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Bulletin 252

14 November 2022

Welcome to our new style Early Years and Childcare bulletin. Previous bulletins are still available at: Cheshire East Early years and Childcare Bulletin

Covid-19

Latest Covid Figures for Cheshire East

The Covid figures are now being updated on a less frequent basis - for the latest figures see the link below.

Business Support

For All FEEE Providers and Administrators - Spring Term Data

The FEEE Portal is now open for you to add the data for the spring term. The Portal will close again on 27 November to enable spring term interim payments to be calculated. Any data added after this date may result in a delay in receiving your interim payment.

Any additions or adjustments for the autumn term should be emailed to the FEEE Team as the autumn term has been closed.

For the attention of all FEEE Providers and Administrators

We will be holding a FEEE Briefing on 15 November 2022 at either 2pm or 6.30pm. This will be a virtual briefing via Microsoft Teams.

The session is aimed at those new to FEEE and anyone else who would like an update on the Free Early Education Entitlement Funding; the briefing should last for around 1 hour. There will be the opportunity to meet some of the FEEE team and to ask questions.

Please visit the Online Shop to book your place.

Safeguarding and Welfare Requirements

Early Years Section 11 Safeguarding Audit

‘Working together to safeguard children’ 2018 makes clear the statutory duties for
early years providers with regards to the safeguarding requirements for your
provision.

To enable us to support you with these requirements, we have put together a short
safeguarding audit to capture what you have in place in your provision.

You will receive an email in the next few days. Please complete the audit in full by
Friday 9 December 2022.

Prevent duty self-assessment tool

The Government have released a Prevent duty self-assessment tool. This guidance applies to schools in England identified in Ofsted’s education inspection framework, including:

• local-authority-maintained schools
• academies
• non-association independent schools
• registered early years settings

This self-assessment tool has been designed to assist schools in England to review their Prevent related responsibilities in line with:

• Section 26 of the Counter Terrorism and Security Act 2015 (CTSA)
• education inspection framework (EIF) 2022

The tool helps schools to understand how well embedded their existing policies and practices are, and to encourage a cycle of continuous review and improvement. Use of the tool is not mandatory but contains both requirements and recommended good practice activities to meet those requirements. The tool should be read in conjunction with:

• the Prevent duty guidance
• the education inspection framework (EIF)

Anti-Bullying week 14-18 November 2022

Anti-Bullying Week 2022 is coordinated in England and Wales by the Anti-Bullying Alliance. It will take place from 14 to 18 November 2022 and has the theme Reach Out. The week will kick off with Odd Socks Day on Monday 14th November, where adults and children wear odd socks to celebrate what makes us all unique. We would love settings to send us some pictures of your children and staff in odd socks! Email to earlyyearsandchildcareteam@cheshireeast.gov.uk

Road Safety Week 14-20 November 2022

Did you know that more than six children are killed or seriously injured on roads every day in the UK? Road accidents have a devastating effect on families and communities. That’s why the Child Accident Prevention Trust are supporting Road Safety Week from 14th to 20th November 2022. You can help to keep children safe by reading and sharing their safety advice and free resources. Including: Safe around roads fact sheet which is also available in 7 other languages  Printable activity sheets for children The road safety session plan which can help you run an engaging workshop or provide essential advice to the families you work with

Department for Education Updates

Free CPD for teachers and leaders in schools and early years settings through National Professional Qualifications (NPQs)

NPQs are courses for teachers and leaders in schools and early years settings. They are fully funded by the government and designed to be flexible, so they fit around your work and personal life.

Eight different NPQs are available: four specialist NPQs to help you develop your skills inside and out of the classroom and four leadership NPQs to help you become a confident and expert school leader, wherever you are in your career.

Find out more about NPQs on the link below.

Drones and education settings

The Department for Education have reported that there has been a reported recent increase in suspicious drone activity around education settings.

Most drones will be equipped with video and still cameras which can obtain high-quality images from several kilometres away. Please contact your local police if you see a drone flying over your setting.

New early years online resources to promote the home learning environment

The Department for Education has launched new online resources to promote the importance of the home learning environment to boost children’s language and socio-emotional development in the early years.

These expand the NHS Better Health Start for Life website with a full range of evidence-based, detailed and accessible advice for parents on activities they can do with children at every stage between birth and 5 years old, and a search facility to connect them to local support.

The launch is accompanied by a family-facing communications campaign supported by materials designed for stakeholders such as local authorities, libraries, early years practitioners and charities.

New early years qualifications checking service

The Department for Education have launched a new service to help early years settings and staff check if qualifications are approved for use within the early years foundation stage staff:child ratios.

Run by UK Ecctis, the service offers advice and guidance on qualifications awarded in the UK and brings back the early years statement for qualifications awarded outside of the UK.

For more information, please visit check early years qualifications.

EYFS Learning and Development

November Children's Rights Month

We would like you to dedicate the whole month of November to raising awareness of children’s rights, making it clear to young children that they have a voice in your setting. The awareness month stems from the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). “Catch us if you can, campaign” – we won’t take much of your time but your 30 minutes will matter for children’s rights in your setting Join us and “listen up” at one of our 30 minutes matters sessions to find out more about listening to the voice of young children and receive a free resource to support your staff team Don’t miss out, pick a session to suit you! Thursday 17th November - 1.00 – 1.30pm or 4.00- 4.30pm Wednesday 23rd November – 6-6.30pm or 7- 7.30pm Book your place on the shop on the link below

Top tips to support children’s emotional health and well-being - “The things I feel inside”

Top Tip number 8: ‘Encourage me to be sociable and kind’ Children need adults to set a good example and give them opportunities for interaction with others so that they can develop positive ideas about themselves and others… being kind, considerate and listening to others is the basis of good relationships and social skills (DFE,2008) Top tip number 8 focuses on teaching children how to interact with others by modelling behaviour such as talking and playing together. Look out for next week’s bulletin Top Tip number 9: ‘Encourage me to be independent’ To purchase the full set of Top Tip postcards, log onto the Online shop below. The pack includes 10 postcards with a top tip on each to use to support children’s personal, social and emotional development and share with parents.

SEND

Early Years SEN consultation and application process

Some of our application process have changed over this year. Keep yourself up to date with current processes and follow the link to SEN and disability in the early years (cheshireeast.gov.uk) for information on requests for consultation and funding applications/key dates.

SENCO Network

The next SENCO network is Tuesday 15^th November at 9am.  

We would like to invite all SENCOs of Cheshire East Early Years and Childcare settings, including childminders, to attend one of our termly virtual meetings to find out about key updates relating to the delivery of the EYFS. During this session we will provide ongoing support and training elements for Early Year’s SENCo’s.

We cover a range of topics and in some sessions practical workshops and solution circles will be offered to meet the needs of children with SEND. Each term the latest news and issues related to SEND will be discussed along with networking opportunities, embedding the Cheshire East Toolkit for SEND, with the aim to empower SENCos to share their knowledge back to their teams. Opportunities will be provided for you to ask any questions you may have. You will need to have Microsoft Teams to join this training; we will send your Microsoft Teams link once you have booked on to a session. Courses fees are non-refundable unless cancelled by Cheshire East Council.

Family Hubs

Cheshire East Council is one of only 12 local authorities to receive the initial wave of Family Hubs Transformation Fund from the government. We have up to £1 million to develop family hubs across the borough by March 2024.

TOGETHER is our shared definition of coproduction in Cheshire East and our family hubs will be developed together with our key stakeholders, including our staff, partners and families.

Whilst this document sets out the broad direction of travel for the development of family hubs in Cheshire East, we expect these plans will evolve over the coming year through working together.

https://www.cheshireeast.gov.uk/pdf/livewell/early-years-and-childcare/Development-of-Family-Hubs-in-Cheshire-East.pdf

Parenting Journey

Parenting Journey Stop 7

This week is all about the 9 - 12-month Development Check – Stop 7 This provides parents with an opportunity to discuss their child’s health and development with a Health Visitor.  This review is to see how babies are developing in a number of different areas particularly language, safety, diet and behaviour. It's also a great opportunity for parents to have some time with a specialist to talk about their baby and any concerns they may have. Parents are sent an ASQ-3 questionnaire to fill in before the review. This helps the Health Professional understand how your baby is developing.  Leaflets available – Fun activities to learn and play together - Now I am 9 months old Development leaflet - I am 8–20 months

Continuous Professional Development

JULIAN GRENIER: Leadership and Management Programme 2022/23

In September we launched our Leadership and Management programme 2022/23 which is being delivered in partnership with Dr Julian Grenier who led on the revised Development Matters 2021 and author of Working with the revised Early Years Foundation Stage: Principles into Practice. The aim of our programme is to provide a useful and effective professional development programme for leaders to help improve the quality of early years provision and improve outcomes for children. It consists of 5 sessions throughout the year, each one aimed at different leaders in the setting. We have 2 sessions coming up: Session 2 for Early Language Leads – 16th November 9.30-11.30am Session 3 for Lead Practitioners for 2 year olds – 30th November 9.30-11.30am Don’t miss out! To book your place on these sessions please log onto the Online shop under the ‘Quality Matters’ category.

Are you Ready for Rhyme Time?

Launching our new ‘Are you Ready for Rhyme Time?’ document and supporting training. Explore the value of using songs and rhymes to promote children’s learning across the prime areas. At each session you will receive an introduction to the whole document and then focus on a specific age range. Rhyme Time for Preschool children – 17th Nov 1pm or 3pm at Oakenclough Children’s Centre or 29th Nov 1.30pm or 4pm at Oak Tree Children’s Centre Rhyme Time for Toddlers – Ready 2 Rhyme – 12th Jan 23 1pm or 3pm at Oakenclough Children’s Centre or 17th Jan 23 1.30pm or 4pm at Oak Tree Children’s Centre Rhyme Time for Babies – fun from the beginning – 14th Feb 23 1pm or 3pm at Oakenclough CC or 16th Feb 23 1.30pm or 4pm at Oak Tree Children’s Centre We would encourage that you have at least one member of your team at each session who can then cascade back what they have learnt and coordinate the rollout across your setting.  You will need a copy of the document prior to each session. A discount is available if you purchase the full package which includes the document and 1 place at a Preschool, Toddlers and Babies session. For more information about each session please log onto the Online shop.

Introducing 'Are you ready for Rhyme Time' for Childminders - 22nd Nov 6.30-8.30pm online only

We are holding a session especially for Childminders where we will give an overview of the full Rhyme Time document and explore the different sections for babies, 2’s, pre-schoolers. Home learning will also be discussed. You will need to have purchased a copy of the document prior to the session.

To purchase a copy of the Rhyme Time document and to book your place on this session please log onto the online shop below.

Autumn term training

Don’t miss out of any of these CPD opportunities:

Progress check and Integrated Review at 2, 15-Nov-22, 1pm or 6.30pm - online

Explore the process of coordinating the Progress check within your setting to fulfil the statutory requirements of the EYFS and how this links in with integrated review which brings together the Early years Progress check at age 2 and the health development check. Look at how to write a good quality progress check and how to embed partnerships with parents and link health professionals.

Safeguarding and Welfare Requirements, 17-Nov-22, 9.30am - 11.30am - online

Explore the ‘must’ and ‘should’ elements of the Statutory Framework for the EYFS. Understand your role in the broader picture of keeping children safe and gather links and useful information to take back to your setting in relation to inspections and Ofsted expectations. 

Early Language Leads Network

22-Nov-22 10am-12pm - Holmes Chapel Comprehensive School, CW4 7DX

25-Nov-22 10am-12pm – Teams **additional date**

These sessions are delivered by Cheshire East Chatters Speech and Language Therapists and are a chance for you to meet other Early Language Leads from across Cheshire East and share ideas around supporting children’s communication. The focus this time is on working with parents and families, particularly in the light of the pandemic. 

Bookstart Corner

24-Nov-22 10am-12pm at Oak Tree Childrens Centre

01-Dec-22 1.30-3.30pm at Oakenclough Childrens Centre

Learn about the free, targeted Bookstart Corner programme that offers free resources and training so you can support families to better understand of the importance of sharing books, stories and rhymes, improve confidence in sharing books, stories and rhymes and develop a reading habit within their families.

Don't Forget!

FEEE – Afghan and Ukrainian children

Afghan and Ukrainian children aged 2, 3 and 4 years old living in Cheshire East are entitled to 15 hours early education irrespective of the immigration status of the child or their parent(s). To claim FEEE funding for children from Afghanistan or Ukraine, please add their details to the Provider Portal in the usual way. Should the Provider Portal be closed, please email the FEEE Team (FEEE@cheshireeast.gov.uk) who will update your funding claim.

In addition, please also complete the short form (link below), enabling the authority to monitor take-up of the free entitlement.  Please complete this form each time an Afghan or Ukrainian child starts or leaves your setting. If any Afghan or Ukrainian children currently attend your setting, please retrospectively complete this form and continue to use the form as you have any new starters or leavers.

https://forms.office.com/r/RN5KbkKrzL