Getting into your Ofsted Groove!

In this podcast I talk to Wendy Ratcliff and Sam Sleeman-Boss from Ofsted about the Big Listen, refreshed handbooks, new complaints procedure and the research review series and how they are feeling about the Ofsted Academy and the future of Ofsted. While there are some things they cannot answer yet, like how will Ofsted reshape, I am holding them to the promise of a research report on babies especially with the expansion of childcare to include little babies of 9-months-old.

The conclusion of the conversation confirms that we need to continue with our OBC to keep engaged with our regulator so we have a voice in what is often a national debate that only focuses on Ofsted in schools.

The next London OBC is 31st of October, get your ticket here:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/london-obc-october-2024-tickets-1007508564237

Listen to this to help you get into the Ofsted groove.

Slow Pedagogy

During Covid, the LEYF staff running our 15 nurseries for key workers had a call with me at 3pm every day. I looked forward to our chats and it wasn’t long until they we talking about how the reduction in numbers of children, time to play, less curricular demands and fewer wider issues was positively impacting on the children and they in turn were slowing down the pedagogy to allow the children time to just enjoy being children.

Let’s think about slowing down early childhood in the world of fast living and undesirable excess is the message. Let’s ignore the government or business ethos of targets and consumerism. It isn’t working! No one is satisfied!

Have a listen and tell us what you think.

Baby, It’s Time

Do you think babies are a focus of care and education policy enough? Do we have a baby policy blind spot? We think so!

This is the subject of my conversation with Sally Hogg, Senior Policy Fellow at the Centre for Research on Playing Education, Development and Learning better known as PEDAL.

Why has this issue become so important now? Well, because of the speed of the childcare expansion. From September, babies from nine months will be able to access a nursery place. Getting it right from conception to two years is more crucial than at any other stage of learning. The brain development in babies is startling. Just imagine the baby brain as a firework of synaptic connections, fizzing across brains and forming strong cerebral pathways.

If you are interested in the Under 2's and what makes great practice, listen to my conversation with Sally Hogg and share it widely. You know the drill!