tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47764212037211395432024-03-04T22:25:06.085-08:00Family Child CareThe National Association for Family Child Care is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting quality child careAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872246430958149226noreply@blogger.comBlogger1056125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4776421203721139543.post-4960342852027693322013-12-17T02:10:00.000-08:002013-12-27T04:17:38.973-08:00Sure Start Children's CentresThe Parliamentary Education Committee has just published a new report about Sure Start Children's Centres. The MPs' report argues that the quality of provision in children's centres should be taken as seriously as standards in schools, but also says that the role of centres should be made clearer.To read the report in full, click here.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872246430958149226noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4776421203721139543.post-85153492593930010172013-12-11T03:37:00.000-08:002013-12-27T04:17:38.980-08:00Ofsted & Free SchoolsTwo days after you write a review of the year (see previous post), two more important reports come out that should probably have made the cut [Sigh...]. Today sees the publication of Ofsted's annual report, which is split into several different sections. You can view them all here, though the one of most interest to readers of this site is probably the Schools Report.Also new today is Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872246430958149226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4776421203721139543.post-78381828964088285602013-12-10T07:38:00.000-08:002013-12-27T04:17:38.988-08:00Poverty and Social Exclusion 2013The 2013 edition of Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusion has just been published. This is an annual report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation / New Policy Institute which uses official data to present "a comprehensive picture of poverty in the UK." The key points can be viewed in the executive summary, or you can read the full report by clicking here.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872246430958149226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4776421203721139543.post-33493598555529017602013-12-09T07:01:00.000-08:002013-12-27T04:17:38.998-08:00Review of 2013If it's nearly Christmas, it must be time for a review 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 around...It's probably best to start with the DfE, as they've produced a number of important documents this year. January saw the publication of More Great Childcare, which outlined the Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872246430958149226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4776421203721139543.post-73943259112750636542013-11-29T15:55:00.000-08:002013-12-27T04:17:39.006-08:00Childhood & Education: A Collection of Open Access Journal ArticlesI've written on here before about the usefulness of Open Access research (see previous post for details), but today's post is specifically about journal articles which are freely available. Traditionally it's been quite difficult to access high quality research which is published in journals - you either need to hope that you're attached to an institution which subscribes to the item you're afterAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872246430958149226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4776421203721139543.post-30782766265814022742013-11-28T07:35:00.000-08:002013-12-27T04:17:39.014-08:00The Role of Children's CentresThe National Children's Bureau has today published a set of essays which should be of interest to most readers of this site. Partnerships for a Better Start: Perspectives on the Role of Children's Centres contains contributions from several leading early years figures, including Dame Clare Tickell, with each one offering their thoughts on the future of children's centres in the UK. The collectionAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872246430958149226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4776421203721139543.post-59993076437024347092013-11-21T05:07:00.000-08:002013-12-27T04:17:39.023-08:00Children and Young People's WritingThe National Literacy Trust has just published Children and Young People's Writing, a new report which looks at data from its annual literacy survey - overall almost 35,000 children aged 8 to 16 took part. As you might expect it's quite a detailed document, though it mainly seems to have made headlines for its claim that boys are more than twice as likely as girls to say they hate writing.You canAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872246430958149226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4776421203721139543.post-56242951789860823222013-11-19T09:35:00.000-08:002013-12-27T04:17:39.030-08:00The Early Years: an International PerspectiveTonight's #EYTalking topic on Twitter (see previous post for details) is all about sharing ideas and suggestions on what an international e-portal devoted to early years might look like. This follows a recent post on June O'Sullivan's blog outlining the reasons why such a site would be useful. So today's post attempts to draw together some of the most useful existing sites and recent reports to Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872246430958149226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4776421203721139543.post-18497306618967563432013-11-15T08:03:00.000-08:002013-12-27T04:17:39.039-08:00Anti-Bullying WeekNext week (18-22 November) is Anti-Bullying Week, an annual event established by the Anti-Bullying Alliance. If you've got an interest in this topic then the Guardian's Teacher Network site has put together some suggestions for teaching resources, or you might want to have a look at my bookmarks on bullying, which contain links to various relevant reports and websites.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872246430958149226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4776421203721139543.post-83587858780910307262013-10-30T08:47:00.000-07:002013-12-27T04:17:39.046-08:00Children's Centre Census 2013Yesterday the 4Children charity published Children's Centre Census 2013. This document tries to present a detailed picture of the current state of children's centres in the UK, and claims that over a million families are now making use of these facilities. To read the census, click here.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872246430958149226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4776421203721139543.post-11103100615129401562013-10-30T07:32:00.000-07:002013-12-27T04:17:39.052-08:00The Impact of FosteringAn interesting new publication from the University of Oxford examines an area that perhaps rarely receives attention. The Impact of Fostering on Foster Carers’ Children argues that when foster children enter a new family, it is in fact the whole of the host family that fosters, and so the existing children of the foster parents also have an important role to play in this process. The research wasAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872246430958149226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4776421203721139543.post-59378439672755013012013-10-25T03:38:00.000-07:002013-12-27T04:17:39.162-08:00International Reports3 separate recently published international reports have popped up in my feeds today, which seems as good an excuse as any for a themed blog post.The European Commission has published Childcare Services for School Aged Children, which compares provision across 33 different countries. On a similar note, the Commission has also recently updated The Structure of the European Education Systems, Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872246430958149226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4776421203721139543.post-84619068138614514142013-10-25T02:04:00.000-07:002013-12-27T04:17:39.263-08:00They Took Us to the SeaIf you have 25 minutes to spare, today's post is a real treat. Below is They Took Us to the Sea, a charming but also very moving 1963 film made to promote the work of the NSPCC. The clip follows a group of disadvantaged children from Birmingham on a day's outing to Weston-Super-Mare, from their arrival at Snow Hill station (which has changed a bit!) to their return home. Some of the featured Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872246430958149226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4776421203721139543.post-79628098232554150732013-10-24T02:13:00.000-07:002013-12-27T04:17:39.355-08:00EYFS ResultsToday sees the release of the first set of results for the new Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Profile, which was introduced in September last year. Given the different nature of the new Profile, it's very difficult to make comparisons with results from previous years, but some of the main points are that 52% of children were deemed to have achieved a good level of development, with girls Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872246430958149226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4776421203721139543.post-6965908176781163122013-10-23T03:40:00.000-07:002013-12-27T04:17:39.447-08:00The Right to PlayThe Bernard van Leer Foundation (see previous post for details)has just published the latest edition in its Early Childhood in Focus series. The new publication is entitled The Right to Play, and contains "short summaries of theory, research and policy issues that can inform the implementation of Article 31 of the UN Convention on Children's Rights" - click here to read it in full.I have also Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872246430958149226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4776421203721139543.post-17459264932162535282013-10-18T03:19:00.000-07:002013-12-27T04:17:39.539-08:00Investing in Our FutureA common theme of research reports on early years education is the impact that such programmes have on the child in later life. Now another study can be added to the literature in this area - Investing in our Future: the Evidence Base on PreSchool Education is a new report from the USA, published by the Society for Research in Child Development. If you find this latest report useful, then there Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872246430958149226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4776421203721139543.post-75115771084826729852013-10-15T04:55:00.000-07:002013-12-27T04:17:39.629-08:00Early Years Foundation Stage Handbook 2014The DfE has just published the latest version of the Early Years Foundation Stage Handbook. This is designed to support early years practitioners in making accurate judgements about each child's attainment, so is very much a 'hands on' sort of document. Click on this link to be able to access the handbook, as well as finding links to various supporting materials.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872246430958149226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4776421203721139543.post-23932923567889230622013-10-15T03:17:00.000-07:002013-12-27T04:17:39.718-08:00Ofsted Social Care Annual ReportToday sees the publication of Ofsted's first Social Care Annual Report. The report has already made headlines for concluding that child protection is inadequate in many councils, with only one in four scoring a 'good' rating for their safeguarding services. You can read a summary of the main points in this Guardian article or in this BBC article.To read the full text of the report, click here.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872246430958149226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4776421203721139543.post-21741636865294336942013-10-11T05:51:00.000-07:002013-12-27T04:17:39.810-08:00Free Research SeminarI don't usually promote training events on this site, but this one's free and local so... On Tuesday 5th November the Centre for Research in Early Childhood (CREC) is holding a half-day seminar on Participatory Research Methods in Early Childhood. More information and booking details are available here.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872246430958149226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4776421203721139543.post-68512754847693066692013-10-10T09:13:00.000-07:002013-12-27T04:17:39.903-08:00Early Years / Education BlogsA few years ago I did a mini-research project about Web 2.0 with our undergraduate students. One of the questions on the survey was "Do you find your subject blog [that's this site!] useful?" I was delighted that almost every student answered 'yes'. But then the next question asked "Do you read other blogs?", and almost every student replied 'no'. When I spoke to a few of the respondents about Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872246430958149226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4776421203721139543.post-57238772166508607272013-10-08T02:06:00.000-07:002013-12-27T04:17:39.995-08:00Too Young to FailA new report from Save the Children examines how children from low-income families can be affected by falling behind in school from a young age. Too Young to Fail argues that children who struggle to read, write or calculate by the age of seven are much more likely to fail to get five good GCSEs.You can read the full text of the report by clicking here.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872246430958149226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4776421203721139543.post-19328633704305109842013-10-04T02:20:00.000-07:002013-12-27T04:17:40.087-08:001940s Childhood3 videos for the price of one today... Below are some film clips from the British Council Film Collection, each depicting different aspects of children's lives in the 1940s. If you enjoy these, there are plenty of similar clips on this site - just click on the 'Educational Films' link in the Hot Topics menu on the right of the page. You may also be interested in a previous post entitled Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872246430958149226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4776421203721139543.post-57249043154712333852013-09-30T09:25:00.000-07:002013-12-27T04:17:40.179-08:00School ReadinessA common theme of many reports and debates this year has been the subject of at what age children should start school, or what sort of provision should be made for young children to prepare them for school. Well now there's another piece of research to add to the literature already out there...What does School Ready Really Mean? is a new report from the Professional Association for Childcare and Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872246430958149226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4776421203721139543.post-57275312644420335802013-09-30T06:59:00.000-07:002013-12-27T04:17:40.275-08:00Finding Information for your Dissertation<!--[if gte mso 9]> <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872246430958149226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4776421203721139543.post-19995453594872144772013-09-20T06:40:00.000-07:002013-12-27T04:17:40.373-08:001940s English SchoolIt's a slow news day and there haven't been any film clips on this site for a while, so take a look at the below. It's a 1940s video showing school life - the clip says 'Primary School' but surely the children involved are younger? There's a lot of charm in watching films like this, though modern viewers may take issue with some of the gender stereotypes which the narrator uses!This film has beenAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872246430958149226noreply@blogger.com0