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There are still Early Bird places available for our upcoming EY Conference. A day of great speakers and networking with lunch included! £25 pp until 30th September 2026 when the price will increase to £45 pp.
Please use a separate booking link for each delegate.
https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/afa9e284-c7a3-41f0-9723-e65efba587c4@b6c13011-372d-438b-bc82-67e4c7966e89/registration
Thank you and we look forward to seeing you there!
The Early Years Team
Dear Nursery and Early Years Settings Managers,
The Health Protection Team would be grateful for your support in reinforcing infection prevention and control measures following an increase in enterovirus meningitis cases in the West Midlands, including cases linked to nursery and early years settings.
We would appreciate it if you could remind staff and parents/carers about the importance of:
- Good hand hygiene;
- Effective cleaning of shared environments and equipment;
- Keeping children and staff with diarrhoea and/or vomiting away from the setting until symptom-free for 48 hours;
- Promptly reporting outbreaks of illness within the setting.
Your support in promoting these measures will help reduce the spread of infection and protect children, staff and families. Please find attached pdf for detailed information.
Thank you for your assistance and cooperation.
Kind regards,
Health Protection Team
Shropshire HPT - Enterovirus - Infection Prevention Information for EYS.pdf
Please could you take the time to complete the following MS Forms , Shropshire Council Early Years Proforma - Autumn 2026 – Fill in form
this will enable the Shropshire Early Years Team to support and monitor settings safeguarding arrangements and compliance with Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework and Working Together to Safeguard Children as part of our statutory duties.
This will be sent out every term to enable us to keep up to date with your details and to help us link in and share information with the most appropriate person.
The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act places a new duty on local housing authorities in England to notify educational institutions, health visiting services and general medical practices, when a child is placed in temporary accommodation. This notification should be made when consent has been given from the parent, those with parental responsibility or care of the child, or the child themselves in cases of 16–17-year-olds living independently from their parents. The notification will enable school and college staff to safeguard and promote the welfare of these children at the earliest opportunity and support them to improve their outcomes. Whilst any discussion with the local housing authority should be progressed as appropriate, this notification does not, and should not, replace existing safeguarding and welfare duties nor a referral into local authority children’s social care where a child has been harmed or is at risk of harm. Specific statutory guidance for local authorities on the temporary accommodation duty will be provided in due course."
With a focus on ensuring a fair and equitable offer for all children, how are you ensuring the EYPP funding is making a difference to the lives of young children in your setting/home education? Make use of the EEF tools to support in those decisions.
Defining a clear priority for Early Years Pupil Premium funding | EEF
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The first statistics covering Ofsted’s renewed inspection framework show that 89% to 94% of nurseries and pre-schools reached the ‘expected standard’ or better across the different evaluation areas. The number of childcare places in England also rose, driven largely by growth in places offered by nurseries and pre-schools.
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Main findings: childcare providers and inspections as at 31 March 2026 - GOV.UK
On 13 July 2026 we published updated EYFS frameworks for childminders and group and school-based providers, which apply from 1 September 2026. The main changes from that date represent strengthened safeguarding requirements. The safety of our youngest children is our utmost priority, and we continually monitor and review safeguarding requirements to make sure children are kept as safe as possible.
More information on what’s changed can be found on GOV.UK
From 1 September 2026, eligibility for free school meals will be extended to all families receiving Universal Credit. Children attending early years provision in schools are eligible for a free school meal if they:
- are registered pupils at the school; and
- attend both before and after the lunch break.
This includes children attending maintained schools, free schools, academies, and maintained nursery schools, whether their place is funded through an early years entitlement or paid for by parents.
The Free School Meals Eligibility Checking Service became available to local authority users on 1 June 2026. Eligibility checks for all children, including those already receiving free school meals, must be completed between 1 June and 1 October 2026 for children to be recorded as eligible for free school meals in the Autumn 2026 School Census.
We encourage local authorities to complete eligibility checks before the start of September 2026 so that eligible children can access free school meals from the first day of the new school year.
The Department has published Free School Meals guidance. Please note the updated guidance on NRPF and the operational readiness checklist. An FAQ document is attached.
Best Start in Life Parent Hub (formerly known as Childcare Choices)
Early Years Funding Code of Practice
Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework for Childminders
Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework for Group and School-Based Providers
Early Years Funding for Foster Children
CPD Early Years and Schools | Shropshire Learning Gateway
Early Years Advice and Funding (SEND)
Early Years CPD
Early Years Information Pages on the SLG
Funding Diary Dates (headcount windows and payments)
Holiday Activities and Food Programme (HAF)
Parent Declaration Form - 2025/26
Recruitment:
SEND and Inclusion Newsletter
Shropshire SEND Local Offer
Funding Claims, Free Entitlements, Eligibility Codes, Provider Portal etc.:
Admin Team: NEF@shropshire.gov.uk
Job Vacancies:
Admin Team: NEF@shropshire.gov.uk
Buildings, Premises, Accommodation, and any related issues including schools looking to adopt their local pre-school:
Andy Nicholls: andy.nicholls@shropshire.gov.uk
Wraparound Childcare Programme:
Dan Steele: Dan.steele@shropshire.gov.uk
School Sustainability Funding:
Jo Morris: Jo.morris@shropshire.gov.uk
Qualifications, Ratios, Staffing etc.:
Laurie Johnson: Laurie.Johnson@shropshire.gov.uk
Safeguarding and Child Protection:
Charlotte Percival: Charlotte.percival@shropshire.gov.uk
Early Years Inclusion Funding (EYI) - applications and admin:
Admin Team: NEF@shropshire.gov.uk
Applications for EYPP and 30-Hour Entitlements for Children who are Looked After:
Admin Team: NEF@shropshire.gov.uk
Applications for Disability Access Fund:
Admin Team: NEF@shropshire.gov.uk
Information, advice and guidance in relation to SEND children:
earlyyears@shropshire.gov.uk
Any other queries that don’t fall into the above:
earlyyears@shropshire.gov.uk
Remember – we also have the MS Teams site:
https://teams.microsoft.com/l/team/19%3a9e2862aae963406b9ffc01b034aae950%40thread.tacv2/conversations?groupId=dd786852-0af3-4592-b069-7cf66e48df55&tenantId=b6c13011-372d-438b-bc82-67e4c7966e89
If you are not already a member of this group, then please email nef@shropshire.gov.uk and we will get you access.
Sarah Kynaston
Senior Education Quality Adviser (Early Years and Safeguarding)
Education Improvement Service
Tel: 01743 251298
Email: Sarah.Kynaston@shropshire.gov.uk
Laurie Jones
Quality Improvement & Learning Co-ordinator
Education Improvement Service
Tel: 01743 250626
Email: Laurie.Johnson@shropshire.gov.uk
Charlotte Percival
Safeguarding Officer
Tel: 01743 254147
Email: charlotte.percival@shropshire.gov.uk
Dan Steele
Senior Development Officer (Early Years and Sufficiency)
Tel: 01743 253913
Email: dan.Steele@shropshire.gov.uk
Admin Team (funding queries):
Beth Parry-Jones, Brydie Porter, Lauren Goodhead & Sarah Jones
Email: NEF@shropshire.gov.uk
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