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Early Years eNews
Welcome to the Early Years eNewsletter, bringing you the latest local and national early years sector news as well as information on training, funding and policy.

Progress check at 2 - New guidance

The Department for Education (DfE) has published new early years foundation stage (EYFS) guidance to provide support for early years practitioners when completing the progress check at age two.
This non-statutory guidance will help all early years practitioners working with children between the ages of two and three to make an accurate assessment of a child’s development and work closely with parents and other professionals to put in place appropriate support and intervention where it is needed.
The guidance informs, supports and offers suggestions that can help practitioners review children’s development across the three prime areas of learning. It does not replace the professional judgement of practitioners but aims to support it. The guidance is clear that you do not need to spend a long time away from the children to complete the progress check or carry out excessive tracking or evidence collection.
The DfE has also published a vodcast to explain the new guidance to early years practitioners and a blog that highlights why the progress check is important now, more than ever as we support children to bounce back from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Progress check at age 2 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
 
National Updates

Ofsted

Ofsted is running a series of Education Inspection Framework (EIF) curriculum roadshows aimed specifically at Early Years settings, including childminders. These events will be held regionally across the country, between June and July this year.
The closest events are listed below.
 
Date  
Location
Session time  
Booking link
Wednesday 22 June Southampton 9.30-12.30 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/338783329057
Wednesday 22 June Southampton 14.00-17.00 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/338880429487

They intend to run a specific roadshow for maintained nurseries later in the year.
 
Ofsted have sent early years providers an email with further information and FAQ this week but if you have any queries, please contact Ofsted on events@ofsted.gov.uk.
Health information


 

National Smile Month - 16thMay -16th June 2022 – Get involved!

We know that early years settings have been working hard to promote good oral health in Oxfordshire.

Please send us photos of your Dentist’s role play, during National Smile Month for a chance to win some oral health resources . 
Email photos to Alison.Base@oxfordshire.gov.uk

If you haven't yet attended free oral health training the next session is on  29 June 7-8pm book here

Thank you to Freeland Pre-school for sharing what they have been doing to promote good oral health with children. 
SEND

SENCO Network meetings

Early Years SENCO network meetings are open to all SENCOs working with children in early years settings, nursery classes and nursery schools. Meetings will be online via Microsoft Teams and are hosted by members of the Early Years SEN team and Early Years Advisory Team.
 
You are welcome to sign up for any of the meetings as they are all remote, however we have arranged for each meeting to be hosted by staff who generally work in specific areas of the county in order to try to preserve the local network experience.
 
Please book to attend via Step into Training 
 
Area Date and time

Banbury/Bicester
 
Thursday May 26 6.30pm to 7.30pm

West Oxfordshire

Thursday June 30 3.30 to 4.30pm

Central

Thursday June 16 3.45 to 4.45pm
South  
Wednesday June 22 3.30 to 5pm.
 
Business and Funding

Household support fund for May half term

Government has extended the Household Support Fund meaning that we are again able to fund the provision of Free School Meal equivalent support prior to the May half term. Funding will be provided at the rate of £15 per eligible child. Please find details in an email that was sent to providers along with a template letter that you may wish to use. Details on the summer holidays will follow.

Ratios Consultation

A message from the DfE on staff:child ratios

Following recent media attention, the Minister for Children and Families at the Department for Education (DfE) Will Quince has confirmed plans to consult the sector in the summer on mirroring the Scottish model of a ratio of 1 to 5 instead of 1 to 4 for 2-year-olds in early years settings.
The Minister emphasised that he wants to work closely with the sector, hearing from providers and parents/carers on the issue before any decisions are made. The DfE will share information on how to make your voice heard in due course.

Ukraine

We are aware that some providers will be receiving queries regarding families arriving in the UK through the Ukraine Family Scheme and we would like to address the following guidance :
 
Families arriving in the UK through the Ukraine Family Scheme or the Homes for Ukraine (sponsorship) Scheme do have recourse to public funds and will be able to access the Department for Education’s free early education entitlements if they meet the existing eligibility criteria. Therefore, these families should apply for the entitlements through the usual routes and can find more information about how to do so here.
 
To clarify, families will still need to meet the standard funding criteria. There isn’t any proposal to change this.
 
If you do have a family that you have claimed funding for on your headcount then we will need you to identify this child to us. Unfortunately there is not a way of you being able to do this via the headcount. Therefore we will need you to notify us via secure email (see portal message sent on 13 May for further details).
 
The Family Information Service has developed a dedicated page with Support for Ukrainian Families
Learning and Development

High quality interactions in the early years: The 'ShREC' approach

The Education Endowment Foundation has produced a simple, memorable set of evidence informed strategies that early years professionals can embed into everyday practice including a handy poster explaining the  ShREC approach.
EEF blog: The ShREC approach – 4 evidence-informed strategies… | EEF (educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk)
Safeguarding, Welfare and Early Help

Safeguarding Self Assessment Audit

The audit for 2022 is almost ready to launch. Thanks you to those settings who have been in touch to say they haven't yet received it. We are in the final stages of preparing it and you will shortly receive an email with some instructions about completing it online. We are hoping to have it with you by next week.
Training and Events

Understanding Behaviour in the Early Years Foundation Stage
 

By the end of the training participants will be able to:
  • Recognise what children need to feel emotionally safe and secure
  • Understand what may influence undesirable behaviour
  • Identify the adult’s role in supporting children to manage their own emotions successfully
  • Confidently implement strategies to effectively support children’s Social and Emotional development


EY1247 Thursday 26 May 2022, 09:30 - 12:30 This course being delivered face to face at Hill End.
EY1248 Thursday 16 & 30 June 2022 13:00 - 14:30
This is an online session delivered in 2 parts.
 

Monthly Managers and Childminder Meetings

Managers meeting -  Wednesday 8 June at 7- 8pm - book here  
Childminder Meeting - Wednesday 15 June  at 7- 8pm - book here

Take the time to backup your CPD record and certificates

Oxfordshire Early Years (Step into Training) and Schools & Learning both use a platform called CPD Online to publish and provide a wide range of training and CPD for schools and Early Years settings to book on to. Due to OCC procurement guidelines, we are now in the process of retendering the system provision to ensure both quality and value.
 
What this means for you:
At present, systems remain as usual but we are advising all schools and settings who use the training system to backup their training records and certificates.
  • If a decision to change provider is made, your records will be unavailable from June 2022
How to backup
The easiest way to take a backup is to login to your CPD Online account and go to My Account and select Courses Attended:
  • From here you can either:
    • Take a screenshot of your CPD Diary
    • Copy / Paste your CPD into a word document
  • You can also download your certificates if there is a link available
We will endeavour to keep you informed of any progress in this piece of work. 
 
As always, thank you.

Further information

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