Early Years

REACHOut Early Years Stronger Practice Hub

Early Years Stronger Practice Hubs provide advice, share good practice and offer evidence-based professional development for early years practitioners. The Early Years Stronger Practice Hubs programme launched in November 2022 as part of the early years education recovery support package. For more information about Early Years Stronger Practice Hubs, visit the DfE page here or the Early Years Stronger Practice Hubs page here.

The REACHout Early Years Stronger Practice Hub East of England covers the Saffron Teaching School Hub area.

Free webinar - Parent Partnerships for Early Literary Success

Join the REACHout Early Years Stronger Practice Hub on Monday 24 November at 4:30pm for a free webinar on Parent Partnerships for Early Literacy Success. The webinar will cover:

Smooth transitions & induction – how to set families up for success
Early literacy boosters – simple, effective strategies to support early literacy skills
Engaging parents – educating parents through workshops & events
Tapestry & digital tools – tech to strengthen home-school links

Learn from experts Eleanor Little (EYFS Lead) & Amelia Hudson (EYFS Teacher) from Essex Research School and Lyons Hall Primary School, as they share their top tips & real-world experience.

Early Years Child development training

Early years child development training : Home page

This free online training provides an overview of child development and offers practical advice for supporting children in your setting, including reception years.

Each training module on this site covers an important area of child development and has been written by early years experts, working with the Department for Education.

This training for childminders and nurseries:

Is free
Combines theory with practical tips and ideas to use in your setting
Includes opportunities to reflect on your practice
Reinforces your understanding through learning check questions and tests
Links to additional resources
Offers the opportunity to download certificates of completion

Modules (each takes 1-2 hours):

Module 1: Understanding child development and the EYFS
Module 2: Brain development and how children learn
Module 3: Supporting children’s personal, social and emotional development
Module 4: Supporting language development in the early years
Module 5: Supporting physical development in the early years
Module 6: Mathematics
Module 7: Effective curriculum and assessment
Module 8: Supporting individual differences and needs

Help for Early Years providers

Help for early years providers : Get help for your setting

Resources, activities and support articles for childminders and practitioners working with children aged 0-5 years (free).

Support for practitioners: access resources and advice to help improve practice in the early years, including SEND guidance.

Areas of learning: find out more about each area of learning, including activities you can do and guidance on meeting the needs of all children in your setting.

Health and wellbeing: discover resources to help you support children’s wellbeing and enrichment in your setting.

The Early Years Evidence Store

Early Years Evidence Store | EEF

The Early Years Evidence Store is a summary of evidence-informed approaches to help educators to understand, reflect on and develop their practice.

The Evidence Store includes six key themes for young children’s learning and development:

Communication and language
Personal, social and emotional development
Early literacy
Early mathematics
Self-Regulation and Executive Function
Personal development

As a living resource, the store will be continually updated with additional evidence, written examples, and videos.