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EEAC update 53 11/04/2025
Staffordshire County Council sent this bulletin at 11-04-2025 09:00 AM BST
11 April 2025
EEAC update 53
EEAC updates are published every Friday, during term time.
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Past editions are also available to view on our web page
Staffordshire Safeguarding Integrated Front Door
From 1 April 2025, the Front Door and MASH changed to Staffordshire Safeguarding Integrated Front Door (SSIFD). Staffordshire Safeguarding Integrated Front Door remains the point of contact for enquiries and referrals relating to children and young people made by professionals, families and the public.
We want our partner agencies to be part of this critical work and want to hear how we can improve our response in supporting our children and young people in Staffordshire.
You can view a short video on plans to lead partners through this change and enable improved outcomes for children. Watch the YouTube video hereor visit www.staffsscb.org.uk.
Click the link below to read more about the changes to the service.
Children must usually be within sight and hearing of staff and always within sight and hearing. Whilst eating children must be within sight and hearing of a member of staff, childminder and /or assistant.
Points to consider:
Babies and young children should be seated safely in a highchair (with straps) or appropriately sized low chair whilst eating.
Babies and young children should not be left alone whilst eating.
Where possible have a designated eating space where distractions are minimised.
Are staff fully prepared and trained to recognise and deal with a choking hazard?
Is the food provided cut into small pieces and small round food such as grapes, cherry tomatoes and strawberries are cut length ways and quartered.
Soften hard fruit and vegetables (such as carrot and apples) when first given a baby around six months of age.
The latest Childcare Sufficiency Assessment 2023-24 is now available. The data has been gathered and analysed from the twice yearly Sufficiency surveys.
The report details the Local Authority's priorities to:
ensure that sufficient childcare places are created and parents can access funded childcare, particularly following the expansion of eligibility for working parents
raise parental awareness of eligibility for Think2 and maintain take up above 80%
ensure high quality support for childcare providers to support all children including children with developmental delay and SEND.
This academic year, Early Years Forum have implemented a triage system, a new pathway for children to access before coming to Forum. This is to ensure children are getting the right help at the right time prior to Forum. The cut-off date for school starters to be referred to Early Years Forum is Friday 4 April 2025.
SEND Inclusion Funding (SENIF) update
Settings can access SEN Inclusion Funding without children being known to Early Years Forum.
Applications for SENIF funding must be submitted by Wednesday 30 April 2025 for eligible children who are due to start school in September 2025. This will ensure eligible children attending Staffordshire schools in September 2025 receive transition funding to support transition plans in their feeder school during the Autumn term. Applications for funding can be found here Staffordshire Connects | Early years special educational needs and disability funding for settings
Click the link below for Early Years Forum and SEN Inclusion Funding dates for the academic year 2025-2026.
Wraparound Inclusive Practice Pathway - Understanding behaviour and de-escalation strategies
This face-to-face session, aimed at wraparound care providers including management and staff, will explore our understanding of behaviour, recognising that behaviour is complex and impacted by many factors. It will cover preventative strategies we can implement to manage behaviour and how to create a positive environment, de-escalation strategies for challenging situations, and restoring relationships following challenging situations.
Wednesday 7 May 2025 10:30am to 1:30pm at Stafford Family Hub, Faraday Road Stafford ST16 3NQ, or
Wednesday 11 June 2025 9:30am to 1pm at Shire Hall, Market Street, Stafford
All places must be booked through the Practitioner Hub. Click the link below to book your place on the EY Practitioner Hub.
This online session, aimed at Reception teachers in schools and academies, will enable early years teachers to develop a deeper understanding of the statutory requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile (EYFSP) assessment for 2024/2025.
It aims to help you:-
have an increased knowledge of the statutory requirements for the EYFSP assessment for 2024/2025.
develop a deeper understanding of the principles of assessment in the EYFS.
have effective dialogue opportunities to build a shared understanding of the early learning goals to support teacher assessment judgements.
Wednesday 30 April 2025 1:30pm to 3pm via MS Teams, or
Wednesday 14 May 2025 4pm to 5:30pm via MS Teams
Please note only one delegate per school, per session. All places must be booked through the Practitioner Hub. Click the link below to book your place on the EY Practitioner Hub.
This training, written by the speech and language therapy service in the Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, is aimed at practitioners working with EY children in nurseries, pre-schools, schools and childminders to explore gender differences in language learning.
By the end of the session, you will:
have an increased awareness of the gender differences in brain development and language acquisition,
develop an understanding of the influencing factors in gender differences in language development,
be able to consider best practice for supporting boys' language learning in your setting.
Tuesday 15 July 2025 10:30 to 12:00 via MS Teams
All places must be booked through the Practitioner Hub. Click the link below to book your place on the EY Practitioner Hub.
Staffordshire Safeguarding Children Partnership are offering this free, interactive, face-to-face workshop which is designed for practitioners with some experience working with children and families. It will deepen your understanding of family dynamics and equip you with the skills to effectively coordinate and facilitate family meetings. By the end of the session, you will feel confident in supporting families to navigate discussions, resolve conflicts, and develop action plans.
By the end of the training, participants will:
understand the core principles and benefits of family meetings.
gain practical skills in planning, facilitating, and following up on meetings.
learn how to navigate complex family dynamics and resolve conflicts.
recognise the role of different professionals within the meeting.
explore strategies for supporting children’s participation in the process.
differentiate between Family Group Conferences (FGCs) and family meetings.
3 April 9.30am - Moorlands Family Hub, Albert Street, Biddulph, ST8 6DT
Click the link below for more details and to book a place on your chosen session.
The Summer Term funding period covers the period 1 April to 31 August. This means that settings can claim the first 2 weeks of the summer term before the Easter holidays, and then resume after the break to claim a maximum of 13 weeks funding. This ensures parents are not missing out on 2 weeks funding they are entitled to before Easter.
These 13 weeks, added to the 11 funded weeks in Spring Term and the 14 funded weeks in Autumn term, total 38 weeks funding across the academic year, as shown in the table above.
Encourage parents to apply or reconfirm their working parent code before the end of the period to be valid for next term. The deadline to apply for a code was 31 March to be valid to use from 1 April.
Regularly review the dashboard on your EY Portal for those codes which are shortly due reconfirmation and let parents know.
Signpost parents to www.childcarechoices.gov.uk to find out about the expansion of the entitlements for working families and how to save money on their childcare.
If parents have queries they can call the Childcare Choices customer interaction centre on 0300 123 4097.
Parents will now be able to apply for codes for children turning the relevant age by 31 August in order to claim a funded childcare place in Autumn term. Parents who apply for their code early may need to reconfirm their code before their child takes up their place in September.
Eligible children will be entitled to 30 hours a week from 1 September.
A child’s existing code can continue to be used as before, and parents do not need to apply for a new or additional code to take up a 30 hours place from September. Parents with an existing code will need to reconfirm at the normal time to maintain the validity of their child’s code.
Childcare Choices Partner Communications Toolkit
Childcare Choices have produced a 'Partner communications Toolkit' containing templates and resources you can download to help you raise awareness with parents of the financial support available for childcare costs and the benefit of early education.
The 'Campaign Creatives' page allows you to share messages via your social media accounts, emails, on your website, or within your setting. These resources are available in a number of languages including Gujarati, Romanian, Ukrainian and Urdu.
Type the words ‘Tuesday helpline’ in the email subject
Include a brief summary of your query and contact details including a contact phone number in the email
You can email at any time, requests are collated for the next helpline date. Each Tuesday, a member of the team will operate the helpline. If Tuesdays are not a suitable time to call back, please note this in your email and we will try to accommodate your request.
To make a request for consultation, download the request form on Staffordshire Connects | EY SENIS Team. Instructions and guidance are included on the form.
Please note - the EYSENIS team do not have a direct phone number. They can be contacted by email: EYSENIS@staffordshire.gov.uk.
This update is produced and distributed by Staffordshire County Council. If you wish to follow up on anything in this update then please contact us by email at eeac@staffordshire.gov.uk
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