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Dear *|FNAME|
 Lovely summer weather breeds hope! The Scottish government usually uses the summer break to release information about the dratted P1 SNSA but, as reported last month, this year’s OECD report gave grounds for hope that it may be abolished. There’s also, cheeringly, been a wee flurry of media interest in topics close to Upstart’s heart:
We added to the media coverage with a hopeful TES piece on why ‘P1 testing must focus on development, not the three Rs’ …
only to have those hopes dashed later in the month. An email arrived from the new Secretary of State for Education, saying she currently has no intention of dropping the P1 SNSA.
So it’s back to the drawing board… But we stay ever hopeful that she'll recognise the cultural trap Scotland has fallen into. And that our country is wise enough to see that ‘getting it right in early years’ is the best way to prepare all its citizens for lifelong learning and well-being.
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PLAY IS THE WAY!
  Something else to hope for… Earlier this month, Nursery World informed us that our wee book is on the shortlist for the NW Professional Book Award 2021. The winner will be announced in September. We’re up against stiff competition but please keep your fingers crossed. The more people hear about and read Play is the Way, the more chance Scotland has of taking forward the changes it describes.
Many thanks to all those people who chose Play is the Way as part of their summer reading and for the lovely endorsements they sent.
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IS EARLY YEARS THE NEXT BIG FEMINIST ISSUE?
 In the BBC Radio 4 programme mentioned above, Shaddai Tembo (who wrote Chapter 15 of Play is the Way) pointed out that early years suffers from being traditional ‘women’s work’ – underpaid, under-valued and unrecognised. And on 10-7-21, an excellent blog on ‘maternalism’ by Pam Jarvis (who wrote Chapter 4 of Play is the Way) expanded on this theme.
 ‘Maternalism’ in early childhood care and education flourished in the early 20th century, and is defined as ‘a communal alliance between those who work together (including men) to support the well-being of young children, particularly those from socio-economically deprived backgrounds’. We included a piece in last month’s newsletter on a Scottish-based maternalist, Lileen Hardy, after which I hunted down a copy of Hardy’s ‘Diary of A Free Kindergarten’ and can’t recommend it highly enough.
 Pam Jarvis tells us that the maternalist movement disintegrated during the 1930s. Sadly, post-war feminists showed little interest in the immense social significance of ‘mothering’ - their emphasis has been on the futherance of women's political, economic and sexual equality. Upstart has no problem with these aims, but... 'who's looking after the children?'
So it was good to see a very well-argued piece in this month’s Conversation, by two female academics – one in the field of ‘Work and Relations Employment’ and one from ‘Human Resources Management’. ‘Why early years education must be prioritised in pandemic recovery plans’ summarises the problems in the sector and provides powerful economic arguments as to why they must be solved. Perhaps the care and education of young children can at last become a feminist issue…
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LOCAL AUTHORITIES AND EARLY YEARS
 It’s now ten years since publication of the Christie Commission’s report on Public Services but, as a recent Holyrood Magazine article suggests, one sometimes wonders whether most LA bureaucrats have actually read it. In terms of LA early years policy, we’ve seen, among other things, chronic underfunding of the PVI nursery sector, the loss of hundreds (perhaps thousands) of childminders and the dreadful postcode lottery about funded deferral of four-year-olds’ entry to schools.
 Thanks to the tireless work of the Give Them Time Campaign, most LAs have now accepted parents’ right to funded deferral, but bureaucratic tussles (like one in Stirling, chronicled by the Daily Record) are still going on. What’s more, another postcode lottery seems to be emerging about flexi-schooling for P1/2 children. Parents in Highland Region who wish their P1 children to spend a couple of days a week in an outdoor nursery after starting school receive automatic permission to do so; parents in next-door Moray do not (even though both LAs are part of the same Regional Collaborative).
This month an article by Neil McLennan in Scottish Review about ‘bullying culture’ suggested that incorporation of the UNCRC might iron out some of the problems. Let’s hope he’s right. But we fear that, as long as a gagging clause prevents LA employees from speaking out against damaging policies, Christie’s ‘four pillars’ will remain out of reach. As will the UNCRC’s requirement that policy decisions should be ‘in the best interest of the child’.
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NEWS, VIEWS AND RESOURCES
 There are loads of fabulous resources about outdoor learning on the wonderful Juliet Robertson's website (Juliet wrote chapter 10 of Play is the Way) This really practical article, which turned up on our Twitterfeed this month, is a splendid example - and is also good for the planet.- When we published last month's Newsletter, we didn't know that 29th June is International Mud Day! But, thanks to the Cattanach Trust, we know now. Mud is good!
- Great piece on self-regulation in the early years from East London schools
- A US research study on the developmental importance of self-directed play, with caring, supportive adults around to keep children safe.
- I was recently asked by someone on the internet for my 'five best books on child development and education'. I mean, where do you start? There are so many amazing books out there. So I chose the five books that have changed my life - and, if enough people read them, could change the lives of children forever. (Guess what the last one is!)
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QUOTE OF THE MONTH
As you can see, this one turned up on Twitter. Thank you @macmairi3! It's a reminder that hope, while immensely important, is not enough. We must have the courage of our convictions and spread the word about what we know to be true. Anyone who's followed these Newsletters for the last five years knows there is no shortage of evidence (scientific and human).
We at Upstart will continue to do this as long as there is breath in our bodies!
Onwards and upwards!
The Upstart team
Upstart Scotland is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SC047775).
Its principal contact address is The Old Police Station, Isleornsay, Isle of Skye, IV43 8QR.
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