Found myself getting a little worked up over an article in Nursery World by Peter Moss in which he asserts  that “our early childhood system is fragmented, segregating, wasteful and riven by inequality.”

Adopting my best Mr Affronted of Southampton persona, I duly penned a response (rant) to the Nursery World letters page, defending the honour or practitioners everywhere –

I do not recognise Peter Moss’s dystopian UK early years sector (Integration of childcare and early education services is long overdue, 3-16 September) with its separation of care and education; its polarisation into institutional versus profit motivated providers and a service provision landscape characterised by fragmentation, waste and inequality.  The rhetoric of ‘fiddling’ , ‘failure’, ‘factories’, ‘businesses’  and his use of the term ‘childcare’ as pejorative, are disingenuous and dismissive of the good practice, commitment and collegiate professionalism I encounter day in, day out from practitioners working across the range of provision in this country. We have come a long way in the UK. I think it is difficult to argue that the revised EYFS statutory framework does not provide for an holistic view of each individual child’s development needs within the context of care.

As a ‘profit motivated’ private provider, I do not differentiate ‘better off’ families accessing our services for care as an expedient for parental employment versus those who are paid for out of the public purse, for whom I am expected to provide education only. I am sorry, Peter, but this is nonsense.

Things are not perfect (eg affordability) but neither are they in other countries. We are however not dysfunctional. I recently hosted colleagues from Austria who expressed their wish that they could reproduce in their country the ‘homely’ nature of the learning environments and adult:child interactions they experienced here in UK settings. They noted how early years policy within Austria was headed in the positive direction we are taking, which incidentally, they likened to their experiences in Scandinavia.

It is easy to be scathing of commissions and politicians, they do come and go but I believe we have a responsibility to engage positively in discourse for the benefit of our children.  We have a lot to be proud of, not least the difference many thousands of us are making in the lives of our youngest children in this country. We have enough criticism already from many quarters. It is really not helpful to have a go at ourselves in this way. How depressing that there is nothing more positive to say about our vocation.

I wonder if this will elicit a response?

Someone has leant me an amazing book – ‘The Cause Within You’ by Matthew Barnett, subtitled – finding the one great thing you were created to do in this world. It is an amazing story of how a 20 year old arrived in Los Angeles and through a series of events, relinquished his personal dreams of success when he realised that he was called to serve the poor, homeless and those with no power. He founded the Dream Centre which reaches out to befriend, feed, clothe and heal families, addicts, the abused, victims of human trafficking, runaways and many others. It does this on a vast scale, in one of the most lawless and challenging areas in the United States. The food distribution programme alone, now runs to over a million dollars each month.

His point is that he is just an ordinary guy, surrounded by ordinary and typically, broken people. But they have found the cause they were made for. They use their life experiences, even the most difficult ones, to fulfill this destiny.

The challenge for the reader is to discover the cause we were made for.

As someone passionate about young children and their futures, I understand that there is more to life than my own needs, dreams, ambitions, fears and pride. I can recognise a cause worth giving my life to, investing in others – children, staff and families.

This morning’s news report includes an item with the headline –

“Two children in every classroom go hungry as neglect takes its toll”  

It reads –

An estimated one million children in the UK now live in homes without enough to eat, according to the study by the child welfare charity Kids Company. The charity has reported a rise of 233 per cent in the last 12 months in children using its services for their only meal of the day. Those children have an average age of just 10.

There’s a cause, right there.

When it comes down to it, all of human activity can be viewed as a set of relationships – with our family, friends and society. Our development as human beings is shaped, in a very physical way with respect to the brain, through interactions. Communication, a sense of self, socialisation and arguably physical development, all require another person other than ourself.

It is amazing to witness children’s relationships develop, starting from the earliest attachments to acknowledging and playing alongside other children. Once ability and confidence grows and play starts to move from parallel to cooperative, the field is opened for socialisation and new relationships, limited only by the ability to meet others.

This is fundamental to life at Paint Pots. Every minute of every day is about relationships.        

Our Comenius project is helping us to meet children in other countries.

Okay, so we are 4 years old and we might not yet understand where Austria is but we can speak to the children on our laptop screen, hear them say their names and tell them what we are called.

We are making new relationships!

As an employer, about 3 years ago I received my first court liability order from the local council. This informed me that I was now liable under law  for the ongoing processing of an Attachment to Earnings Order for council tax, on behalf of one of my employees.

The employee had not paid her council tax and it was now my responsibility, as ordered by the court, to pay it on her behalf, out of her earnings.

I forwarded the relevant paperwork to my accountants, who performed the necessary calculation each month during payroll, to work out what percentage of income should be sent to the council and, since the council can only accept cheque payments which have to contain the reference, name and address of the individual, each month I dutifully wrote out a cheque, put the reference details on the reverse side, addressed and stamped an envelope and recorded the payment details, ensuring it was posted in good time to make the cut-off date so I wouldn’t get fined.

Oh, and by the way, on enquiring I was told I could claim expenses for all this effort – £1 !!!!!

A month ago, we finished paying the amount outstanding. Recently, the employee left the company.

Yesterday, I received a formal notification from the council that “According to their records they have, to date, received no payments against the Attachment of Earnings Order in respect of this employee.”

The letter reminded me that failure to comply with an Attachment of Earnings Order could lead to a fine of up to £1,000 plus any costs incurred in court actions.

I phoned the contact number on the letter and was told to send in proof of all the payments we have made. I pointed out to them that they had a record of all these payments and that they had processed the cheques.

They agreed with this (and could see them on the employee’s council tax account!) but still wanted me to prove that I had made payments! I was advised that it was up to me whether I decided to comply with a reasonable request or not – and how this might be viewed in any subsequent investigation.

With the benefit of a good night’s sleep, I have now calmed down, a bit.

I sent an email notifying the council of the employee’s date of leaving the company and telling them that I have neither the time or inclination to send them details of payments I have made.

So now I sit here waiting for someone to come and arrest me!

Apparently our national curriculum for the under 5s has been “refined”! following the review by Dame Claire Tickell.

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.

It is heartening to see the 3 core development areas confirmed in the revised Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum. I believe it is self evident that we should focus on young children’s physical, social and language development. These underpin our preparedness for 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?

April 30^th – May 6^th      Join people across the globe

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.”

Back in December, Mrs Paintpots and I travelled to Vienna for the first meeting of our Comenius project.

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!

It’s that time of the year when the tv channels are full of those cheap programmes reviewing the last year, so as I sit here recovering from my annual bout of Christmas flu, why don’t I do the same? Actually, we published our annual report in September, so I’ll just update you on the last few weeks leading up to the big day (for most of which, I was in bed – ill! – sympathy vote).

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.