The Voice of Early Childhood

Dawn Jones' and team's research unexpectedly unveiled the use of scrapbooks as a new methodological approach to action research within practice as well as research studies. Dawn proposes that scrapbooks could provide a rich collection of documented evidence to support both the inspection framework and the EYFS outcomes.   Read Dawn's article here: https://thevoiceofearlychildhood.com/scrapbooks-as...

A need for a culture shift and systemic change within Ofsted – this is what setting owner Lucy Lewin is advocating for after her recent Ofsted inspection. Lucy believes that Ofsted is too focused on protecting its system's integrity, rather than focusing on improvement and raising quality.  Read Lucy's article here: https://thevoiceofearlychildhood.com/the-case-for-systemic-change-in-ofsteds-appro...

Being attuned to children's needs, loco parentis, co-regulation and professional boundaries. These are just some of the things Tamsin Grimmer and Aaron Bradbury discuss on the topic of love and nurture in early childhood settings and beyond. Read Aaron and Tamsin's   article here: https://thevoiceofearlychildhood.com/ love-and-nurture-in-the-early-years / Listen to more: If you enjoyed this episod...

A focus on meaningful contexts, sequenced learning, school leadership involvement and provision for 2-year-olds. The progress from the Durham Early Yeats Curriculum Project is shared here through the journeys of two Early Years Leaders; Paige Hutchinson and Charlotte Norman.  Read Paige Hutchinson's article here on: Building sequences of learning https://thevoiceofearlychildhood.com/early-years-cu...

Advocacy can involve lobbying government as well as less publicly exposed actions such as day to day choices in your classroom. Donna Mooney discusses how educators are generally not equipped with the tools for advocacy, so she provides practical and actionable ways of making change, and routes to influencing government and creating impact.    Read Donna's article here: https://thevoiceofearlychil...

Too often we have a reactive over a proactive approach to mental health, focusing on mental ill health rather than on thriving. Matt Bawler shares his work around this, including establishing strong foundations and providing children with the tools and agency to be able to thrive in life. Read Matt's article here: https://thevoiceofearlychildhood.com/ proactively-promoting-positive-mental-health/...

How does Montessori practice embed sustainability? Montessori Consultant Sarah Cummins explains that social development sits alongside academic learning, children are supported in building a sense of ownership of their community and environmental stewardship is embedded early on. We also discuss some misconceptions around Montessori practice as well as how we can support higher education students...

Reward charts, certificates and golden time – how do such behaviour management systems affect children's self-perception and the perception of their peers? Dawn Jones discusses her research, opening up conversations around adult and child power imbalances, listening to children, classroom design and much more. This episode is sponsored by 'My Mood Stars'. My Mood Stars are resources that have been...

Feeling helpless and lacking control in your own learning and wider life seems to be a common attribute being noticed in children and young people currently. It is important to begin unpicking this from early childhood…Dr Sue Allingham reflects on how the EYFS Characteristics of effective teaching and learning are supporting children to be resilient and build a growth mindset…yet what goes wrong t...

What is the 'right time' to start encouraging reading? What if my child is not showing any interest at all? These are some of the questions addressed in the episode and article by Stacy Benge. You will also gain insight into vestibular and proprioceptive systems, crossing the midline, using print in meaningful contexts, attributing meaning to marks, learning to tune into and distinguish between so...

Are we child carers or teachers?   A question which is so deep and heavily steeped in wider systems and society. Carlie Powell and Jackie Warren, from Growing Places, have been reflecting on this with their teams for a while, and want to spark a wider movement of advocacy, change and reinvention within early childhood in England by taking inspiration and insight from an international perspective....

Are you considering bringing in animals to your school, nursery or other education setting? Perhaps you already work with animals…Dr Helen Lewis shares her work around animal assisted education, explaining the importance of moving towards the view of animals as members of the classroom, rather than simply using animals to serve us. Helen shares the vast benefits for children when involving dogs as...

June O'Sullivan shares her work around supporting families experiencing imprisonment, and takes us through her and her team's journey around a prison. June discusses what this journey is like from the perspective of a young child, and the fact that the child is often forgotten about in these circumstances… We as educators need to be better equipped to support children and families who are affected...

In this episode Lauren Middleton and Melissa Wilson from Hartley Brook Primary School, Astrea Academy Trust, talk about how their practice and understanding has changed since embarking on the Brain-SET project. The year-long project focused on enabling children to feel emotionally secure and ready for learning, by looking at classroom design in terms of lighting, noise, the use of colour, furnitur...

Stephanie Warrender brings a new Scandi approach to her school. After using the method in her class, Stephanie has set up her own company providing the Songdrawing Method as part of Laulau Learning UK. In this episode you will get to learn what Songdrawing is, the developmental benefits of engaging children in singing, the relation between phonics and music, active music listening vs passive music...

In this episode Sarah Mason from The Hill Primary School, Astrea Academy Trust, shares with us the journey she and her team have been on in developing their learning environment in line with understanding the way children's brain develops. This was part of the Brain-SET Learning Environments project which Astrea Academy Trust embarked on, looking at classroom design through the lens of children's...

In this episode Dawn Jones shares findings on a project closely working with children in gaining their reflections on spaces and places within shared worlds. In this 1 st episode and article, in the 3-part series, Dawn shares how the findings relate to sustainable development goals, and poses some of the following reflections and questions: Co-collaboration on learning can lead to so many more ave...

Leadership, management, psychological safety, difficult conversations, priorities, education or care, leading with love…Lewis Fogarty and Angelica Celinska discuss a range of thought-provoking topics, which all stemmed from the conversation of the need to stand up to your manager. This episode relates to anyone interested in leadership, workplace culture and self-development beyond educational set...

Astrea Academy Trust embarked on the Brain-SET project looking at classroom design through the lens of children's brain development. This year-long project focused on enabling children to feel emotionally secure and ready for learning, by looking at classroom design in terms of lighting, noise, the use of colour, furniture layout and more. The overall aim was to really bring calm into children's l...

In this episode Carla Ward and Angelica Celinska unpick what are 'yes spaces', and in doing so they address children's agency, risky play, knowing your limits, leadership and workplace culture, teaching children to respect boundaries, feeling control over your life, giving children the autonomy to know and feel who they are and so much more… Find Carla Ward at: https://elfoundations.com/ Listen to...

Peer exclusion is a major concern for preschool children. In this episode we explore research findings on the regular instances of both exclusion and inclusion in a nursery setting. We discuss children's natural, biological need for belonging and dependence on the adult, how resourceful children can be, children not merely accepting exclusionary situations, adult guidance rather than teaching, the...

Early years is a key priority for Astrea Academy Trust, who strive to give each child the best start in life, focusing on developmental needs of the children and not just their academic achievement. Which is why Astrea Academy Trust embarked on the Brain-SET project looking at classroom design through the lens of children's brain development. This year-long project addressed classroom design in te...

This episode shares research findings around children's nuanced understanding of fairness, extending beyond material possessions and entering the complexities of equality vs equity. We discuss how to embed sustainability within the curriculum, the production, consumption and distribution of resources, sociocultural and economic influences on sharing, a multi-disciplinary approach to sustainability...

Professor Julie Fisher tells us all about her seminal text;  Starting from the child? This episode marks an exciting time as Julie publishes the 5 th edition of her book.  Julie explains how  Starting from the child? began in the 1990's, and how it responds to policy and practice, and follows the history of early childhood education in England.  To find out about Julie Fisher's book launch visit:...

There are 3 main skills for social sustainability... Do you know what these could be? Researcher Carmela Garcia Manas identified these skills through her research which are vital for children to develop for their understanding of social sustainability, and to be able to engage as active citizens as part of society.  In this episode we pose the reflective question of:  Does your curriculum allow fo...