It seems that local authorities are starting to promote the use of such trackers as a simple way to demonstrate how children in childminding settings are progressing.

In response to these requests, we have now created our Learning & Development Tracker. This is available for all members to download for free from our EYFS 2012 page of resources. Our Tracker is a single page table with the seventeen learning & development ‘Aspects’ and each of the six ‘Early Years Outcomes’ age-bands. All you need to do is add in the date that the child demonstrated their ability, at that age-band, for each aspect.

If you use our current EYFS circle suite of resources, it is easy to incorporate this tracker, just update the tracker each time you complete an EYFS Observation Assessment & Planning record for each child.

You can also use our Learning &Development crib sheets to help you to determine how each child is progressing.

 

Thanks for reading,

Amanda

 

The information contained in our blogs, newsletters, resources and website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by us and we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to our blogs, newsletters and website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website, blog or newsletters for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.

In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of our blogs, newsletters, resources or website.

Your Bad Weather Childminding Policy

December 14th, 2013

What would you do if it snowed tonight?

Chances are, at some point this winter bad weather will impact the running of your setting. Rather than react on the spot to overnight snow, you can put in a place a Bad weather policy and procedure to reduce the adverse affect on your business. To help you, we have created a Bad weather policy template, which you can amend to suit your setting. Members can download it for free now from our Policies & Procedures page.

When developing your Bad weather policy, whether or not you use our template, there are a number of areas we think you should consider:

1. How you will ensure parents are aware that whilst you recognise their need for reliable childcare, there may be times when, due to bad weather, you may need to alter your normal offering at short notice.

2. How you will reduce the impact of bad weather on the operation of your setting, for example through:

  • Asking parents to provide winter outdoor wear for their child
  • Clearing snow from your path / driveway as soon as practical
  • Updating parents regularly on the status of your setting, so that they can plan for contingencies or be reassured that your setting is open.

3. How setting opening hours may change in the event of bad weather – both when the weather turns bad during normal opening hours and when bad weather arrives overnight.

4. What you will charge if you have to close due to bad weather.

 

Thanks for reading,

Amanda

 

The information contained in our blogs, newsletters, resources and website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by us and we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to our blogs, newsletters and website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website, blog or newsletters for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.

In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of our blogs, newsletters, resources or website.

Requirement for ‘Teaching’ in Childminding settings

November 12th, 2013

Did you realise you are a teacher?

There has been a subtle change to terminology in the most recent versions of Ofsted’s ‘Evaluation schedule for inspections of registered early years provision’ and ‘Conducting Early Years Inspections’ documents.

The documents have introduced the term ‘teaching’ into a number of their paragraphs. For example the bullet point,

“how well teaching strategies, together with support and intervention, match individual children’s needs and ensure that they make good progress”

is included as evidence to support how well a childminder is meeting the needs of the range of children who attend their setting[1].

Although some qualified teachers do become childminders, many childminders are not qualified teachers and so may be concerned that ‘teaching’ is now referred to in these Ofsted documents. Ofsted clarify their use of the term by footnoting the bullet point with the following statement:

“Teaching should not be taken to imply a ‘top down’ or formal way of working. It is a broad term which covers the many different ways in which adults help young children learn. It includes their interactions with children during planned and child-initiated play and activities: communicating and modelling language, showing, explaining, demonstrating, exploring ideas, encouraging, questioning, recalling, providing a narrative for what they are doing, facilitating and setting challenges. It takes account of the equipment they provide and the attention to the physical environment as well as the structure and routines of the day that establish expectations. Integral to teaching is how practitioners assess what children know, understand and can do as well as take account of their interests and dispositions to learning (characteristics of effective learning), and use this information to plan children’s next steps in learning and monitor their progress”

This is quite a full paragraph but our interpretation is that it covers what you are hopefully already doing through your observation, assessment & planning as well as your daily interactions with your children in your appropriately equipped setting.

If you are still unsure, have a look at our ‘A guide to Observation, Assessment & Planning’ ebook and our ‘Introduction to the Characteristics of Effective Learning‘ ebook for more support on this.

Thanks for reading,

Amanda

Source used in the document: 

Evaluation schedule for inspections of registered early years provision – Ofsted November 2013

Conducting Early Years Inspections – Ofsted November 2013

 

The information contained in our blogs, newsletters, resources and website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by us and we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to our blogs, newsletters and website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website, blog or newsletters for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.

In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of our blogs, newsletters, resources or website.

 


[1] Evaluation schedule for inspections of registered early years provision (November 2013) page 7.

 

Early Years Outcomes

November 10th, 2013

Early Years Outcomes – The New Development Matters?

The November ’13 Ofsted newsletter confirmed what many have been wondering, that the DfE ‘Early Years Outcomes’ has, from 4th November, replaced the existing ‘Development Matters for the Early Years Foundation Stage’ non-statutory guidance.

Before any panic sets in I need to say that there doesn’t seem to be a great difference; there is no mention of the characteristics of effective learning (but it is within the EYFS document), and the tables are slimmed down to show just the ‘Unique Child’ column, this time titled ‘Typical Behaviour’. I will take a good look through to see if the bullet points differ significantly.

The main thing may just be the pain of changing paperwork references to the ‘Early Years Outcomes’ document rather than the ‘Development Matters’ one. We will try to make this easy for you by updating our documents over the next few weeks. If you are inspected in the meantime, make sure you are aware of the Early Years Outcomes document and refer to it in conversation.

Thanks for reading,

Amanda

Thanks for reading,

 

Source used in the document:

November ’13 Ofsted Newsletter

Early Years Outcomes – DfE 

 

The information contained in our blogs, newsletters, resources and website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by us and we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to our blogs, newsletters and website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website, blog or newsletters for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.

In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of our blogs, newsletters, resources or website.

Revisions to the Framework for Inspection of Early Years Providers

November 10th, 2013

Changes to Ofsted Inspection Framework

Introduction

On the 4th November ’13 changes to the Framework for the inspection for early years providers came into effect.

From now on:

  • The ‘requires improvement’ judgement has replaced the satisfactory judgement for all providers
  • Non-domestic group provision judged as ‘requires improvement’ will be monitored within six months and re-inspected within 12 months. These providers will have a maximum of two years to become good or are likely to be judged inadequate
  • Ofsted will be tougher on inadequate providers. They will re-inspect within six months rather than 12. If they are still inadequate when re-inspected Ofsted will consider taking steps to cancel their regulation

There are also changes to the way Ofsted will inspect – we will soon be publishing a blog on this topic.

Thanks for reading,

Amanda

L&D: Mathematics – Part 2/2

October 23rd, 2013

Aspect: Shape, space & measures

Introduction

This is the thirteenth blog in our series on the 7 areas of learning & development (L&D). So far we have looked at what the 7 areas of L&D are and have discussed why they are important. We have also looked at the three prime areas of learning & development: ‘Personal, Social & Emotional development’, ‘Communication & Language’, and ‘Physical Development’. After this we moved on to look at the first of four specific areas of learning & development. We have also suggested activities that promote each of the aspects which sit within the areas.

We have now moved on to look at the second specific area of learning & development, Mathematics. This area of L&D consists of 2 parts, which are known as ‘Aspects’. Each aspect leads to one of the 17 EYFS early learning goals (the knowledge, skills and understanding children should have at the end of the academic year in which they turn five). The diagram below shows how the Mathematics area is made up of two aspects and two early learning goals:

Mathematics

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The EYFS framework document describes how “Mathematics involves providing children with opportunities to develop and improve their skills in counting, understanding and using numbers, calculating simple addition and subtraction problems; and to describe shapes, spaces and measures.”  The two aspects each support this aim.

In our last blog we discussed the ‘numbers’ aspect, this blog we focus on the second aspect within this specific area of Mathematics: Shape, space & measures.

Shape, space & measures

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It is worth noting that the allocation of activities to aspects and areas of L&D is often subjective and many activities cover more than one aspect and more than one area of L&D. Further the activities can cover multiple characteristics of effective learning and can be a mix of adult-led and child-initiated. So these are suggestions for you to adapt and work into your practice in a way that best suits you and your setting across all your planning. Always remember to supervise children and ensure the activity is safe and age and development-appropriate.

I hope these suggested activities have given you some inspiration. You could incorporate them into your planning as ad hoc activities or as part of a wider theme. For example the pizza making activity could be part of a month’s theme on food. In our next blog in the series we move to look at the sixth area of learning & development – Understanding the world.

Thanks for reading,

 

Source used in the document:

Early Years Foundation Stage Framework, DfE 2012

Development Matters in the Early Years Foundation Stage, DfE 2012

 

The information contained in our blogs, newsletters, resources and website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by us and we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to our blogs, newsletters and website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website, blog or newsletters for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.

In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of our blogs, newsletters, resources or website.

L&D: Mathematics – Part 1/2

October 12th, 2013

Aspect: Mathematics

Introduction

This is the twelfth blog in our series on the 7 areas of learning & development (L&D). So far we have looked at what the 7 areas of L&D are and have discussed why they are important. We also looked at the three prime areas of learning & development: ‘Personal, Social & Emotional development’, ‘Communication & Language’, and ‘Physical Development’. After this we moved on to look at the four specific areas of learning & development and our last two blogs concentrated on the ‘Literacy’ area. For each area we have suggested activities that promote each of the aspects which sit within the areas.

In this blog look at the ‘Mathematics’ specific area. This area of L&D consists of 2 parts, which are known as ‘Aspects’. Each aspect leads to one of the 17 EYFS early learning goals (the knowledge, skills and understanding children should have at the end of the academic year in which they turn five). The diagram below shows how the Mathematics area is made up of two aspects and two early learning goals:

 

The EYFS framework document describes how “Mathematics involves providing children with opportunities to develop and improve their skills in counting, understanding and using numbers, calculating simple addition and subtraction problems; and to describe shapes, spaces and measures.”  The two aspects each support this aim.

In this blog we focus on the first aspect within the specific area of Mathematics: Numbers.

Numbers

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It is worth noting that the allocation of activities to aspects and areas of L&D is often subjective and many activities cover more than one aspect and more than one area of L&D. Further the activities can cover multiple characteristics of effective learning and can be a mix of adult-led and child-initiated. So these are suggestions for you to adapt and work into your practice in a way that best suits you and your setting across all your planning. Always remember to supervise children and ensure the activity is safe and age and development-appropriate.

I hope these suggested activities have given you some inspiration. You could incorporate them into your planning as ad hoc activities or as part of a wider theme. For example the ‘Half the time’ activity could be part of a month’s theme on autumn. In our next blog in the series we move to look at the second aspect within the Mathematics area of L&D: Shape, space & measures.

Thanks for reading,

 

Source used in the document:

Early Years Foundation Stage Framework, DfE 2012

Development Matters in the Early Years Foundation Stage, DfE 2012

 

The information contained in our blogs, newsletters, resources and website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by us and we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to our blogs, newsletters and website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website, blog or newsletters for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.

In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of our blogs, newsletters, resources or website.

L&D: Literacy – Part 2/2

September 21st, 2013

Aspect: Writing

Introduction

This is the eleventh blog in our series on the 7 areas of learning & development (L&D). So far we have looked at what the 7 areas of L&D are and have discussed why they are important. We have also looked at the three prime areas of learning & development: ‘Personal, Social & Emotional development’, ‘Communication & Language’, and ‘Physical Development’. We have also suggested activities that promote each of the aspects which sit within the areas.

We have now moved on to look at the first specific area of learning & development, Literacy. This area of L&D consists of 2 parts, which are known as ‘Aspects’. Each aspect leads to one of the 17 EYFS early learning goals (the knowledge, skills and understanding children should have at the end of the academic year in which they turn five). The diagram below shows how the Literacy area is made up of two aspects and two early learning goals:

Literacy overview

The EYFS framework document describes how “Literacy development involves encouraging children to link sounds and letters and to begin to read and write. Children must be given access to a wide range of reading materials (books, poems, and other written materials) to ignite their interest”. The two aspects each support this aim.

In our last blog we discussed the ‘reading’ aspect, this blog we focus on the second aspect within this specific area of Literacy: Writing.

Writing

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It is worth noting that the allocation of activities to aspects and areas of L&D is often subjective and many activities cover more than one aspect and more than one area of L&D. Further the activities can cover multiple characteristics of effective learning and can be a mix of adult-led and child-initiated. So these are suggestions for you to adapt and work into your practice in a way that best suits you and your setting across all your planning. Always remember to supervise children and ensure the activity is safe and age and development-appropriate.

I hope these suggested activities have given you some inspiration. You could incorporate them into your planning as ad hoc activities or as part of a wider theme. For example the Chalk fun activity could be part of a month’s theme on colours. In our next blog in the series we move to look at the fifth area of learning & development – Mathematics.

Thanks for reading,

 

Source used in the document:

Early Years Foundation Stage Framework, DfE 2012

Development Matters in the Early Years Foundation Stage, DfE 2012

 

The information contained in our blogs, newsletters, resources and website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by us and we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to our blogs, newsletters and website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website, blog or newsletters for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.

In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of our blogs, newsletters, resources or website.

L&D: Literacy – Part 1/2

September 6th, 2013

Aspect: Reading

Introduction

This is the tenth blog in our series on the 7 areas of learning & development (L&D). So far we have looked at what the 7 areas of L&D are and have discussed why they are important. We have also looked at the three prime areas of learning & development: ‘Personal, Social & Emotional development’, ‘Communication & Language’, and ‘Physical Development’. We have also suggested activities that promote each of the aspects which sit within the areas.

We now move to look at the four specific areas of learning & development. The four specific areas build on the prime areas and are more relevant for older EYFS-aged children (two years plus). In this blog we focus on the ‘Literacy’ area. This area of L&D consists of 2 parts, which are known as ‘Aspects’. Each aspect leads to one of the 17 EYFS early learning goals (the knowledge, skills and understanding children should have at the end of the academic year in which they turn five). The diagram below shows how the Literacy area is made up of two aspects and two early learning goals:

Literacy overview

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The EYFS framework document describes how “Literacy development involves encouraging children to link sounds and letters and to begin to read and write. Children must be given access to a wide range of reading materials (books, poems, and other written materials) to ignite their interest”. The two aspects each support this aim.

In this blog we focus on the first aspect within the prime area of Literacy: Reading.

Reading

[Content protected for Members only, please either login or become a member to read this content]

It is worth noting that the allocation of activities to aspects and areas of L&D is often subjective and many activities cover more than one aspect and more than one area of L&D. Further the activities can cover multiple characteristics of effective learning and can be a mix of adult-led and child-initiated. So these are suggestions for you to adapt and work into your practice in a way that best suits you and your setting across all your planning. Always remember to supervise children and ensure the activity is safe and age and development-appropriate.

I hope these suggested activities have given you some inspiration. You could incorporate them into your planning as ad hoc activities or as part of a wider theme. For example the Letters in the sand activity could be part of a month’s theme on nature. In our next blog in the series we move to look at the second aspect within the Literacy area of L&D: Writing.

Thanks for reading,

 

Source used in the document:

Early Years Foundation Stage Framework, DfE 2012

Development Matters in the Early Years Foundation Stage, DfE 2012

 

The information contained in our blogs, newsletters, resources and website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by us and we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to our blogs, newsletters and website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website, blog or newsletters for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.

In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of our blogs, newsletters, resources or website.

Introducing our new ‘Lean paperwork’ EYFS Circle & resources

August 20th, 2013

Reducing your paperwork burden

Introduction

Ofsted has recently given guidance as to what written paperwork Childminder are required to have [1]. You can download a copy of the guidance from our DfE & Ofsted documents page. Here is an extract from the document detailing written requirements in regards to learning & development:

“Good childminders will find that they are able to meet the learning and development requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage through the type of play they provide…. We do not expect you to have extensive written plans of your educational programmes, but we do expect you to know children’s abilities and where they need help, and to use this information when planning activities. Many childminders will find it helpful to note down what they will be doing, especially if they have children at different stages and with different abilities. We will expect you to know where each child that you care for is in their learning and development and whether this is in line with, above or below the developmental milestones for their age. Inspectors will use the development bands in Development matters in the Early Years Foundation Stage when they talk to you about children’s progress (see note below).[2]

The Early Years Foundation Stage says that everyone, including childminders, must make observations of the children. We do not expect long written notes or ask that you take time away from the children to make these observations. The observations should be used to assess where children are in their learning and help you to plan what happens next. Useful methods are ones that most childminders have always used, for example samples of children’s work, photographs, shared diaries, notes of what children do and so on”.

To help support you with this, we have been looking at ways to reduce your planning paperwork but still be able to record a child’s learning & development and recognise whether it is in line with, above or below the developmental milestones for their age. The result is our new ‘Lean EYFS Circle’.

Some of you may have noticed that we have taken out our ‘Observation, Assessment & Planning (OAP) record and amended our Child’s Personal Plan.

Lean EYFS circle

 

 

 

 

 

 

How the new Lean EYFS Circle works

First of all don’t worry, we haven’t taken the learning journey document out of the circle, we get too much positive feedback about it! So use this as normal, this means adding in ad hoc observations that you spot and recording those activities that you think are especially relevant to their learning & development. The observations can just be quick notes that you can write down whilst caring for children.

Next, perhaps once every 2-3 months, complete the single sheet ‘Child’s Personal Plan – lean EYFS Circle version’. This sheet has spaces for you to write in your assessment of the child (including age/stage bands) and the child’s learning priorities for the next few months. To help you we have created ‘Learning & Development Crib Sheets’. These sheets (a page for each area of learning & development) are summaries of the information in the Development Matters in the EYFS DfE document. They may be easier to refer to than the whole document. If you laminate the sheets or put them in a clear folder you have have them to hand whenever you need them.

The outcome of the single page Child’s Personal Plan is a record of the child’s abilities against the seven areas of learning & development and the Development Matters’ milestones, plus pointers for priority learning for the next couple of months. You can put these sheets in the back of the child’s learning journey so that you can refer to them easily in your planning. This helps to ensure that the activities you include in your Weekly Activity Planner will promote that child’s learning & development.

Remember that you only have one Weekly Activity Planner for your setting. This means that you might plan ‘finger food delight’ as an activity for the whole group. However, for one child this could be used to promote their moving & handling learning priority by encouraging them to pick up the finger food, for another child the same activity could support their health & self-care learning priority by understanding healthy foods.

We hope that these new resources will help you to simplify your paperwork whist ensuring you have a clear understanding of the child’s learning & development.

Our new resources are available on our EYFS 2012 resources page.

Thanks for reading,

 

The information contained in our blogs, newsletters, resources and website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by us and we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to our blogs, newsletters and website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website, blog or newsletters for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.

In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of our blogs, newsletters, resources or website.


[1] Requirements for written documents: childminders delivering the Early Years Foundation Stage, Ofsted 2013

[2] Development Matters in the Early Years Foundation Stage, Department for Education, 2012; www.education.gov.uk/schools/teachingandlearning/curriculum/a0068102/early-years-foundation-stage-eyfs.