Early years and childcare briefing
February 28th2018
Update – Tax free childcare
Parents whose youngest child is under12 cannow applyforTax Free Childcare.Parents, includingself-employed, can apply online for Tax Free Childcare by visiting thewebsite.For every £8 paid in, the government will add an extra £2, up to £2,000per child per year- that's up to £500 every three monthsFor a disabled child, parents can receive up to £4,000 per child
30 hour offer
Overall-1389 children are taking up extended hours this term.And1474 children currently have an eligible code.All group providers and63 childminders are offering some funded placesWeexpect foster carers’ own 3 and 4 year olds to be eligible for the funding from Sept 2018
30 hour offer
Parents mustapply in good time for 30 hours ahead of the summer term.Someparents will need to provide additional evidence to HMRC that they are eligible so it is essential that they apply in good time.To ensure that parents receive their codes in advance of the 31 March deadline, the childcare service will begin to offer temporary codes to parents who experience technical problems fromThursday1stMarch
30 hour offer
Parentswho are having difficulties completing their application or reconfirmationonline should contactthe helpline on 0300 123 4097, who will check eligibility and provide them with a temporary code if they qualify for 30 hours.Thesecodes need to be validated via the Eligibility Checking System (ECS) in the same way as standard codes.Thetemporary codes begin with ‘11’ as opposed to ‘500’
2 year old offer
Recent consultation on potential earnings limit for those families in receipt of Universal CreditHouseholdsreceiving universal credit and earning less than £15,400 a year will be eligible for two-year-oldfunding - start date expected to be April 1stWe will not be issuing ‘Golden Tickets’ from the March DWP list as it may include families who do not meet the new income threshold.Thegovernment estimates thatover the next 5 years,7,000 more childrennationally willbe eligible for this funding than under the currentscheme79.1% of Southampton’s eligible 2 year olds are currently accessing funded early education
Consultation on our support offer
Low response to consultationHowever formal responses echoed verbal feedbackConcerns about reduction in supportA wide range of universal support is availablePlus targeted support and our enhanced offerIf you’re not sure- email or ‘phone usfis@southampton.gov.uk023 8083 3014
Universal support
PROVIDER DROP IN SURGERIES-representatives of all parts of Early years and childcare team available25thApril (Startpoint Sholing 1pm – 3pm / 4pm – 6pm / 6.30pm – 8.30pm)12thJune (Ashby Centre 2pm – 4.30pm / 5.30pm – 8pm)26thSeptember (Ashby Centre 1pm – 3pm / 4pm – 6.00pm / 6.30pm – 8.30pm)15thNovember (Startpoint Sholing 10am – 1pm / 2pm – 5pm / 6pm – 8pm)EARLYYEARS AND CHILDCARE INFORMATIONBRIEFING SESSION9thOctober (Southampton City Art Gallery 4.30pm – 6.30pm / 6.50pm – 8.30pm)
Funding
New rates from April 2018, based on the information you supplied around flexibility, qualification level and EAL, plus IDACINew Conditions of Funding agreements out shortly60 three and four year olds have been funded to date via DAFFromApril 1styou can reapply for thosethree andfour year olds still in your settingInclusion support fund available for pre-EHCP (emerging SEND) for 3 and 4 year olds- application form on SID
Funding- response to consultation
99% of you would prefer to have monthly paymentsAnd you would prefer to be paid at the start of the month75% of you would prefer 12 payments a year, rather than 11 (this included preschools, childminders and nurseries)We will start monthly payments from April 2018April and May payments will be based on Spring term figures, but using new funding rateJune payment will include any back-pay and adjustments
Funding - audits
Audits have recommencedWe aim to audit 10% of funded provision each yearAudit visit will be with Funding team and Development team/EYAT10 days’ notice of visit to allow you time to be able to easily access the information needed
Funding
Please notify the funding team if you have to close a session due to an unexpected issue, eg no heating, floodingAlso let them know if you have to close/reduce numbers due to your premises being used as a polling stationOur 2, 3 and 4 year olds are entitled to 570 /1140 funded hours; you need to make every effort to make up the hoursAnd let the funding team know when a child leaves or is absent for more than 2 weeks
Recruitment and retention
March 6th4-8pm – SCC Children and Families division recruitment event at Civic centreRaising awareness of working in early years and childcarePromoting any of your vacanciesBooking is via Eventbrite- details on SCC websitehttps://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/children-families-service-open-evening-and-recruitment-event-free-event-tickets-42905663996
‘Stay Well Pharmacy ‘
NHS campaign:Aimsto raise public awareness of the services offered bypharmaciesAnd for people to see them as thefirst place to go to for clinical advice and treatment for minor health concerns, such as coughs, colds and tummytroublesResources available fromCampaign Resource Centre (CRC)
Schools admissions
SCC school admissions team have been unable to send out the lists of those children due to start at school this September whose parents/carers haven’t applied for a placePlease encourage all parents/carers to applyIf you have a parent/carer with a summer- born child who is considering decelerating entry into school, a request must be made to the admission authorityDeceleration can have ramifications – eg a new parental request must be made at each transition, and this might not be agreed.
Piggles Trust
Following the news last year about a recently formed charity, Piggles Trust, the first hospital-based nursery nurse in the country has been appointed at Southampton Children’s Hospital.Launchedby Caroline and Edward after the death of their daughter four-year-old Harriet, a former cardiac patient at Southampton Children’s Hospital who died suddenly from an unrelated infection last year.Priorto the charity being set up, there was no provision for delivering pre-school education for children aged two to five while they are in hospital – despite as we know this being a crucial age for learning and development. This meant that whilst Harriet was in hospital for 7 months whilst receiving treatment, she had no access to pre-school.
Piggles Trust
Piggles Trust are working with Taplins Childcare to fund a Nursery Nurse to go into hospital and deliver Early Years Education to children who will be in hospital for more than two weeks, or to their well siblings. This is either at their bedside on a 1:1 basis, or in small groups in the play rooms.This is the first such project in the country, although the long term aim is to have a team of nursery nurses working in each hospital.The EYFS is followed and as in all Early Years settings we get to know the child and their family, find out their developmental stage and likes/ dislikes then plan activities to help support them in reaching their next developmental stage.We link with any other setting the child normally attends, and also use Tapestry and record keep as we would in nursery.
Piggles Trust
Beforestarting this project we worked with lots of different professionals (such as the play specialists) to help us to plan for this service, for example learning the effect of various medications on a child’s behaviour.Beforestaff take part in the project, they have to meet certain standards of experience/ qualification. We have also designed and set up specific training to support staff in their roles.We have worked with 10 children since we started this project on 6-12-17, and have had really positive feedback from the children, their families and hospital staff.If you would like more information, please see the stand or contact Anna Rixon at Taplins.
Training offer
This term:Twilight sessionsBespoke trainingWorkforce development:Safeguarding:Weekly Wednesday Workshops:
Weekly Wednesday Workshops
Free to allOn a variety of subjectsHeld at Civic centreegFabricated and InducedIllness, May 2nd12 noon to 2pm,And TheStop Loan SharksProject, May 23rdBook places viaLSCB website
Safeguarding training
Level 2Thursday evenings 17 and 24 May2018, 6.30- 9.30pmStart PointSholingSubsidised price for Southampton Early Years and Childcare PVIsettings- £65 Early Bird (book 2 months before course) and £80 usual price.Safer recruitmentTuesday 19 June2018,9.15am-4pm. Startpoint Sholing- £75 Early Bird and £90 usual price
Spring and summer training plan
Workforce development training
Tuesday 20thMarchOutdoor FunWednesday 28thMarch(half day)Using psychology to promote positive behaviour – A focus on social communication needs, including autismThursday 26thApril(half day)Using psychology to promote behaviour – A focus on sensory needs and processingFriday 30thApril(half day)What does psychology have to tell us about how to help children and young people achieve good goals?
Training offer
Courses are being planned; then some are cancelled due to low take-upThe freetermlyInclusion ConferenceforSENDCos was verywell attended (78 attendees across 3 sessions)andthe Childminder Inclusion Conference had 33attendees6 twilight sessions course on ‘Individual SEND support’ had 23 attendees200 plus attended our conference last Autumn
Training offer
In small groups:Are there courses we aren’t offering that you would like?Why has the number of bookings reduced?What could we do to encourage higher attendance?
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