There aren’t too many surprises in the finished article, recently published. We are now preparing for its introduction from September.

Most changes are seen as “tweaks” rather than a full scale rewrite. There is much that is valued and retained. I believe most childcare providers and practitioners would be in support of this.

One area of contention has been the reference to “School Readiness”. We are not too exercised by this. Seen in the context of preparation for life in general, we have always developed each child’s independence, ability to concentrate, socialise and sense of investigation, awe and wonder, as well as ensuring the maximum capacity for fun and laughter. This, for us, is business as usual. We are not going to be teaching formal reading, writing and tables!!

We are pleased with the focus on 3 prime areas – Physical, Emotional and Language development, complemented by the 4 “specific” areas of Understanding the World, Literacy, Expressive Arts and Mathematics.

This helpful categorisation maps to what we have always done anyway, based on what we know to be of prime importance to children’s development, particularly for those under 3 years.

We also welcome moves to reduce the paperwork for staff. I believe it is self evident that time spent interacting with children will always be more useful than keeping records.  It remains to be seen whether our professional judgement fits with that of Ofsted. In other words, whether they will be happy to take our word for it rather than having to see everything written down.  We are told that it will be so, under the new inspection regime. I do hope so.

Lastly, there is the introduction of so called “2 year old testing”. There are very good intentions for the earliest possible opportunity to identify and intervene to address child development issues. But I predict this will be a huge can of worms, for any number of reasons -

What is to be tested, when, how, by whom? What are the norms that are being tested against? How will results be communicated? What will be done about any identified issues? What about those children who don’t attend a setting, or attend multiple settings or have just started?  How can this be statutory when children do not have to attend anywhere before the age of 5? and providers are not paid by the government, in most cases currently, to take 2 year olds?

There are a lot of questions and no real answers at this stage. Come September, we will endeavour to address ourselves to this task – as we always have done, working in partnership with parents for the good of their children.

We believe the refined EYFS builds on the existing framework to enable us to develop our practice, based on sound theory and consultation, to give our children the best of starts in life.

Other areas of learning add skills and knowledge to our character but these are arguably less significant to our overall development as human beings. We are born with what we might term innate survival skills – the abilities required to ensure we stay alive, providing the basics for sustaining life from which we can start to build our character.

The first years of life are concerned not only with physical growth but also with the development of abilities and skills for success in terms of communication and socialisation, both vital for us to thrive.

Over and above these critical areas, we are birthed with natural curiosity and creativity. It is the skill of practitioners and teachers that coaches and encourages these talents in each individual. In particular, metacognition – skills for learning about learning eg investigating, assessing, critical thinking, are what might be classed currently as valuable for “school readiness” – not that children can read and write but that they have the propensity and skill set for learning – the acquisition of further skills and knowledge.

In this context, Information Communication Technology (ICT) is a line item within the early years curriculum. We are tasked with ensuring children are exposed to technology and familiarise themselves with its usage and application.

But is this necessary or vital for healthy child development?

As someone who worked in the IT sector for 25 years, my contention is that ICT as a user experience, is concerned with tools. We use technology, by definition, to make life easier for us – to do things we couldn’t easily do without it, such as taking a photo, recording sounds or even video conferencing.

I believe issues arise with assessment where specific technologies are deemed to be required to “tick off” the ICT thing – interactive white boards, desktop computers, laptops, ipads, digital cameras etc. Are these of themselves characteristic of outstanding practice?

How is the learning experience for our children affected by the presence or lack of these commodities?

How do they affect children’s development of language, social skills, healthy physical development, creativity and imagination?

Are these robust, intuitive and child appropriate interfaces – how many broken laptops, mice, keyboards etc are there in early years settings and how many children can use these relatively expensive resources, at any one time? Could funds be better used?

Do staff know how to use them, or indeed how to fix them when something goes wrong?

I am not against technology – I used to earn a living from it and I understand its myriad uses and applications but I do question its application and helpfulness to the fundamentals of children’s development in the early years.

There are some super programs and apps available as well as bee bots (other programmable control toys are available), talking tins, children’s cameras etc but these are all tools and the skills needed to use them and taught through them, are limited in scope. They address a subset of the human skill-set. They can also be a distraction – I know that if we turn a computer on there will be a crowd of children (usually boys) vying for the mouse and keyboard, to the exclusion of other activities. And if we don’t turn it on, they all know how to anyway!

Would we rather our children were playing with sand, water, sticks and their friends and imagination or the latest electronic games machine by themselves with no interactive dialogue?

With the international concerns over childhood obesity, exposure to internet pornography and the reduction in children’s ability to socialise, focus and concentrate on tasks, maybe it’s time for a return to basics? – or am I a heretic?

Have Fun!    improve children’s well-being by reducing dependence on entertainment screen media, including television, video games, computers, and hand-held devices.

Build Relationships   a time for children to play outside, read, daydream, create, explore, and spend more time with family and friends.

Make it Last    a springboard for important lifestyle changes that will improve well-being and quality of life all year round.

5 Reasons to take part

1. Most of us — certainly children — spend too much time in front of screens. Screen time is associated with a host of health problems and behaviour issues, including obesity, attention span issues, and sleep disturbances.
2. For children, screen time is a barrier to creative, self-directed play.
3.  It’s indoors and predominantly inactive.  Today only 10% of children get outside on a daily basis. Outdoor play is associated with  many health and learning benefits.
4.  It will give you the opportunity to connect more as a family. Try game night, family walks, etc. Unplug and get connected!
5.  It will also give you time to really assess how much screen time you are spending and experience the benefits of a life less tethered to devices. How do you feel? Do you notice any difference in your child’s mood, behaviour, or energy level?

7.5 = number of hours of screen time school aged children experience daily

“It’s amazing how much free time you have when you’re not in front of a screen…I never realized how much fun I missed by using screens instead of playing outside.”

Our hosts, Veronika and Stella are absolutely charming. They had organised all details of our visit - accommodation, visits to kindergartens, schools, a tour of Vienna and its Christmas lights, markets and palaces.

2 colleagues joined us from Spain and 9 from Belgium.  It was a great experience – an opportunity to build a new network of contacts in Europe, a time to plan a programme of activities for our children and to expand our knowledge.

In 2 weeks I am taking 2 members of Paint Pots staff to our second meeting in Belgium. We are looking forward to another exciting meeting and the chance to experience the Belgian approach to Early Years and wider education. We are also anticipating trips to Bruges and Antwerp and sampling Belgian chocolate!

This year, we found a great simple nativity play – “Our First Nativity” which was really effective. I attended all 5 lives performances at the various churches and can confirm -

• incredible audiences! – parents, relatives and friends came out in droves this year, there were over 70 people at some of the venues.
• some amazing Oscar nominations -

1. the pregnant Mary with a cushion up her dress, who sat back and stroked her bump – method acting at its best
2. the wise man who shouted, ‘Mum, Dad, it’s my bit. Are you watching?’
3. the angel who performed an energetic Michael Jackson inspired solo disco routine
4. the Joseph who also boogied his way through the show

• Universal praise for the presentations, the children and the staff.

The guest arrived yesterday at Paintpots Mansions in the back of a van, taped up in a large cardboard box.

By the time I emerged downstairs for breakfast this morning, Mrs W had already adopted her alter ego and was posing out on the drive by the Paintpots mobile.

I hope she doesn’t scare the children in this guise. It terrified me!

I arranged a “Doodle” poll where between us we identified a “window” of availability in the first week of December. Our first project planning meeting will be in Vienna. We will arrange our activities for the rest of the project and get to visit some of the nursery facilities and local places of interest. Mrs W will accompany myself on this first meeting after which we will invite other interested staff members to apply for a trip.

We look forward to our turn at hosting – with the opportunity to show our friends from Europe around the area. We are also excited about the opportunities for our children to learn about other cultures and to extend our skype activities to other countries.

As lead country, we are investigating web hosting facilities for us all to add our contributions on the project. Quotes so far seem quite expensive and probably beyond our budget so we will keep looking.

Now everything is confirmed, I am sure it will be a really positive and exciting opportunity for us all to participate in this experience.

Anyway, it’s started to finally turn a little cooler this week. And it seems that parents thoughts have turned to winter attire. I know this because every time I enter a nursery or preschool I am presented with a fashion show of jumpers, shoes and coats. Generally, boys shoes flash or have Ben 10 imprinted on them somewhere, or a dinosaur. Little girls shoes are often pink with maybe flowers, butterflies and sparkle.

One girl was so excited she ran into the room on arrival, announcing very excitedly – “I have a new coat. Mummy bought it.” She ran back to the coat peg to get it and brought it in to show me. It was the brightest pink, with flowers on.  “We mustn’t jump in muddy puddles in case we dirty it.” she whispered to me conspiratorially.  Like I’m the sort of person to entice anyone into jumping in muddy puddles!

We are coming to the end of the apple crop. We have been submerged in an avalanche of fruit this year. Apple crumble has been a staple of home and nursery menus for some time. We have had a constantly full fruit bowl as well.

It is turning into a season of mists and mellow fruitfulness.

It’s very exciting to plan a new venture in the area to complement our existing settings. We already have a list of 26 families who have expressed an interest and 3 completed application forms.

We have staff raring to go and a lock-up full of little chairs, toys, books, scooters and other resources but there are a hundred jobs on the “set up a new preschool” list to get started on.

It was really helpful having the opportunity to test-run the site in the summer when the Howard Road preschool decamped there whilst we had our extension built. We got to know the staff who are really friendly and helpful.

We are eager to join the St Marks School community.

If you are looking for a preschool place in Shirley after Christmas, get your application in fast!

Having many years’ experience of car boot sales, myself and Mrs PaintPots know where to go; which stalls to avoid and how to haggle.

So here are a few observations -

• Choose your car boot sale area – head for “upmarket”
• Seek out families rather than “professionals”
• Look for someone who is fed up and looking to leave – they don’t want to take stuff home and are open to offers
• Do a deal – prices are always cheaper if you buy a bundle of items rather than 1 or 2 (why? – who knows!)
• Mention that you are buying for a pre-school (not a nursery), this even gets stuff thrown in for free!
• Check out prices at different stalls first before buying. Prices vary wildly and for no apparent reason

Why are there always drinking games and foot spas on sale? – not to mention items of a personal nature that no one in their right mind would ever purchase second hand! And what about the pasting tables covered in rusty junk that looks like it has been swept up from a garage floor?

Car boot sales – you’ve got to love them!