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Foundation Years November Bulletin | |
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Get your nursery involved in the National Education Nature Park | |
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The National Education Nature Park is a free Department for Education-commissioned programme that supports you to bring nature into everyday teaching and learning. Taking part as an EYFS setting supports young learners to connect with nature and explore green changes to their environment, as well as supporting development and learning across all seven Early Learning Goals. Nature connection in early childhood is crucial for developing a lifelong relationship with the natural world. Supporting learners to build a positive connection with nature in the early years can motivate and empower them to protect and value its importance now and in the future. Check out all of the free resources from the Nature Park and get started. | |
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Join us at the Nursery Management Show in London on Friday 28 November | |
We are attending the Nursery Management Show in London later this month. We will hold two sessions on the renewed education inspection framework, one with a focus on inclusion. Our early years team will also be at our ‘Ofsted advice corner’. Please come and speak with the team and get your questions answered. You can find out more about our involvement in the event here. We look forward to seeing those of you attending in London. | |
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Catch up on our early year webinars about the renewed inspection framework | |
We’ve published recordings of our recent webinars for childminders, pre-schools, nurseries and other early years registered settings on our YouTube channel. You can also find a video explaining the new early years report cards and our Facebook Live event, where we answered your questions. | |
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Connecting Families Through Digital Innovation | |
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At Happy Days Nurseries & Pre-Schools, we’re proud to use digital platforms to connect, inform and inspire our families. Our award-winning online and social media presence brings together our website, blogs and podcast to create a welcoming hub for parents. The website includes a detailed affordability page to help parents understand the cost of childcare, along with clear information on curriculum, nutrition and wellbeing. Our blogs and podcast episodes cover a wide range of topics, from the benefits of outdoor play to learning to swim from birth. We also run a mix of open and closed Facebook groups, giving parents a space to connect, share advice and find local support. By combining accessibility, creativity, and genuine connection, we aim to make every family feel supported, informed, and part of Happy Days. | |
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Free maths programme for early years settings in England | |
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NDNA are recruiting over 1800 eligible settings for its fully funded Maths Champions programme. Maths Champions is an evidence-based, professional development programme that will increase early years educator skills, knowledge, awareness and confidence in supporting children’s early mathematical development. Register your interest and find out about NDNA’s Maths Champions programme.
Maths Champions has been commissioned by the Education Endowment Foundation and is funded by the Department for Education. | |
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Family Corner has just relaunched, and it's better than ever! | |
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This free website is the family arm of the Early Years Alliance where parents and carers can find free expert articles, activity ideas and online learning sessions. They'll find tons of information on key areas of child development such as learning through play, communication, behaviour, health, nutrition and wellbeing. We've just refreshed the website to make sure that parents and carers can find the right information at the right time. They'll be able to filter articles by topic and by how old their child is. We've also created a new "For You" section where they can collate articles by interest and make sure that every time they log in, articles that are relevant to them are right there. Share with your families and ask them to visit familycorner.co.uk today to start exploring! | |
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A Special Approach to Making it REAL to Support Families and Practitioners | |
Date: Wed 12 November Time: 10am - 12pm
You are invited to attend a free, DfE-funded workshop on A Special Approach to Making it REAL. NCB will provide training to practitioners on how you can use the Raising Early Achievement in Literacy (REAL) approach to support children with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND). The aim of the workshop is to provide an overview of how to support the home learning environment for families with a child with SEND, with a particular focus on early language and literacy. | |
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NDNA free quiz: EYFS comparison quiz 2025 | |
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There have been a number of updates to the EYFS framework which came into effect from 1 September 2025. Test your knowledge and help understand the key differences in the new framework compared to 2024 with NDNA’s free EYFS comparison quiz. You can take the quiz online or print off a copy for your nursery notice board or staff room. | |
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Marketing & Promotion Tips for Early Years Educators | |
Marketing and promotion are important tasks for all providers, schools and childminders to support ongoing business sustainability.
Need some inspiration and practical tips? Check out the Childcare Works resources: - Early Years Toolkit for marketing advice and guidance. - ‘The 3 Ms of Marketing’ A series of three recorded presentations to support childcare providers with successful marketing and promotion: - Market - Who is your target market? Identifies different segments of your market and explores different purchasing roles to help you reach and engage new and potential customers.
- Message - How to bring all the market information together to create messages for those involved in buying your services.
- Methods - How marketing activity reaches your target audience in a way that is affordable.
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Free early years activity: picture perfect | |
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In this free early years activity, children are given the opportunity to create their very own nursery photo using props, backdrops and as much creativity as they can muster! This fun activity supports children to explore self-expression, confidence and identity while capturing a special memory of their time at nursery. See NDNA’s free activity, written by early years experts here: | |
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Free guide: getting the most from your Early Years Pupil Premium | |
The government's recent increase in the Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP), now worth £570 per eligible child, means it's the perfect time to reflect on how you can most effectively spend it. This free, step-by-step guide from the Education Endowment Foundation includes tips and advice on how you can use the funding to: improve the quality of your team's practice, tailor personalised support for children, and make changes last. Explore the guide now: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/early-years/pupil-premium | |
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Recruitment and retention support | |
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Recruitment and retention of staff is one of the sector's biggest challenges. Childcare Works has created a resource to support you with childcare workforce recruitment which includes: - Actions you can take to support childcare workforce recruitment and retention - A summary of the Timewise Childcare Pioneers Project with suggested actions to attract and retain staff - Practitioners’ view, an example of one early years setting’s approach to recruitment Find out more here on the Childcare Works HUB for providers, a one-stop-shop connecting you with useful and reliable content. Childcare Works is the Department for Educations delivery partner, supporting Local Authorities, providers and schools to deliver the expansion of the early years entitlements and wraparound childcare programme. Find out more at: Childcare Works | |
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Foundation Years is funded by the Department for Education and brought to you by Begin Bright. |
Our mailing address is: foundationyears@beginbright.com | | | |
