Early Years & Childcare Service Bulletin - Term 3 - 2024

Welcome and Introduction Alex Gamby

Happy New Year, welcome to a new term and a new year!

I think that I can just about sneak in under the radar with a ‘happy new year’, approaching the end of January – can I?! Last time I wrote to you it was just a few days away from the start of December and you would have all been immersed in Christmas ‘stuff’. I hope that you all had a wonderful time with your children and their families, enjoying together various Christmas festivities and celebrations. And here we are, in the blink of an eye it feels like, with all of that and the new year firmly behind us, now doing our collective best to ‘ready and steady’ ourselves for what I am sure will be a very fullon 2024.

New Entitlements and Wraparound Provision

Hopefully you will have been receiving and been able to find time to read our communications relating to the expansion of the Early Education and Childcare Entitlements. We will (continue to) update you as appropriate and necessary and continue to be aware that the information you want to know as soon as possible is what the funding rates will be with effect from April 2024. From communications and/or if you were able to attend one of Kent County Council’s (KCC’s) recent Funding Consultation Sessions, you will be aware that this is expected mid to late February. We are also in the process of updating the Kent Provider Agreement and plan for this to be with you also by mid to late February, plus we hope to be able to share with you before too long, information about how and when any capital funding might be available for additional Free Entitlement places and/or Wraparound Provision. Please do bear with us as we work through the processes and systems essential to determining such things as these. We have taken the decision to reschedule our Spring Term Briefing and Networking Sessions from February to March to maximise the amount of information we are able to share at this point.

KCC Early Years Review

On 16 January, KCC’s Cabinet Committee received a report about the findings of the Early Years Review, with a recommendation being agreed to ‘undertake a public consultation on a new model of universal, targeted and specialist support for settings, including a new process to access SENIF funding’. When this consultation launches, we will bring it to your attention, so at that point please do engage with it.

In the meantime, please do take care, staying warm (from the cold), dry (from the wet) and safe (from the winds).

Yours, as ever

Kent Early Years and Childcare Provider Association

The Early Years and Childcare Provider Association met on Monday 22 January and was able to:

• provide views and engage in discussions about issues and challenges appertaining to the New Free Entitlements and Wraparound Provision

• hear from KCC about its Early Years Review and in particular the intention to consult (as aforementioned) on a new model of universal, targeted and specialist support for settings, including a new process to access SENIF funding, providing some early thoughts and views on this

• receive an update on the Kent Early Years Stronger Practice Hub (please continue to keep an eye out for communications about this)

• feed back from provider discussions at the October Briefing and Networking Sessions, which majored on the range of issues and challenges with which we are all well acquainted.

The Association next meets in March, ahead of which your representatives (see below) should be available at the next round of Briefing and Networking Sessions.

Representation - Name

Ashford - Nicola Bellman (Vice Chair)

Canterbury – Sally Heath

Representation - Name

Thanet – Marc Rattigan

Tonbridge and Malling – Debbie Jones

Dartford – Charlotte Roles Tunbridge Wells – Hayley Coombes

Dover – Penny Seward

Childminders – Lucy Norman

Folkestone & Hythe – Lisa Evans (Chair) Out of School Childcare – Denise Howard

Gravesham – Lynne Tomlinson

Maidstone – Julie Miles

Sevenoaks - Tracey McCartney

Swale – Michelle Matthews

National News and Updates

Childminding Representative East KentGemma Maclachlan

Childminding Representative North KentAbiola Agboro

Childminding Representative West KentVacancy

Childminding Representative South Kent –Carly Browne

Changes to the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Framework for Early Years Providers from January 2024

We emailed the sector last month with information about the two new EYFS statutory

frameworks and are now including in this bulletin should anyone have missed the information.

EYFS statutory framework for Childminders

EYFS statutory framework for group and school-based providers

The EYFS framework also includes early years qualification requirements and standards

Providers are responsible for ensuring that they follow the current version of the framework for their provider type. More information can be found on the Foundation Years website.

The Department for Education (DfE) has provided posters and information sheets to highlight these changes.

All early years settings: Poster about the changes

Childminders: Information sheet about the changes

Group and school-based settings: Information sheet about the changes

BBC Children in Need Emergency Essentials Programme

BBC Children in Need Emergency Essentials Programme supports children and young people who are facing exceptionally difficult circumstances and is delivered by Family Fund Business Services. The programme provides items that meet a child’s most basic needs such as a bed to sleep in, a cooker to provide a hot meal and other items or services critical to a child’s wellbeing.

All applications must be made by a registered referrer.

Further details including the scheme eligibility criteria is available on the Family Fund Services website

Anti-choking Devices

We continue to receive enquiries from providers in relation to the use of anti-choking devices. It would be inappropriate for the Early Years & Childcare Service to make any comments or recommendations in relation to the use of devices. We are, however, signposting you to GOV.UK and the NHS websites for suitable advice in relation to this issue as follows:

Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/baby/first-aid-and-safety/first-aid/how-to-stop-a-childfrom-choking/

Asthma Training

Asthma is the most common long-term medical condition in children and young people and sadly, every year, children continue to avoidably die from asthma. The NHS has training available for all who care for children and young people with asthma to help improve their understanding and awareness of the issue.

We have been asked to encourage anyone who supports children and young people to complete this free online training. This may include, but is not limited to:

• teachers and school support staff

• youth workers

• children’s group leaders (eg wraparound and holiday clubs, uniform groups, sports and hobby clubs)

• staff working in children and family centres

• social care and housing staff

• parents, carers and friends of young people with asthma.

Early Years Educator Apprenticeships

The DfE has launched a digital and social media campaign promoting Early Years Educator apprenticeships.

There are two levels of entry:

• Level Two Early Years Practitioner

• Level Three Early Years Educator

More details can be found on the links below.

Apprenticeships – Early Years Educator

Apprenticeships – Early Years Career Starter

The campaign aims to encourage people to embark on a career in early years/childcare and there are supporting materials for you to download and share.

Key messages for the campaign are:

• be somebody children look up to and learn valuable leadership, communication and planning skills

• spark children’s imaginations and make a difference to their development

• develop valuable skills in a fun environment, while advancing your professional development

• connect with children and learn valuable skills while getting paid

• build on your experience as a parent and earn as you learn

For more information about apprenticeships visit https://www.apprenticeships.gov.uk/

For more information on recruitment or to advertise a post https://www.theeducationpeople.org/our-expertise/early-years-childcare/recruitmenthub/

For further information or advice email EYCRecruitmentHub@theeducationpeople.org

Childminding as a Flexible and Rewarding Career Choice

Childminding offers a great opportunity for people who would like to embark on their first childcare and education role, and for those who are already experienced in the field.

Childminding is a unique career in childcare in which you are self-employed and run your own childcare business. Childminders have the opportunity to shape their childcare setting in the way they want to.

Registered childminders offer professional home-from-home childcare and early education, looking after small groups of children. Some work full time, some part time, and can care for their own children alongside those that they childmind, ensuring ratio requirements are adhered to.

However, not all childminders work from home! Some childminders work in partnership with others at another home premises, and others choose to split their time between their home setting and somewhere else (up to a maximum of 50% of their working time). This means that you can design your business model in a way that works for you, for example, incorporating a forest school approach.

For further information access our FREE Childminding Briefing Webinar

In March 2023 the DfE announced the introduction of start-up grants for anyone registering as a childminder between the 15 March 2023 and the 31 March 2025. Start-up grants of £600 for those registering with Ofsted and £1200, payable in two separate amounts, for those registering with an agency. The intent of these grants is to help new childminders recover some of the costs of training and registering to become a registered childminder.

For more information, including how to apply, access the Government’s Childminder Start-up Grant information.

Coming Soon: National Early Years and Childcare Recruitment Campaign

The DfE will soon be launching the early years recruitment campaign and is asking Local Authorities to share the instructions for providers to support them with navigating the DWP’s Find a Job vacancy platform. A document is attached to this bulletin.

The aim of the campaign is to promote early years and childcare careers by highlighting the huge difference early years professionals make to young children and how rewarding working in the sector can be.

The campaign, with its own dedicated website, will direct potential applicants to use DWP’s Find a Job vacancy platform to search for early years, childcare and wraparound roles in their area.

The DfE has advised that providers should use the term ‘early years’ in the title of their job adverts and select ‘Education jobs’ for the job category

This service is free to use and will ensure vacancies are seen by a large pool of potential candidates.

Kent News and Updates

Kent Bookstart

The latest Kent Bookstart Annual Report is now available and is attached to this bulletin. Find out about Bookstart’s different initiatives, the new free Bookstart Toddler and Pre-schooler packs, what free additional needs packs are available and how Kent Libraries support other areas of work with early years children and their families/carers.

How have you and your children/families used theirs? We’d love to know – send your feedback and any requests for further information to bookstart@kent.gov.uk

Father Inclusive Practice Guidance

The Kent Safeguarding Children Multi-Agency Partnership has recently launched a Father Inclusive Practice Guidance. Whilst it was written with safety as the focus, it has a broader generic reach with some useful messages for all in early years education including ancillary staff.

This guidance has been put together with a working group from a variety of organisations as the summary says, “This guidance has been developed to support the inclusion of fathers in a holistic approach to service design and delivery. This guidance is a suggested approach, including top tips for practice and resources to

help families and our professional community, to work together to ensure we each play our part in understanding the importance of better including fathers in our work.”

These are direct links to a One-Minute Guide and Engaging with Fathers Checklist

The following are ten Father Inclusive Practice tips within the One-Minute Guide which are useful to share and discuss with your staff team with the aim of enhancing the inclusion of fathers.

• Include fathers from the outset.

• Recognise the value of fathers to children.

• Be open-minded. Gain and consider all parents’/carers’ perspectives, giving due weight equally.

• Understand the paternal network through using genograms (diagrams illustrating a person’s family members, how they are related, medical history).

• Ensure you assess mothers and fathers in terms of risk and resource, while acknowledging children can never be assessed as protective factors for mothers and fathers.

• When working with fathers from black and minority ethnic groups, be culturally curious and talk with the father about what it means to be a father from their cultural perspective.

• Consider how unconscious bias may be influencing your own and your organisation’s engagement with fathers.

• Recognise the importance of the father in a child’s life, even when there is no father currently with the family. This will create an opportunity to talk to children about their understanding of their paternal identity and how the absence of the father has affected the family.

• Be prepared to engage with men and support them to develop their parenting skills and address any addictions, mental health problems or violence, and understand any root causes of these behaviours.

• Safety planning should consider the family safety and the practitioners. Raise any issues with your line manager and complete sector specific risk assessments, for example, Safe Lives: Identifying the risk victims face

The New Working Parents Entitlements

Have you seen the email that Management Information (MI) sent to all providers signed up to deliver the early years and childcare entitlements? This included an attachment with additional information from the DfE about the issue some parents have been facing in applying for the new two-year-old working parents entitlement.

If parents already have a Tax-Free Childcare account and their reconfirmation window opens on or after the 15 February, they will receive a letter from HMRC before this date with a code. The letter will provide a valid temporary code and instructions on how to use it to claim their entitlement.

The attachment (sent with this bulletin) also includes some FAQs for parents to help you answer any questions you receive on this issue.

We are also in the process of compiling a FAQ document for providers, which once completed, will be uploaded to the Kelsi website.

Kent Safeguarding Children Multi-Agency Partnership (KSCMP) Positive Practice Report

In September 2021, the Kent Safeguarding Children Multi-Agency Partnership (KSCMP) Business Team undertook a deep-dive analysis into Non-Accidental Injury (NAI) in under ones in response to an unprecedented number of referrals to the national Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel (CSPRP) during that summer. The deep-dive report was presented to the Executive Board, who endorsed the recommendation to pursue a positive practice review of cases sharing similar risk characteristics, that had ended with positive outcomes.

The full report is attached to the email through which this bulletin is being sent out.

Compliance – Fake Registers

We have been made aware of a possibility that some providers may be keeping a fake register for compliance purposes. Whilst we are sure that this cannot be the case, we thought it prudent to remind all providers of the seriousness of this type of action.

The creation of a fake register, or the falsifying of any document to secure Free Early Education funding, would constitute as fraud and be referred to KCC’s Fraud Team and to the Police. In addition, as per the Kent Provider Agreement section 18.8:

‘Accounting practices indicating deliberate fraud that are notified to The Education People and KCC by any agency or person. Depending on the nature and extent of the fraud, the provider may be suspended from the Kent Directory either immediately, or at the end of the term in which the fraudulent practice was confirmed’.

Would You Like to Become an Oral Health Champion?

The role of an Oral Health Champion commits you to:

• being an advocate for the importance of oral health in your setting

• promoting young children's knowledge and understanding of oral health

• sharing information for best practice and evidence-based, up-to-date recommendations from the Oral Health Professionals Team

• providing a point of contact for families and colleagues, answering questions about oral health, signposting, escalating issues and giving feedback

• accessing learning resources, campaigns posters etc, circulated every three months.

For further information email the team on kentchft.oralhealthkent@nhs.net and visit our webpage

Become a Healthy Start Champion!

The Kent Healthy Start Champion Training gives those supporting young families the key information needed about the Healthy Start scheme. Help make sure vulnerable families don’t miss out because of a lack of awareness of the initiative. The training takes 15 minutes and can be done at any time. The scheme provides free vitamins and support worth up to £1230 per child to buy healthy food.

For more information please email helping.hands@kent.gov.uk

Focus on Out of School Providers

Annual Conversation dates are now being offered for 2024. The principle aim of these visits is to reduce the risk of falling below a ‘met’ judgement at your next Ofsted inspection. During these visits there is the opportunity to explore and understand your approach to the monitoring of the quality of provision, the safeguarding and welfare requirements and its place within the self-evaluation and setting improvement. In addition to the Annual Conversation visits, we continue to support newly registered out of school settings until their first Ofsted inspection. If you have any questions about our visits, please email the EY Improvement mailbox EYImprovement@theeducationpeople.org

Ofsted inspectors are carrying out inspections across Kent. Themes that are coming from inspection reports are as follows:

• all staff, including new staff and volunteers, must have a sound knowledge of all aspects of safeguarding, including allegations against staff, reporting, recording, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), Prevent and Radicalisation

• recruitment procedures, including staff references, employment history and all staff documentation relating to safer recruitment and checks that demonstrate that staff are suitable to work with children

• qualifications and ratios of staff who care for children in the early years foundation stage (under the age of reception).

We will continue to provide updates of themes arising from inspection throughout 2024 in this bulletin.

Focus on Childminders

National Storytelling Week 27 January to 4 February

This is a great opportunity to reflect on, and further promote storytelling at your setting and with your families.

Storytelling can be an exciting and inspiring experience. Having the flexibility to create your own stories can allow stories to be personalised for the children you are with by including favourite toys, pets, familiar people, and of course, the children themselves You don't always need books to tell a story.

Storytelling promotes children’s communication and language development; it can encourage new vocabulary and enable children to experiment with new words. It also has a positive impact on children’s confidence and self-esteem giving children the opportunity to explore their own imaginations.

What do you do already and how could you do even more?

Consider the following:

Do you make up stories, perhaps using props to allow the children to make suggestions?

Do you encourage children to act out stories?

Do children share their favourite stories from home? And do you share children’s favourite stories from your setting with families?

Do you have somewhere cosy where children can enjoy sharing books and stories together?

Is there mark making available for children to draw pictures or create props to use in their stories, for example, treasure maps?

Can children use their imagination to tell stories themselves, perhaps using a soft toy or puppet to support this?

We would love to hear about your storytelling experiences; please share them on our Facebook page

Emporium has a wide selection of resources to promote books, stories and storytelling. Take a look at their website and maybe become a member.

Information to Share with Families

The Education People’s Early Years & Childcare Service is conducting a survey on behalf of Kent County Council, of parents/carers and expectant parents to determine interest in the childcare entitlements that are being introduced this year and their arrangements for wraparound care of any primary school aged children. The survey will also gather the views of parents/carers using or wanting to use more childcare in Kent. This combined information will help us assess where there are gaps in

provision. We would be very grateful if you could support us with maximising the reach of this survey by sharing the QR code below with families in your settings, any other stakeholders you may have and if appropriate your own family and friends who access or want to access childcare in Kent.

Good Practice Thinking

When have you had time to muse, ponder, cogitate, or ruminate? When have you sat back and seriously thought about something or had that chance to think?

Where do you think best - while walking, sitting under a favourite tree, staring into space, in the car? Busy lives may get in the way but thinking is a creative process that needs time to develop.

Considering the children in your care, are they just standing doing nothing or are they thinking; are they working out possible solutions to a problem, wondering why something is happening. How much time do we give the children we have in our care to sit and think, wonder or consider possible opportunities and outcomes?

There are three main types of thinking: Convergent - using logic, Divergent - using imagination and Lateral - using both logic and imagination.

Building thinking skills happens through our everyday interactions, talking to our children, in the open-ended questions we are asking and the opportunities we present to allow our children to experiment and problem solve.

Our role as the adult is also important; we need to tune into our children and listen to them carefully. It’s important to show genuine interest in what they are doing or saying whilst respecting their thoughts and ideas. To take this further we can consider recapping their thoughts by saying, “so you did this and then that happened” and then clarifying, “so you think the stone will sink when we put it in the water”.

Some other examples of thought-provoking questions include the following.

• What does ...look like?

• Why did this happen?

• What could you use this for?

• What would you do differently?

• What makes you think that?

• Can you think of a better way to..?

These encourage your children’s thinking processes and not yours. As caring adults we like to problem solve and resolve issues for children but by doing this we are stopping children from thinking for themselves. Again, sometimes when an adult becomes involved in an activity, the children they are with may be more inclined to say they can’t do something, but when the children are working with each other they are less likely to question their ability and often mimic each other, gaining confidence in their abilities.

Through different experiences the children gain confidence to create and challenge new ideas. This enables them to look at alternative ways, not always accepting the first answer and to recognise what they thought might happen is not always what does.

Allowing children to think and not jumping in with answers or solutions, allowing them to come up with ideas themselves and trying them out, will allow a child to later be able to reflect on what they did and give them the opportunity to do something differently next time.

The environment is also fundamental in that this is where you provide opportunities for play, investigation, discovery, awe and wonder. Counting, climbing, tea in the role play and playing in the sand and water in turn can all support children’s thinking. Consider how your children interact with their environment, develop ways in which you can instigate problems or provoke an idea using engaging and exciting activities, both planned and unexpected, to stimulate and challenge children’s thinking.

Based on the ‘The Thinking Child Training’ TEP

Further Reading:

Higher Order Thinking By: Alice Thomas, Glenda Thorne

Blooms Taxonomy - https://abcdoes.com/abc-does-a-blog/2015/05/03/will-yourreception-class-be-hot-this-summer/

Briefing and Networking Sessions

Our regular Early Years & Childcare Briefing and Networking Sessions provide a good opportunity to keep your setting and staff up to date and to network with colleagues from other settings. At the most recent round in October, across all sessions, 12% of delegates rated the sessions as ‘outstanding’ and 82% as ‘good’.

Why not book a place on the next round of sessions and benefit from the opportunity to network and hear important updates? In line with provider feedback and to maximise ability to attend, these sessions will continue to be held virtually via Zoom and you can access your place by clicking on the titles below.

Please note: We have postponed these sessions until March in order to be able to share with you the latest updates regarding the New Entitlements and the hourly rates following the consultation for the Local Early Years Funding Formula 2024-25.

We are also running an additional evening Briefing and Networking Session specifically for eligible childminders and out of school settings who may find it difficult to attend the weekday afternoon sessions. EYC Briefing and Networking – Childminders and Out of School

13 March 7.30 – 9.30 pm

Contact Us

Alex Gamby

Head of Early Years & Childcare

Threads of Success

Threads of Success Recruitment Hub

Sufficiency and Sustainability

Education for Sustainable Development

Improvement and Standards

Equality and Inclusion

Collaborations

Childminding

Emporium

Workforce Development

Kent Children & Families Information Service

Management Information/Free for Two Team

KELSI

Schools e-bulletin

Alex.gamby@theeducationpeople.org

https://www.theeducationpeople.org/our-expertise/earlyyears-childcare/threads-of-success/ ThreadsofSuccess@theeducationpeople.org

https://www.theeducationpeople.org/our-expertise/earlyyears-childcare/recruitment-hub/

sufficiencyandsustainability@theeducationpeople.org

esd@theeducationpeople.org

eycimprovementservices@theeducationpeople.org

eyinclusion@theeducationpeople.org

eycollaborations@theeducationpeople.org

childminding@theeducationpeople.org

emporium@theeducationpeople.org

earlyyearsworkforce.ask@theeducationpeople.org

kentcfis@theeducationpeople.org

miearlyyears@kent.gov.uk

http://www.kelsi.org.uk

http://www.kelsi.org.uk/working_in_education/news.aspx