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Bulletin 278

3 July 2023

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

Business Support

NEW Parental Declaration Form from Autumn 2023

A new parental declaration form is available is here. The new form is to ensure that children with a stretched entitlement do not over claim their funded hours. Please ensure that the hours claimed each term accurately match the hours attended. Hours cannot be ‘banked’ for future use.

For autumn term, please use the new parental declaration form for any children who are claiming the free early education entitlement (FEEE) for the first time at your setting and for those children who are continuing to claim FEEE at your setting where their details have changed e.g., new address or increase/decrease in the number of funded hours to be claimed. For children where their details and claim remain the same, please ask parents to sign the continuation sheet of their current parental declaration for autumn term.

Free Early Education Entitlement – Autumn Term Data

The portal is now open for you to add your autumn term data.  It will remain open until Friday, 28 July.   Any data entered later than 28 July may result in the delay of your interim payment.

Please continue to email any additions/adjustments for the summer term to the FEEE Team at FEEE@cheshireeast.gov.uk

Owners and Managers briefing

Thursday 6 July 6-7.30pm Microsoft Teams

As some of you may know the early years team have had some changes recently as we transform our services to operate within the family hubs model. Our new Head of Service for Early Year Family help & prevention Danielle Holdcroft and the rest of our newly structured leadership team would like to meet with you as owners and managers to share some of these changes and consult with you on how we work in collaboration in the future to improve outcomes for our early years children and families as part of the family hubs model. We hope to see as many of you as possible.

Reserve your place by logging onto the Early Years Hub now : Chess Early Years Training Hub (sla-portals.co.uk)

The summer 2023 holiday activity programme is now live

Cheshire East is running a free holiday club programme over the 2023 summer holidays for benefit-related free school meal children and young people.  The summer 2023 holiday activity programme is now live and children and young people can book their summer places! The free places are funded by the Department for Education as part of the government’s holiday activity and food programme (HAF) being delivered by local authorities across the country. This programme has already successfully run in Cheshire East during the 2021 and 2022 school holiday period. Primary and secondary school aged children and young people will be able to access a variety of free activity sessions during the summer school holidays, including specific provisions available for children with SEND or additional needs. While there is some variation, the majority of the summer 2023 clubs will run for four days and offer 4 hours activities each day. The sessions will include a variety of fun activities, including sports, arts and crafts, baking/cooking, games, trips out and other exciting opportunities to learn and develop skills, alongside a nutritious meal each day.  Finding an activity to book onto is easy – You can view the list of our HAF providers by visiting the HAF Live Well Cheshire East directory page. On this page there is an interactive Google map identifying the locations of our HAF providers across Cheshire East, so you will be able to find providers who are local to where you live or want to visit Once you have found a provider you are interested in, to find out more about them and to book onto their sessions you can visit the Cheshire East Family Information Service Events page. Once you are on this page you can search the provider by name, read their offer and book your place by following their booking instructions. Alternatively, you can visit the Cheshire East Family Information Service Events page and browse the fantastic range of summer activities on offer Our HAF logo will help you identify the activities that are part of this exciting summer HAF programme. When you find an activity, you can follow the HAF providers instructions and book your place.  Please be aware that places are limited, and spaces will go quickly.  If you believe that your family/those you care for are eligible for the free school meals allowance but have not yet registered, applications for free school meals can be made online at www.cheshireeast.gov.uk/fsm or by phoning 0300 123 5012 for support. There is also additional help available to families facing rising goods and energy costs, inflation and cost of living pressures. Please visit the government support with the cost of living website to see what support you could be eligible for.

Safeguarding and Welfare Requirements

Thresholds Document, Supporting Families, Step Up Step Down – book on to the launch events!

Please see message below from Heather Baron, Head of Service: Early Help and Prevention

Supporting Families Programme – this is a national government led programme headed up by the Department for Education (DfE). Its focus is on building the resilience of vulnerable families, and on driving system change so that every area has joined up, efficient local services which are able to identify families in need and provide the right support at the right time.

Safeguarding and Welfare Requirements: Focus on...

Children must be kept safe while on outings. Providers must assess the risks or hazards which may arise for the children, and must identify the steps to be taken to remove, minimise and manage those risks and hazards. The assessment must include consideration of adult to child ratios. The risk assessment does not necessarily need to be in writing; this is for providers to judge.

Department for Education

Department for Education Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Consultation

The Department for Education has launched a consultation on the EYFS to offer providers increased flexibility and alleviate known burdens, exploring giving providers more choice over how they operate and making it easier for them to deliver the EYFS. It is their intention that these changes will support settings to deliver the new entitlements announced at the Spring Budget.  

They hope to hear from many people and organisations before the deadline on 26 July, so they can gather a broad range of views to help them reach well-informed decisions. The Department for Education and Foundation Years are also planning some engagement events for stakeholders, so please look out for this.  

To note, this consultation builds on the measures consulted on in Summer 2022. The changes to 2 year old staff to child ratios and supervision whilst eating are due to come into force in September 2023, subject to parliamentary procedure.

Last chance to register for the Early Years Professional Development Programme (EYPDP)

The Early Years Professional Development Programme is funded by the Department for Education and offers a comprehensive package of professional development that is based on current early years pedagogy. It will help to build upon practitioners’ skills and knowledge to improve the quality of adult-child interactions. It offers the opportunity to:

• Improve skills to identify children at risk of speech, language and communication needs
• Provide an understanding of the theory of child development in early mathematics
• Develop skills to support children’s self-confidence, relationships, and self-awareness through expertly developed Personal, Social and Emotional Development training 
• Improve engagement with parents and carers to support the home learning environment

Registration is closing soon for the September 2023 cohort and so if you are interested in participating in the Early Years Professional Development Programme, don’t miss out, apply here now: 

Early Years Professional Development Programme – Currently registering interest for September 2023 starts (earlyyearspdp.com)

EYFS Learning and Development

Bookstart Wimbledon Fortnight

SEND

SEND Survey - deadline 11 August 2023

The The 0-25 SEND Partnership (cheshireeast.gov.uk) is conducting a survey to hear from professionals, families, parent carers, children, young people, educational settings and anyone who contributes in the delivery of SEND services for children and young people aged 0 – 25.

The partnership is interested to hear about what is working well and what we could do better to improve the experiences and the outcomes of our children and young people with SEND.

You can complete the survey online at Cheshire East SEND Partnership Survey: Educational Setting before the deadline of Friday 11 August 2023.

We are also asking for your help to share with and support our families, children and young people to complete their surveys via the links below.

Children and young people survey:

Cheshire East SEND Partnership Survey: Young People’s Views

Parent and carer survey:

Cheshire East SEND Partnership Survey: Parent Carer Views

The feedback we receive will remain strictly confidential and will be used to help us to identify what needs to be improved.

Thank you for your help and taking the time to complete this survey.

Cheshire East Chatters

Cheshire East Chatters Best Practice - Calling all Early Years settings!

Do you set up fun and creative messy play and sensory activities to support children’s communication skills? Would you be willing to share your ideas with parents and other settings across Cheshire East? Our focus over the summer holidays will be 'Don't mind the mess, it's how I learn best!' We would like to share daily sensory activity ideas on the Cheshire East Chatters Facebook page to give parents some inspiration. If you want us to showcase one of your amazing sensory activities all you need to do is send us a photo and one short sentence describing the activity. We will then post your photo to our Facebook page and tag your setting – a great way to promote your nursery as communication friendly! To participate, please contact us via - Facebook: Cheshire East Chatters | Facebook Email: cechatters@mcht.nhs.uk We would really appreciate your input and look forward to hearing from you!

Parenting Journey

Family Hubs

Cheshire East is delighted to be working with partners to develop family hubs.  Family hubs support children and young people from birth until they reach the age of 19 (25 for young people with SEND). They bring council, health and community services together so that families can access the right support at the right time.

Help us to celebrate our journey so far and join us on:

• 13^th July - Oaktree Family Hub - 11:00 – 2:00
• 14^th July - Oakenclough Family Hub - 11:00 – 2:00

Drop in and see how we are developing our plans to bring family hubs to Cheshire East.

Visit Developing family hubs (cheshireeast.gov.uk) to find out more

Sign up to our Cheshire East Council - Cheshire East Family Hubs Newsletter (govdelivery.com) to follow the development of our Family Hubs.

Continuous Professional Development

Upcoming CPD Opportunities

Don’t miss out on the upcoming development opportunities available.  Book your place by logging onto the Early Years Training Hub via the Provider Login Button on our Training web page: Early Years and Childcare Training Resources (cheshireeast.gov.uk)

Safeguarding Basic Awareness 4th July 2023 9.30-11.45am – Online **this course is currently free to attend for Early Years practitioners**

This course has been specifically written to address safeguarding in Early Years and Childcare Settings and covers practice and procedures used within Cheshire East. will help you to develop an awareness of, and the ability to act on, concerns about the safety and welfare of children and young people. It will enable you to understand your safeguarding role, be able to define, identify, understand and respond appropriately to signs of possible abuse and neglect and identify safer caring practices.

Let's Talk Twos *Golden Buzzer* winner 4th July 2023 6.30-8pm Online

Our 'Golden Buzzer' winning session is....'Dealing with Feelings'

Another chance to find out about the emotional world of 2 year old’s - What is co-regulation? How to build an emotional environment?

Don't miss your chance to hear more about how to support the learning and development of the 2 year old’s in your setting.

Safer Recruitment 5th July 23 9.30am-4pm Oakenclough Children Centre, Wilmslow

Keeping Children Safe in Education recommends that at least one person involved in shortlisting and interviewing should have safer recruitment training. This course gives providers, including childminders who employ assistants, information and understanding they need to recruit safely and comply with relevant statutory guidance. This course covers safer recruitment, the prevalence of abuse and profile of abusers, important features of a safer recruitment process, setting acceptable standards of behaviour and maintaining an ongoing culture of vigilance.

Early Language Leads Network 6^th July 1-3pm Online

Join us for our last network of the term. This term we are looking at communication friendly environments, how to develop safe spaces for children to enable them to interact more freely, and the role of the adult as part of a supportive environment.  We have 2 nurseries sharing information about their environments - one with a well-developed communication friendly space, and the second who are beginning to redevelop their space - they will be talking about their journey so far and the planning process.  There will also be time for discussion and sharing ideas with other nurseries.

Owners and Managers briefing 6^th July 6-7.30pm Online

This is your last chance to meet our new Head of Service for Early Years Family Help & Prevention Danielle Holdcroft and the rest of our newly structured leadership team. They would like to meet with you as owners and managers to share some of these changes and consult with you on how we work in collaboration in the future to improve outcomes for our early years children and families as part of the family hubs model.

Early Years Training Hub – reminder to sign up

Thank you to everyone who has already signed up to the new Early Years Training Hub. If you haven’t yet signed up, please do so now.  You can sign up by accessing this link:

Chess Early Years Training Hub (sla-portals.co.uk)

Then click on the SIGN UP link on the top right hand side of the login page.

The Provider Login button on our Early Years and Childcare Training Resources (cheshireeast.gov.uk) webpage will also give you access to the new Early Years training Hub.

Through our Training and Events page you can find information about the training and CPD offer available to Early Years practitioners in Cheshire East. You can access the Hub via the link on our training web page:  however you will need to request personal login details by signing up to the Hub.

Please note: If you already have access to the Schools Chess Hub you do not need to sign up again however please email us to request additional access user rights to the Early Years Hub.

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