April 2012 FIS Newsletter

Family Information Service.

Volume 2, Issue5 April 2012

FAMILY INFORMATION SERVICE NEWSLETTER

CITY & COUNTY OF SWANSEA

Youth & Childcare Focus Grant

Applications are currently being invited from new and existing establishments that support children, young people and/or families and can demonstrate an integrated approach to child and/or youth care via the provision of quality, affordable and accessible services which help families address their work/ life balance.

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Eligible establishments include: • Schools • Children/ Family Centre’s • Full Day Care facilities • Sessional Care facilities Out of School Clubs including Breakfast, After School and Holiday Clubs.

This funding received by the Welsh Government for the financial year 2012/13 is specifically to address Childcare Act 2006 duties including gaps indentified within the City and County of Swansea’s last full Childcare Sufficiency Assessment and subsequent refresh document.

Applicants MUST read in detail all accompanying documents before submitting an application: • Grant Application Form • Grant Fund Guidelines and Conditions • Scoring Criteria Applications are available via the Family Information Service website www.swansea.gov.uk/fis

The closing date for applications will be 27 April 2012.

Tax Reform From 6 April 2012, HMRC will stop working tax credit for most couples with children who do not work at least 24 hours a week between them. This includes some who will still be entitled from 6 April because they are covered by one of the exceptions to this rule. HMRC have failed to tell these claimants that they must contact them by 6 April if one of those exceptions applies to them.

If you have any queries about these changes please contact your local Tax office or click on the link for more information: http://www.litrg.org.uk/News/2012/contact-hmrc-tc-stop

Everybody Counts

From the feedback received our fourth annual Networking event ‘Everybody Counts’ held in March at the Grand Theatre was again a great success. It was attended by 62 City & County of Swansea Childcare providers and Early Years practitioners who had the opportunity to network, share examples of good practice and discuss local childcare needs. A free resource bag was available for all settings that attended.

Attendees had the opportunity to heighten their awareness of the Childcare Sufficiency Assessment (CSA), via a multiple choice quiz - with the winning team members each receiving a £10.00 gift voucher. Answers to the questions on the CSA quiz can be found by visiting our website www.swansea.gov.uk/fis The Workshops available linked to Childcare Sufficiency Assessment themes; Workshop 1: facilitated by John Thomas of Interplay via thought provoking content looked at issues surrounding Disability, Play and the importance of Inclusion Workshop 2: Giving Children a Voice was facilitated by Jo Stephens and Iain McLain of Dynamix.

Participants were provided a “toolbox” of tried and tested techniques to allow for the successful engagement and participation of children and young people and the importance of taking their views on board to improve and inform our practice.

We are aware that all providers consult with the children in their care and would welcome your comments on how you achieve this on a regular basis so please complete our questionnaire by visiting our website xxxProvide link here

“A really well organised event……Informative and Interesting, the workshops were relevant and engaging” The first completed evaluation form selected at random to win a Family Theatre Ticket to see a show, kindly donated by the Grand Theatre, Swansea was won by Claire Parvin of Cylch Meithrin Parc Y Werin – many congratulations!

The FIS and our partner childcare organisations would like to thank all those who attended and made the night a success.

Childcare Sufficiency Assessment Refresh By now you will be aware of the duty placed on all Local Authority’s by the Welsh Government to undertake a complete Childcare Sufficiency Assessment every 3 years, conducting regular reviews as new childcare data becomes available and – as a minimum - at least every year.

Having submitted the complete review during March 2011, the Family Information Service has on the 31st March 2012 submitted the refresh document to Welsh Government.

Whilst the refresh considered data in relation to local demographics, supply and demand, Welsh medium provision, special needs and so forth, it also included a significant section on workforce and training.

For the purpose of completing this exercise we issued a Childcare and Early Years Workforce questionnaire to all CSSIW registered providers, with a £200 prize attached to the first completed questionnaire selected at random, we’re sure this had a positive impact as a 30% return was achieved and many congratulations to Linda Noble (Childminder) who won the prize!

With the adoption of the Family Information Service’s new database system we will hopefully be in a position to capture far more data in relation to our local childcare supply which will undoubtedly assist us in the completion of future Assessments and subsequent refreshes.

We do however rely greatly on you as the source of this information and whilst the FIS must contact Childminders every 3 months and other childcare providers every 6 months, we are attempting to place as much information as possible on our website and inform you of questionnaires for completion via our e-mail subscription service. To sign up for this service please click on the relevant link at www.swansea.gov.uk/fis

Average Childcare Costs As part of the Childcare Sufficiency Assessment refresh the majority of CSSIW registered providers informed us of their fees, the following table outlines the average costs for the City & County of Swansea.

Childminders Full Day Care Sessional Care Out of School Care Holiday Playschemes

After school per charge week p/hr p/session p/day £3.90 £18.00 £30.00 £8.00 £4.13 £20.46 £32.11 £145.17 £5.70 £5.31 £15.00

Training Programme

You should by now have received your copy of the Family Information Service Training Programme outlining the courses available between April and September 2012. Delegates who want to attend the courses available must complete and submit a signed copy of the terms and conditions found on the last page of the booklet prior to attendance.

For your information this information is also available on our website http://www.swansea.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=48334

Wales Preschool Providers Association Quality Assurance Scheme Quality for All (QFA) is a quality assurance scheme that fully meets the Welsh Government’s proposed framework for their expectations of a childcare quality assurance scheme in Wales. It builds on how you reflect on, review and develop your provision at a pace that suits you and your staff team. QFA links to the demands made on you by regulators and local authorities so it can reduce duplication of your work, allowing you to make best use of your resources.

How it works: 1. Purchase the pack 2. Read the guidance that is included in the pack 3. Start the evaluation of your provision 4. Submit your evaluation 5. The practice assessment 6. Accreditation 7. Staying accredited.

For more information regarding the quality award please contact WPPA on 01792 781108.

Small Workplace Health Award The small workplace health award is the new national mark of quality for health and well-being in the workplace, for businesses and organisations employing fewer than 50 people.

It has three levels of award (bronze, silver and gold) to recognise each development stage achieved.

Free support and advice is available for small businesses and organisations to develop health and well-being initiatives in the workplace.

How to apply You can confirm your interest in free support and advice by contacting your regional workplace health adviser of Public Health Wales, by telephone: 0845 609 6006 or e-mail: workplacehealth@wales.nhs.uk For further information please click on the following link http://wales.gov.uk/topics/health/improvement/index/smallworkplace/?lang=en

Big Toddle, Big Fun! Let your child be a hero! Don’t miss out on this year’s superhero- themed Big Toddle - the UK’s biggest charity event for under 5’s.

Organise your own Big Toddle with your nursery, school or a group of friends. It’s easy and fun!

Register at www.bigtoddle.co.uk

Healthy Policy Guidance It is important to every parent and carer that their children are healthy and develop well The key to this is to make sure they have the opportunity to eat well and to take part in physical activity.

The food that children eat in their early years affects their health later in life, with breastfeeding being the first step on the way to a lifetime of healthy eating.

In Wales we know that the dietary intakes of many children are still inadequate and are: • low in fresh fruit and vegetables; and • high in snacks containing significant amounts of fat, sugar and salt.

Healthier eating and physical activity will also help children to maintain a healthy body weight and will therefore help to tackle childhood obesity.

We know that in 2007 about a third of Welsh children were classified as overweight or obese, and one in five are obese.

The Welsh Assembly Government’s Food and Fitness 5 Year Implementation Plan aims to improve access to healthier food and drink in a range of early years’ settings.

Every childcare / early years provision should have in their posession a copy of this document which aims to help staff and carers to deliver healthier food and drink to their children. http://wales.gov.uk/docs/phhs/publications/foodandhealth/090414guidelinesen.pdf

Blood Borne Viruses If you are an employer or employee, self-employed or a safety representative, and involved in work where exposure to blood or other bodily fluids may occur, you should read this guidance. It will help you to understand: • • • • •

what blood-borne viruses (BBVs) are; the types of work where exposure to BBVs may occur and how BBVs are spread; the legal duties of employers and employees; the action to be taken after possible infection with a BBV; special considerations for first aiders.

Detailed guidance on BBVs is already available for those in certain industries, for example health care.

This simple leaflet will be of particular use to those in occupations where such detailed guidance is not

available. http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg342.pdf Early Years Development Team 5th Floor – Oldway Centre 36 Orchard Street Swansea SA1 5LD 01792 635400 / 01792 517222 E-mail: fis@swansea.gov.uk Website: www.swansea.gov.uk/fis Keep updated on all the latest news by subscribing to our free service!