|
Wraparound Childcare
Are you a school looking for a wraparound childcare provider?
Are you a wraparound childcare provider looking to work with schools to develop new provision?
The government’s ambition is that all parents and carers of primary school-aged children who need wraparound childcare should be able to access term time provision in their local area from 8am-6pm (or equivalent, if data shows that local demand is for different hours).
The government expects all schools that educate primary school-aged pupils to:
- work with your local authority wraparound lead and others in the sector, to identify how you can support parents to access wraparound childcare.
- have school or PVI provider (including childminder) run wraparound childcare on the school site, unless there is a reasonable justification not to (having considered all support available, in particular from the national wraparound childcare programme).
- work collaboratively with your LA to ensure parents are, at a minimum, signposted to appropriate provision, if you are unable to have wraparound on the school site. Provision must not require parents to pick up or drop off their children between the school day and wraparound.
- promote and support government subsidies such as Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) and Universal Credit (UC) Childcare, which can help parents with the affordability of childcare, and supports schools, trusts, and PVI providers with the sustainability of provision.
In addition, schools are expected to:
- respond to their community’s wraparound needs by adhering to the right to request guidance, which describes your role in:
- considering and responding to parents’ requests for the school to deliver wraparound childcare.
- considering and responding to PVI providers’ requests to use the school site to deliver wraparound childcare.
- support the local authority to understand parental demand and, where relevant, existing wraparound provision in your school.
We would like to facilitate links between schools and prospective wraparound childcare providers. Please register your details here:
https://forms.office.com/e/Bfzspxs9us
Please contact Earlyyearsandchildcareteam@cheshireeast.gov.uk if you require any support.
Expanded entitlements from September 2024 onwards
From 1 April, eligible working parents can apply for:
- 15 hours childcare for their two-year-old
- 30 hours childcare for their three- or four-year-old
The second phase of the childcare support expansion will be rolled out from September. From 12 May, eligible working parents can apply for 15 hours for their child aged 9 months old and over.
To be eligible from 1 September 2024, children must have a date of birth on or before 30 November 2023.
To use their hours during autumn term, parents need to apply for their code by 31 August and must reconfirm their details every three months via their Childcare Choices account. Codes applied for in May will have an end date in August and will therefore need reconfirming before the code can be used for autumn term 2024.
Once codes are provided by parents, please check the end date of the code via the Eligibility Checker on the Provider Portal by adding the code, child date of birth and parent/carer NI number. The data will not be stored at this stage but will highlight to parents the importance of reconfirming their code, especially those whose codes have an end date before 31 August 2024.
From September 2025, eligible working parents with children between 9 months up to school age will have access to 30 hours childcare.
Provider Portal Closure – Summer Term
The Provider Portal has closed for the summer term. Any further additions or adjustments for the summer term should be emailed, with a copy of the completed parental declaration form, to the FEEE Team at FEEE@cheshireeast.gov.uk
Parental Declaration Form
In readiness for autumn term and the second phase of the expanded entitlements, updates have been made to the parental declaration form. This can be used for new children (parents can still sign the older version if in place, for any amendments). From April 2024 2-year-olds qualify for DAF and EYPP, and under 2s will qualify from September 2024, it is vital that the consent boxes on the parental declaration are ticked to enable an eligibility check to be completed.
Grant funding to develop new childcare places
Childcare Expansion Capital Grant
This funding is intended to support expansion of the 30-hours early years entitlement for working families and wraparound provision in primary schools. It must be spent on capital projects, and is being provided to meet the capital costs associated with projects that help ensure sufficient places for:
- Children taking up an early years place through the expanded 30-hours entitlement for qualifying working parents (from the term following the child reaching 9-months to the term in which they turn 3-years-old);
- Increasing the supply of wraparound childcare for primary-school aged children.
Projects may be funded to develop either 30-hours early years entitlement or wraparound childcare, or both.
National Wraparound Childcare Programme
Revenue funding will be available to support the operating costs of new wraparound provision. The funding will be tapered. This reflects the expectation that the funding is used to fund set up and running costs of new and expanded wraparound places and that, as take-up of provision increases, and therefore income from parental payments increases, the level of grant funding needed to contribute to running costs to ensure sustainability reduces.
Details of how to apply for the development grants will be made available via this bulletin during summer term. Applications will be invited from all sectors; day nurseries, pre-schools, schools, childminders, before and after school childcare providers.
|
|
Safeguarding and Welfare Requirements |
|
Child Accident Prevention Trust
|
Amid growing concerns about children choking on food, the Child Accident Prevention Trust (CAPT) has launched a new safe from choking fact sheet with essential safety advice.
Click the button below to find out more about safe from choking on the CAPT website.
|
|
 |
Car Seat Safety
 For more information click the button below to view the Child Car Seats section of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) website.
For more information on the fitting and wearing of seat belts, child car seats and the fitting and wearing of child restraints, click the button below to view the leaflet.
Cheshire East Safeguarding Children's Partnership Training
Cheshire East Safeguarding Children’s Partnership training aims to equip practitioners with the confidence and competence to respond effectively to children's safeguarding issues. The CESCP provides a series of multi-agency safeguarding learning and development opportunities including core and specialised courses, briefing sessions, e-learning and conferences to build on the experience, knowledge and skills that staff require for working with children and families.
Click on the button below to browse their training opportunities.
|
DSL Cluster
Safeguarding and Welfare Requirements: Focus on...
Providers must ensure that all staff receive induction training to help them understand their roles and responsibilities. Induction training must include information about emergency evacuation procedures, safeguarding, child protection, and health and safety issues.
|
|
|
May 2024 Household Support Fund update
On 6 March 2024 the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP, presented his Spring Budget to Parliament. The Chancellor confirmed that the Household Support Fund (HSF) would be extended for a further six months from 1 April 2024 to 30 September 2024. Since this announcement we have been working at pace to develop a new support package, ensuring that it goes to those most in need of financial support.
On 29 April the Children and Families Committee endorsed the new HSF support package.
Trusted professionals/practitioners can now access, through a referral process and a new HSF Decision Panel, a range of support for financially vulnerable adults, children and their families living in Cheshire East. Referrals can be made for –
- Food and Energy support, based on household composition
- Financial support for wider essentials, up to the cost of £500.00
- Financial assistance for exceptional costs, over £500.00
In addition to this, the Household Support Fund are also committed to supporting select third sector organisations to provide financial support to enhance their local offer. Consultation with these organisations is underway.
Further information for trusted professionals/practitioners about the eligibility criteria, the referral process and the HSF Decision Panel is available here - Household Support Fund - Professional Information and Referral. The link to make a HSF referral is on this page. Please note this webpage and the HSF referral link are for trusted professionals/practitioners only and must not be shared with the families and adults you support/work with. This it to prevent the risk of fraud.
There is also further information on the public facing web-page Household Support Fund (cheshireeast.gov.uk) about the new support packages.
DfE Early Years and Childcare Expansion Provider Roadshow
Early Education and Childcare setting senior managers’ are invited to the Department for Education Early Years and Childcare Expansion Provider Roadshow for the North West region.
When: Thursday 20 June 2024
Venue: DW stadium Loire Drive, Robin Park Road, Wigan WN5 0UH
Times: Starts at 10:30 (registration from 10am) and closes at 3pm
The event will include an overview and update from the Department for Education, opportunity to share your experiences and views with DfE in roundtable discussions, and a best practice session.
Refreshments and lunch will be provided.
Registration closes at 10am on 19 June. Click the button below to register.
Protective security and preparedness for education settings guidance
The Department for Education have published non-statutory guidance which provides advice to help educational settings to become better prepared for and able to respond to terrorism and other major incidents. It sets out practical steps to keep learners and staff safe in the event of an incident through simple and cost-effective methods. There is also a Action Counters Terrorism (ACT) for Education e-learning module to complete.
Protective security and preparedness for education settings - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
|
|
EYFS Learning and Development |
|
BookTrust Walk to School Week
 To contact BookTrust, please see the contact details below:
Frances Lennon, BookTrust Coordinator - 07827 954086
Sarah Harrison, BookTrust Administrator - 07827 877966
bookstart@cheshiresharedservices.gov.uk
|
|
Early Years Forum
Please can we remind everyone that if you are emailing any supporting documentation for children being presented at the Early Years Forum, that you email it to the Early Years forum inbox: Earlyyearsforum@cheshireeast.gov.uk
Please do not email this information to individual staff members.
Early Years Forum – Professional Portal access for uploading information
Where a child is due for review at Early Years Forum, Forum will ask childcare settings to provide an update on the child’s progress since the previous Forum. Requests for information will be sent to you via the professional portal.
If you are not already registered on the professional portal, you will need to create an account. To enable you to do this, the Business Intelligence Team will email you with instructions on how to register.
Please register for an account as soon as you receive an email from Business Intelligence so that you can respond to requests for information and attach any supporting documents via the professional portal, ensuring increased security when sharing sensitive data.
Top Tip for Transition
Transition – Coffee Mornings
The SEND Transition Team have been working on several pilots around transition alongside local settings, children and their families. They have been trialling a variety of ideas and measuring their impact. From this, it has been identified that parent/carer communication is key. To support this, the SEND Transition Team have been trialling coffee mornings to encourage discussions around transition. They have so far worked with years 5/6 and years 10/11 parent/carers and the feedback has been really positive. It enables our families to ask questions, talk together and outline their concerns and gives them a platform to be heard. The SEND Transition Team would really encourage these coffee mornings to be held within your settings to promote these conversations and hopefully minimise fears and anxieties that could transfer on to our children/young people.
The team would love to hear of your suggestions around transitions that have worked well in your schools, which can be promoted with other settings.
Cheshire East SEND Transition Team contact details:
Rachael Pickles – Transition Team Manager:
rachael.pickles2@cheshireeast.gov.uk 07816 144386
Loren Whiteside – Transition Adviser:
loren.whiteside2@cheshireeast.gov.uk 07557 801258
Tanya Houghton-Heath – Transition Adviser:
tanya.houghtonheath2@cheshireeast.gov.uk 07385 002348
SENCO Contact Details
Please ensure that the SENCO contact details for your setting are up to date. If you have referred a child at your setting to the Early Years Forum, the outcome of Forum will be shared with SENCO's via the contact details held on the Provider Portal.
Please check the information held by the Early Years Team via the Staff section of the Provider Portal and add/delete SENCO details as required. Guidance notes are available.
SEND Consultations
If you would like to book a SEND, PSED or Communication and Language consultation, please email: earlyyearsandchildcareteam@cheshireeast.gov.uk
You will be sent paperwork to complete, once that is finished and returned by secure email, including with a parent/carers signature, you will be offered a consultation slot.
Please note that the PSED paperwork has been updated. Please delete any old copies that you have saved and email to request the latest forms.
|
|
Cheshire East Chatters Summer Term Training
Cheshire East Chatters Talking Walk-in's
Please share the information below with parents. The Talking Walk-in's are opportunities for parents to speak with a Speech and Language Therapist to receive advice and guidance to support their child at home.
|
|
PVC Banner Collection
We are providing settings (nurseries, pre-schools, schools and childminders) in Cheshire East with a PVC banner to promote Childcare Choices and the new entitlements.
These are now available to collect from the reception at either:
- Oakenclough Family Hub, Colshaw Drive, Wilmslow, SK9 2PZ
- Monks Coppenhall Family Hub, Remer Street, Crewe, CW1 4LY
|
Childminder Drop-In's
Cheshire East Family Hubs
|
|
Continuous Professional Development |
|
Stories and Rhymes Roadshow - 2nd July 2024
Summer Term Training now available on the Early Years Training Hub
The ChESS Early Years Training Hub has been updated with lots of training opportunities for the Summer term, please take a look and book on now!
Upcoming training:
Early Years Inclusion Toolkit - 5th June 2024 18:00 - 19:30 (Teams)
This session will concentrate on the new sections of the Cheshire East Inclusion Toolkit for Early Years and how they can be utilised effectively to support your role in the setting. We will also discuss the changes that are likely to be made to the paperwork and the new sections that are upcoming.
Owners, Managers and Childminders - 17th June 2024 10:00 - 12:00 (Oakenclough Family Hub)
Owners, Managers and Childminders briefings are an opportunity to hear the latest updates from our Early Years Team, network with other owners, managers and childminders and ask questions. We hope to see as many of you as possible.
Safer Recruitment - 18th June 2024 09:30 - 16:00 (Oakenclough Family Hub)
This one-day course gives childcare 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 and the wider context of safeguarding, the prevalence of abuse and profile of abusers, important features of a safer recruitment process including interview and selection, setting acceptable standards of behaviour and maintaining an ongoing culture of vigilance.
WellComm - 19th June 2024 09:30 - 14:00 (Oakenclough Family Hub)
During this session there will be opportunities to discuss and define terms relating to communication and how these relate to the WellComm screening tool, examine the rationale behind using WellComm to screen, track and monitor individual children and discuss the practicalities of setting up targeted groups.
Owners, Managers and Childminders - 19th June 2024 18:30 - 20:30 (Teams)
Owners, Managers and Childminders briefings are an opportunity to hear the latest updates from our Early Years Team, network with other owners, managers and childminders and ask questions. We hope to see as many of you as possible.
Owners, Managers and Childminders - 20th June 2024 10:00 - 12:00 (Monks Coppenhall Family Hub)
Owners, Managers and Childminders briefings are an opportunity to hear the latest updates from our Early Years Team, network with other owners, managers and childminders and ask questions. We hope to see as many of you as possible.
Early Years Inclusion Toolkit - 21st June 2024 09:00 - 10:30 or 11:00 - 12:30 (Monks Coppenhall Family Hub)
This session will concentrate on the new sections of the Cheshire East Inclusion Toolkit for Early Years and how they can be utilised effectively to support your role in the setting. We will also discuss the changes that are likely to be made to the paperwork and the new sections that are upcoming.
|
|
Early Years Training Hub – reminder to sign up
Thank you to everyone who has already signed up to the ChESS Early Years Training Hub. If you haven’t yet signed up, please do so now to book on to training. You can sign up by accessing this link:
Chess Early Years Training Hub (sla-portals.co.uk)
Then click on the sign up button on the top right hand side of the login page.
The ChESS Early Years Training Hub button on our Early years training webpage will also give you access to the Hub.
Through our Early Years training page, you can find information about the training and CPD offer available to Early Years practitioners in Cheshire East.
Please note: If you already have access to the ChESS Hub for schools, you do not need to sign up again, however, please email us to request additional access user rights to the Early Years Hub.
|
|
|
|
|
