Latest news
TACTYC: the voice for early years professional development
BREAKING NEWS!
1. We are returning to our roots! Make a date for our 40th Anniversary residential Conference at University of Derby – 2nd-3rd November, 2018. It will be an outstanding conference with the title of ‘Back to the Future in Early Years’ and research themes around
Our response to ‘Strengthening level 2 qualifications’ has also been submitted.
‘Making Connections’. More info very soon. Keep looking
2. Now that we are more and more moving to web-based communications, it has been decided to send you the Latest News by Member e-mail (rather than Newsletter) so do please ensure that we have an up-to-date email for you. Contact us here.
3. Our bank account system has changed so … please check that you are paying membership fees into the correct account (the old account will soon be closed). If you’re unsure, please contact Janet Moyles. And do email/contact us if you have a change in your details (address, email, phone, etc.) so we can be sure to keep you updated regularly.
HAVE YOU SEEN ….?
Arts Council England is refreshing its 10 year strategy, and wants to find out what is important for arts, museums and libraries in the future. Please sign up here if you are interested: https://aceconversation2018.ning.com and if you have any questions please email artscouncil@britainthinks.com
QTS CONSULTATION
TACTYC has written a response to the QTS Consultation which you can find here. (Thanks to Viki Veale for her efforts).
Our response to ‘Strengthening level 2 qualifications‘ has also been submitted.
BASELINE ASSESSMENT/MORE THAN A SCORE
There have been a number of new moves regarding our campaign to rid the early years world of Baseline Assessment once and for all. There is a great video made by More Than a Score to view here and a supportive booklet. There’s also been some useful press coverage – see TES, Nursery World and the Independent! Hear, hear!!
Our Vice- Chair, Nancy Stewart, spoke out against the return of Baseline at a recent conference. She urged all school leaders who do not agree with the introduction of the new reception assessment should refuse to take part in a pilot due to take place in 2019-20. Find the write-up here.
BOLD BEGINNINGS – TACTYC’s RESPONSE
TACTYC Exec and members are outraged at the recent OfSTED Report ‘Bold Beginnings’. Read our response here. And do let us have your views on the issues raised in the Report.
Early Education has joined the debate and published a short article – What’s wrong with Bold Beginnings? A summary for school leaders .
Nancy Stewart (our Vice Chair) and others met with OfSTED inspectors, the agreed outcome document being found here.
Di Chilvers from Watch Me Grow has written a challenging piece responding to ‘Bold Beginnings’ which she has allowed us to use in our Reflections pages.
Professor Colin Richards (a previous President of TACTYC and ex-HMI) has also followed up his previous open letter with this one, well worth a read.
INTERNATIONAL EARLY YEARS INFO
An interesting article worth reading appeared recently in the New York Times, showing us in the UK and beyond how early years practitioners are under-valued in societies in general.
BASELINE ASSESSMENT – the campaign continues
Our Vice- Chair, Nancy Stewart, spoke out against the return of Baseline at a recent conference. She urged all school leaders who do not agree with the introduction of the new reception assessment should refuse to take part in a pilot due to take place in 2019-20. Find the write-up here.
And NAPE has written an open letter regarding Baseline Assessment – have a look here.
TACTYC BOOK SERIES: Research informed professional development for the early years
You can now access all information about our exciting series here. We now have four books published, the latest being Places for Two-Year-Olds in the Early Years edited by Jan Georgeson and Verity Campbell-Barr. Two more will follow this year. Further information and opportunity to order your copy here.
CONFERENCE/AGM 2017
“TACTYC’s conferences have a different feel, as they attract participation from across the sector. All are welcomed, and a sense of belonging created”.
“TACTYC’s conferences are very accessible, enable broad participation across the sector, and are a great opportunity to listen and learn.”
Another successful conference – brilliant reviews and excellent speakers. Something different from past conferences but equally worthwhile. You’ll be able to read all about it here soon when we have completed the evaluations.
2017 AGM Papers can be found here.
LATEST REFLECTIONS PAPER
In the latest Reflections paper Amy Perkins challenges zero-tolerance approaches to weapon play and suggests there are more helpful and effective ways to tackle this sensitive topic. Read her thought-provoking paper here.
NEW MEMBER PROFILE
Read here all about Viki Veale – a very enthusiastic member of TACTYC, who responded to our appeal at the Conference for more Member Profiles. Do remember to send yours to Janet
OCCASIONAL PAPER 10 now online
Julian Grenier has written an excellent new paper which you’ll find here entitled: ‘Collaborative quality improvement’ – a way forward for England’s maintained nursery schools? in which explores one possible future for nursery schools: as the leaders of quality improvement for the whole of the early years sector in England.
STUDENT REFLECTIONS AWARD – read the winning entry here
Congratulations to Emma Bailey (winner), Jaime-Lee King and Amy Perkins (runners up) for their thought-provoking papers entered for the TACTYC Student Reflections Award.
BERA-TACTYC Early Childhood Research Review 2003-2017: In 2013, TACTYC: (then chaired by Jane Payler) and the BERA Early Childhood Special Interest Group (then convened by Elizabeth Wood) came together to co-lead a research-focused collaboration which has resulted in revisiting and updating the 2003 BERA research review. Dr. Jane Murray and Dr. Rory McDowall Clark have written an excellent brief Summary of this research for Children and Young People Now.
BOOK REVIEWS
A new review here of the first book in a series specifically devoted to under 3s. Edited by E. Jayne White and Carmen Dalli, this explores pedagogy and policy across many different contexts.
TACTYC RESEARCH INTO EY QUALIFICATIONS AND TRAINING
You can read the full Report of our Latest Research. It makes very interesting reading as does the associated Occasional Paper 9.
EARLY YEARS JOURNAL
We have a new call for papers: Early Childhood Policies in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (Special Issue).
NEW REPORTS
Prof. Peter Moss has written about the OECD’s IELS study in which he suggests that, although progress seems to be floundering because very few (possibly only 2) countries appear to have signed up, the OECD seems not to be acknowledging this weakness in the programme’s intended reach/sample. Read more.
Closing Gaps Early: The role of early years policy in promoting social mobility in England is a new report from The Sutton Trust which explores how ‘early years childcare and education touches on many aspects of social policy, from education to the labour market to the benefits system’. Click on the title to read more.
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Association for Professional Development in Early Years 
