Early Years

Our podcast is dedicated to fostering a love of reading in young children aged 3-5. Through engaging storytelling, playful discussions, and interactive activities, we aim to spark imagination, promote literacy skills, and create joyful reading experiences for families. We believe that every child deserves the magic of books, and together, we will inspire a lifelong… Read more: All Readers Great and Small- a podcast by Early Years Education Lecturers

Written by Victoria Jefferies, current MA Early Years Education student. Perhaps it was my unconventional beginning to a career in Early Years, or perhaps it’s my questioning and curious nature, but pursuing a MA has opened my eyes to the contested space we navigate.  Educators are acutely aware of many of the difficulties we face:… Read more: Do we do what we do because it’s what we’ve always done? 

Written by Rachael Sackville-Jones, Edge Hill University. Rachael is a Senior Lecturer and Inclusion Lead in the Early Years Education Department. She previously worked as an Early Years teacher and as Specialist Inclusion teacher for Lancashire Education Authority. This blog has been written in response to the question asked at our recent Ofsted inspection: ‘How… Read more: How have we developed learning and teaching around SEND & Adaptive teaching to equip our trainees to become reflective and inclusive practitioners for the future?

Written by Rebecca Green, Senior Lecturer at Edge Hill University. Are the terms Learning Outside the Classroom (LOtC) and Forest Schools used primarily as marketing tools to attract parents to choose a particular educational setting for their child? As someone who firmly believes in the benefits of outdoor learning, I am concerned that if this… Read more: Has Learning Outside the Classroom become a buzzword in primary education?  

Have you ever thought about how early childhood services, including schools, nurseries or children’s centres “are portals into the community” (Cameron and Moss, 2020: 226)? That was one of the provocations from Professor Peter Moss’s edited book that we discussed at our recent online reading group. At Edge Hill University we host a research network… Read more: How can going for a walk in early childhood education and care be interconnected with rights and democracy?

Maria Reraki (PhD) is a Senior Lecturer in Early Years Education at Edge Hill University, UK. She teaches across a number of early years programmes and supports students becoming qualified teachers in Early Years settings. Before undertaking this post, Maria was a lecturer on Special Needs at the University of Birmingham. Maria’s research and teaching… Read more: What does the evidence tell us about how the pandemic has affected children’s communication and language development?

Lynn Kearney – 3rd year student at Edge Hill University, studying Primary Early Years Education 3 – 7 years (with QTS). The Birth to 5 Matters non statutory guidance is wonderfully written ‘by the sector, for the sector’ (Early Education, 2021: 1) and it is this aspect that makes it so useful when planning to… Read more: Birth to 5 Matters: A student teachers’ perspective

Jo Albin-Clark, Nick Lomax, Nic Pearce, Sam Widdup. Recently we shared some research about a child’s right to play at an educational conference from our position as tutor and students involved in the MA Education Early Years at Edge Hill University. This research area is close to all our hearts because it is about teachers’… Read more: Finding spaces and places for children’s right to play  

Emma Rowlands currently works as the Deputy Manager, SENDCo and Outdoor Lead of a nursery within the Kids Planet group. Prior to undertaking her current role, Emma completed a BA (Hons) in Working and Teaching in the Early Years and an MSc in Child and Adolescent Mental Health and Wellbeing at Edge Hill University. Emma… Read more: “I need to feel me, I need to explore the shore!”: What Beach School did for me, by Emma Rowlands, Deputy Manager SENDCo and Outdoor Lead.

Early Years Education students interviewed Laura Henry-Allain MBE, author and producer of JoJo and Gran Gran books and CBeebies TV series. This podcast is a must for all those working in Early Years. Listen to the podcast now