Latest news
Baseline: Almost 200 schools drop out of the pilot, having changed their minds about taking part! Read the TES Feature here https://www.tes.com/news/baseline-almost-200-schools-drop-out-pilot
‘Getting it right in the Early Years Foundation Stage: a review of the evidence’. Exciting launch of the report from the Centre for Research in Early Childhood authors Chris Pascal, Tony Bertram, Liz Rouse. Getting it right means looking at the evidence, a sector-led response to the proposed changes to the EYFS.
TACTYC Executive Members have been highlighting relevant issues in Nursery World!
Read the latest from our President Wendy Scott ‘Time to look and listen Minister’. Wendy asks Nick Gibb, minister now in charge of early years, to pay attention to the evidence on effective practice in the latest opinion piece https://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/nursery-world/opinion/1168766/time-to-look-and-listen-minister
Helen Moylett and Nancy Stewart call for sector-wide collaboration ahead of the review of Development Matters ‘Its’s time to talk!’
TACTYC are also involved in the EYFS Launch Proposed EYFS changes ‘not supported by evidence’ https://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/nursery-world/news/1168714/proposed-eyfs-changes-not-supported-by-evidence
Interesting information from Alice Bradbury’s research commissioned by More Than a Score on Head teachers’ views of baseline. The coverage includes quotes from our own Nancy Stewart – look out for Nancy on ITV on Thursday!
https://www.tes.com/news/primary-heads-condemn-baseline-tests-utter-madness
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2019/sep/03/school-heads-criticise-new-reception-tests-for-five-year-olds
https://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/nursery-world/news/1168626/most-primary-heads-negative-about-introduction-of-reception-baseline
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education
TACTYC supports Fair Future Funding Action Week 10th June 2019
TACTYC strongly supports the ‘Fair Future Funding’ campaign. High quality early childhood education and care is vital for our children and families. But it needs to be properly funded for all if it is to be accessible and sustainable.
‘Enough is enough’
Childcare funding rates were set and frozen in 2015 – this means they don’t take into account the subsequent increases to business hikes, minimum wage rises or any other cost increases since then. This has forced providers to put up parent fees and, in some cases, close.
The early years plays a vital role in our communities helping children reach their full potential and enabling parents to get back into work – but the sector is struggling to stay sustainable due to government under funding.
This summer we have a chance to change that.
https://www.eyalliance.org.uk/fair-future-funding-action-week-10-june-2019
The Government’s ‘Comprehensive Spending Review’ – where the government sets out its spending priorities – is taking place in the coming months. It’s an opportunity for providers and parents to warn MPs about what will happen to childcare provision in their constituencies unless the government takes action on under funding.
Join in the Early Years Alliance action week from 10 June: write to your MP, invite them to your setting and make sure everyone knows the effects of the childcare funding crisis.
Providers (and parents) can sign-up to take part using this link: www.eyalliance.org.uk/fairfuturefunding
We had such a fabulous day! Here are some of the presentations, research briefings and discussion group papers. Interesting topics, including ‘Compassion’ from Geoff Taggart, ‘The Red Blanket: sensing difference in body play’, Christina MacRea, ‘mental health‘ Louise Jackson and ‘Embodied meaning making: children’s use of physical actions to respond to wordless picturebooks’ Samantha Hulston. […]
Please read TACTYC’s response to Ofsted’s EIF consultation here – this was sent to Ofsted this week by our fabulous President Wendy Scott. TACTYC also offered further suggestions of contemporary and seminal research to support policy making in the early years. We will keep you posted on progress! Please do share with your colleagues and […]
OUR GOOD NEWS FOR 2019 IS ……!
We are delighted to tell you that we have been awarded Charitable Status as of now. The Exec will have to get to grips with what all this means in the new year and our committee will be reconsidered then. Currently we have six Trustees. More news after our first meeting on the 9th January.
The first Reflections paper of the year…
Read Linda Withey’s paper about a project supporting parents to understand the role they play in young children’s language development through ‘Chit-chat’ everyday.
EARLY YEARS JOURNAL
We have a new ‘Call for Papers’ on Early Childhood Education and Care in Latin America here and on our Journal’s pages. And we say goodbye to one of our long-standing editors: Professor Pamela Oberhuemer has recently retired and we wish her well in her retirement and thank her most sincerely for all her work on behalf of the Journal and TACTYC.
40th ANNIVERSARY CONFERENCE
What a wonderful Conference … the hotel was magnificent and the Enterprise Centre Derby just brilliant! See the full report here.
Why do so few men work in the UK early years sector…and why should we care?
Dr Jo Warin and Dr Jeremy Davies have launched their two-year study GenderEYE (Gender Diversification in Early Years Education) – an international and UK based study, with a focus on recruitment , retention and support for men in the early years education workforce. This coincides with International Men’s Day on 19th November. Worth a look ….?
Quality Assurance of CPD for Teachers
The Chartered College of Teaching, alongside the Teacher Development Trust and Sheffield Institute of Education, Sheffield Hallam University are undertaking a project jointly funded by Wellcome Trust and the Education Endowment Foundation to design and test a system to quality assure the provision of continuing professional development for teachers. The online consultation closed recently but if you would like to respond, further information is available here.
MEMBERS: PLEASE BE AWARE …..
We shall be closing the TACTYC Current Account on the 31st March, 2019. This means that any subscriptions paid to that account MUST be changed to the Treasurer Account before that date. We do want you all to be part of our campaigns and help us sustain pressure on governments and institutions to make excellent provision for early years professional development and young children, so WE NEED YOU! Please amend your standing orders now please and ensure that any bank transfers are made into the new Account (see members only part of the website).
OCCASIONAL PAPER 11 is here!
Mimi Tatlow-Golden (Open University) has written an excellent paper entitled ‘Big, strong and healthy’? Children, food and eating in the early years, and the role preschools can play, in which she encourages all practitioners to ‘support children and their families to grow not-too-big, very strong, and definitely healthy, by engaging in the evidence-based strategies’ outline in the Paper. A must read.
STUDENT REFLECTIONS AWARD 2018
We are delighted to announce the winner of this year’s Student Reflections Award is Megan Taddeo, a post-graduate student of the University of Winchester with a paper entitled ‘Listening to children creates Better Beginnings‘. Runner-up was Rachel Hingston from the University of Plymouth with ‘Two birds with one stone: How putting the value back into mealtimes can improve children’s communication and long-term health’. Megan’s paper can be read here.
MEETING WITH THE DFE ABOUT THE REVISION OF THE ELGs IN THE EYFS
The notes available here describe some of the main discussion points between colleagues from TACTYC and the DfE at a meeting held on 13th July 2018 in response to the current draft ELGs being piloted over the next academic year.
BOOK REVIEWS
We have a new book review about outdoor play with under 3’s – read it here.
STOP PRESS!
Please read this recently published article ‘The views of teachers, parents and children on the Phonics Screening Check: the continuing domination of politics over evidence’ by Margaret M Clark OBE Also see Education Journal (10 July 2018) ‘Evidence based policy?’ BERA has just released its Report on Baseline Assessment, which is very well formulated – read it here. Early Education has made a strong comment on the revised EYFS and ELGs – read it here.
MEMBERS: Do read our Latest online NEWSLETTER HERE
TACTYC BOOK SERIES
TACTYC’s Book Series has added a sixth book to its collection: recently launched is Gina Houston’s book: Racialisation in Early Years Education: Black Children’s Stories from the Classroom. All the books in the series are available from Routledge.
Young children as guinea pigs TACTYC STOP PRESS Read the latest TACTYC paper, entitled ‘Young children as guinea pigs: the Reception Baseline Assessment Framework’. This paper criticises the government’s planned national pilot of reception class baseline testing, released by the Standards and Testing Agency (STA). Education experts from TACTYC state that the STA framework fails to address […]
Read more
Association for Professional Development in Early Years 
