smalltalk - Summer 2018

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.

What do we have in store for you in this issue? We are pleased to welcome back Chris Thomas (page 6), who we met in our Foundation Phase: Talking Point this time last year. Her setting, formally Canal Playgroup, has moved from having to ‘pack away’ in a multi-use hall, to having sole occupancy of a room in a local primary school. We hear how Chris has been able to realise her early years vision.

In 2017, Little Acorns Nursery, Milford Haven were the first early years setting to take part in a programme developed by the National ASD Development Team aimed at increasing recognition, understanding and acceptance of children with autism in their early years. We hear more about the programme on page 8.

In this ever-increasing digital world that is designed to make our lives easier, there is nothing more frustrating than when it doesn’t. We asked uCheck, providers of discounted DBS checks for Early Years Wales members, to run through some of the most common mistakes they see on completed applications and how to avoid them.

Conversely, have you ever looked at your bookshelves and filing cabinets and wondered how much space is taken up by the many policies and guidance documents that you are required to have? We put the case forward for a digital bookcase on page 16. This ties in nicely with our review of the 5 best free Welsh apps, that we believe will be invaluable to your setting (page 12). Do you agree with our reviewer? Let us know…