 If you would like to nominate members of your team to attend PEEP training to be trained as a PEEP Practitioner, please complete this booking form and send to the Business Support Manager at Home-Start Portsmouth: hannahc@hsportsmouth.org.uk.
Training will take place on 22 and 23 April 2025 at Home-Start Portsmouth HQ, PO1 4HA. Training is typically 9.30am - 4.30pm and delegates will be required to attend both days. More information, including confirmation of times will be given to delegates nearer to the training date. The deadline to submit the booking form is Friday 28 March 2025.
The PEEP Learning Together programme is about practitioners running sessions for parents to learn how to play and support their child in a range of areas supporting the EYFS. We have a number of trained PEEP practitioners in Portsmouth who will be running PEEP or PEEP informed groups in Family Hubs and through 1:1 work in family homes, e.g. Home-Start Portsmouth.
As an Early Years setting, why not join our Portsmouth PEEP community and access free 2 day training and then have the license to run your own family sessions within your setting? Take a look at the website for more information.
Once trained as a PEEP Practitioner, you will be able to access ongoing support through a Portsmouth PEEP forum and members of the Early Years team who have also been trained will be able to answer questions about how you can deliver PEEP to your families. So if one of your setting priorities is to support families to understand how to play and learn together with their children, this is the training and opportunity for you!
 There were a number of queries raised at the SENCo meeting last month about school places named on EHCPs. Hopefully the information below clarifies this for you.
Draft EHCPs and allocated schools
- The SEN team look to allocate a mainstream school and/or the early years provision in the final plan.
- The SEN team will allocate the catchment school if the parent has not expressed any other preference for a mainstream school.
- Be aware that the SEN team do not always know which schools the parents have submitted to admissions in their general school application.
- The parent can complete the reply form sent with the draft EHCP or call the SEN team if they would like to state their mainstream school preference at any point during the EHC needs assessment or when the draft is published but before the plan is finalised (within 15 days)
- Any requests for special provision that are being considered will still go ahead separately. The parent will hear after May half term about special provision places.
- Where a special provision place is agreed and accepted by the parent then the final EHCP will be amended and the named mainstream school will be replaced by the special provision.
- Parents should be aware that the mainstream school named in the final EHCP will be the one allocated, if the request for special provision is unsuccessful.
- Where a final EHCP is in place before April then the parents will not get the usual school placement letter from admissions.
Advisory notes about school placement
These are not going out to parents as previously suggested (different to the named mainstream school in the final EHCP).
Please direct parents to the Local Offer to see what different mainstream and special provision could offer their child.
For queries about individual children's plans please contact the named SEND Caseworker.
 From 1 September 2025, the Department for Education (DfE) will implement EYFS safeguarding reforms.
DfE and Ofsted want to hear your questions and concerns about the upcoming EYFS changes. This will help them to understand what further support would be helpful for implementing the safeguarding reforms.
To remind yourself about the safeguarding changes please visit: Early years foundation stage (EYFS) safeguarding - GOV.UK. Additionally, this Foundation Years page provides further information and resources.
Please submit any questions you have about the safeguarding reforms to safeguarding.consultation@education.gov.uk by TODAY - 12 March.
 Why are mini eggs a big safety risk?
It’s that time of year again when mini eggs are lining the shelves. But did you know that they’re the perfect size and shape to completely block a small child’s airway and choke them? Or that their hard shell can make it difficult to dislodge with standard first aid techniques? That’s why they aren’t recommended for small children. So, please stay safe and choose another treat for your little one this Easter. Larger, hollow eggs are much safer.
Baby bath seats warning
While bath seats are great for supporting your baby in the bath, they’re NOT safety aids. Babies have drowned in bath seats when parents mistakenly believed it was safe to step out of the room for a moment. It’s scary to think about but babies can drown in just a few centimetres of water, very quickly and with no noise or struggle to alert you. That’s why it’s important to stay with your baby all the time, keeping them in arms reach.
Where do you store your cleaning products?
Whether you’re a Spring cleaner or not, this is the perfect time to think about where you store your cleaning products. Are they by the loo or under the kitchen sink? Make sure they’re in a high cupboard out of reach. This is especially important if you have a little one who has just started crawling or will be on the move soon.
Safer sleep for babies
Sadly around four babies a week die from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Safer Sleep Week runs from 10 - 16 March. It focuses on busting baby sleep myths, understanding baby sleep patterns and coping with sleep deprivation as a parent.
 The UK government has announced ‘Simpler Recycling’ waste reforms for households and businesses in England.
Under the Simpler Recycling scheme, businesses, schools, hospitals and other ‘non-household municipal premises’ in England will be required to separate dry recycling (including paper, card, plastic packaging, glass and metal) from general waste for collection. In addition to dry recycling, if a business generates food waste, no matter how small the quantity, this will also need to be separated for collection.
From 31 March 2025, recycling and collection measures for all types of recyclable waste are required to be in place, except garden waste and plastic film. The collection of plastic film will begin from 31 March 2027.
 The Neurodiversity team are pleased to share their training offer for the spring term 2025. This will be a rolling programme of training throughout the 2025/26 academic year and includes:
- Profile tool training
- Understanding myself training
- “See behaviour?... think language and communication needs”
To book a place, please email Neurodiversity0-19Enquiries@portsmouthcc.gov.uk confirming which session you would like to book.
 Discover the fascinating world of sensory processing and integration in this engaging, introductory-level course from Sensory Inclusive Schools. You'll learn about the eight sensory systems and how sensory processing differences can shape behaviour and everyday experiences. The course includes videos, downloadable resources and links to next steps.
 The Armed Forces Families Fund: Early Years programme for 2025-26, is now live on the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust website.
Under this programme grants of between £5,000 and £80,000 are awarded, towards projects lasting up to two years, which help enhance early childhood education and childcare settings to meet specific needs of young children from armed forces families.
The outcome/themes are:
- Increased capacity at the setting to allow more service children to attend.
- Better learning environments for service children.
- Have provided appropriate training and development to staff to support service children.
- Establishing collaborative networks and shared resources through clusters to address the needs of service children.
Deadlines for applications:
Round one: 12 noon on 4 June 2025, (you’ll receive a decision before the end of August 2025).
Round two: 12 noon on 8 October 2025, (you’ll receive a decision before the end of December 2025).
There is lots of information about eligibility and how to apply on the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust website.
 Employment Allowance allows eligible employers to reduce their annual National Insurance liability by up to £5,000.
You’ll pay less employers’ Class 1 National Insurance each time you run your payroll until the £5,000 has gone or the tax year ends (whichever is sooner).
You can only claim against your employers’ Class 1 National Insurance liability up to a maximum of £5,000 each tax year. You can still claim the allowance if your liability was less than £5,000 a year.
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