View this email in a browser

Bulletin 390

1 June 2026

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

Liquidlogic

Eligibility Codes – Grace Period Check

A check has been run on all working parent eligibilty codes.

This will have updated on the establishment portal.

Please check the end date of codes on your live register in readiness for the autumn term, and prompt any parents/guardians whose code is still in the grace period ending 31^st August to reconfirm their code in plenty of time.

The alert shows as an ! as below and also shows the red GP alert.

Business Support

Three Digital Tools to Empower Parents

On 26th May, the Department for Education (DfE) and No10 announced the launch of three digital tools as a 'beta' to empower parents to search for local childcare, estimate childcare fees, and check what support they're entitled to. This means families will be able to start using the tools while the DfE continue to take on feedback and make improvements. 

The three tools will be connected to the existing Best Start in Life site, and provide families with access to: 

• Updated Childcare “Entitlement Checker” (national) – helping parents understand what support they may be eligible for, building on the existing checker available on Best Start in Life 

• Childcare “Cost Estimator” (national) – providing childcare cost estimates by region and childcare type

• Childcare “Find a Provider” (available in West of England Combined Authority) – enabling parents to search for childcare providers in their local area

Next steps 

As the DfE move to expand the “Find a Provider” to other LA areas, they will work with LAs, their FIS teams and CMAs over the coming months.

How can you help? 

The “Find a Provider” will signpost families to provider and LA FIS websites and so providers should take this opportunity to ensure their business information and childcare offer is up to date on both these sites. The DfE want to encourage use of “Find a Provider” as a way for providers to showcase their services and connect with more families.

To update your provider details on the How to find childcare in Cheshire East Livewell page, please email Earlyyearsandchildcareteam@cheshireeast.gov.uk with the changes you would like to make.

Safeguarding

Child Safety Week - 1st June to 7th June

This week is Child Safety Week!

Did you know that most serious accidents to under 5s happen at home? Fortunately, some of the worst accidents are the simplest to stop. The child accident prevention trust have got top tips and resources to help:

• Threats to breathing
• Falls
• Poisoning
• Burns and scalds
• Drowning

For a quick win this Child Safety Week simply download print and display posters in your setting.

Alternatively, you can search by safety topic or type of resource to find what you need to spread the word.

ERASE Tool Briefing – book on now!

 Wednesday 8th July 2026 - 12:00 - 13:00 on Microsoft Teams

Join us to explore the ERASE Tool, delivered by the Safeguarding Children in Education Settings Team (SCiES). The ERASE Tool has been created by the St Helens Safeguarding Children Partnership (StHSCP) Harmful Sexual Behaviours (HSB) group to support the children’s workforce with the identification and assessment of children and young people who display sexually harmful behaviour (HSB). It is a screening tool which allows practitioners to be able to identify and respond to incidents of Harmful Sexual Behaviour.

For anyone that can’t attend the lunchtime briefing, we will be recording the session to share.

Please click the button below to book on through the Early Years Training Hub.

National Updates

New Ofsted Blog - Registering a childminder assistant: what you need to know

Ofsted have published a new Early Years blog called “Registering a childminder assistant: what you need to know”.

Childminders and childminder assistants play a vital role in childcare. At the end of 2025 there were nearly 25,000 childminders in England, with the vast majority providing education and care for early years children. Of these, 41% have an assistant listed on their registration – including the current longest-serving childminder, who has been in the role since the 1970s! 

As a childminder, employing an assistant can enable you to expand your provision, take on more children, and help create more government-funded early years places for children.

Click the button below to read the blog.

Support getting children ready for reception

Getting children ready for reception brings together practical insights from schools that are focused on getting transition right for children, families, feeder settings and the school. Drawing on effective practice, the guidance supports partnership working between schools, families and early years settings through early identification of need and high-quality transition arrangements.

This resource can be used to review and strengthen transition practice, and support more children to thrive, improving wellbeing, early attainment and attendance at the start of reception.

The DfE have also launched 'Steps for School', a campaign aimed at parents whose children are yet to start reception. A variety of social media assets, including MC Grammar's 'Steps for School' rap video, are available on the campaign toolkit. You can download and share via your digital channels in the lead up to September and beyond.

New Ofsted Blog - Renewed inspection framework for holiday providers: what you need to know

Ofsted have published a new blog called “Renewed inspection framework for holiday providers: what you need to know”.

The blog explains how Ofsted inspect holiday provision and the early years toolkit explains how each evaluation area should be applied to different types of setting and different ages of children.

Click the button below to read the blog.

SEND

Up to date child contact details – SEN Support Plan

If a child in your setting has moved house or parents/carers have a new phone or email address please can this be updated in the SEN Support Plan. The contact in the SEN Support Plan is used by Early Years Forum and the SEN team to make contact with parents. Thank you.

Family Hubs

Childminder support

In Cheshire East, childminders can access a variety of support, including evening training opportunities through the ChESS Early Years Training Hub to fit around their day. Childminder drop-in sessions are also available, offering opportunities to network, support children’s socialisation, and access guidance from other professionals (see latest flyer below). There is a dedicated support page for childminders containing essential contacts for various professionals, for example, the Early Years and Childcare Team, the SEN Helpline, the FEEE Team, ChECS and LADO. Please click the button below to view the Livewell page.

Training

Support your practice with free Early Years Child Development training

The Department for Education’s Early years child development training is a free, online programme designed by early years experts to support practitioners working with children from birth to reception.

This flexible online training will help you to:

• Build and strengthen your child development knowledge
• Get practical advice and ideas to support children in your setting, including reception classes
• Reflect on your practice and test your knowledge
• Learn from practical training videos filmed in early years and reception settings
• Access modules in any order, at any time
• Download a certificate on completion of each module

The programme includes 8 modules, covering key areas such as:

• Brain development and how children learn
• Personal, social and emotional development
• Communication and language
• Physical development
• Mathematics
• Effective curriculum and assessment
• Supporting individual differences and needs

The training has recently been updated to include:

• Additional videos and practical advice for supporting children in reception
• Guidance on supporting the EYFS profile assessment

Visit Early years child development training to register or sign-in if you already have an account.

Summer Term Training available on the Early Years Training Hub

The ChESS Early Years Training Hub has lots of training opportunities for the summer term, please take a look and book on now!

Upcoming training next week:

Role of the DSL - 8th June 2026 (part 1) and 24th June 2026 (part 2) 18:30 - 21:00 (Microsoft Teams)

Role of the DSL (part 1 and 2) will be delivered over 2 evening sessions. You must be available to attend the dates for both part 1 and part 2 of the training to receive a certificate and the slides. This training course provides information and guidance to practitioners new to the role of the DSL or those wishing to refresh their knowledge. The training includes safer recruitment and induction of new staff members, liaising with staff members and other agencies, recording of safeguarding information, escalation of concerns, online safety, allegations against staff, the role of the LADO and policy and procedure development.

WellComm - 10th June 2026 09:30 - 12:30 (Oakenclough Family Hub)

Would you like to receive practical support on how to integrate WellComm activities into daily best practice within your setting? Or try out WellComm screening and explore activities from the Big Book of Ideas? 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.

DSL Cluster - 10th June 2026 18:30 - 20:30 (Microsoft Teams) or 11th June 2026 09:30 - 11:30 (Microsoft Teams)

These virtual sessions are intended to further develop your DSL's understanding, knowledge and skills. Childminders are the DSL for their setting. At these meetings there will be opportunities for discussion with other leads, networking, sharing of effective practice/materials, input from other agencies and updates on new legislation/initiatives. Attendance at each termly cluster is highly recommended to keep your safeguarding knowledge up to date.