Survival in SchoolIn my classroom management course at the university, we learn how children must have their basic needs satisfied prior to establishing an attitude where learning can be nourished and supported. When we think of basic needs, we usually think of food, water, shelter, safety, etc. However, there are ba…
Round Up of 2010As it’s nearly Christmas, it must be time for the annual round-up of major developments and new research published in the children’s sector during the last year. After all, you might have missed some of these the first time round… What you can’t have failed to miss was the change of government foll…
Sure Start: Success or Not?It's easy to be baffled by research... Take the example of Sure Start - the programme has been featured numerous times on this site, with some reports concluding that it has had huge benefits for young children, while other publications have been more critical of its achievements, and others still s…
Teachers / SafeguardingTwo new reports which should be of interest to many of the site's visitors:Safeguarding Children: Literature Review is a new report from the NFER which examines changes in safeguarding practice since the Laming Review of March 2009.Survey of Teachers 2010 is a publication from the General Teaching C…
Helping Children Become ThinkersSeveral people reading my last post asked me to elaborate on encouraging curiosity in young children. Using my years in the classroom, I would like to suggest the following list of opportunities to help children develop thinking skills:1. Present open-ended activities. Instead of having the child do…
The Children Left BehindLast week saw the release of The Children Left Behind, a UNICEF publication which compares inequality in child wellbeing in 24 of the world's richest countries. The report argues that child poverty in the UK could best be addressed by tackling low wages, and concludes that countries like France and …
EYES UpdateRecently I've noticed an increase in the number of searches being carried out using the EYES service (see right hand side of page). Hopefully you're all finding it useful, though as I rarely get given feedback it's hard to tell! Anyway, I've just updated EYES by including some new sites and removing…
Busy Week!A bumper post today, to reflect the number of interesting studies that have come out in recent days. Without further ado...Last Friday saw the publication of the government's independent review into poverty and life chances, chaired by Labour MP Frank Field. Among the recommendations are parenting c…
New DfE ResearchLast week saw the publication of the latest monthly batch of DfE research reports. Here are some of the highlights:The Impact of Sure Start Local Programmes on Five Year Olds and their Families takes a detailed look at the Sure Start scheme, and states that it has offered health benefits for childre…
Encyclopedia of Early Childhood DevelopmentThis post is essentially a plug for an incredibly useful site for students on all early years courses. The Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development is a free-to-access site which is hosted by the Centre of Excellence for Early Childhood Development at the University of Montreal.The Encyclopedia c…
Not Present and Not CorrectA new publication from Barnardos tackles the issue of school exclusions by claiming that excluding disruptive pupils can cost three times as much as supporting them in mainstream schools. The report goes on to argue that this money could be better targetted at early interventions with families and o…
CuriosityOur cat, Esme, likes to sit by the glass door and watch what is happening outside. I'm sure she is naturally curious because she spends her life indoors. In some ways, watching the outside is like television for the cat. Esme is very curious about everything that happens indoors and outdoors. Young …
QR CodesAs promised, an explanation of last Friday's post...The picture in the post is called a QR code. Essentially it's a 'super barcode', and is used to provide information on... well, whatever you choose. To decode it, you need to have a smartphone (eg iPhone or Android handset) with a barcode scanner i…
The Importance of Teaching - The Schools White Paper 2010If you watched the news yesterday, you probably saw some coverage of the launch of the government's white paper outlining their plans to reform education in the UK. The paper has largely been reported as a 'return to traditional values', and within its 95 pages there are proposals to tackle teaching…
Ofsted Annual ReportOfsted's annual report for 2009/10 is published today, with information on all aspects of education and childcare. Ofsted have set up a microsite, which gives you access to the full report, as well as summaries of each of the areas covered in the main document.…
What's This? Part TwoCongratulations to Lisa Perrett on providing the correct answer to Friday's puzzle (see previous post). To others who've attempted to solve it, it's nothing to do with Magic Eye posters... :-)Some clues: the picture - I've posted it again below - is called a QR code, and you'll need a smartphone to …
What's This?We're always investigating new ways to communicate news & information with our users, so today's post is a bit of an experiment (and hopefully fun!) with a new form of technology. If anyone can decode the puzzle below, I'd love them to contact me - D.Renfree@ucb.ac.uk - with the details of what it s…
Reading By SixOfsted's latest report highlights the success of using phonics as a tool to teach children how to read. Reading by Six: how the Best Schools Do It uses 12 infant and primary schools dotted around England as case studies, and concludes that systematic synthetic phonics should be regarded as an "indis…
Children's Sector ReformsThe latest government changes to childcare provision have been published today, with the announcement that children's centres will no longer have to offer full-time childcare. Other changes include the abolition of the Children's Workforce Development Council, with its powers transferring to the Dep…
Children and AlcoholThe Joseph Rowntree Foundation has been carrying out research into the relationship between children and alcohol, and recently published two studies on the topic. Both reports should be relevant to any readers who have an interest in this subject, and they are each freely available either in full or…
Born CreativeA major new report from the Demos think tank entitled Born Creative is published today, and explores the issues surrounding creativity in the early years. The publication comes at a sensitive time, as the Creative Partnerships and Find Your Talent programmes which were aimed at children were axed in…
Connecting the DotsI am attending the annual NAEYC Conference in Anaheim. I always enjoy this conference because it is wonderful to see such a large group of people come together to learn what are the best practices when working with young children. One of my favorite stories is The Dot by Peter Reynolds. Vashti, the …
Class BlogsLooking for ideas on how to use online teaching tools with children? An article from the Guardian website entitled Class Blogs: a Better Way to Teach? contains plenty of suggestions for useful free applications and links to examples of how teachers are already including online technology in their wo…
Playwork Education & Skills StrategySkillsActive have today published a new five year strategy to encourage workforce development in the play sector. The document has been written to echo Article 31 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (which recognises play as fundamental to children’s quality of life), and contains 4 aims…
New DfE ResearchThe end of each month usually sees the publication of a collection of new research reports from the Department of Education (DfE), and October was no exception. Below is a selection of the reports which were published at the end of last week:Childcare and Early Years Survey of Parents 2009Improving …
Early InterventionC4EO recently published a new report which examines best practice in using early intervention to support at risk or disadvantaged children, families and communities. The report identifies 'five golden threads' which help to ensure that early intervention is deployed effectively.You can read the full…
Fathers & EducationA recent request for information on fathers' involvement in their children's education turned up a host of resources, so it seems a shame not to share them with blog readers. If this is a topic that interests you, then read on...The Teacher Training Resource Bank is a site aimed at students on PGCE …
More on the Spending ReviewThe previous post dealt with the details of cuts to children's services following last week's Comprehensive Spending Review. Now the magazine Children and Young People Now has asked a panel of experts, featuring such figures as the heads of the National Children's Bureau, the Child Poverty Action Gr…
7 Connecting Habits of a Lead TeacherIn our classroom management course this week we were talking about setting up classrooms that avoid punishment (punitive discipline). I had the opportunity to review the works of one of my favorite researchers, William Glasser. He was a great educational thinker and often stated that we will not im…
Spending Review - Children's ServicesThis afternoon has finally seen the publication of the government's spending review with details of cuts in most areas of the public sector. Among the various headlines it'd be easy to miss the details relating to children's services, but fortunately some sites have summarised the main points. In pa…
Special Educational Needs 2010The Department of Education has just published Children with Special Educational Needs 2010: An Analysis. This is the second edition of an annual report which provides detailed information on children with SEN in England.Already the report has made a few headlines for claiming that almost one in fou…
Millennium Cohort StudyThe Millennium Cohort Study is a mammoth ongoing research project which is examining the lives of 19,000 children born in the UK during the years 2000/01 (see previous post for details). Today sees the publication of the fourth report from the study, and it has made headlines for the findings that i…
Starting a Family RevolutionIn April 2009 the Family Commission (set up by the 4Children charity) began work on an in-depth inquiry to investigate all aspects of family life in the UK. The project has examined evidence from a number of sources, including interviews with over 10,000 families, submissions from the public, semina…
Fall ColorsI'm always jealous of people who live in climates that are more mild during the winter (I don't enjoy cold much any more). However, one of the things I love about our climate is the wonderful colors that we see during the autumn. Since we are surrounded by mountains, it is a lovely site to see. We l…
How Fair is Britain?Yesterday saw the publication of How Fair is Britain?, a mammoth report from the Equality and Human Rights Commission which looks at equality in all areas of modern UK society. At 790 pages long it might be expecting a little too much for most people to read it in full, but links to some of the most…
Serious GamesOne for the ICT experts among our readers today - Futurelab have just published a literature review which examines the topic of how digital games can be utilised as serious teaching tools. The report examines such issues as pedagogy and assessment within games, and explores the different ways in whi…
Achievement in the Foundation StageA new research report entitled Achievement of Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile has been published today by the Department of Education; it's a detailed analysis of children's progress in the EYFS' six areas of learning and development, comparing progress in different areas of Eng…
The Finish LineI ran my first half-marathon on Saturday. I just have one thing to say, "13 miles is a long way!" I try to avoid driving 13 miles. My daughter-in-law encouraged me to run the race with her and it was fun to have company. At times during the race I felt like I could conquer the world. At other times …
Teaching ResourcesA big welcome to all of the new PGCE students at UCB. As promised in this morning's session, here are some of the websites out there which have particular relevance to your chosen course...Hopefully you've already realised the importance of the Times Educational Supplement (aka TES). The TES websit…
Community Family Support ResourcesA big welcome to all of the new Community Family Support students at UCB. If you'd like to know about websites which will be invaluable to helping with research during your course then read on...Sites containing free research information in your subject area are plentiful. I really can't praise the …
Classroom ManagementI was instructing my student teachers this week about setting up a classroom to avoid negative behaviors. I often use information learned from the Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL) at Vanderbilt University. I mentioned in earlier posts that I was trained by …
NCB BlogThe National Children's Bureau (NCB) has recently started a blog to share information about the work of the organisation and generate discussions about general children's issues. Early signs are that it'll be a useful resource, with posts on topics such as the closure of the ContactPoint database, t…
Progressive Education in the 1940sSomething a little different today. The video below is a 1940s newsreel from the US which covers the topic of 'progressive education'. If you've got 7 minutes to watch it in full, it's a fascinating and entertaining snapshot of some of the ideas which were gaining credence in education at that time,…
School LibrariesA report from the School Library Commission draws a link between successful schools and well-run libraries, but argues that at present many such facilities are a wasted resource. To tackle this issue, the report calls for library staff to work more closely with teachers and other support staff, and …
The Special Educational Needs and Disability ReviewA major review from Ofsted has grabbed the headlines this morning, after it concluded that thousands of pupils are being wrongly labelled as having special educational needs. The report argues that as many as half of the 1.7 million children regarded as having special educational needs are wrongly d…
New from OnTheWebThe latest edition of OnTheWeb (see previous post for details) is as usual packed with details of new reports and research relating to education. Here's some of the highlights:Children Missing from Education: The Actions Taken to Prevent Children from Missing Education or Becoming ‘Lost to the Syste…
Effective Early Childhood Education ProgrammesNew research from the CfBT Education Trust examines the effectiveness of 28 different early education programmes. The broad conclusion from the report is that instructive and teacher-led programmes are more effective than play-based ones, although other bodies have raised questions about the finding…
Positivity in PracticeWhile dealing with a recent enquiry I came across a new(ish) report from the NFER which may be of interest to some readers. Positivity in Practice: Approaches to Improving Perceptions of Young People and their Involvement in Crime and Anti-Social Behaviour is a response to previous research which ha…
Practitioners' Experiences of the Early Years Foundation StageA new detailed study into the Foundation Stage has found that early years practitioners are strongly in favour of the EYFS framework. The research, which was carried out by the Institute of Education between September 2008 and March 2010, set out to tackle such questions as how the EYFS influences d…
