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Bulletin 255

5 December 2022

Welcome to our Early Years and Childcare bulletin. Previous bulletins are 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

Closing date: Friday 15 January 2023 for Parents to apply for Reception school places for Primary 2023

Please note that the closing date to make an application for a child to start primary school in September 2023 is Sunday 15 January 2023. Please can schools and Early Years providers remind parents of the deadline. Wording for reminders and posters in alternative languages are available from the Admissions team.

Please can providers also follow Family Information Service on Facebook and Twitter and share reminders and advice.

https://www.facebook.com/FISCheshireEast and https://twitter.com/FISCheshireEast

Safeguarding and Welfare Requirements

Urgent Safety Alert issued for baby self-feeding pillows

The Office for Product Safety and Standards has issued an Urgent Safety Alert for baby self-feeding pillows and is urging the public to stop using them immediately and dispose of them safely.

Please see the link below for further information.

Early Years Section 11 Safeguarding Audit - Deadline this week

‘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.

School managed or governor run provision do not need to complete this audit as schools complete a separate safeguarding audit with SCiES.  

Ofsted

New Ofsted guides for parents: how early years settings are inspected

Ofsted have published new guides for parents on how early years settings are inspected.

These guides are for parents or carers of children who attend childminders, nurseries and other types of daycare, or out of school settings. They include information on why Ofsted inspects each setting, what happens on an inspection and the judgements we make following an inspection.

EYFS Learning and Development

Department for Education’s new free early years child development training

The Department for Education is launching its new early years child development training. The course is primarily aimed at:

• early years practitioners
• childminders
• nursery managers

However, the training is available to anyone who may find it useful, including parents and carers.

This free, online training provides an overview of child development and gives practical advice for supporting the development of children in your early years setting.

Bookstart Christmas Favourites

Foundation Years vodcast: Top tips to improve the Home Learning Environment

Foundation Years have published a new vodcast offering some top tips for improving the Home Learning Environment for the early years.

SEND

Early Years SEN consultation and application process

Some of our application processes 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.

SEN payments for children moving /reducing hours

If a child in receipt of Early Years SEN funding is leaving your setting or is reducing their hours please keep us informed. Email earlyyearssenhelpline@cheshireeast.gov.uk so adjustments can be made prior to the January payment.

SEN Training

Please take a look at the training pages for any of your SEN needs and ensure this is shared with your staff.

Early Years and Childcare Training Resources (cheshireeast.gov.uk)

Cheshire East Chatters Dummy Campaign

As in previous years, Cheshire East Chatters is running the ‘Give your dummy to the Christmas Elves’ campaign throughout December, and we’d love you to get involved! This is a great opportunity to raise awareness about the impact prolonged use of dummies can have on children’s speech and language development, and to encourage children and families to drop the dummy in a positive way. Dummies can: Make it difficult for children to babble or practise sounds Stop the full range of mouth movements that are needed to make different speech sounds Make the muscles at the back of the mouth dominant, leading to an overuse of the ‘k’ and ‘g’ sounds Weaken the muscles at the front of the mouth, leading to increased dribbling Increase the risk of ear infections Cause a gap between the top and bottom teeth, which can lead to a lisp Affect the physical structure of the mouth – this lasts until adulthood Research also shows that children with dummies in their mouths are communicated with less frequently.  This means they hear less language and have fewer turns in interactions, which has a negative impact on language development. You can help by: Displaying key message posters in your settings Sharing key message leaflets with your families Sharing Cheshire East Chatters Facebook posts to spread the message Setting up a ‘dummy drop’ in your nursery – lots of ideas coming up on Facebook eg wrap the dummy up / post it to the Elves, hang on the Christmas tree Replacing the dummy with a thank you letter from the Elves, and maybe a little treat! We’d love to see your dummy campaigns in action – please send any photos to cechatters@mcht.nhs.uk or message us on Facebook.

Parenting Journey

Continuous Professional Development

National Professional Qualification in Early Years Leadership (NPQEYL)

The Department for Education-funded training is now available - National Professional Qualification in Early Years Leadership (NPQEYL) which has been developed to increase knowledge of leadership in early years settings, strengthen staff approaches to teaching and learning, and support children whose development has been impacted by the pandemic. 

Participants will gain skills and confidence so they can deliver high-quality education and care to support children’s development, become a better organisational leader and develop staff so they can reach their full potential.

The course is free, flexible and designed by sector experts to help professionals across the sector to develop their career.

The next cohort commences in February 2023 and a further two funded cohorts will be offered in 2023/2024.

Watch the animation here - Early years leadership NPQ (education.gov.uk) and then find out more about the eligibility criteria and how to apply on the link below.

Let’s talk twos Golden buzzer winner Christmas special… 'the rhythms gonna get you’

Jingle all the way with us and our golden buzzer winner ‘the rhythm gonna get you’ with a Christmas twist!

Tuesday 6^th December 6.30pm – 8pm. Don’t miss out! Book in through the online training shop.

Training

Please keep checking the Online Shop as new training and CPD opportunities for the Spring term are being advertised all the time covering a range of topics including:

Communication and Language

SEND

Safeguarding

2 year old provision

Early Literacy

Behaviour

Emotional Wellbeing

To get more information or to book places on any of our courses, please log onto the Online Shop

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