The subscription membership scheme Early Years Outdoors, run by Learning through Landscapes (LTL) in partnership with the National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA), has been developed with funding from the Sure Start Unit in response to growing demand from the sector.
It will offer an advice line, a series of good practice guides with links to the Foundation Stage curriculum and the Birth to Three Matters framework, practical ideas for play, a newsletter every two months and member-only downloadable resources from the LTL website.
Julie Mountain, head of advice and support at LTL, said the curriculum's emphasis on the value of learning and play in the outdoors had created a need for a dedicated early years service.
'We've tended to work with primary schools, but since the launch of the Foundation Stage interest from the early years sector has sky-rocketed,'
she said.
The charity will be working with the NDNA to develop aspects of the Early Years Outdoors programme. Ms Mountain said the NDNA's expertise in non-maintained settings would be very valuable.
LTL and NDNA are also developing training modules, which they hope will count as accreditation towards continuing professional development. This will be in place by the end of 2004.
The first 3,000 settings to register with the Early Years Outdoors service can do so for a subscription of 25, a saving of 50 per cent. For more information contact LTL on 01962 845 811, register online at www.
ltl.org.uk or e-mail schoolgrounds-uk@ltl. org.uk.
