Latest news
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 […]
Here is the 2019 One Day Conference and AGM Leaflet for you to reserve you place. Fabulous keynote speakers – such an important topic for early years!
Saturday 15th June, 9.15 – 4.30pm Further details are here We look forward to seeing you there!
TACTYC 2019 Conference/AGM ‘save the date’
Our next TACTYC Conference is taking place on the 15th June in Birmingham at the ICC … more details to follow. Please save the date and we look forward to welcoming you all! Our current title is: ‘You’re doing my head in!’ Happiness and well-being in the early years. Physical and mental health are such big issues now that we decided it would be an excellent focus for our 2019 Conference.
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.
Read more
Association for Professional Development in Early Years 
