We know many of our childcare providers in Hounslow have signed up to Tax Free Childcare. Thank you! This not only helps reduce childcare costs for families but makes you, as a childcare provider, more attractive to a working family than a provider that hasn’t signed up.

Whilst many eligible parents have taken this benefit up, there are still many that are missing out.

To help raise awareness of TFC, an external free webinar is being held on Tuesday 28 February from 10.00-11.30am.

The webinar aims to:

• raise awareness, understanding and provide a useful overview of TFC
• show how TFC could better benefit children and families at a time when cost pressures of household budgets are under increasing pressure 
• help and equip everyone with ideas and tools that motivate parents to sign up, reduce their childcare costs, and use TFC to pay for childcare in pre-school, out of school and holiday activities 
• help you, families, children and childcare providers.

If you would like to attend or have new members of staff that could benefit from attending, you can book your FREE places here : https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/tfc-webinar-for-local-authoritiescouncils-and-family-facing-professionals-tickets-529148606727

The Department for Education has launched free online Early years child development training  aimed at childminders, nursery practitioners and nursery managers. However, the training is accessible to anyone who may find it useful.

 Accessible to anyone who may find it useful, the training:

• has been developed in consultation with early years experts
• has been tested with early years practitioners and experts and refined based on feedback
• provides a greater understanding of child development
• gives practical advice for supporting children in early years settings
• reinforces understanding through videos, learning check questions and end of module tests
• allows users to pause and restart the training at any time 
• offers the chance to download certificates of achievement for each module

The first four modules of the training are available now covering child and brain development and PSED as well as communication and language. Further modules will be added throughout 2023.

Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales has launched an awareness-raising campaign to increase public understanding of the importance of the first five years of a child’s life. This follows new research into public understanding of child development by the Centre for Early Childhood, which shows that around one in three (36 per cent) adults report knowing ‘just a little’ or ‘nothing’ about the impact early years can have. Find out more about the 'Shaping Us' campaign