Don’t miss out! We’ll help you plan the next seven days with our round-up of everything that’s happening in the early years sector.

Cook and share

Cook and Share Month runs from 30 October to 24 November. The first week is “cooking for people”, with free Bonfire Night-themed resources including recipes for sticky ginger buns, garlic and herb pinwheels and sausage hotpot. Future weeks include Cooking for Pleasure, Cooking for the Planet and Cooking for your Pocket.

Support practitioners with early years maths

The Department for Education announced this week that Level 3 practitioners will no longer need a Level 2 maths qualification to count in ratio from January. However, it’s still important to support staff with delivering early years mathematics. Module 6 of the government’s free online early years child development training, focusing on mathematics in the early years, has just been added to the course. The new module covers nurturing mathematical development from birth;”number”, including verbal counting, object counting and subitising; patterns and relationships; and spatial reasoning, including shape, space and measures. 

Get involved with mental health

Anna Freud is setting up a voluntary panel of early years practitioners  who champion mental health and wellbeing in their settings and local communities. The aim of the group is to give the organisation an understanding of the current issues in early years settings in relation to mental health and wellbeing. The panel will also promote and celebrate the excellent practice that is being carried out by early years workers across the UK. 

The panel will meet twice in the academic year 2023/24, and termly thereafter. The first meeting will be held online on Wednesday 17 January (4.30pm-6pm) and an in-person summer meeting with the theme practitioner wellbeing is planned for Thursday 20 June (5pm-7pm). To learn more, email [email protected], or complete this form if you are interested in joining.