The Early Years Foundation Stage

http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/eyfs/

published this week, the press have had a field day. It's not too different to the frameworks that were in place anyway (birth to three matters and the foundation stage) it has just merged 2 frameworks into one.

Having had a look over it, I am pleased to see how I plan and evaluate my activities already fits in relatively ok with the new framework, so I am not as up in arms about it as some - just a case of rewording a few things here and there I should think (ok probably not that simple but you get the picture!)

Some of the press response has been interesting;
Do the under fives need a curriculum?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/03/14/ublview14b.xml

Is your baby playing with his toes yet? If not the government wants to know
http://education.guardian.co.uk/earlyyears/story/0,,2033356,00.html?gusrc=rss&fe\ed=11

Nursery teachers told they must monitor babies babble
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/education/article1512096.ece.

what do you think?!

Purim

We looked at the Jewish Festival of Purim last week, and made our own noisemakers or 'graggers' to shake during the retelling of the tale behind the festival. Whenever the name of the bad man of the story Hayman was mentioned, the children shook their graggers noisely and made lots of noise so we didn't have to hear the name mentioned. They also decorated their graggers with a face and a frown to represent Hayman. My carpet hadn't fully recovered from the lentil and pulses attack from the freeplay session the day before with dried food and dinosaurs, so we subjected it to yet more sprinkling of the remaining pulses in the filling of the bottles. My hoover has never worked so hard....