It is the season of moderation and report writing muddled in with summer fun days and transition coffee mornings! Many of your children will be getting ready to move on to pastures new and you may well be welcoming new parents and families to your setting as you prepare to say farewell to your current little people. So many mixed emotions and so much to do! We wish you well as you navigate these heady days. 

We all know transitions are so important for children and their families, influencing how they feel about their new setting or class both before and after they have arrived there. In the middle of all the bustle at this time of year, it can be beneficial to take a moment to reflect on the transition journey you have in place for them. Celebrate the things that have been successful and hold on to them for next year. Think about what could be improved to support children and parents even more, and make a list of things to think about in the Autumn to get the moving on journey gently rolling along all year. 

In the wider world of the Early Years sector, The Early Years Alliance have formed a coalition with other organisations to promote the voices of those in the Early Years as the Department of Education works on changes to the Early Years Foundation Stage. If you would like to add to this, you can take part in their survey.

We will be jointly hosting the APPG for Childcare and Early Education lobby day at Westminster, on Monday 1st July. This is an opportunity for providers and MPs to talk together about the state of the sector and discuss ways forward for everyone. There'll be an update on this gathering in the near future. 

Ceeda's latest research into Early Years funding show the sector faces a £662 million funding deficit in 2019/2020. You can read Ceeda's report here and the Early Years Alliance's summary and comments on it here. 

We'd like to welcome back members from the following authority, which has renewed their LA subscription. Members from this authority need do nothing; their individual accounts will automatically be re-subscribed:

For their 9th year – West Sussex

We have lots of news from FSF and Tapestry HQ this month! 

We have recently moved offices - in fact it would be more accurate to say we are now in actual offices! We had a special day to open the new building at the beginning of June and we were lucky enough to have Neil Leitch, CEO of the Early Years Alliance, say a few words, and Justin Cooke, Vice Chair of UNICEF UK, also spoke of his own experiences as a dad using Tapestry. 

This month we say farewell (but not goodbye!) to Rebecca Swindells who is stepping down from her role managing the Foundation Stage Forum. Rebecca has done amazing things with the FSF and many of you will have received advice and information via her posts, shared funny anecdotes and been inspired by her articles. Fear not, as you will continue to see her contributions in all these areas from time to time! 

Jules Mickelburgh will be taking on the Education Advisory role with the FSF and Tapestry. Jules has worked as a teacher in Early Years (Nursery and Reception) and Key Stage 1 and you may have read articles by her over the years. She has been working alongside Rebecca since September last year.

We also welcome Stephen Kilgour to our Education Team. Since 2012 Stephen has been Deputy Head Teacher of Cherry Garden, an Outstanding school for children with severe and complex learning needs in the London Borough of Southwark.  As part of this role he is also the Early Years Lead. We teamed up with Cherry Garden School in January 2018 to bring to life their communication ethos with parents and carers on Tapestry. In September, Stephen is moving with his family to the North East and we are thrilled to announce that he will be employed by the FSF as a SEND advisor and Outreach Teacher. He will be available to support Early Years settings and schools in the region, providing advice and support for staff working with children with additional needs.  Settings and schools will be able to access this support free of charge with no strings attached. We are really looking forward to developing this working partnership with Stephen.

We have just published an article from Elizabeth Jarman tackling FAQs about early years environments and things to ask yourself as your reflect on how your space influences and shapes children and their families. We will also have Rebecca's low down on the thinking behind the Key Stage 1 and 2 frameworks on Tapestry coming soon. We have added some new Tapestry webinars to help our weavers with the end of year process on their accounts.