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Bulletin 253

21 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

Please note that the Provider Portal will close on 27 November for Spring term data entry to enable the interim payment calculation to be made. Any data entered after this time may result in a late interim payment.

Any adjustments after this date will be included in your final Spring term final payment, if it is an adjustment.

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.

Please complete the audit in full by Friday 9 December 2022.

Household Support Fund

We recently sent out communications about the Household Support Fund. In these communications it was highlighted that the Department for Work and Pensions had notified local authorities that the Household Support Fund had been extended to March 2023, meaning that families would continue to get help with their living costs.

Following a meeting with elected members on 14 November 2022, it has been agreed that supermarket vouchers should continue to be distributed across this extended 6-month period. During this time period eligible families will be entitled to £80.00 of supermarket vouchers. Voucher payments will be sent to all schools, colleges, early years settings and other family support services to distribute to their children and young people who are eligible for the scheme, including those in receipt of income related free school meals. For full details of who is eligible for this scheme please refer to Household Support Fund (cheshireeast.gov.uk).

To ensure that this £80.00 is distributed over 6 months, a voucher payment will be made covering October 2022 together with voucher payments for December 2022. These vouchers will total £60.00 and will be made in advance of the Christmas 2022 school holidays. A further voucher payment of £20.00 will be made in the New Year around February/March 2023 time.   

Please help us by sharing this information with your eligible families.

If you have any other enquiries, please contact the Household Support Fund Team via HSFFamily@cheshireeast.gov.uk.

Please note trusted practitioners and professionals can continue to make referrals for families who they believe need additional support via the Household Support Fund inquiry form (cheshireeast.gov.uk).  

Vulnerable households who are not eligible for any other government support with the cost of living will be able to make a self-referral from 30 November 2022. Further information is available within the enquiry form. Self-referrals can be made by completing the Household Support Fund inquiry form (cheshireeast.gov.uk).  

There is also other advice and support available for you to share with the families that you work with via the cost of living pages on the Cheshire East Council website.

Thank you for your continued support.

Ofsted

Early Years Inspection Handbook

There have been some minor changes to the Ofsted guidance on inspecting registered early years and childcare providers under the education inspection framework.

These can be found in the ‘Summary of changes’ document.

Best start in life: a research review for early years

Ofsted have published the first in a series of subject-based curriculum research reviews focused on early years education. See link below to read the full report.

EYFS Learning and Development

First Stronger Practice Hubs announced

Today, the Department for Education (DfE) announced the first 13 settings in England that will be early years Stronger Practice Hubs.

Early years stronger practice hubs will provide advice, share good practice, and offer evidence-based professional development for early years practitioners. The hubs are part of the early years education recovery support package which also includes the early years experts and mentors programme. The DfE's ambition is to fund two hubs in each region of England (a total of 18 once a further five are appointed next Spring).

The early years stronger practice hubs programme is supported by the Education Endowment Foundation and the National Children’s Bureau. You can find the full list of hubs appointed today by clicking on the link below.

DfE Childminder mentor programme

Applications for the roles of Area Lead and Mentor on the DfE Childminder programme are now live on gov.uk.

The link to the application page including applicant eligibility criteria is available here: Childminder mentor programme - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

The deadline to submit an expression of interest application form is the 16^th December 2022.

Please get in touch if you have any questions, using the following DfE mailbox: EOI.EYRECOVERY@education.gov.uk

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! Wednesday 23rd November 1pm and 7pm 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 9: ‘Encourage me to be independent’ The development of self-care skills is an important and integral part of PSED contributing to children’s growing confidence and self-esteem. Time spent on supporting this aspect of development impacts on their dispositions, attitudes and motivation in many areas. (DfE, 2008) Top tip number 9 focuses on how to support children to develop their independence by giving choices, building confidence and encouraging them to keep on trying. Look out for next week’s bulletin Top Tip number 10: ‘Help me to feel safe and secure’ 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.

Early Years SENCO training 

There has been a high level of interest in the Department for Education's Early Years (EY) SENCO training offer. Having more qualified SENCOs in the EY sector will have positive impacts on children with SEND and on the sector as a whole.   Funding is available for 5,000 places in total. Training will be delivered to cohorts of trainees between October 2022 and August 2024. Each cohort will run for four months. Over 3,500 eligible applications have already been received by the Department’s delivery partner Best Practice Network.   The DfE are aware that this could mean long wait times for many applicants before commencing the training. This situation is being managed in the following ways: Training places are being offered to applicants in order of date received and each applicant is being given an indication of when they can expect to commence the training. A waiting list will come into effect once the 5,000 places have been filled, again operated in order of date received. Where an applicant withdraws, applicants will move up the queue. Pre-training activities will be offered, aimed at preparing applicants for the training and supporting them in their SENCO role pending training. Activities will include provision of the course induction book and pre-reading, regular newsletter and programme updates and cases studies from SENCOs. BPN are expanding the number of places to be made available in early cohorts so that more applicants can take the training sooner.

New Foundation Years Blog

The Foundation Years website have released a new blog from Julia Lumb, SEND Specialist Co-ordinator for Early Years and Portage and Specialist Inclusion Manager at Calderdale Council. You can read her blog on the impact of Covid-19 on supporting young children with SEND and neurodiverse needs by clicking on the button below.

Updates from the SEND Partnership

You may have had an email with our latest newsletter from the SEND Partnership 'SENDing you the news' sent to you last week. If you would like to continue to receive this newsletter, please sign up on the link below.

Parenting Journey

Continuous Professional Development

Have you been enjoying Dr Julian Grenier’s leadership sessions?

We have been offered a discounted rate for a limited number of Schools, PVI settings and childminders who would like to attend the Newham Early Years Conference on 9^th January 2023.

Tickets were priced £80 per head, we now have 10 tickets available for Cheshire schools at £70 per head, 10 tickets for PVI settings at £35 per head and 5 tickets free for Child minders (price includes a copy of his new book Putting the EYFS Curriculum into Practice RRP £24.99). This is a not for profit event.

If you would like to book a ticket please contact earlyyearsandchildcareteam@chehireeast.gov.uk  

Let's talk twos... Christmas Special

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 – 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

Upcoming CPD opportunities:

Safeguarding Basic Awareness, 23-Nov-22, 9.30am to 11.45am or 30-Nov-22 6.15-8.30pm

A two hour training course that provides basic information and understanding about safeguarding children. It has been specifically written to address safeguarding in Early Years and Childcare Settings and covers practice and procedures used within Cheshire East. It will enable you to identify, understand and respond appropriately to signs of possible abuse and neglect.

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Early Language Leads Network

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

Delivered by Cheshire East Chatters Speech and Language Therapists, this is 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. 

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What is my behaviour trying to tell you, 28th Nov 22 and 5th Dec 22 9.30am - 11.30am

Our newly revised two part behaviour training suitable for all EY practitioners, this provide the skills and knowledge to develop understanding of children’s social and emotional needs. Explore how we can be curious about behaviours and what might be affecting the child at that given time, build a supportive, appropriate curriculum, embed behaviour conversations in your practice and develop a whole setting approach to supporting children’s behaviour.

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Leadership & Management by Julian Grenier

Following our successful launch of our Leadership and Management programme 2022/23 we would like to invite you to attend our next session:

Lead Practitioners for 2 year olds – 30^th November 9.30-11.30am

Use the link below for more information and to book your place on any of these courses

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