First parent applies for parental exemption to the Early Years Foundation Stage Learning and Development Requirements for their child

Just caught up with a link to this interview I gave to James Tweed Childcare journalist about our experiences as the first parents in the U.K. to apply for a parental exemption. Follow this link: For our statement on the refusal, click here.

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A movement with a history. Opposition to the EYFS learning and development requirements

Just a short post with a reminder of how long the resistance to the EYFS learning and development targets as been going on and the diversity of peoples associated with the movement. For a fraction of this movement’s history look back at Alex Frean’s piece in the Times, May 2008.

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Do you know what your child (aged four) needs to do to improve?

Sunday afternoon. I’m tackling that familiar set of tasks befalling parents on a regular basis: making sure school uniform is clean and checking the school bag for forms and notices…in preparation for another busy week.  I’ve got something to say about this form, readers,  as you can imagine.  I’m sharing the answers we’re  sending to our local authority. It may be useful to other parents [...]

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Launch of parliamentary petition on Early Years Foundation Stage Learning and Development Requirements

Firstly, thank you to the many early years practitioners and parents who continue to help and support us with these issues. At last, I have been able to launch a parliamentary petition. This reads as follows: “We, the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to change the sixty-nine compulsory Early Years Foundation Stage Learning and Development Requirements [...]

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Early Years Foundation Stage – Learning and Development Requirements

I’ve lifted this comment out of the comments section. I was very pleased to receive it, thanks Jo. And no, you’re not making a fuss about nothing. I’m working on another means of taking action, so stay tuned next week for more… Jo’s words: “I am so pleased to have found this site, which I [...]

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Being a parent in a target-driven culture (Early Years Foundation Stage)

In the last two weeks everything seems to have moved very fast. Last week I attended my daughter’s first parent’s evening. We made it very clear how we felt about the learning and development targets of the Early Years Foundation Stage which are being imposed on us. It was an upsetting evening. We’d put enormous [...]

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The Wall.

Twenty years since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Times have changed and so has education. I’d like readers to listen to the words of this song again. After our experiences with the Early Years Foundation Stage Learning and Development Goals and the exemption process – I think I’ve finally understood what Pink Floyd were trying [...]

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Steve Biddulph: “Raising Boys”

A few weeks ago (at the school gate) one of the mothers pressed a copy of Steve Biddulph’s ‘Raising Boys’ into my hand. She described it as ‘pop psychology’ but now that I’ve read it – I see what Steve Biddulph is saying as further evidence that the sixty-nine Early Years Foundation Stage Learning and Development Targets are not [...]

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