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 Cambridgeshire Early Years, Childcare, and School Readiness Service

News Round-Up

 September 2024

Welcome to our first new-look newsletter for the academic year.

Over the summer we have taken time to read every response and comment and will follow up with individuals where it is useful to do so. In addition, we wanted to address a few common themes in the feedback by providing the following reminders:

Membership Offer – It is not too late to sign up for a membership package. There are membership options available for all types of providers, including new additional packages specifically designed to support expanding providers and wrap-around providers. There are discounts available for multi-package membership, and a ‘combined’ package available for schools running provision for early years children in the two to five age range.

Professional Development Programme – We offer a wide range of training courses covering many aspects of early years pedagogy and practice. If you have taken out a membership package for 2024 - 2025 you may be able to exchange credits for our ‘Cambridgeshire Essentials’ courses or take advantage of 40% off the listed course price.

SEND training – In addition to our Professional Development Programme, training offered through SEND Services 0-25 may be of interest to practitioners working with children with SEND. SEND Services offers a range of Autism Education Training (AET):

• AET, Good Autism Practice in Early Years.
• AET, Making Sense of Autism Early Years.

These courses can be booked via the SEND Online calendar booking (bookingbug.com).

As of mid-July 2024, 97% of inspected group-based providers (on the Early Years Register) and 98% of Childminders had a current overall rating of “Good” or “Outstanding”. Both these percentages are above national outcomes for the comparable groups.

Councillor Bryony Goodliffe, Chair of the Children and Young People Committee, comments "Early years are so important for children’s development and ensuring a good start in life. We are delighted to see Ofsted recognise the work carried out by our Cambridgeshire pre-schools, day nurseries and childminders."

Comment from the recently published report, "Leaders are ambitious to help all children build secure foundations so that they can make the most of their future education."

The publication is also for childcare providers to inform them about Ofsted’s inspection processes and procedures. Further details on what early years providers need to know about inspection and the early years foundation stage (EYFS) can be found in the document, 'Ofsted EIF inspections and the EYFS.' 

Additional resources, covering ratios, how inspectors get the views of parents and how Ofsted gives feedback on inspection can be viewed on their YouTube playlist: early years FAQs for providers and practitioners.

The campaign directs potential applicants to use the Department for Work and Pensions' 'Find a job' vacancy platform to search for early years roles in their area.

CambsEYC would be grateful for your support in ensuring as many early years providers as possible list their vacancies on 'Find a job.' This service is free to use and will ensure vacancies are seen by a large pool of potential candidates. Please note, to use the term ‘early years’ in the title of the job adverts and select ‘Education jobs’ for the job category.

• To adapt, re-model or improve existing childcare provision to enable providers to accommodate a wider range of needs or age groups.
• To purchase fixed assets such as building modifications to enable the use of space outside the main school/setting operating hours, e.g., secure external access, and provide additional toileting facilities.
• To purchase new physical assets such as a minibus (to support a hub model of wraparound provision) or play equipment (including outdoor play equipment).

Details of the process can be found in the Market Position Statement on the Learn Together website, along with a copy of the application form.

If you did complete the survey last term, a huge ‘Thank you.’ Having this up-to-date information means that we can appreciate your current circumstances and plan appropriately.

If you did not complete the survey, we would urge you to do so at the earliest opportunity. Having this up-to-date information means that we can appreciate your current circumstances and plan appropriately.

To complete the survey, please follow the links below:

• Settings Early years survey 2024.
• Childminders Early years survey 2024 - Childminders.

Please submit responses by 12 noon on Monday, 7 October 2025.

The toolkit supports provisions to develop and maintain a dependable, accurate, and efficient process of observation, planning and assessment in practice. This includes understanding a child’s journey, schematic play, effective record keeping, and reflecting on progress along with other key areas to support assessment.

You will notice the name change on the Knowledge Hub and several of our newly released policies and documents. We are making our way through updating all in time.

This does not affect the role as the title has been changeable for some time but clarifies the importance of our position with working with children.

All policies and procedures have been reviewed for the autumn term and are available on the Designated Safeguarding Lead Knowledge Hub page for you to use as needed. If you have a company policy, you must include the local safeguarding partners' processes within the policy in line with EYFS 2024.

Please ensure you are reviewing any training needs that you may require and book as early as possible to ensure you can reserve a space – as a reminder, 'Child Protection Information Networks' are coming up on:

• Monday, 25 November 2024 from 6 pm to 8 pm
• Tuesday, 26 November 2024 from 12 pm to 2 pm

Booking and reservations for Early Years Workforce Development (bookingbug.com).

This is essential to enable services to contact the parents and offer support. If you have any questions about referring a child to Early Support, please contact the team at early.support@cambridgeshire.gov.uk.

SENIF – The next deadline for new SENIF requests is Friday, 11 October 2024, please ensure new SENIF requests are submitted using the provider portal by this deadline. If requesting rate three, please remember to include a copy of the child’s latest risk assessment. Requests received will be discussed at a SENIF panel in October ready for funding to commence after October.

CambsEYC has created 20 bags which can be loaned to providers for up to six months free of charge. All we ask is that you agree to look after the resources (you may be asked to contribute to the replacement of lost or broken items).

Each bag contains a Mantra Lingua digital PEN PAL (complete with 8GB micro-SD card, rechargeable batteries, USB cable and recordable labels) and a key phrases card to support conversations in the initial stages of building your relationships with new families and children.

If you want to loan one of the sets or have more information about the scheme, please email Sarah.storey@cambridgeshire.gov.uk.

Disagreements are a normal part of life, and most couples argue from time to time. The way you approach these conversations can make a significant difference to you, your partner, and your children. The 'Arguing Better' course is designed for parents who want to learn healthy ways to deal with stress and conflict.

Parents can book via the Online workshop booking form.

TTiC will be joined at the festival by professional storyteller Marion Leeper along with the Groundwork East team to share magical stories and celebrate nature.

Families of children from birth to five are invited to learn how to help better care of our planet and join in with activities that will help nature thrive.

Based on the Opportunities, Recognition, Interaction and Modelling (ORIM) framework, which highlights four approaches parents can take to create a home learning environment that supports children’s early literacy development.

The course is aimed at family-facing early years practitioners including childminders, setting practitioners, Child and Family Centre staff, reception-class staff and representatives of community groups who work with families of children aged two to five years old in Cambridgeshire.

TTiC are working with Cambridgeshire Skills to offering funding to cover course and staffing costs for those who meet the eligibility criteria. More details about the course, including the eligibility criteria, can be found on the Learn Together website.

The 20-week-long, evidence-based interventions can be used with all preschool children (aged three to four) using small group work, or additional targeted support delivered as one-to-one for those in need.

Interventions are aimed at building confidence in speaking, supporting active listening and improving vocabulary. Previous evaluations of the programme found children made three months of additional progress in overall language skills compared to those who did not attend the programme.

NELI is now recruiting for an effectiveness trial starting in autumn 2024.

The Bookstart offer across Cambridgeshire are described in the links below:

• Bookstart Baby pack, for children from birth to 12 months old.
• Bookstart Toddler and Pre-schooler packs, for children aged one to four years old.
• Dual language books, for children learning more than one language.
• Additional needs, Bookstart resource for children with SEND.

For more information about each element of the offer and order forms, please email Bookstart@cambridgeshire.gov.uk.

The session will reveal everything you need to know to feel confident recommending this service to families, that you work with.

The BBC Tiny Happy People initiative supports parents and carers to help develop their children’s language and communication skills in the home learning environment.

This webinar will include a chat with Helen Jones, Head Teacher of Strong Close Nursery School, Keighley, talking about how her team uses Tiny Happy People in session planning and when communicating with parents.

Bookings can be made via SheepApp.

Hosted by EDT’s Education Director Tony McAleavy, this podcast features guest panellists Lyn Challender (Programme Director of the EYPDP), Jan Dubiel (ECE Specialist) and Gill Jones MBE (Chief Quality Officer for the Busy Bees chain of Nurseries).   

Conversations at the heart of this recording include whether we have a consensus on what is needed for this vital age group, the priority areas of improvement, and how we address inequity in early learning experiences.

You can listen to the full podcast, and others relating to a whole host of topics, on the EDT podcasts webpage. 

You can apply to receive this one-off session in your setting using the online form on the Early Years Sports Fund (EYSF) website.

If you are successful, you will receive a fully funded sports and activity lesson in your setting. The EYSF will commit to ensuring 100% of the costs involved are covered which will ensure the children at your setting receive a 45-minute sports and activity lesson at no expense to you, your setting or the children's parents/carers.

Once you have applied, a member of the Super Star Sports UK team will be in touch with you to plan your free 45-minute session.

Please note, this offer is not currently available to childminders.

Schools and community groups can apply for tree packs, with deliveries scheduled for March and November each year. The current application window is open for March 2025 deliveries, closing in January or sooner if stocks run out.

Participants can choose from a variety of tree packs designed for different purposes, from creating hedgerows to establishing mini forests.

Our hosts at Middlefield Primary, are going to demonstrate how to create Nordic bracelets and we will be using the apple crusher and presser in support of World Apple Day - a reminder of the importance of apples to support biodiversity and sustainable farming practice.

The topic of discussion for this network will be focussed on the nature principal of forest school, particularly looking into how we are supporting our forest environment and looking at the ecological impact we are having.

Spaces are limited and can be booked via Booking and reservations for Early Years Workforce Development (bookingbug.com).

Your News

Congratulations, Blackberries House Day Nursery received Outstanding in their OFSTED report in July 2024. This included a quote highlighting their emphasis on Forest Schools "Children explore the forest school, learning about nature and how to handle insects carefully. They excitedly observe snails in the wildlife pond and discuss how the shell is the snail's home. Children independently make excellent use of readily available reference books to identify the insects they find. Children show great tenacity as they practise climbing up the tree and swinging from a low branch. They learn how to come back down safely, under the watchful guidance of the practitioners." 

Bradley Hunter (Managing Director of Blackberry House Day Nursery) stated that outdoor learning is a core element of our philosophy. We are dedicated to promoting physical health, encouraging emotional and social development, and fostering a strong connection to nature.

Our Forest School curriculum is carefully integrated with our main Early Years curriculum, encouraging children to collaborate on problem-solving, building structures, and exploring their environment. 

We are committed to supporting our Forest School ethos through inclusive practices. We recognise the benefits that the natural environment provides in reducing stress, anxiety, and hyperactivity. This approach has proven particularly beneficial for children with additional needs or specific behavioural strategies, as it helps them regulate their emotions more effectively.

Share your good news with CambsEYC

Contributions for News Round-Up should be between 150 and 300 words and include a high-resolution image. All photographs must have parental permission to publish for any children shown. The editors reserve the right to edit articles for length and content to meet the audience's needs. Please submit your news items to eycinfo@cambridgeshire.gov.uk

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