Best Practice Guidance for the Early Years (BPG) gives accessible advice and practical information to ensure every child has equal learning and development opportunities in their earliest years. It is designed to be used alongside the Government’s ‘SEND Code of Practice: 0-25 (2015)’ and builds on the principle that all children are entitled to high-quality early years provision by supporting practitioners to evaluate and further develop their practice.
Part One includes a comprehensive overview of the knowledge and understanding required to meet all children’s needs, from statutory requirements through early identification to the role of professional agencies and sources of additional funding.
Part Two provides advice and practical strategies to use to support children at a universal, targeted or personalised level within each of the four ‘Broad Areas of Need’.
BPG enables providers to meet their duty under the Equality Act 2010 by building capacity and upskilling the workforce to meet a range of needs. It does so by setting out the inclusive practice settings should have in place to provide all children with high-quality provision from the outset.
The document supports practitioners by sharing the knowledge and expertise needed to support children to make good progress in their learning. Colour-coded throughout for ease of reference, it forms an effective ‘one-stop’ document designed to upskill and empower pratitioners to meet the needs of all children. It is intended to be used by a child’s key person alongside parents.
HIGHLY COMMENDED
Learning Without Fear, by Julia Stead and Ruchi Sabharwal, Crown House Publishing
Full of practical ideas for use in class, Learning Without Fear supports teachers with strategies to encourage pupils to take risks, engage with challenges and become intrinsically motivated learners.
The book presents 39 lesson plans (one for every week of the school year) and support materials for teachers in nursery classes up to Year 6, and offers easy-to-understand theory and evidence underpinning all the tips and techniques. There are illustrations to use with children, proforma to help organise thoughts, and handy information on how to engage parents.
Exercising Muscles and Minds, Second Edition, by Marjorie Ouvry and Amanda Furtado, Jessica Kingsley Publishers
This new edition empowers practitioners in planning, advocating and leading learning outside, building on the Froebelian tradition of Early Childhood Education.
The book focuses on the importance of outdoor play from birth to Reception, with case studies illustrating how important movement is to a child’s holistic development, including its benefits to fostering control, co-ordination, concentration, self-organisation, collaboration,
self-esteem, memory, self-regulation and other elements each child needs to sustain deep, life-long learning and health.
- FINALISTS
A Sense of Place: Mindful practice outdoors, by Annie Davy, Bloomsbury Education
It’s OK to Cry, by Molly Potter, Bloomsbury Education
CRITERION
Open to professional books aimed at supporting the work of early years professionals and leaders, which have been published (or a new edition published) since 1 January 2019