smalltalk - Autumn 2019

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 members. smalltalk is the must-read title for early years education and early years childcare providers in Wales.

Whether you are looking for ideas to implement within the setting or to help you with your training and development, wanting to keep up to date with the latest curriculum changes or changes in legislation, our 28-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.

Hello Autumn!

It’s nearly a whole year since we announced we were rebranding from Wales Pre-school Providers Association to Early Years Wales, and what a year it’s been!

I thought I’d take this opportunity to throw a few stats out there as a reminder of what happened!

You’ve attended a total of 22 forums, we’ve held three Foundation Phase Network Events (FPEN), we’ve supported approximately 380 practitioners with Welsh language development, you’ve been to members events in Llanelli and Ruthin and not forgetting the huge success our first Early Years Wales Awards celebration (the wheels are already in motion for next year!). We’ve been extremely successful in our grant applications (see page 4) and are about to launch the Early Years Wales training programme.

As I write, we are hosting this year’s 5 Nations Annual Early Years Summit in Cardiff, which promises to be a day of lively discussion and information sharing with our colleagues from Early Years Scotland, Early Years Ireland, Early Childhood Ireland and the Early Years Alliance, and on September 17th we are excited to be hosting the much-anticipated seminar ‘Bringing a fresh perspective to Early Childhood Education and Care’ led by Aldo Fortunati and Barbara Pagni from La Bottega di Geppetto – International Research and Documentation Centre on Childhood Gloria Tognetti in Tuscany, northern Italy.

So, what’s next? the forums keep on coming and the dates are pencilled in on our What’s on page (visit: earlyyears.wales/events) – up to March 2020. Also, our FPEN events are back by popular demand, with the next one taking place in Newtown, Powys on 24th October – see back page for info and booking details.

…and breathe!