Hey! we need a new conversation about all things early years

There is plenty to discuss and question in early years.  We have lots of ambition alongside a fundamental role to play in the lives of children and families. It is 2022, a year in which we are all coming to terms with the deep impacts of the pandemic. We are also eager to discover the how Ofsted’s five-year plan and promises will further develop the evidence base, particularly for curriculum, pedagogy, and outcomes.  And it is a time when we can all reflect upon a whole year of implementing EYFS reform.

The pandemic, and its associated restrictions, has posed serious questions for how we can best support cohorts of children now entering early years provision for the first time. 

Our youngest children have lived the majority of their lives, and most of their formative years, under the shadow of Covid-19.  What we do next is of critical significance to the wellbeing of all children’s development now, throughout their childhood, and for the rest of their lives.

The revised EYFS Framework, with an avowed emphasis on professional judgement and the spotlighting of curriculum is now about to enter its second year, and its development, inception and repositioning led to significant debate within the sector during the lead up to its introduction. A debate extended by a whole gamut of other tensions and concerns around our role, position, status and recognition; economics, funding offers, supply and demand; and workforce recruitment and retention challenges. 

Discourse, debate and discussion easily falls into the trap of doom-and-gloom. The narrative, the research, the polls, and the lobbying papers paint a familiar picture. 
And one that no doubt many other sectors across various public and private industries share. What we need is to reframe towards a positive and visionary narrative.  One that can be understood, valued and recognised by all those around us. 

We now have an opportunity for re-energising, realigning and reframing what we do. As we draw breath and reflect on the challenges of all the current situations, we have a chance to embrace these as potent possibilities and create new conversations about our real priorities, and how these are communicated, understood and represented.  

The conversation should examine the importance and foregrounding of children’s emotional and psychological wellbeing and how this can be effectively supported and nurtured within early years provision. The role of ‘learning behaviours’, currently articulated as the Characteristics of Effective Learning and Teaching with the statutory EYFS framework, need to be prioritised, fully recognised and understood by all educators and the wider children’s services community.  Finally, we need to begin exploring the development of a new language that describes the uncontested importance, and ‘seriousness’, of what we do, and why, and how this is achieved.

At Hempsall’s Early Years (hey! for short) we have committed to that being our mission. To provide a modern, informed and positive approach to early years education, drawing upon its rich history and traditions and acknowledging how our understanding of this is continually evolving for better outcomes. 

We want to create a new exciting and dynamic offer and we would love you to join us and get involved. Find out more here at hey! and/or book onto our FREE conference on 6 October 2022 where we will be kick-starting this conversation, picking up the existing threads of conversation and begin constructing a new narrative. One that acknowledges our challenges and embraces the possibilities. Although what we face is not new nor unfamiliar, we do have the opportunity to stand back reflect and map a new course of positive and effective action.