We are delighted to announce that nasen has commissioned CSIE to write a new equality guide for Early Years, to complement nasen’s existing miniguide series.

The new resource is expected to cover all aspects of equality and be completed by the end of March 2021. It will be based on issues put forward by Early Years practitioners in the coming weeks.

This is an open invitation for staff working in any Early Years setting (childminders; state, private, voluntary or independent nurseries; or Reception classes) to send us any equality-related issues or questions which concern them as soon as possible, and no later than 30 September. Questions may be on any aspect of equality such as, for example:

How can we support a member of staff who is transitioning to another gender?

How can we ensure a newly arrived refugee family feels included in our local community?

How can we encourage and support friendships between children from diverse backgrounds?

How can we ensure equality of opportunity for a child with learning difficulties?

Please send us your questions or concerns through social media: www.twitter.com/csie_uk or www.facebook.com/csie.uk. Alternatively, you can write to us at admin@csie.org.uk.

We are also inviting early years settings to collaborate with us in the process of creating the new miniguide. We are looking for 6-8 settings to nominate an experienced member of staff who will work with us exploring the issues raised and offer examples of good practice to be included in the new guide. We anticipate having 2-3 online meetings in the autumn term lasting no more than an hour each, and one more meeting in the spring term. We will consider these settings as project partners and acknowledge their contribution in the published resource.

If you would like to nominate an Early Years setting to work with us in this exciting new project, please email us at admin@csie.org.uk, with “nomination for equality miniguide” in the subject line, and tell us: a) the name and address of the setting; b) the reason for your nomination; and c) name, role and contact details for us to get in touch. Thank you!

Later this term we will also invite Early Years settings to pilot the new resource at the start of 2021 – watch this space!