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Bulletin 407
28 September 2026
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Welcome to our Early Years and Childcare Bulletin. Previous Bulletins are available at: Cheshire East Early years and Childcare Bulletin.
The Early Years and Childcare Bulletin is issued every week during term time and a condensed version during the school holidays.
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Autumn term headcount
The headcount submission window closed on 18th September.
If you have not submitted a headcount for the autumn term, please contact the FEEE team on 01270 685888.
Without a headcount, we will be unable to calculate a balancing payment for the term.
Autumn term adjustments
As the headcount submission is now closed, the window to submit autumn term adjustments is now open.
If you have any children changing their hours during the term, please amend the funding screen for them on the live register.
Select yes as a midterm change, then enter the date of change and the number of weeks before and after the change.
Please note you cannot make changes to hours in advance, they can only be changed on or after the date of the increase/decrease in hours.
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Department for Education (DfE) early years funding audit programme
The DfE will shortly begin its early years PVI funding audit programme. A small number of providers may be selected for audit to verify information submitted through termly census returns.
If your setting is selected, Cheshire East Council will contact you and provide the relevant documentation, guidance and support. The audit programme will run until March 2027 and will review funding claims relating to the Spring, Summer and Autumn 2026 census periods.
Develop a climate action plan with free support from the DfE
The heatwaves of the summer were another reminder of climate change. The DfE are encouraging every early years setting in England to have a climate action plan.
A holistic plan can help early years settings prepare for extreme weather and reduce costs, while supporting children’s wellbeing and the environment.
Free support is available through DfE commissioned programmes – the National Education Nature Park, Sustainability Support for Education, and Climate Ambassadors – all working with Let’s Go Zero Climate Action Advisors.
To find out more click the button below.
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Safer Recruitment training
We are delivering Safer Recruitment training on Saturday 10th October 10:00 – 16:00 in Holmes Chapel, specifically for group-based and childminding settings.
This event is designed for anyone who is unable to attend the Safer Recruitment training which we usually offer as a mid-week session. If you have already completed this training recently, you do not need to attend.
The session will cover the full Safer Recruitment training programme, and all attendees will receive a certificate of attendance. Complimentary tea, coffee, and a buffet lunch will be provided.
If you are interested in attending, please book your places via the ChESS Early Years Training Hub by clicking on the button below.
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Don’t miss out on early years events and resources as part of the final term of the National Year of Reading!
Discover how you can make the most of your local communities to support the development of a reading for pleasure culture in the early years with brand-new free resources, CPD and events.
A taste of what’s on offer:
Access the full early years offer this autumn term and catch up on previous terms’ content, all through the free and flexible platform.
If you’re already taking part, log in here and continue exploring.
If you’re new, it's never too late to join. Sign up here for a guided journey of content that supports you to build and grow a reading for pleasure culture in your setting.
Ofsted’s early years blog
Ofsted have added 2 new questions to their blog post Early years inspections: frequently asked questions. This blog post now answers the questions:
- What happens when you inspect without notice?
- How will you look at safer sleeping, weaning and eating on inspection?
To read the blog click on the button below.
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Children with an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) transitioning to primary school in September 2027.
The SEND team would like to thank all settings for prioritising their transition EHCP annual reviews for those children who will be moving to primary school next September. We appreciate your efforts in completing EHCP reviews as early as possible this term, particularly for those pupils with more complex transition arrangements, to support effective planning and decision-making.
The statutory deadline for the Local Authority to name the next placement in an EHCP is 15th February 2027 for pupils transferring to primary or secondary settings.
Changes to the early years forum portal
Please note that the mandatory fields have been updated on the early years forum portal.
Please ensure that you have the signed Knowledge and Agreement form; updated SEN Support Plan and Stoke Speaks Out tracking ready to upload when submitting a referral.
Early years SEN inclusion funding – autumn term dates
Please see below the dates for SENIF in autumn term.
 All requests for Special Educational Needs Inclusion Funding (SENIF) must have a completed provision map to support the application. The provision map template is available on the application link SEND Inclusion Funding (cheshireeast.gov.uk) and should be used in conjunction with the SENIF policy documents. The provision map is essential when applying for support provided over and above ordinarily available inclusive provision. SENIF is to support children accessing the Early Education Entitlement hours only.
You will receive an email confirmation for all documents submitted to EarlyYearsSenHelpline@cheshireeast.gov.uk. If you do not receive confirmation, please contact 01625 374170.
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Skills and lifelong learning courses for parents
The Cheshire East Skills and Lifelong Learning team are launching a new service for adult learning, aimed at parents and they would be grateful if you could share the following opportunity with parents in your setting.
Free Skills and Lifelong Learning courses for parents aged 19+ are starting week commencing 5th October 2026 at Family Hub venues across the Crewe area. New exciting opportunities are also coming soon to Oakenclough, Congleton and Macclesfield. Delivered by Cheshire East Skills Tutors, these friendly, supportive weekly sessions provide a chance to develop new skills, meet other parents and explore progression routes. Better still, Family Hub staff can look after the children while parents learn.
For further information about courses:
South of Cheshire East: contact Marco Cura on 07717 693144 or marco.cura@cheshireeast.gov.uk
North of Cheshire East: contact Shamim Khan on 07717 690856 or shamim.khan@cheshireeast.gov.uk
Alternatively, you can contact the Cheshire East Skills and Lifelong Learning team at: adultandfamilylearning@cheshireeast.gov.uk.
Free funded webinars - autumn dates
A webinar providing an overview of the Best Start in Life strategy, and the role of family hubs and early years practitioners in supporting the home learning environment for families with children with SEND.
Book here
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Potty training - ERIC
The health visiting team would like to share the advice they provide to parents on potty learning and toilet training during developmental checks.
This guidance is introduced at the 9 to 12 month developmental review, although potty learning can be encouraged from the time a child is able to sit up independently. The information is based on guidance from ERIC (The Children's Bowel & Bladder Charity).
For more information, please click the button below.
Healthy start scheme
Many eligible families across Cheshire East are missing out on the NHS Healthy Start scheme which provides financial support to buy fruit, vegetables, milk, milk powder and pulses. It also provides access to free vitamins.
If you are working with expectant Mothers who are 10 or more weeks pregnant or families who have children under the age of 4, please could you promote the Healthy Start scheme and encourage them to apply.
Parents can check their eligibility and apply online.
For more information click the button below.
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Training emails
We have been been made aware that some of our emails are being redirected to spam/junk folders.
If you are booked on to attend a training session, venue confirmation emails and Microsoft Teams links will still be sent two working days before the training date.
To help ensure you receive our emails, please add earlyyearsandchildcareteam@cheshireeast.gov.uk to your safe senders list or contacts and check your spam/junk folder regularly.
Autumn Term Training available on the Early Years Training Hub
The ChESS Early Years Training Hub has lots of training opportunities for the autumn term, please take a look and book on now!
Upcoming training next week:
Basic Safeguarding Awareness – 6th October 2026 09:30 – 11:30 (Microsoft Teams)
This two-hour training course will provide 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. This training is in line with the criteria set out in Annex C. This training 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.
Prevent Awareness – 7th October 2026 18:30 – 20:00 (Microsoft Teams)
The Prevent Engagement Officer for Liverpool City Council will be leading this Prevent awareness session for early years providers. The training will highlight the differences between terrorism and extremism, explain the current terror threat level to the UK, the prevalence and the impact of the internet and social media on the radicalisation journey and why the Prevent strand is so important in helping to reduce that threat. It will also describe where the current threat to the UK in respect of terrorism is perceived to emanate from, along with some explanation about other ideologies that are of concern. This will include a description of some of the indicators that may be displayed by those who are or might be, susceptible to radicalisation. Most importantly it will explain the local referral process and how you can make a referral for anyone that you may have concerns about.
Supporting Speech Sounds – 9th October 2026 09:30 – 12:30 (Congleton Library)
This course is designed to help you to understand and support children’s speech sound development. This session will discuss typical speech sound development in the early years and give you practical ideas for strategies to implement in your setting. You will also get the chance to have a go at some sound awareness activities to increase your confidence in carrying them out with children in your setting.
Safer Recruitment – 10th October 2026 10:00 – 16:00 (Holmes Chapel Community Centre)
Childcare settings share with others a duty to safeguard the children in their care. Implementing safer recruitment practices is one way of discharging this safeguarding obligation. Keeping Children Safe in Education recommends that at least one of the persons who conducts an interview has completed safer recruitment training. 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.
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