The Early Years team consists of an Advisory Teacher and an Early Years Officer who work across the County supporting the education of all EY CLA who fall into National Curriculum years -2 to 0. We work collaboratively with Early Years providers, foster carers and other professionals to ensure that every child is able to flourish.
How can you get in touch with us?
Any queries regarding an Early Years Child Looked After can be directed to thevirtualschool@somerset.gov.uk who will then forward the enquiry onto the Virtual School Early Years Advisory Teacher.
Useful resources for Early Years providers and other professionals:
EYCLA PEP guide for settings June 2024
What-to-do-to-support-an-EYs-child-becoming-or-currently-Looked-After
EXAMPLE EYCLA One Page Profile
Useful resources for supporting your child at home:
Managing transition to preschool:
Preparing your child for starting at a preschool setting/childminder: https://www.bbc.co.uk/tiny-happy-people/prepare-child-for-nursery/zkhrg7h
Supporting transition to a preschool: https://www.annafreud.org/early-years/early-years-in-mind/resources/8-ways-parents-and-carers-can-help-manage-the-transition-back-to-nursery/
Starting Primary school:
Starting primary school – BBC Parents’ Toolkit – BBC Bitesize
Supporting language development:
What to do and say with a 3/4yr old: https://www.bbc.co.uk/tiny-happy-people/3-to-4-year-old-child-development-activities
Language development activities for young children ages 4-5 (bbc.co.uk)
Everyday activities to build language skills: Parent Portal | Home (speechandlanguage.info)
Supporting physical development:
Active games to play to help your child get school ready: https://www.sasp.co.uk/school-ready
Active games to play to help your child move with confidence: https://www.sasp.co.uk/confident-mover
Supporting a love of early reading:
Sharing stories with a child is a wonderful way of creating time to talk, share and spend time together. The Book Trust have created a list of great books for you to read with younger children, many of these books will be stocked by your local library. You can search for your local Somerset library here: Our libraries (somerset.gov.uk)
- Best Books for 2-year-olds | BookTrust
- Best Books for 3-year-olds | BookTrust
- Best Books for 4-year-olds | BookTrust
- Brilliant picture books: 22 beautiful books for children under 5 – Oxford Owl for Home