South West Conference with The Bristol & Beyond Stronger Practice Hub and The South West Stronger Practice Hub
Location: (Face to face)
Taunton Rugby Football Club
Summerfield Stadium
Hyde Lane, Bathpool
Taunton
Somerset
TA2 8BU
Join us for a dynamic and thought-provoking training day led by Jan Dubiel and Helen Battelley—two of the most respected voices in early childhood education and development. Together, they bring a powerful blend of insight and expertise, which you can explore in more detail below.
This conference is especially valuable for early years educators working in nursery schools, nursery classes, and Reception. It’s designed for those interested in curriculum design, assessment, and movement-based approaches to developing early writing.
The day will challenge assumptions and examine common practices surrounding early writing—particularly in the context of the new DfE Writing Framework. Drawing on the most up-to-date research and perspectives from across early childhood education and care (ECEC), we’ll look closely at what truly supports children’s writing readiness—not only at the table, but from the ground up. We’ll consider how physical development and movement connect with transcriptional and compositional aspects of writing to create a more holistic understanding.
You’ll leave with practical strategies, a clearer grasp of developmental expectations, and the confidence to champion approaches that genuinely reflect how children grow, move, and learn.
The Bristol & Beyond Stronger Practice Hub and the South West Stronger Practice Hub bring you this conference for the whole of the south west region. If you are based in the Early Years South West SPH local authority areas, then you should register via the link provided below.
More about the Course Aims & Learning Outcomes
By the end of the day, participants will be able to:
- Critically interrogate the phrase “ready to write” as used in policy and classroom practice, identifying assumed versus explicit developmental prerequisites.
- Explain the role of gross motor foundations (posture, core stability, shoulder girdle control) in enabling fine motor skill and sustainable mark-making.
- Evaluate common early-years approaches (e.g. worksheets) against developmental evidence and re-design tasks to support embodied learning.
- Apply a motor-hierarchy (proximal → distal) framework to sequence teaching for transcriptional and compositional development.
- Understand the importance of the purpose and context of writing in terms of the compositional dimension
- Establish the concept of a child’s ‘writer’s voice’ and how this needs to be facilitated in conjunction with the transcriptional dimension.
- Produce, with guidance a step-by-step, curriculum-aligned action plan
- Draw from a suite of strategies and approaches to support early writing in the EYFS
Timetable and Session Structure
09:30 – 9.45: SPH Welcome and Introduction
09.45 – 10:05: Mapping current practices against the DfE Writing Framework and motor-skill indicators.
10:05 – 10:30: Framing the problem: “Ready to Write” — what does it mean? A focused, evidence-informed unpacking of the DfE Writing Framework language.
10:30 – 11:30: Session 1 — Gross Motor Development: Proximal Before Distal: Understanding Motor Hierarchies
11:30 – 11:45: Break
11.45 – 12:45: Session 2 — Curriculum Planning: Compositional & Transcriptional Steps — a step-by-step guide
12:45 – 13:30: Lunch
13:30 – 14:00: Session 3 — Fact or Fiction: Do worksheets accelerate writing?
14:00 – 14:40: Session 4 — Designing Developmentally Appropriate Writing Environments
14:40 – 14:50: Break
14:50 – 15:30: Reflection, evaluation & next steps
15:30 – 16:15: SPH Closing session & Raffle
If you have any questions, please contact [email protected]
This training is for early years practitioners and leaders working in settings or childminders in our Stronger Practice Hub area (Plymouth, Devon, Cornwall, Brournemouth, Christchurch, Poole, Isles of Scilly, Dorset, Torbay). We will also prioritise settings and childminders in areas of deprivation.