smalltalk - Autumn 2015

smalltalk…supporting the early years sector in Wales for over 30-years.

Published quarterly since spring 1986 and mailed free of charge to all Early Years Wales formerly Wales PPA members, smalltalk is the must-read title for early years education and childcare providers in Wales.

Our 24-page, full colour magazine is packed full of articles to inspire you to embed and inform high-quality practice, whilst continuing to run a successful business.

A new term is starting, and you’ll have lots of new faces at your setting. So, with this in mind, we have some quality articles providing you with ideas for activities to try with them. We also have a Reading Shed (worth £285) to give away. We know, a shed! More on that in a bit.

But first, we have news that you’ve shared with us over the past couple of months. Turn to page 4 to find out what’s been happening. (Some children milk a fake cow, seriously, take a look.)

In Foundation Phase: Talking Point, Kelcie Hurley explores practitioner and child-initiated learning, and we see how a provider applies these concepts to a recent activity involving tie-dye and blackberries. Really cool.

Now, those activity ideas. Our main feature this quarter is all about cooking. Richard Shaw from Cooking Together shares some culinary advice for utilising whatever space you have to encourage children – and you – to don whites and get to grips with the spatula.

And we all like a sing-song in Wales, don’t we? Plus, we like to celebrate Welsh culture, so we’re providing you with five Welsh language nursery rhymes, complete with the phonetic pronunciation, for you to learn with the children in your
care. All together now…

Talking about celebrating Welsh culture, we give you a taste of our Welsh event, Gwyl Fach, held earlier in the year. There are some of photos of the event and a setting shares an account of the day.

Dr Susan Davis from Cardiff Metropolitan University is back writing for us, this time on your role in shaping children, and Meningitis Now update us on developments on vaccines to help combat the infection.