Welcome to the final childcare provider newsletter for 2018 from the North Lincolnshire Council Early Years, Sufficiency and Family Information Service teams.

It has been a highly successful year for the Early Years sector. Your hard work paying off and ensuring that as it stands today 100 per cent of the providers in the private, voluntary and independent sector are rated as either Good or Outstanding by OfSTED!

May we take this opportunity to wish you, your staff and the families you support lots of festive fun in December, a Merry Christmas and all good things for 2019.

Sample Privacy Notice

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) forms part of the data protection regime in the UK, together with the new Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018). The main provisions applied from 25 May 2018.

In order to process data you are required to state the lawful basis for processing the personal data.  This is usually outlined within your privacy notice. 

Here you can read a sample Privacy Notice for Pupils (Independent Providers) produced by the Department for Education that has been modified by North Lincolnshire Council to reflect early year's provision requirements in relation to statutory collections.  It suggests wording to give to parents to explain how information about children is used in early year's providers. 

We advise you to review this alongside your existing privacy notice.  The sample does not reflect your business activities in relation to fee/contracted parents.  Professional bodies provide sample Privacy Notices which will provide advice in relation to the legal basis and categories of children's/parent's information that you process.  (National Day Nurseries Association, PACEY and the Pre-school Learning Alliance). 

Also, for your information, here is the Privacy Notice for the Early Years Team, this outlines how we use and store your data.  Where you have children in receipt of funded early education please share this with your parents at the point they are completing their Parent Agreement Form. 

Provider Consultation

(For Out of School Clubs and Childminders (that do not deliver funded early education only)

Each year the council produces a Childcare Sufficiency Report that considers the demand and supply for childcare. We would like to consult with all childcare providers to gain your views on the childcare market in your area and your plans for the future.

We would be grateful if you could please complete this questionnaire with your views by 14 December 2018.

Do you know a potential Parent Champion?

The Family Information Service are looking to recruit a number of volunteer parent champions within the Scunthorpe area.

Parent Champions is a national network administered by Coram Family and Childcare and endorsed by the Department for Education and we are excited to be setting up our very own North Lincolnshire scheme in 2019.

Who are we looking for?

We are looking for parents or carers who you know from your setting have benefitted immensely from being able to access a funded childcare place for a two, three or four year old or have benefitted from the introduction of the 30 hours.

Has having the funded childcare in place allowed them to do some training or get into work themselves? Maybe this has improved their employment prospects by getting a promotion or changing jobs – something they wouldn’t have been able to do without having funded childcare?

Or maybe by bringing their child to your setting they have got involved in some of the other activities you run and this has improved their self-confidence or wellbeing in other ways.

What does a parent champion do?

A parent champion simply speaks to other parents in their own community about the benefits of funded childcare for them and encourages them to take up their own funded childcare entitlement if they are not doing so already.

This can be as informally as a chat at the school gate or telling a friend over coffee and need only take up a small amount of time each week.

What is in it for them?

A parent champion will receive the following from us:

• Free training on what is involved in being a volunteer parent champion
• Support from a volunteer coordinator
• An opportunity to learn new skills and improve their self confidence
• Any expenses incurred whilst performing their parent champion duties covered
• The opportunity, if they wish, to gain a Level 1 qualification (not mandatory)

What would we like you to do?

If you recognise a parent or carer from your setting who fits the description above please ask them if they would be interested in putting themselves forward as a parent champion. If they are interested please ask them to call Caroline Harris at the FIS on 01724 296629, or if they don’t feel confident enough at this stage you can call on their behalf for more information.

At this pilot stage we are particularly looking for parents from either the Crosby or Westcliff areas of Scunthorpe who have accessed 2 year old funding or parents in Ashby and Bottesford benefiting from the 30 hours.

We will be looking to roll this out further if the pilot is successful so please do let us know if you want to nominate parents from outside these areas – with their permission of course!

Call 01724 296629 or email caroline.harris@northlincs.gov.uk.

Representation on the FIS steering group

The Family Information Service would like to extend the opportunity to all our childcare providers to sit on our steering group.

The steering group is made up of a wide range of partners and stakeholders with a vested interest in improving outcomes for families and is held jointly with our sister service the Adult Information Service. 

Meetings are held just four times a year and are an ideal opportunity to find out more about what the FIS and AIS do, to ask questions and shape the future plans of our services.

The next meeting will take place on

Thursday 13 December 2018, 1.30pm at the Learning Development Centre

If you would like to put yourself forward to sit on the group please call us on 01724 296629 or email fis@northlincs.gov.uk.

Do still get in touch if you are unable to make this date but would like to be kept informed of meetings in 2019.

Childminder Briefing

Do you know someone who would be interested in becoming a registered childminder?

The next pre-registration briefing session for those interested in finding out more about this career path will take place in January.

If you would like paper copies of this poster to put up in your local area please email Rebecca.leck@northlincs.gov.uk.

Introduction to Home Based Childcare

The next Introduction to Home Based Childcare course will also start in the New Year.

This course is ideal for those registering as a childminder or working as a childminding assistant.

Please call 01724 296650 or email childcare.training@northlincs.gov.uk for further information or to book a place. 

Voluntary Action North Lincolnshire

Training Courses in the Spring term 2019

Booking and enquiries:

Tel: 01724 845155

Email: enquiries@vanl.org.uk