Early Years News

Wednesday 5 March 2019

In this Issue:

FEEE: Payments: Clarification for term time providers

Training Courses: Still time to book on the Big Conference

Safeguarding: The trilogy of risk

Local News: School readiness

National News: NSPCC campaign

Congratulations to...

Angelica Fernandes in Charnwood district who received an Outstanding Ofsted grade.

The Early Years Improvement Team

The Early Years Improvement Team, led by manager Jennie Bainbridge, consists of Senior Improvement Advisers and Improvement Advisers who provide support and training for early years providers and EYFS practitioners in schools.

Advisers offer support and guidance, focused on quality of practice and provision, to newly registered and established providers, including those where there has been a change of circumstance; support is always tailored to individual need, informed by Ofsted outcomes where relevant.

Advice is offered to all providers on effective inclusive practice and provision; where there are children with emerging needs, advisors can help with the graduated approach, also offering guidance on supporting the needs of vulnerable children and families. A provider helpline is in operation Monday-Friday, offering advice on all aspects of practice and provision.

To access the Early Years Improvement Team please call the Provider Helpline on 0116 305 7136 or email childcare@leics.gov.uk.

FEEE

Clarification for term time providers

If you are a term-time provider, or offer term-time places and claimed for 11 weeks in the spring period (1^st January – 31^st March), please note that you will be able to claim up to a maximum of 12 weeks in the summer period (1^st April – 31^st August). If you are a term –time provider and claimed 12 weeks in the spring period in error, then you will only be able to claim a maximum of 11 weeks in the summer period. This will be re-iterated when we send out the headcount task.

New starters for the summer period

Please note that if you have any new starters entering funding for the summer period, then you will only be able to claim for a maximum of 11 weeks (165 hours for a 15 hour child / 330 hours for a 30 hour child).

2 year funding evidence

Please can we remind you that you should be checking actual evidence of eligibility for this funding, i.e. able to view a letter / email stating a child is eligible before making a claim. If this was authorised by another local authority, i.e. Leicester City, we require a copy of the letter / email to be sent to us either by Anycomms or by post, before the headcount / adjustment tasks have closed. Otherwise, funding will be rejected.

30 hours funding

If you wish to claim 30 hours funding for a period, you must ensure that you check the start dates of the codes by verifying these on the Provider Portal. For example, if you are trying to claim funding for a child in the spring period 2019, then the 30 hour check needs to have been completed by the parent and state a date prior to the 31/12/2018.

For a child trying to claim 30 hours in the summer period 2019, the parent would have needed to complete the check and the start date should state a date no later than the 31/03/2019 and for a child to be eligible in the autumn period 2019, the parent should have checked and the start date needs to be no later than the 31/08/2019.

Any checks that are dated after these cut-off points, will be rejected and reduced to a maximum of 15 hours (universal hours only) – this will depend on if another childcare provider has tried to claim also.

Provider agreement

There has been a delay in sending out the provider agreement, we will send it out as soon as possible with a revised return date.

Training

All of our training is on Eventbrite – please see our guide for using Eventbrite.

The Big Conference – Places still available. Click here to find out more.

March Courses now available to book

Course Code	Course Title	Day	Date	Time	Venue	DirectBook link
8042	SEND training for EY SENCOSs and Managers	Mon	4.3.19 & 11.3.19	9.30am - 12.30pm followed by 9.30am -4.30pm	Park House	Book Now
8003	Quality of Teaching & Learning	Wed	6.3.19	9.30am -4.30pm	Lutterworth Golf Course	Book Now
8028	Signing with Babies	Wed	6.3.19	9.30am - 4.30pm	The Samworth Centre, Melton	Book Now
8034	Understanding the Prime Areas of the EYFS.	Tues	12.3.19	9.30am-12.30pm	Salvation Army, Wigston	Book Now
8017	Safeguarding Children: Designated Safeguarding Lead	Tues	12.3.19	9.30am -4.30pm	DBS Castle Donington	Book Now
8033	Attachment and Trauma	Wed	13.3.19	9.30am-12.30pm	Syston Town Council	Book Now
8007	Autism Education Trust (AET) Early Years (EY) Tier 1 – Making Sense of Autism	Sat	16.3.19	9.30am - 11.30am	DBS Castle Donington	Book Now
8027	Paediatric First Aid in Childcare - 12 Hour	Tues	19.3.19 & 26.3.19	9.30am -4.30pm	The Samworth Centre, Melton	Book Now
8058	English as an Additional Language	Wed	20.3.19	9.30am - 3.30pm	The Samworth Centre, Melton	Book Now
8004	Music & Movement in the Early Years	Thurs	21.3.19	9.30am -4.30pm	The Samworth Centre, Melton	Book Now
8018	Safeguarding Children: Designated Safeguarding Lead	Sat	23.3.19	9.30am -4.30pm	Melton Carnegie Museum	Book Now
8035	Understanding the Prime Areas of the EYFS.	Sat	23.3.19	9.30am-12.30pm	Syston Town Council	Book Now
8059	Signs and Symbols	Sat	23.3.19	9.30am - 3.30pm	George Ward Centre, Barwell	Book Now
8013	Essential Safeguarding Awareness	Sat	23.3.19	9.30am -4.30pm	George Ward Centre, Barwell	Book Now
8014	Essential Safeguarding Awareness	Tues	26.3.19	9.30am -4.30pm	Marlene Reid Centre, Coalville	Book Now
8000	The Creative Brain – Inspiring Creativity in Early Years	Wed	27.3.19	9.30am -4.30pm	County Scout Headquarters, Blaby	Book Now
8044	How to review EHCP	Wed	27.3.19	9.30am - 11.30am	DBS Managed Offices, Glenfield	Book Now
8061	SEND Drop In Event	Wed	27.3.19	9.30am - 12.30pm	Loughborough West childrens Centre	Book Now
8015	Essential Safeguarding Awareness	Wed	27.3.19	9.30am -4.30pm	Syston Town Council	Book Now
8008	Coaching and Mentoring to Enhance and Develop Team Performance	Thurs	28.3.19	9.30am -4.00pm	Melton Carnegie Museum	Book Now
8011	Essential Safeguarding Awareness	Fri	29.3.19	9.30am -4.30pm	DBS Managed Offices, Glenfield	Book Now
8005	Advanced Child Development & the EYFS	Sat	6.4.19	9.30am -4.00pm	Marlene Reid Centre, Coalville	Book Now
8001	Positive Behaviour	Wed	8.5.19	9.30am -4.30pm	The King's Centre, Wigston	Book Now

Partner Training

University of Northampton – FREE Early Years Event in Leicester

On Friday 3^rd May 2019 Programme Leaders from the Early Years Team will be on hand to talk about Early Years courses from Foundation Degrees to Masters.
From 10am – 11am a Foundation Degree Taster Session will be delivered.
From 11:30am – 12:30pm you can speak to course leaders about the various programmes they offer including:-

Foundation Degree (Level 4-5)
Early Childhood Studies Degree (Level 6)
Early Years Initial Teacher Training (Level 6 'status' equivalent to QTS)
Master (MA Level 7)

It will be held at New Parks House, Pindar Road, Leicester, LE3 9RN.
Full details and registration can be found here LINK TO EARLY YEARS INFORMATION EVENT

University of Derby – Early Years Teacher Status (EYTS) with a Post Graduate Certificate in Early Years (PGCE)

Fully Funded (FREE)
£7,000 financial incentive for your setting
12 months to completion whilst continuing in your full time or part time employment
For more information and to apply please click HERE

Safeguarding

Trilogy of risk

There is a suite of materials to raise awareness of the trilogy of risk amongst practitioners across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland on behalf of the Safeguarding Adults and Safeguarding Children's Boards.

The trilogy of risk is Alcohol/Drug Misuse; Domestic Abuse and Mental ill-health. The materials aim to raise awareness that risk is increased when these issues are found together and strengthen working practice to tackle this more effectively.

The materials are available online at http://lrsb.org.uk/trilogy-of-risk and include a short video, PowerPoint Presentation, leaflet and poster.

UK council for internet safety

Safeguarding children and protecting professionals in early years settings: online safety considerations
The Government has published guidance to help those who work in early years settings consider their practice and to take steps to safeguard both children and adults online.

FREE Prevent E-Learning

The Counter Terrorism and Security Act (2015) places a Prevent duty on early years settings "to have due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism". As such, settings should use government Prevent duty guidance in order to demonstrate conformity. Prevent Duty Guidance

HM Government have developed a Prevent e-Learning product to provide an introduction to Prevent aimed at objective two of the Prevent strategy - supporting vulnerable people. The course has been developed to raise awareness of and explain Prevent within the wider safeguarding context. Completion of the Prevent e-Learning will support learners to notice concerns that may make individuals vulnerable to radicalisation, what a proportionate response looks like, as well as the confidence and ability to raise concerns when someone may be at risk.

The course will take learners approximately 40mins – 1hour to complete; timings may vary depending on learners accessing additional supporting content.

The course is completely free of charge and is suitable for all frontline staff.

The course can be accessed here https://www.elearning.prevent.homeoffice.gov.uk/ or via www.educateagainsthate.com

Local News

School readiness

Hopefully, all early years providers have now seen the 'School Readiness. A shared understanding across Leicestershire' booklet and the 'Ready For School?' leaflet for parents and carers.

How do you promote the 'ready for school?' leaflet for parents and carers?
Do you know if your parents and carers have received the leaflet?
How could the leaflet be used to support 1:1 conversations with parents and carers to support transition to school?

The following new 'school readiness' social media messages have been developed to help maintain consistency across all communications activity.

Consider sharing the graphics below on your setting's social media channels, using the link www.leicestershire.gov.uk/school-readiness

Facebook:

Twitter:

Please also follow and promote our social media campaigns and re-tweet or share via

Twitter @LeicsCountyHall Facebook leicscountyhall

New Children and Families and Wellbeing Service and changes to children's centres

Our new Children and Families Wellbeing Service will launch in April.

The new-style 0-19 service will focus on supporting the most vulnerable families in Leicestershire and will bring together four existing services into one.

Although some children's centres will be closing by 31 March, we are busy working with partners and organisations in your area to ensure we are still delivering services in your community.

Where we can, we will make sure that whatever the centres become they will continue to support local children in some way.

More details are in our press release here: www.leicestershire.gov.uk/news/new-children-and-families-wellbeing-service

More information, including which centres will close and where the nearest alternative centres are, is available at www.leicestershire.gov.uk/childrens-centre-update This page will be updated as and when needed.

Anyone with a query can speak to their local children's centre coordinator or email: CFSWellbeingService@leics.gov.uk

National News

Positive interactions and child development

The NSPCC has launched its new Look, Say, Sing, Play campaign. The campaign encourages positive interactions between parents and their babies to help with social, emotional and cognitive development. As part of the campaign the NSPCC has produced a leaflet and a series of posters for professionals working with children and families.