In the weeks before Jil became poorly, she had been working with the nursery cook, Julie Mesher, towards an accreditation that would reflect the time and effort that goes into the meals and snacks we provide for the babies and children at Rum Tum Tugger’s Nursery.

I’m delighted to say that Harlow District Council and their partners (Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, Essex Food Liaison Group and West Essex Primary Care Trust) have given us a Healthy Eating Gold Award. This means that we were assessed on Food Hygiene and Healthy Food Nutrition. Adam Sherwood of HDC said that the award represents what we have done to commit to healthy living for our children, giving them the option to eat more healthily.

Sadly, we were unable to attend the reception to receive our award but we’re proud to share it with you through the blog. It also gives us the chance to make sure you are aware of who Julie is. Julie has been part of the Rum Tum’s team for several years, working hard to provide tasty and healthy food for the babies and children and working directly with the children supporting the Key Person team.

The Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum (EYFS) becomes mandatory on Monday, 1st September 2008. You may have seen some adverse publicity in the national press over the weekend calling this the “Nappy Curriculum”. However, it’s easy to focus on individual elements for a touch of sensationalism.

In truth, the new scheme underlines through four clear principles, a holistic approach to early years education. These principles are Unique Child, Positive Relationships, Enabling Environments and Learning & Development.  

It is the principle of Learning & Development that has caused the outcry.  Milestones of learning and development have been assigned to all age groups from birth to 60+ months. Whilst there are targets for babies under headings such as Communication, Language and Literacy, these are sympathetically broken down into appropriate responses such as eye contact and babbling for our youngest children. Similarly, under the heading of Problem Solving, Reasoning and Numeracy, targets for babies involve grasping objects and enjoying games of Peekaboo.

The targets progress sensitively through over lapping age groups. The idea of overlapping the age ranges demonstrates that skills aren’t acquired in a chronological order. Each unique child will develop at their own pace and that pace will differ depending on the area of learning.

At Rum Tum’s we have been busily learning the theory behind this new concept and now begins the implementation phase. I’m hoping to help parents gain a better understanding of the new cuuriculum, our plans and observations through the blog and through our scheduled parents evening (9th October). I’m also happy to answer any individual questions that you might have.

In order to succeed, the EYFS needs to be viewed as the multi-faceted approach it is intended to be.

My guess is that unless you work in education the phrase “Early Years Professional Status (EYPS)” is a new one to you. The government is investing in raising the standard of early years education. One tactic they are using is creating a career pathway in this area of learning, that will attract high calibre students and professionals. Last year they introduced EYPS, a graduate level assessment for nursery practioners.

By 2010, all Children’s Centre will be lead by an EYP. By 2015 every full daycare setting must also be lead by an EYP.

EYPS is awarded to people who can demonstrate that they meet a set of national, graduate-level Standards when working with children from birth to five. The EYP standards set out the knowledge, understanding, skills and other professional attributes needed for the delivery of high quality services for children.

I’m pleased to say that last summer, I was amongst the first Essex practitioners to be accredited with this status. Jil is close on my heels and should have completed her assessment this summer. Because of her health, this has been temporarlily postponed.

I’ve found a couple of quotes that might give a clearer picture of the benefits to a setting of having an EYPS practitioner on board.

Children’s Workforce Development Council

” EYPS will be trained to:

• be skilled and effective practitioners;
• work as part of the team of skilled and committed people working with children in early years settings and wider children’s services;
• take responsibility for leading and managing play, care and learning; and
• have a secure and up-to-date knowledge and understanding of early years practice with children from birth to five.       “

Jane Haywood, Chief Executive, Children’s Workforce Development Council (CWDC)

“EYPS will help ensure that our children get the best possible start in life. By ensuring that those working with children have access to high qulaity training we can raise both the status of early years and the quality of care children receive”

After almost ten years running and owning a nursery, it is a joy and a relief to hear that the government place such value on the importance of high quality early education and care. It is also a delight that Rum Tum Tugger’s is leading the way in Harlow by having EPYS in place and by encouraging other staff members to undertake other graduate studies. My EYPS status has unlocked funding that has allowed Laura Boultwood to study for a Foundation Degree In Early Years. She is just about to start for second year on this programme.

Diary note for you. Parents Evening 9th October 2008, 6.30pm to 8.30pm. Closer to the time, we will produce a schedule of appointments for you to sign up to. I also recommend that if you have specific questions you wish to ask, it may be worth writing them down in advance  and giving them to your child’s key worker, to ensure a detailed response backed up with work samples.

See you there!