Newsletter
Issue 11 - February 2024
Welcome to this week’s newsletter – once again we have been busy behind the scenes to keep the network running like the well-oiled machine that it is! You will have seen the email inviting everyone to the AGM in London on 21st March – we really hope that you can join us there to do what our members do best, which is share, reflect and network.
At the AGM we spend a little time on the official business of the network and this year we would like to propose a small change to the constitution – that being that we introduce a role of deputy chair of the network. This is with a view to future succession planning and longevity of the network. If there any questions or objections to this proposal in advance of the meeting then please do get in touch with one of us so that we can consider this prior to the AGM.
Thanks must go, once again, to our amazing exec group vice-chairs and the group members for all that they do – we really wouldn’t be able to do everything we do without them.
Tanya and Aaron
Co-chair Persons
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AGM - Friday 21 March
The next twelve months hold exciting opportunities, and we want YOU to be a part of them. We’ll be sharing important updates at our AGM, and we would love for you to join us. Save the date: March 21st—we’ll be meeting in person at London Metropolitan University from 10 AM to 3 PM to discuss how we can further strengthen our network. (Travel costs and expenses can be covered by the ECSDN if needed.)
Together, we can accomplish great things—but we can’t do it alone. Your support, ideas, and participation are vital in ensuring the continued success of the ECSDN. Let’s connect, collaborate, and make a lasting impact.
Please register for the AGM by using the following booking link;
If you are unable to access it, please email josteele@ecsdn.org and Jo will manually register you.
We look forward to seeing you at the AGM
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University Ready Student
Please could you help with some research?
I am currently involved in a piece of research around what it means to be "university ready" - working with the Jaiden Fundation (set up in memory of an Early Childhood Studies student who sadly died a couple of years ago - https:// thejaidenfundation.com/).
Could you please share this with first year students across your institutions and ask them if they could spare five minutes to complete a quick survey about your experience of becoming "university ready"?
Their response will be anonymous and obviously will have no impact on their studies.
The survey can be accessed through the following link:
Many thanks for your help with this.
Tanya Richardson
Senior Lecturer/Programme leader for Early Childhood Studies
University of Northampton
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Early Years Conference - University of Wolverhampton
Please could you help with some research?
I am currently involved in a piece of research around what it means to be "university ready" - working with the Jaiden Fundation (set up in memory of an Early Childhood Studies student who sadly died a couple of years ago - https:// thejaidenfundation.com/).
Could you please share this with first year students across your institutions and ask them if they could spare five minutes to complete a quick survey about your experience of becoming "university ready"?
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Celebrating our wonderful graduates
Thank you to everyone who attended our recent graduate session! It was fantastic to hear about the amazing things our graduates have been up to and share ideas. To capture these inspiring stories, we've created a Padlet and would love for you to add your own wonderful graduates! We're especially interested in those with access to a video or webpage (like those created by marketing teams) that we can link to and refer to (as long as it's in the public domain). Please provide:
Name (if publicly available)
Graduate role
How your degree contributed to the role (e.g., any special features of your degree or its overall robustness)
Links to webpages, videos, etc.
Add your graduates here.
We'll compile these stories and highlight them on the ECSDN website. If you have any questions, please email verity.campbell-barr@plymouth.ac.uk. Let's celebrate the brilliant and diverse roles our graduates pursue!
Sam Hoyes and Verity Campbell-Barr
(Co-chairs Professionalism and Workforce)
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Guide Dogs My Time To Play Information Sessions
Guide Dogs My Time To Play service was officially launched in January 2024, and over the past 12 months we have been running programmes in local communities across the UK, and online.
This free Habilitation based service is designed to support the development in early- years children with a vision impairment and their parents, through a variety of play based activities.
For many young children with a vision impairment, how they develop skills and learn about the world may be different from their sighted peers. Guide Dogs My Time To Play service provides opportunities to develop these skills, while providing parents with ideas and knowledge to confidently support their child, and learn from each other.
We know that early intervention is critical for children with a vision impairment to meet key milestones, and this service is crucial in helping them achieve that.
We want to continue to grow the service in 2025, and you may be able to help us reach more families by spreading the word. We will be holding ‘Guide Dogs My Time To Play Information Sessions’ in March and April, and we would like to invite you to come along and find out more about the service.
To register for one of the information sessions, please click on either of the links below:
Or
For more information about the service visit the My Time To Play webpage.
We look forward to you joining us.
Pete Lock
Principal Habilitation Specialist (UK)
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Job Vacancies
The University of Wolverhampton requires an external examiner for our Foundation Degree in Early Years Services. The external examiner will be expected to monitor the quality of the coursework across the courses below:
Foundation Degree (Arts) Early Years Services at City of Wolverhampton College
Foundation Degree (Arts) Early Years Services at The Bournemouth and Poole College
Foundation Degree (Arts) Early Years Services at Sandwell College
Foundation Degree (Arts) Early Years Services at Telford College
Foundation Degree (Arts) Early Years Services at London Early Years Foundation
The external examiner will also be required to undertake the role of award examiner for both the Foundation Degree (Arts) Early Years Services and Foundation Degree (Arts) Supporting Learning in Education.
We are seeking candidates whose areas of expertise would enable him or her to monitor the quality of these courses and externally moderate assessed work. Experience of working with collaborative partners is also desirable. External examiners are required to attend at least one assessment board a year and complete an annual report. External examiners are also required to provide comments on proposed modifications and the development of new modules within their area of expertise.
The post is for an initial period of 4 years, starting on 1st September 2025– 31ST December 2029
Interested persons should send their CV to following e-mail address FayeStanley@wlv.ac.uk
Closing date: 07/03/2025
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The University of Wolverhampton requires an external examiner for our Foundation Degree Supporting Learning in Education. The external examiner will be expected to monitor the quality of the coursework across the courses below:
Foundation Degree (Arts) Supporting Learning in Education at City of Wolverhampton College
We are seeking candidates whose areas of expertise would enable him or her to monitor the quality of these courses and externally moderate assessed work. Experience of working with collaborative partners is also desirable. External examiners are required to attend at least one assessment board a year and complete an annual report. External examiners are also required to provide comments on proposed modifications and the development of new modules within their area of expertise.
The post is for an initial period of 4 years, starting on 1st September 2025– 31ST December 2029
Interested persons should send their CV to following e-mail address C.Lamond@wlv.ac.uk
Closing date: 07/03/2025
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