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PLEASE SHARE THESE UPDATES INTERNALLY WITH ALL STAFF.
  Last few places remaining to our FREE Early Years Conference to celebrate practitioners who are working to improve outcomes for children in Staffordshire. Bookings will soon be closing.
Hear from: Darrell Woodman - The Art of Being Brilliant - workshop focusing on learning new habits of thinking and behaviour that will sustain personal ‘brilliance’.
Greg Bottrill - author of the bestselling ’Can I Go And Play Now?’, ‘School of the Magic of Children’ and ‘Love Letters To Play’.
Laura Henri-Allain MBE - international award-winning producer, storyteller, educationalist, keynote speaker and consultant and creator of the award-winning first Black British animation, JoJo and Gran Gran.
Catherine McLeod MBE - Chief Executive of Dingley’s Promise since 2015, growing the organisation to a national one that delivers training and influences policy.
This invitation is open to all practitioners from nurseries, pre-schools, childminders and managers and will support you to:
- celebrate early years practice across Staffordshire,
- respond in innovative ways to nurture the unique child,
- recognise the commitment practitioners have made to their own professional development, including through the Early Years Professional Development Programme and Dingley’s Promise,
- develop knowledge and skills to support personal wellbeing both in and out of work,
- stimulate your professional learning and understanding of young children,
- network with other practitioners and learn more about services in Staffordshire.
Once full we will be operating a waiting list; if you have booked a place and can no longer attend, may we kindly request that you cancel your place on the EY Practitioner Hub to allow others to attend in your place.
Click the link below to book your place on the EY Practitioner Hub. Max 2 delegates per setting. We look forward to welcoming you.
Safeguarding news
Early Years Foundation Stage statutory framework - safeguarding and welfare requirements
Safety and suitability of premises, environment and equipment: this section covers a wide range of health and safety consideration for all early years providers. Pg 35-38.
Food and drink
3.54 - childminders
3.55 - group and school provision
Points to consider:
- How is the information obtained from parents about any special dietary requirements, food allergies, preferences and intolerances and cascaded to all practitioners/childminder assistant?
- How do settings ensure they know the difference between allergies and intolerances?
- Have you completed first aid training which covers anaphylactic shock? How do you check staff knowledge on this?
- What systems are in place? Do you use a traffic light system red, amber and green?
Click the links below for more free information and resources.
Allergy UK | National Charity
Anaphylaxis - NHS
BSACI Allergy Action Plan.pdf
Food allergy - NHS
Help for early years providers : Allergies
Common_allergens.pdf
Health_and_safety.pdf
Working together to safeguard children
The DfE have updated the statutory guidance on multi-agency working to help, support and protect children. They have added an illustrated guide, an animated video and details of a toolkit for children, young people and their families, and practitioners working with them.
Final phase of the childcare expansion
Parents can now apply for codes for children who turn at least 9 months of age by 31 August. Eligible children will be entitled to up to 30 hours a week from 1 September. Parents need to reconfirm their code every 3 months so parents who apply for their code early may need to reconfirm their code before their child takes up their place in September.
If a child is using an existing code this 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.
If parents are already claiming 15 hours working parent funding they will still need to reconfirm at the normal time to maintain the validity of their child’s code; the existing code will update automatically to enable them to claim up to 30 hours.
There is a wide range of childcare offers available to help parents juggle family life, and they all have different eligibility criteria and application processes.
Here’s a quick summary of what is available, to help families apply for the one that fits their family. Remember – they might be able to use more than one offer together.
Share the link below with parents and carers, for more information.
Answering your questions on the supervised toothbrushing programme
The Government has announced £11 million of funding for a Supervised toothbrushing programme targeting the most deprived areas of England to help prevent tooth decay in children.
This fully funded and voluntary scheme for targeted early years settings forms part of the Government’s commitment to give children the best start in life. It also supports good toothbrushing habits at home.
DfE and DHSC want to hear your questions about how the supervised toothbrushing programme will work to help them understand what further information and support would be helpful for providers to get the most out of this scheme.
Submit any questions to foundationyears@beginbright.com before Friday 23 May 2025.
Click the link below for more information on how to promote good oral health to young children in your setting.
Free training opportunities
Nurturing Nutrition: Building healthy foundations in the early years
This free event is your chance to hear from inspiring speakers and discover fresh ideas to enhance nutrition practices in your early years setting.
Hear from expert speakers, including representatives from the DfE and Ofsted. Gain valuable insights to improve nutrition and wellbeing outcomes for children and colleagues in the early years sector.
Thursday 22nd May 2025 4:30 to 6pm via MS Teams
Spaces are limited. Click the link below to book your place via Eventbrite.
EY Workshop - Effective practice for 0-2 year olds
This virtual session is intended to support settings who provide childcare places for children aged 0-2 years. It will focus on high quality practice, environments to enable the development of the age group, and encourage practitioners to reflect on their own development to feel fully equipped to meet the needs of the babies in their care.
It aims to:
- identify practitioner knowledge and skill needed to work with the under 2’s,
- explore a curriculum that supports our youngest children to develop and thrive,
- understand the health, hygiene and safeguarding considerations for this age group,
- understand the importance of a whole family approach.
Tuesday 10 June 2025 6pm to 7:30pm 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.
Transitioning into Reception - support for schools
This workshop, aimed at schools who are due to receive children from early years settings, aims to:-
- help to understand the importance of transition in the early years,
- support children with additional needs / SEND into Reception,
- support parents and families through transition,
- understand what information to receive to support the child’s transition and how to utilise it,
- provide information on funding and further training.
Wednesday 11 June 2025 6pm to 7:30pm via MS Teams or
Wednesday 18 June 2025 9:30 to 11am via MS Teams
All places must be booked through the EY Practitioner Hub. Click your chosen date above to book your place on the EY Practitioner Hub.
Free Wraparound Training
Places are still available on this training aimed at all those delivering before and after school provision in Staffordshire. Benefit from free resources and bespoke support for your before and after school club.
Working closely with children, parents, and providers across Staffordshire we have developed training sessions to ensure that everyone feels confident and happy in their wraparound childcare.
Book onto one of our short Information Sessions via MS Teams to learn more about the Wraparound Pathway. Sessions are the same so you only need to book on one:
All places must be booked through the EY Practitioner Hub. Click your chosen date above to book your place on the EY Practitioner Hub.
Click here to watch our journey in developing the training (YouTube)
Complement this with national training developed by NASAN and Childcare Works SEND and Inclusive Practice - childcareworks.org.uk
If you have any questions email wraptraining@staffordshire.gov.uk
Thrive Together Stronger Practice Hub training
Using EYPP Funding effectively - EEF Guidance document
18 June 2025 9.30 to 10.30am online
Beyond Serve and Return; Keeping Conversations Going
2 July 2025 9.30 to 10.30am online
Creating Inclusive Provision: A toolkit for providers of wraparound childcare, breakfast clubs and holiday activities and food programmes
The DfE has launched ‘Creating Inclusive Provision: A toolkit for providers of wraparound childcare, breakfast clubs and holiday activities and food programmes’, developed in partnership with Mott MacDonald and Nasen.
Creating Inclusive Provision (CIP) is an interactive digital toolkit developed to support schools, private, voluntary and independent providers, childminders in creating inclusive wraparound provision that is accessible to families of primary aged children with special educational needs and disabilities. This includes breakfast clubs, after school childcare and holiday provision.
Click the link below to access the CIP toolkit.
Webinar - It takes a village
Join Laura Henry-Allain MBE, storyteller and educationalist, and others for a free online webinar for educators, teachers, parents, childminders and anyone who is interested in supporting children with their reading.
There has been much research stating that children’s reading is in decline, or that children are just not reading for pleasure. In this webinar, we are bringing together the village to discuss how we can all find ways to support children’s reading in their Early Years and beyond.
Thursday 12 June 7:30 to 9pm
Email admin@laurahenryallain.com to book your place.
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The next wave of the Do Something Big campaign will run from 19 to 14 September 2025, encouraging more people to explore a fulfilling career in early years and childcare.
New adverts include 15-second social videos that challenge common barriers to joining the sector, alongside new content specifically designed to encourage more men to consider working in early years roles. The campaign will be across TV, radio, digital, social media, billboards, and the rail network.
The campaign website also directs thousands of potential applicants to Find A Job every week and you can advertise your roles there for free, which will ensure they are seen by a large pool of candidates.
Watch these video tutorials for help creating a Find a Job account and posting your jobs (make sure you include the term ‘early years’ in your job advert titles and select ‘Education and childcare jobs’ as the job category).
Remember you can also advertise vacancies for free on the Early Years and Childcare careers page on Staffordshire Jobs & Careers website.
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