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By Rachel Lawler

 

Ofsted has appointed 22 experts to join its .

 

More than 1,400 people applied to join the forum, after it was announced in August 2018. Membership of the forum is unpaid and voluntary.

 

Members include Christine Rogers from the Alliance, alongside representatives from local authorities, universities, early years settings and other organisations.

 

Members will meet for the first time in January 2019 to discuss early years research and practice. Topics covered will include subjects such as how young children develop a love of reading, start to learn numbers and develop their physical skills.

 

The forum is expected to help Ofsted shape its research programme.

 

Gill Jones, deputy director for early education at Ofsted, will lead the forum alongside Phil Minns, Ofsted’s specialist advisor on the early years and Professor Daniel Muijs.

 

Jones commented: “I am delighted so many people expressed an interest in attending this forum; it shows that there is a real appetite for in-depth discussion about the early years.

 

“Unfortunately, we couldn’t ask everyone who applied to join the forum, but we are exploring ways that more people can get involved in the discussion online. We will be saying more about this in the New Year, when the forum will look at the teaching and inspection of physical development, early literacy and maths.�

 

Ofsted will invite a wider group of experts to the forum’s discussions when it is considering specific issues, such as physical development or maths.

 

Those that applied to join the forum, but were not accepted will be invited to join webinars and other online platforms for debates on important early years issues.