Early Years News
January 6, 2023
In this news we share information about
- Winter Infections Resources from UKHSA
- Ofsted regulation information
- Helping families access childcare
- DfE Child Development Training (free)
- Immunisation for one-year olds
- HAF- holiday activities update
Winter Infections Resources from UKHSA
As you will be aware there are lots of infections about and a campaign to reduce the spread of infection. Public Health in Solihull have asked us to share the attached resources with you.
A collection of guidance on how Ofsted regulates childcare.
Early years and childcare registration -Guidance for Ofsted staff on registering childcare providers and childminder agencies which you might find useful.
Helping families access childcare
Over a million families in the UK are entitled to support with the costs of childcare from the government, but many are missing out because they do not realise they are eligible or the childcare providers in their area haven’t signed up to accept the various offers.
This also means that many childcare providers are missing out on boosting their businesses by increasing demand as they aren’t accessible to families who use government childcare offers.
To try and support as many parents as possible, particularly at a time when the cost of living is a concern to people, DfE are continuing the campaign to increase awareness of the support families could be entitled to, along with the number of childcare providers who are accessible to parents using the different kinds of offers. The local authority have been asked to share information with you to support this.
The Childcare Provider Information and Communications toolkit (here) provides a step-by-step guide for providers to ensure that they have all the correct elements in place to accept families using government childcare support, along with promotional resources to advertise that they are accessible to those using the offers to families in their area.
https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/providers/communications-toolkit/
Department for Education’s new free early years child development training
The Department for Education is launching its new early years child development training. The course is primarily aimed at:
- early years practitioners
- childminders
- nursery managers
However, the training is available to anyone who may find it useful, including parents and carers.
About the training
The aim of the training is to help practitioners improve their knowledge and understanding of child development. It gives practical advice for supporting children in early years settings. The training builds on the reforms to the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework. It supports DfE aims of improving outcomes for children at age 5.
The first 4 modules of the training (there will be 10 in total) available now are:
1 – Understanding child development and the EYFS
2 – Brain development and how children learn
3 – Supporting children’s personal, social and emotional development
4 – Supporting language development in the early years
Each module should take between 1.5-2 hours to complete.
Have you signed up for the DfE Early Years Professional Development Programme https://www.earlyyearspdp.com/ to support improved outcomes in early language, early mathematics and Personal, Social and Emotional Development (PSED)? PDP are accepting registrations for February 2023 training.
Personal, social and emotional development | Early Years in Mind | Anna Freud Centre
There are some great reflective exercises in the document linked above which will complement the PSE modules referenced above. We know this is an area many children will benefit from as you reflect on your curriculum.
For example
As a group exercise with staff, you could ask ‘in what ways does our early years setting reflect a range of cultural identities?’ and ‘how do we use play materials, books, instruments, and food to help children learn about different cultures?’
Immunisation at 1 year of age
A leaflet to remind parents to get children immunised at one year of age.
HAF- holiday activities and food
Holiday help: holiday activity clubs continue in 2023 – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Government confirms funding for holiday activities and food programme for 2023, supporting hundreds of thousands of children from low-income families. This programme runs alongside the household support fund which supports vulnerable households through small payments for food, clothing, and utilities.
https://www.solihull.gov.uk/here2help for help in Solihull.
You may have seen in the news that the government childcare reforms have been delayed indefinitely. At a time when you have a lot of leadership and management decisions to make, I imagine this is good news for many.
We hope 2023 brings health and happiness for you all. You know where we are if you need us.