Under 5 February 2021

Under 5 the magazine of the early years alliance

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February 2021

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GDPR

A post-Brexit reminder of the rules

Ready, set, flip!

Active ideas for Pancake Day

Back to basics

Priotising musculoskeletal heath

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contents 4

welcome

Welcome to Under 5

News

All the latest news, research and policy updates from the early years sector

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My Under 5

10

Letters to the editor

12

Covid-19: the latest guidance

14

Saying goodbye

16

GDPR: do we still need to comply post-Brexit?

Alliance members share good news and updates from their settings Under 5 readers share their views

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Answers to common questions about the latest lockdown A guide to the legal process of closing an early years setting

A reminder of data protection rules under UK GDPR

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How to make an ecobrick

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Time to consider an apprenticeship?

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A new way of using up plastic waste The Alliance training team explains why more practitioners are choosing apprenticeships

22 Back to basics

Why musculoskeletal health is so important for early years practitioners

24 Ready, steady, flip!

Activity ideas to try this Pancake Day

26 Hitting refresh

How one setting transformed its outdoor area during the Covid-19 pandemic

30 Should early years staff get Covid-19 vaccines?

Matt Arnerich makes the case for priority access for early years providers

32 Family time tips

Ideas for families to try themselves at home

33 Competition

WELCOME & CONTENTS

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After a difficult start to the year, I’m pleased to welcome you to the February 2021 issue of Under 5.

With another national lockdown ongoing as this issue goes to press, this year certainly hasn’t started as well as many of us hoped it would, but it has once again been inspiring to see the early years sector coming together in response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

This issue includes lots of information to help you keep up-to-speed with the latest guidance, including answers to some of your most common questions about this latest lockdown (page 12). To make sure you’ve got all the latest information, please do check our website and make sure you are signed-up to get our email updates at eyalliance.org.uk as we all know how quickly things can change in this current climate!

As ever, we’ve got lots of fun activity ideas for you to try – this issue we’re getting ready for Pancake Day on 16 February (page 24). We’ve also got some fun activity ideas for families to try themselves at home as part of our Family Time Tips series (page 32). There’s also a guide to making ecobricks for any settings looking for innovative ways to make use of plastic waste (page 18).

We’ve also heard from the team at Famly about the case for including early years providers in the next priority list for Covid-19 vaccinations (page 30). The team at Law-Call, a 24-hour legal helpline available to Alliance members, have also shared some guidance for any providers who are considering making the sad decision to close after this particularly difficult year (page 14).

After a very difficult year, it’s been great to hear from providers who have made positive steps to update their provision. We’ve heard from Hanbury’s Farm about how they managed to revamp their outdoor area after the first lockdown (page 26). We’ve also heard from the Alliance training team about how they’ve seen an increase in the number of applications for our Apprenticeship programme (page 21).

If you’ve got some positive news to share with us – please do get in touch and let us know. As ever, you can reach us at editor.u5@eyalliance.org.uk.

Rachel Lawler, editor

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in brief...

RISING REPORTS : The number children being seriously harmed after suspected abuse or neglect has risen by a quarter since the first lockdown, according to the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel.

DfE data shows huge decline in early years attendance

round-up New #ProtectEarlyYears campaign launches The Alliance, PACEY and NDNA have launched a joint campaign calling for improved safety measures for the sector in response to the government decision to ask early years providers to remain open during the third national lockdown.

The three organisations are calling on the government to: prioritise those working in the early years and childcare sector for Covid19 vaccinations roll-out mass asymptomatic testing to all early years and childcare settings reinstate early entitlement funding support for settings who have been forced to close or have seen a fall in the demand for funded places introduce targeted funding for providers reliant on private income who have suffered from falls in parental demand While the government has argued that early years settings are “low-risk environments’ for the virus, it has so far failed to provide any specific evidence about the rates of transmission of the new variant of Covid-19 in early years settings among both children and adults.

As such, the organisations are also calling on the government to provide

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clear scientific evidence on the risk implications of staying open for early years and childcare practitioners, particularly in light of the increased transmissibility of the new variant of Covid-19, including data on current transmission rates in early years and childcare settings.

Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Alliance, commented: “We know how vital access to early education and care is to many families, but it cannot be right to ask the early years workforce to put themselves at risk. That is why it is vital that the government takes the urgent steps needed to safeguard those working in the sector, particularly mass testing and priority access to vaccinations.

“With many providers seeing a huge fall in the demand for places, if nurseries and childminders are to have any hope of being able to remain open in the long term, it is also vital that the government provides the necessary financial support, both for those reliant on ‘free entitlement’ funding, and those reliant on private parental income, to enable settings to remain viable.

“Ministers cannot simultaneously ask providers to stay open but take no action to ensure they can do so safely and sustainably. It’s time for the government to step up and give the early years sector the support it needs and deserves.”

New statistics from the Department for Education show a dramatic fall in the number of children attending early years settings since the start of the spring term.

According to the figures, the number of children taking up an early years place in England was at 37% of normal term-time rates and just 52% of what the government would normally expect at the start of January.

Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Alliance, commented: “While we of course understand why many parents have taken the decision to keep their children at home, the failure of government to provide adequate financial support to early years providers means that this huge reduction in childcare demand is putting many nurseries, pre-schools and childminders across the country at serious risk of permanent closure.

“As it stands, early years settings are facing a complete postcode lottery, with some councils continuing to provide funding for children who aren’t currently taking up their childcare place, and others refusing to do so. Add to this the fact that providers are also losing private parental fees at an alarming rate, and it’s clear that, without help, many in the sector will simply not be able to remain afloat for much longer.

“Given that the government’s ‘stay at home’ order is likely to remain in place for several weeks, it is absolutely critical that the Department for Education and Treasury stop dragging their feet on this and commit to providing the temporary financial support that providers need to make it through this incredibly difficult period: that means the immediate reinstatement of early entitlement funding at preCovid levels as well as emergency funding for providers facing a loss of private income.

“The government keeps saying how important a role the early year plays, but what the sector needs is urgent action, not empty rhetoric.”

SCHOOL READINESS: Research from children’s charity Kindred suggests that growing numbers of children are not “school ready” when they join reception following the first lockdown in 2020.

PVI settings will not be provided with home testing kits The Department for Education has confirmed that private and voluntary early years providers will not be given access to home testing kits for asymptomatic cases.

Only maintained nurseries and primary schools will be given access to the home testing kits. PVI providers will instead have “priority access” to testing centres.

Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Alliance, commented: “It is a complete insult to find out that the DfE’s promise to roll out mass asymptomatic testing in the early years in fact only applies to the maintained sector, with private and voluntary providers once again left to fend for themselves.

“All early years providers have been asked to remain open to children and families during national lockdown.

How can it be right, then, that only maintained nurseries and nursery classes will - like primary schools have testing kits delivered direct to their doors, while those working in PVI

settings are simply told access the same testing centres that are open to the general public?

“The government claims that PVI providers will have ‘priority’ access to NHS testing, but we know from previous experience that such guarantees all too often fail to materialise in reality. What’s more, with early years staff working during

the day - often longer hours than normal to ensure that their premises remain Covid-secure - it’s not clear exactly when the workforce is expected to find time to travel to testing centres to access these tests.

“We urge the DfE to rethink this appalling decision as a matter of urgency and ensure that all early years providers are treated fairly and equally.”

Ofsted “pauses” start of assurance inspections Ofsted has delayed plans to begin ‘assurance inspections’ at early years settings until after February half-term 2021. The organisation previously said that it would start visiting group-based providers, while childminders would not be subject to visits unless there were concerns about their provision.

However, they have now postponed these plans until after the half-term break in February 2021 in light of a “new

emphasis” from the government to “act as if you have the virus”.

Schools and further education providers will be inspected remotely, although this approach will not be used for early years providers.

Ofsted said: “It is not possible to provide the necessary level of assurance of early years providers without an on-site inspection of the premises, so early years assurance visits will be

paused until after the February half-term.

“We will continue with our vital regulatory work in early years and children’s social care. This work will sometimes require on-site visits, which will be risk-assessed based on the nature of the premises and the urgency of the work.”

Ofsted will continue to undertake on-site inspections if it has immediate concerns about a provider.

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Minister claims providers remain open to “support key workers” Cabinet minister Michael Gove told viewers on BBC Breakfast last month that that early years providers are being kept open to provide childcare for key workers, despite the fact that nurseries and childminders are being asked to stay open to all children.

Gove said: “We believe that it’s important to continue to provide childcare and the judgement that we’ve made is that by making sure that childcare can still be provided, we can ensure that some of the people whose work is so vital to getting us out of this lockdown: doctors, nurses and others, can continue to do their work.”

BBC Breakfast also included an interview with Professor Calum Semple, a virologist and SAGE member. When asked if he could explain why early years providers were being asked to remain open to all children, Semple said: “No I can’t. The reality is that under these circumstances, every opportunity to remove social mixing and work mixing of human beings is vitally important. So if a political decision has been made here to keep nurseries open in order to keep essential staff at work, then that could be tempered by restricting

the nursery capacities to those essential workers.

“But if we’ve gone to the point of closing the universities, secondary schools and primary schools on the ground of public health, then I would be looking to close all other nonessential activities.

And it may be that a political decision has been made here that nurseries are essential but it’s not a scientific one.”

Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Alliance, commented: “It beggars belief that the government still isn’t able to answer one critical question: if it is too dangerous for schools to remain open, how can it be safe for early years providers to do so?

“Many of those working in the early years feel terrified and abandoned by the government. They are being asked to remain on the frontline during the most worrying period of a global pandemic with no PPE, no testing and no access to vaccinations.

“The early years cannot be treated as an afterthought. We need protection, we need financial support and we need the appalling treatment of our sector to end once and for all.”

“The early years cannot be treated as an afterthought.

We need protection and financial support.”

Call for tax-free childcare DfE publishes underspend to new guidance becensus reallocated The Department for Education has published new guidance for providers recording places on the early years census in the light of the ongoing impact of Covid-19.

The guidance states that where providers are currently open children who are “reasonably expected to attend” the setting and the place remains available to them, should be recorded in the Early Years Census.

The guidance states: “This means children who, were it not for the impact of coronavirus on either their own personal circumstances or on the operation of their Early Years setting, would be attending Early Years provision. This includes children who have previously attended the provision and children who were expected to start attending the provision in January.”

Local authorities and providers are instructed to record the expected weekly attendance of children where the child is: self-isolating in census week ill in census week absent due to parent/guardian caution (fear of Covid-19) if the provider remains open to the child and have not altered their parental declaration relating to expected hours absent due to parent/guarding choosing to care for the child at home, only if the provider remains open to the child and the parent/guardian has not altered their parental declaration relating to expected hours clinically extremely vulnerable and therefore shielding in line with government advice If a parent/guardian has informed a provider that they are reducing their child’s hours, local authorities and providers should accurately record the new hours for the purposes of the census.

A census return for 2021, recording the contracted/expected hours provided, should be made in situations where the provider has attempted to remain open, but has closed for a period of time for reasons such as staff shortage due illness or self-isolation. A census return should not be made in situations where a setting has chosen to close and not provide the entitlements due to limited anticipated attendance or staff caution.

Covid-19 updates Please visit eyalliance.org.uk for the latest news and guidance on Covid-19.

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A special v

isit

Children at Playdays P laygroup in visit from F Rednal, Bir ather Chris mingham, tmas and hi were treate children al s helper el d to a so enjoyed f at the end of making Chr last year. T with families is tm as he tr ee before visi decorations ting the gro and cards Christmas tto. In the g to share presents an rotto they d let Santa were able on Christm know what to as k for as Eve. San they would ta then join be leaving the childre ed the gro o ut n played g fo r him up for their ames, rang circle time bells and co activity as mpleted a mince pie march.

Community care The team at Carers Nest Preschool in Potterne, Wiltshire, decided to reach out to their local community at Christmas. The children let nearby older residents know that they had been thinking about them during this difficult year by making Christmas cards to deliver in the village. They worked with the local Whitehall Garden Centre, to deliver more than 100 primrose plants to residents and help bring a bit of festive cheer to everyone.

Going plastic-free

y 20 d Armistice Day 20 ol in London marke ho -sc pre ck ll sto we od dy Children at La a Collymore-Wo ure from WWI – En fig nt ca nifi at sig a an Army veter by focusing on t surviving British ved to be the oldes own to display, ir OBE, who is belie the of also made poppies ren ild ch e two Th .

103 years old and observed the membrance Day Re of ing an me the talked about 11am. minutes silence at

Remembrance Da

Godmanchester Pre -school in Huntingdo n has been awarded ‘Plastic-fre e Nursery’ status by the Surfers Against Sewage cam paign. The setting be gan the challenge at the start of 2020, ditc hing glitter, single-us e aprons and items such as baby wip es that included plastic . They also started litter picking walks using pickers donated by families and have swapped to reusable plastic lunch boxes, canvas tote bags and ecofriendly wipes.

What’s been happening in your setting?

Under 5 wants to know! To share your own stories, please email editor.u5@eyalliance.org.uk with the subject line ‘My Under 5’.

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Have your say Proud providers We wake up, some of us leave our children at home and hope they won’t get stuck with online passwords or with schoolwork! Some of us have little ones to get up and get ready for their day ahead too. By 7am we’re at work setting up, reassuring people via email, making sure we’re staffed for the day, making sure we are restocked with Milton, cleaners and kitchen roll.

8am we welcome lots of little minds into our lives for the day, meeting and greeting all their parents/carers and washing an endless amount of little hands! We cook, clean, plan, sort the 50 lots of shoes that we do our best to not mix up.

Amazing staff spend their hours playing, teaching, providing personal care giving routines, cuddling, settling to sleep, cleaning and sterilising where ever possible. We load and unload the dish washer and washing machines more times than we can count throughout the day.

The broom, along with the dust pan and brush, is permanently attached to us. We answer countless phone calls and reply to endless emails from mummies, daddies, nannies, grandads and other carers, every one of them just as important as the other. We spend hours completing endless paperwork, that is all important for many little people’s lives.

We comfort, we cuddle some more, we hold hands and sterilise banisters more times that we can count every day.

We clean some more. We try our best to hand over at the door to many parents and carers who are all patiently waiting in the rain or freezing cold.

We put on the plasters, wipe lots of little noses, all the while still playing, teaching, laughing and making each little person feel happy, safe and helping them grow.

When the little people have gone home, telling their mummies and daddies about all their adventures, we clean some more, sweep some more and unload the dishwasher one last time. We set up tomorrow’s activities to keep all tomorrow’s little minds busy. We stock up our Milton, kitchen roll and tissues again! We wash our hands and clean behind us as we leave at 6pm.

We are a day nursery, one of many nursery practitioners, nursery managers, nursery staff who give everything, everyday!

At a time when a lot of us are feeling deflated, you need to stop, take a moment to think about what we do. You need to realise that you should be proud of yourself – that all you do everyday is the very best that you possibly can. Grab a shower and try and de-stress for the evening, so we’re all ready to get up and do it again tomorrow!

Natalie Moir, The Friendly Fish Nursery & Beach School

This month’s Star Letter writer wins a bundle of books for their early years setting.

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LETTERS

The forgotten sector As you are aware the government has placed the country into a national lockdown. Early years is the only educational sector that is required to remain open to all.

We fully appreciate that we are a critical frontline service. Unlike school aged children, young children need constant supervision and care, rendering it difficult for parents to work from home successfully. We are therefore essential in supporting the economy to function.

However, it feels very much like early years professionals are not important enough to protect. These are the feelings of one of my practitioners: Early years - Open & available for all I left my kids at home today to go and look after more The ones I went to care for where waiting by the door Some parents aren’t off working or going to save a life All this ‘early years is open to all’ is causing me some strife I took my kids to school today to go to look after others The ones I went to care for said goodbye to their mothers They played, they danced, some laughed, some cried until they where collected Their Mum had been at home watching TV, as we suspected I took my boys to school today as I work in an early years setting I wonder who will be in today, I’m guessing and I’m betting My boys just really wanted, to stay home and work online But unlike Scotland, England feel that nursery is just fine I left my child alone today so I could go to work He wasn’t really happy and I wondered how he’d cope The children who came in today have parents who stay home It didn’t make no sense to me but still, I didn’t moan I left my daughter with her Dad so I could go to nursery I thought a while and very hard....do I need my armoury?

We’re told it’s safe, in nursery the transmission is very low But please someone, tell me this, how do they bloody well know?

When I got home my Daughter was sad and couldn’t explain to me why then she said “I missed you soooo much and I was worried that you might die” I didn’t go to work today, I really felt unwell I booked in for a covid test, I lost my taste and smell The test came back quite quickly with a positive result Having us in and open to all is an absolute insult!

What can we do? nothing I guess, our hands are truly tied We are not appreciated or valued, and funding will be denied Voluntary sector is what we are and no one gives a hoot.

The reason you’re keeping us open? Is it all to do with loot?

This whole ‘early years are open and available to all’ just doesn’t make much sense, no sense at all The impact on the NHS will truly be immense Already they’re at capacity and running out of beds I really hope you’ll change your mind if only for a time You let most out for Christmas to be merry and drink wine So why not let us open for the ones that need support We need to work together to get the R rate back to nought Vulnerable and key children we can open for them all Nobody wants t to get to June.....and be in lockdown number 4!

Written by Lyndsey Costello, nursery practitioner Luisa Bellavita, nursery manager, New River Nursery. Haringey

Email your letters to: editor.u5@eyalliance.org.uk using the subject line ‘Letters’.

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COVID-19 the latest guidance With another national lockdown in place as this issue went to press, we answer some of your most common questions about the latest guidance

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COVID-19

I receive government funding. Can I furlough staff?

If you receive a mix of government funding and private income, which most providers do, then the amount of government support you can claim through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will now depend on how much of your income from government funding has reduced as a proportion of your ‘normal’ monthly income.

The government has previously said that providers should use February 2020 to represent a ‘normal’ month in terms of income. However, as of January 2021, providers can take the decision as to what would “reasonably” represent a usual monthly income.

How do I calculate how much support I can get for furloughed staff wages?

Let’s say a setting’s normal income is £10,000, with £4000 (40%) of government funding and £6000 (60%) coming from private income.

The government guidance states that where it is difficult to distinguish whether or not staff are funded through continuing public funding, then “the total proportion of staff (based on gross payroll) that are retained (for example, not furloughed) should, as a minimum, be equivalent to the continuing DSG funding, as a proportion of all income that the provider usually receives.”

So how does this work in practice?

Let’s say our example setting, which has a normal monthly income of £10,000, with £4,000 usually coming from government funding, saw income from government funding fall to £2,500. £2,500 represents 25% of the total normal income of £10,000, which means that 25% of the setting’s payroll is NOT eligible for Job Retention Scheme. This means that, theoretically, 75% of the setting’s payroll is eligible for furlough support – however, the actual furlough claim would depend on how many staff the setting still needs to meet current demand.

If the setting’s government funding income was instead, say, £1,000, then theoretically

90% of the setting’s payroll would be eligible for furlough support (because £1,000 is 10% of £10,000, which means that 10% of the payroll is not eligible for furlough). Again, this is a theoretical maximum, and the actual number of staff furloughed would depend on the level of need for staff.

I have so few children attending my setting that I’ve had to take the business decision to close and so have lost all funding. What support can I get from furlough?

In this situation, government funding is zero, meaning that 0% of your payroll is not eligible for support i.e. 100% of your payroll IS eligible for furlough support. This means you can access the scheme fully.

However, the government has stated that the intention of the Job Retention Scheme is to support business where they have seen a reduction in income due to Covid-19 – this could be because of a severe reduction in demand as in this example, a landlord not allowing access to your normal premises, or a government directive to close.

As such, the scheme would only apply as described above if a provider had no choice but to close for, for example, business, logistical or regulatory reasons, not if they themselves had taken the decision to close for another reason.

Are members of staff with underlying health conditions able to work?

The government is advising that following the reintroduction of shielding during national lockdown, clinically extremely vulnerable staff are advised not to attend the workplace.

However, “those living with someone who is clinically extremely vulnerable can still attend work where home-working is not possible”.

Clinically vulnerable staff can continue to attend the setting where it is not possible to work from home. While at the setting they should follow the sector-specific measures in this guidance and in the system of controls to minimise the risks of transmission.

Government guidance also states that: “If staff are concerned, including those who may be clinically vulnerable or who believe they may be at possible increased risk from

coronavirus, we recommend setting leaders discuss any concerns individuals may have around their particular circumstances and reassure staff about the protective measures in place”.

Do we need to wear face coverings in the setting?

While the government is not recommending the use of face coverings in early years settings, providers “have the discretion to recommend the use of face coverings for adults on site, both staff and visitors” in communal spaces where social distancing is difficult to maintain.

How can staff get tested for coronavirus?

On 13 Jan 2021 education secretary Gavin Williamson confirmed that primary schools with attached early years settings will receive sufficient rapid test kits to test both their primary and early years staff. Maintained nursery schools will also receive testing kits to offer to their staff.

Private early years providers will continue to be prioritised for coronavirus testing through their local testing programme.

I am a childminder – am I still allowed to look after school-age children as well as early years?

During the national lockdown, childminders can provide care and education to early years aged children as normal, but should only care for school-aged children (which includes children in Reception) who are either vulnerable or have at least one parent who is a key worker. This can include parents who are working from home.

I run an out-of-school club. Can I still open?

During national lockdown, wraparound care for school aged children can continue for vulnerable children as normal and children of critical workers where “it is reasonably necessary to enable their parents/carers to work, search for work, to undertake training or education, or to attend a medical appointment or address a medical need”.

Find out more The situation in England remains changeable.

Please visit eyalliance.org.uk and make sure you are signed up to receive email updates from the Alliance to stay up-to-date.

Saying g The team at Law-Call, a 24-hour legal helpline available to all providers, explain some of the key steps to take if a provider takes the tough decision to close

T

he Covid-19 pandemic has taken a heavy toll on the early years sector. With restricted access to government support and reduced numbers of children attending settings, many providers are facing unprecedented financial pressure. For many, this will be a storm that sadly their provision just cannot weather.

If the heavy decision is made to close a setting, a number of key matters will need to be dealt with. You may need to consider charity, company, employment and contract law.

Check your documents Your setting’s governing document or constitution will dictate the procedure that has to be followed to close the business. If your setting is a limited company then you will need to check the procedure with Companies House.

If your setting is a CIC then try the Office of the Regulator of Community Interest Companies and, if the setting is an unincorporated registered charity or a CIO, then you will need to contact the Charities Commission.

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Procedures While this will of course be a difficult time, it is very important that committee members, directors and owners follow the correct process for closing a setting. This process could be very different depending on the management structure adopted by your business or charity. Here are some of the most common processes: Charities using an Alliance constitution Committee members should convene and minute a committee meeting to debate the proposal to close the setting. If the unfortunate decision is made to close then the constitution usually requires that the proposal be put to the members to vote on. The process to follow and who is entitled to participate in the debate on closure will be described within the constitutional documents. Committee members can ring Law-Call for detailed advice and assistance with this.

Limited companies The company memorandum and, predominately, its articles of association should set out the process for closure.

This and the Companies Act 2006 must be followed. This can be quite a complicated area of law so consider taking advice early on from Law-Call before you start the process.

Privately-owned settings/businesses This has the simplest process of all: closure is down to the decision of the owner.

Employment law Committee members, directors and owners all need to be mindful of their obligations under employment law should the setting need to close. Informal consultation with the staff can begin at the same time that the notices are issued to members with the proposal to close the setting.

As it is highly likely that parents will ask the staff questions, this approach gives

LAW-CALL

goodbye the management an opportunity to reassure and answer preliminary queries that staff may have at this difficult time. Redundancy is another sensitive and difficult to navigate process for providers. More details about this process can be found in the January 2021 issue of Under 5.

Contractual Obligations While the need for formal notice to the parents to bring contracts to an end is rarely overlooked, other contractual obligations can often be forgotten at this stressful time. It would be prudent for management to consider early on in the decision-making process what other contracts the setting has in place and how these can be terminated.

Do you have a tenancy or a license to occupy a space? Are there any lease hire agreements for equipment?

What are the obligations for the supply of utilities such as water, electric and telephony? Go through all your

contracts and check the rules on termination.

Post closure – all over?

It is rare that all obligations cease at the point that the setting closes its working doors to the public. There will still be final payments to be made to staff, rent for the landlord, bills for services and utilities, before any of the setting’s bank accounts can be closed.

An inventory should be taken of all the assets held by the setting. Those that have any value should be sold. You may need to take professional advice about the value of some of these assets before you agree to sell. All the proceeds from these sales will need to be accounted for.

Important paperwork cannot be disposed of. You will need to be assess what is confidential, what needs to be kept, for how long and how it can be safely and securely stored. The Alliance has produced a useful table, indicating

what length of storage time applies to which type of record, available to members online.

If your setting has closed with any spare funds, you’ll need to consult your governing documents to see what should happen to those funds. If the setting is likely to be closing with debts to pay, take advice as soon as possible about how to handle this.

Due the complex and varied areas of law and compliance that need to considered, members should not overlook the need to take early and bespoke advice from Law-Call on their particular circumstances.

Find out more This article does not constitute legal advice. The contact details for Law-Call can be found in the members’ area of the Alliance website at eyalliance.org. uk/members-area.

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GDPR: do we still need to comply post-Brexit?

The transition period that followed the UK’s departure from the European Union finished on 31 December 2020 – but what does this mean for data protection regulations?

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DATA PROTECTION

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hile the UK officially departed the European Union on 31 January 2020, it wasn’t until after 31 December, when the agreed transition period finished, that many of the changes this bought about truly came into place.

The GDPR is an EU regulation and therefore no longer applies in the UK – however, it is important to note that the rules have been incorporated into UK law as UK GDPR, alongside the Data Protection Act 2018 and some technical amendments that ensure the existing legislation works in an UK-only context.

As the government has said that it is “committed to high data protection standards”, it is unlikely that any of this will change. Providers will still need to comply with the GDPR principles just as before.

The ICO is still the supervisory body for data protection legislation in the UK and providers will still need to remain registered with them as data controllers.

In practice, this means that there will be little change to the current data principles, rights and obligations in law. If you are already complying with the GDPR, you are unlikely to need to take any action, but you may wish to review your policies to ensure that you are still compliant. Here is a quick reminder of the rules:

GDPR principles GDPR condenses the Data Protection Principles into six areas, referred to as the Privacy Principles. They are: You must have a lawful reason for collecting personal data and must do it in a fair and transparent way.

You must only use the data for the reason it is initially obtained.

You must not collect any more data than is necessary.

It has to be accurate and there must be mechanisms in place to keep it up to date.

You cannot keep it any longer than needed.

You must protect the personal data.

These privacy principles are supported by a further principle – accountability. This means your setting must not only do the right thing with data but must also show that all the correct measures are in place to demonstrate how compliance is achieved.

There is also an expectation that staff will be trained on data protection.

Documentation on policies, procedures and training is going to be a key part of any effective compliance programme.

The ICO also recommends that all staff complete data protection training on induction and at least every two years throughout their employment.

Areas to consider Appointing a data protection officer — For most settings, appointing an individual who takes the lead on data compliance will be enough, although larger early years provider chains may need to appoint a data protection officer.

Privacy notices — When you collect any data you must tell people exactly how you are going to use it, who might you share it with, how long you will keep it as well as information on consent and complaint.

Individual rights — People now have new and enhanced rights on the collection, access and deletion of their data so you must ensure your setting has mechanisms to allow individuals to exercise these rights.

Consent — GDPR requires early years providers to have a legitimate reason for processing any personal data. Where you rely on consent for processing data you must be able to demonstrate that the consent was freely given. Pre-ticked boxes or inactivity will no longer suffice. People have to actively opt-in.

Data agreements — Early years providers are now obliged to have written arrangements with anybody processing data for them. Providers must make sure that anyone processing data meet GDPR requirements.

New projects — Data protection must be incorporated into new projects and services at the development stage — not simply as an after-thought.

Breach notification — You are obligated to notify the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) of a data breach within 72 hours of becoming aware of the breach.

Fines — One of the key drivers of compliance is that organisations can be fined significant amounts if they are not.

However, you should focus on the benefits of ensuring you are handling your data properly.

Safeguarding It’s important to remember that the UK GDPR allows for data to be shared without the subject’s consent when necessary to protect a child from neglect. The Data Protection Act 2018 allows all organisations to process data for safeguarding purposes lawfully without consent if necessary for the purposes of: protecting an individual from neglect or physical and emotional harm; or protecting the physical, mental or emotional wellbeing of an individual This covers situations where a child may be at risk of significant harm due to neglect or abuse and also applies to referrals made to the local authority for any child considered to be a ‘child in need’.

Remember: Practitioners should follow their safeguarding procedures at all times.

Find out more The Alliance has a range of resources on GDPR for our members. Visit eyalliance. org.uk/gdpr for more information including policies and procedures, a free EduCare course, quick quiz and mini guides.

Visit the ICO website at ico.org.uk for further guidance and information.

ICO Helpline for small organisations: 0303 123 1113 (select option 4).

How to make an ecobrick The Global Ecobrick Alliance explains how you can make and even use ecobricks in your early years setting What is an ecobrick?

An ecobrick is a PET bottle packed solid with clean and dry used plastic. They are packed to a set weight/density to create reusable building blocks that can be used to make furniture and garden structures.

Ecobricks must be made using transparent PET bottles and plastics that have been cleaned and dried. It must be sealed tight with a screwed lid.

Why should we make ecobricks?

Ecobricks offer a way of putting otherwise unusable plastic to good use and stop it polluting the environment around us.

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Making ecobricks can also be a good way to teach children and their families about recycling and the problems around singleuse plastic products.

If you are able to make enough bricks, you could create your own tables, couches and beds using stacks of ecobricks or even use them to build a new playground or garden area. If you’re not able to make us of the ecobricks yourself, you can look for nearby projects in need of bricks, using the Global Ecobrick Alliance website.

How can we make ecobricks?

First, you’ll need to collect PET bottles to

ENVIRONMENT

Pictures courtesy of Globak Ecobricks Alliance

What can go inside the ecobrick?

Any waste plastic that can be cut up and pushed inside. Don’t use any paper, cardboard or other items that can easily be recycled elsewhere. You should also leave out anything that is biodegradable as well as metals and glass that can become sharp and dangerous if they rupture the bottle. Only plastic items should go inside the bricks.

Which bottles can we use?

It’s best to choose one type of bottle and stick to it, so that all your bricks are the same size and shape when you start to build with them. Have a think about which bottles you use most regularly and will be readily available to you. You don’t want to have to buy drinks just to have bottles to use! Think also about the project that you plan to use them in – depending on the size and scope you may want smaller or larger bottles.

What can we do with our ecobricks? use as well as some clean and dry plastics to fill them with. You could use Styrofoam, plastic bags, packaging and straws, for example. If there is any food, oil or dirt on the plastics, you’ll need to wash it off and hang the plastic up to dry. If you skip this step, you’ll end up with bacteria growing and methane forming inside the bricks.

Rip up or cut the plastic into smaller pieces that can be pushed into the bottle easily. The smaller the pieces, the denser your brick will be packed! You may wish to select a colour to use at the bottom of each brick so that they all look uniform when finished. Choose a soft plastic with a solid colour and push it to the bottom of your bottle.

Next, you’ll need a packing stick – something made with wood or bamboo, about twice the height of your bottle with a rounded end will work best – to squash the plastic into the bottle. Don’t use anything with a sharp end as this could break your bottle!

Children will need help with this to make

sure the bricks are packed well enough to be usable. You could ask parents to join in to help make sure they are all well-packed – remember to follow current coronavirus guidelines before inviting anyone into your setting and consider asking for help remotely if needed.

How much plastic should an ecobrick be filled with?

Weigh your bottles as you go to find out when it’s full. An ecobrick’s minimum weight is its bottle volume x 0.33. For example, a 1.5 litre bottle should weigh at least 500g or a 600ml bottle should weigh at least 200g. You’ll also need to leave around 1-2cm between the bottle cap and the plastic inside to prevent it from cracking while in use.

Once you’ve started to build a collection, you’ll need to find a safe place to store them until you’re ready to build or donate them. Indoors, up off the floor and out of the sun is best for keeping them safe.

Ecobricks can be used in huge range of building projects. One of the easiest things to do is to use them to create ‘Milstein Modules’ in triangle or hexagon-shaped blocks stuck together with silicone that can be used indoors as tables, seats or beds and other furniture. You can find more instructions on the Global Ecobricks Alliance website.

Another popular way to use ecobricks is through ‘earth building’ techniques using local earth, straw and sand as mortar to make simple playground and garden structures. The Global Ecobricks Alliance advises against using concrete as mortar with the bricks.

Again, if you are unable to use all the bricks yourself, look for nearby projects that are in need of more ecobricks online.

Find out more To find out more about how to make and use ecobricks, visit ecobricks.org.

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NEW FREE Welcome back bundle available NOW!

This vital, three-pack practical resource offers you support to manage opening up your setting after lockdown.

It covers; putting the needs of children first in the opening up process creating an environment to ensure the health and safety of children the government’s proposals and considers implications for the sector how to best support the physical and emotional wellbeing of children, staff and parents pedagogical issues, offering practical advice and guidance

How to access Each pack includes facilitator notes, templates and useful information links.

Available as FREE download for Alliance members in the member’s area.

Non-members can buy here for a special price, only £40.

Early Years Alliance

TRAINING

Time to consider an apprenticeship?

Velda Bartholomew, training operations manager at the Alliance, explains why increasing numbers of practitioners are choosing apprenticeships in 2021

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he challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic over the past nine months have encouraged many people to reflect on their lives and what is important to them. For some, the crisis has prompted serious consideration and commitment to changing their careers.

The training team at the Alliance has already seen the effects of these changes with a significant increase in the number of applicants joining our apprenticeship programmes. Every applicant comes with a different story about how and why they chose this career.

Early years providers benefit in so many ways from employing apprentices. Supporting them through their training often prompts settings to refresh their knowledge of current practice. Training an apprentice also shows real commitment to staff development and promotes loyalty and staff retention.

A career change?

One successful candidate for an apprenticeship programme, explained to us that they had run a community centre café for many years and always provided a corner with toys and activities for children. Sadly, the café had been forced to close in 2020 in line with government guidelines.

The candidate found herself wondering why she hadn’t looked into working with children before.

Engaging with the children in the play corner had always been her favourite part of the day at work. A local advert prompted her to apply for an early years role and she was delighted to be offered a Level 2 apprenticeship position.

Another applicant had previously been working as a childcare assistant for a holiday company. Having been furloughed and eventually made redundant, she decided that now was the right time to study for a Level 3 qualification in the early years through the advanced apprenticeship route. After securing a place on the programme, she is now looking forward to getting back to doing what she truly loves – working with children.

A new commitment Elsewhere, two applicants who worked as volunteers in a local setting before the 2020 lockdown continued to support their settings when it reopened. They enjoyed the work so much and felt well-supported by the setting staff so decided to formally apply for an apprenticeship training programme and start working towards gaining early years qualifications.

Other candidates who had previously started university courses before the lockdown are now looking for a more practical route into the early years sector. Having studied the CACHE Careers map, one of these individuals decided to join our Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship programme. They now have plans to progress into teacher training.

School leavers have also been attracted to apprenticeship programmes with us, having experienced a particularly turbulent year with their GCSEs and A-Levels in 2020. Many of these candidates are now keen to move on to the next stage of their education.

It’s so pleasing to see how these opportunities have attracted a range of people from different backgrounds. They will all bring a unique mix of perspectives, experiences and skills to the sector. This diversity can only further enhance the early years workforce and the quality of care and education in the sector.

Find out more The Alliance offers Level 2 (Intermediate) and Level 3 (Advanced) Apprenticeship programmes to Levy paying employers.

Apprenticeship training programmes are delivered within the workplace through a blend of online learning and face to face assessment visits. Functional Skills in Mathematics and/or English will form part of the training programme unless the learner already holds them at the required level.

Employers will be expected to ensure their Apprentice completes a minimum of 20% off job training within their normal working week to ensure the required content of their individual learning programmes are achieved.

Assistance with recruitment can be provided if required. Please visit eyalliance.org.uk/ childcare-qualifications.

Employing an Early Years Apprentice The course, Guide to Employing an Early Years Apprentice, explains what providers need to consider when taking on apprentices. It will also outline the responsibilities of employing an apprentice with regards to their terms and conditions, training, and assessment. Visit eyalliance.org.uk/EduCare toUNDER find out 5 more.

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HEALTH

Back to basics Lorna Taylor, physiotherapist and founder at Jolly Back, explains why musculoskeletal health is so important

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he coronavirus pandemic has certainly highlighted the importance of health and wellbeing. One area, which is not often considered although it particularly affects early years professionals, is musculoskeletal health.

Our musculoskeletal system consists of muscles, joints and nerves and the connecting soft tissues. Recent studies show that as many as 82% of early years and primary teachers have problems with their backs. Early years teaching and childcare places significant physical demands on your body, day in day out and yet knowing how to keep your back and other joints, together with your muscles, pain and injury free seems to kept secret.

Many early years practitioners experience tingling in their legs (sciatia) from being cramped into child-sized chairs, hip stiffness when they get up from the floor and even long-term inflammatory joint conditions, such as arthritis.

All of these conditions can be aggravated by working environments.

We’ve heard of nursery teachers in their mid-20s having back surgery, others in their 50s awaiting knee replacement and some with chronic, longer-term conditions are unsure how they can continue working until retirement age due to the physical demands of their early years job.

Living with musculoskeletal pain makes you twice as likely to suffer from: mood disorders anxiety stress depression.

Being stressed in itself can also increases your chance of experiencing musculoskeletal pain – for example, shoulder and neck pain is often caused by increased tension.

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Musculoskeletal pain and disability can affect anyone at any time of life. Employees who are pregnant, new mothers and those new to their role or working with an increased workload are especially vulnerable. Whether you are eight or 80, musculoskeletal wellbeing is important for our health, emotional wellbeing and quality of life.

The good news is positive change is simple to implement and effective. Research consistently shows health promotion and ill-health prevention are the two most beneficial interventions for employees and employers in terms of wellbeing, productively and return on investment.

For the early years and childcare profession, where children’s learning and educational outcomes are affected by the professionalism and quality of care they receive, the benefits of a healthy, productive and supported team are even more far reaching. Better back care can also assist in the retention of staff and service users.

Back care, posture awareness, moving and handling training, occupational health and workstation risk assessments are not the norm in early years training, employee inductions or even often in working practice. As such, there is a high incidence of musculoskeletal discomfort and injury, much of which is accepted as ‘part of the job’, self-managed and under-reported.

What can I do now?

If you are experiencing joint discomfort, back ache or tingling in your arms and legs – this is your body’s way of letting you know that you need to take action. If it is worse at work or when you return to work after a break, the discomfort is most likely related to your working environment.

The first course of action is to let your health & safety or wellbeing manager know. If you are experiencing symptoms, it is highly likely your colleagues will be too. Looking after and caring

for young children are hazardous activities and without anyone knowing about your symptoms, improvement is difficult!

Evidence supports the need for regular movement and activity for our spines and joints to function properly. Movement really is medicine. In addition, good posture, responsible lifting and healthy working environments are important for musculoskeletal health.

The single most important factor is “early intervention” to prevent longer-term problems developing.

Find out more A new partnership between health, academic and early years experts (including Jolly Back and University of Derby) has developed specific “Musculoskeletal Wellbeing for the Early Years Workforce” guidance, together with an EduCare course covering “healthier working environments” and “safer practitioners”.

It aims to help employees and employers understand the nature and risk factors of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), offers good practice advice and shares the legal responsibilities of managers, duty holders and employers.

Further details can be found here: eyalliance.org.uk/back-pain.

For more information about Jolly Back visit www.jollyback.com.

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NEW

Alliance CPD-recognised online course available Creating an effective communication and language environment will benefit anyone working in a setting or supporting families in the early years.

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It explores; creating language-rich learning environments stages of language acquisition interacting with children developing relationships with parents and carers conversations with parents and carers

Available FREE to Alliance members as part of their membership package.

Non-members can buy for a special price, only £10.50

Creati n Comm g an Effecti ve unicati on a n d Langu The ph age ysical nment

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Think ab out your own lea rning environ ment, the resour ces in it and the ph ysical layout of the room.

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ildre portuni n see by th em ties fo r play? selves Are th e reso urces words labelle and pi d with ctures ?

Are th e reso ur attract ively pr ces well orga esente ni d to th sed and Are th e child e child ren? re resour ces re n’s self-chos cognis ed and en learning Are th va e child lued? ren of of reso fered a urces? breadt h Do the resour of tact ce ile expe s give a va riety riences ?

Are th e child re resour ces in n able to re ac depend ently? h the the op

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Access here: https://bit.ly/2Oohg1m If you’re interested in enjoying this and many more amazing FREE Alliance member offers, simply visit www.eyalliance.org.uk

Early Years Alliance

Ready, steady, flip!

Pancake races may not be happening on the high street this year, but there is no reason why you can’t carry on the tradition in your setting this year. Alliance quality and standards manager Melanie Pilcher explains

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he tradition of Pancake Day, or Shrove Tuesday is celebrated in many countries across the world.

Its origins are in the Christian festival of Lent when many people will make and eat pancakes as a prelude to the 40 days of fasting that follows.

Traditionally, pancake-making involved using up store cupboard ingredients such as milk and eggs that would not keep and was an opportunity to indulge

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in a rich ‘fatty’ meal before the fasting period began. Many families continue this tradition today.

Another tradition associated with the day is that of the pancake race, said to have originated in 1445 when a housewife preparing her pancakes was late for church and ran through the streets still holding her frying pan, flipping her pancake to prevent it from burning. Pancake races are now wellestablished events in many communities.

This year Pancake Day falls on 16 February. Although the traditional pancake race will look different due to ongoing restrictions on social gatherings, there is no reason why you cannot host your own races with children before enjoying a welldeserved pancake – with healthy toppings of course! Before you start, you could read, or make up your own story about pancakes to give some context to the idea of a pancake race to the children.

ACTIVITY CORNER

On your marks It would be wasteful to make pancakes that will not be eaten because they have landed on the floor, so here are some food-free alternatives that children will enjoy creating: Use playdough or plasticine – provide rolling pins and cutters so that children can practice rolling out a flat disc. Check the size of the discs against the pans you are using for some extra maths.

Playdough also has the advantage of being close in consistency to a real pancake which means it can be flipped easily too.

Let children practice their scissor skills as they draw and cut out paper pancakes, brown paper works well. Add collage materials that can represent toppings, scrunched up tissue paper for cherries, or cream coloured felt strips for bananas.

Alternatively, let children cut or tear out pictures from old food magazines to encourage them to think about healthy topping choices.

You might not have enough frying pans in the home corner for all children to use and adult sized pans will be too heavy for little hands. Help children make their own instead using cardboard discs to make a flat griddle pan, add a toilet roll insert for a handle.

Get set Every pancake racer needs to warm up before a big event, so try these movements based on pancake ingredients. This works well if you have already made pancakes together and talked about the ingredients and how they combine to become pancake batter.

Stretch like a cooked pancake – think about the way the batter stretches out to the edge of the pan and stretch arms and legs out to the side, reaching as far as possible.

Float like flour – float about on tip-toes, as light and airy as the flour that goes into the pancake mix.

Roll like eggs – lie on the floor and

curl legs up towards the stomach, hold them there and rock gently forwards and backwards.

Squirm like squelchy batter – move around making big slow movements with arms and legs.

Flip!

Think about adapting the type of race you have so that every child can take part, no matter what their age or ability. Why not start each race by shouting ‘on your marks, get set, flip!’?

Have a sprint race for your older children – pile on the challenge by stacking pancakes, so that children have to use extra balance and coordination to keep their pancakes in place. Or get them to stop, flip and catch half-way along the course.

Devise a shorter route for your toddlers, or a short age-appropriate obstacle course that involves jumping in and out of hoops laid flat on the ground or stepping over, or on and off large wooden blocks. Younger children could have their pancakes stuck into their pans to help a little bit.

Don’t forget your non-mobile toddlers and babies can still take part too. Roll cardboard pancake discs towards babies who are seated on the floor for hand eye coordination as they attempt to grab them.

For children who struggle with balance and coordination, make lightweight pancakes out of thin paper and provide a thicker piece of card to use as a fan.

Show them how to propel the pancakes across the floor towards a target or goal, by flapping the fan quickly behind the pancakes. Of course, the paper pancakes will never maintain a straight line, but children will delight in making them move in the first place.

Above all, make sure your pancake race is fun and inclusive. This means joining in and leading by example. Have a practitioner race where the children are the spectators.

Children will delight in cheering on the grown-ups who will of course, demonstrate

that it is the taking part that counts, not who comes first, or even how they get there!

Considering your educational programmes A traditional pancake race involves running as fast as possible with the aim of crossing the finish line first but provides limited opportunities for learning and development to happen. An enabling environment that supports every child, no matter what their age or stage of development expands the learning potential and supports the characteristics of effective learning.

By planning for the unique child, practitioners take account of every child’s needs, and can set achievable challenges that will further their development. For example, the focus for babies and younger children for this activity will be on the three prime areas.

Physical development education programmes must involve opportunities for children to be “active and interactive; and to develop their co-ordination, control and movement”. For babies this involves developing their hand-eye co-ordination by reaching and grasping for a cardboard pancake that is being rolled towards them, before they can refine the skills needed to flip and catch a pancake when they are older. Similarly control and movement requires core strength that babies begin to develop as they sit and play, repeating actions that help to build important muscles.

Personal, social and emotional development includes “helping children to form positive relationships”. Playing games with their key person supports babies’ secure emotional attachment. As children grow and develop, activities that involve a sense of competition or personal challenge help them to develop their selfconfidence and self-awareness.

Communication and language is supported in the very youngest children as they listen to instructions and narrative.

Listening and attention is one of the building blocks of language development that leads to older children being able to understand and follow instructions such as, “ready, steady, go!”.

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BEST PRACTICE

Hitting refresh Caroline Short, Manager at Hanbury’s Farm pre-school in Staffordshire, explains how the setting has transformed its outdoor space during the coronavirus pandemic

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ith fewer children in the setting over lockdown, the Hanbury’s Farm pre-school team made the most of the extra time on their hands. They worked hard to transform their outdoor space with particular focus on enhancing their Forest School experience for returning children – many of whom had little or no access to green outdoor space during the lockdowns.

We are incredibly lucky to have a large outdoor area that splits into two: one side includes a large playground area with a canopy where the children access the continuous provision for free flow; the second area is a fenced-off natural area where the children take part in Forest School activities.

Pre-lockdown this area was not being used to its full potential and the garden had become quite lost and overgrown. The first lockdown came and for the first time ever the setting just had a handful of children attending. This allowed the staff the time to get all those jobs done that had been on the ‘To Do’ list for so long. This started with cleaning up the rusty canopy and giving it a fresh new coat of paint.

brand new again and staff motivation grew.

Everyone was full of ideas on how to make more improvements to the area.

Next, the mud kitchen area was completely dug over. The team laid bark chipping and a concrete border. We only had a minimal budget so could not bring in a landscape gardener – everything had to completed by the team ourselves. Can you remember how hot it was during the first lockdown? It was hard work but with sheer determination we completely transformed our run down and overgrown garden into a beautiful outdoor classroom.

We know the importance of giving children access to the outdoors but understand that not every child gets this opportunity at home. With some Pupil Premium funding still to be allocated, we decided to use it for the Forest school area. This allowed us to purchase heavyduty wooden storage, wooden shelving for mud kitchen storage and self-selection activities, woodwork tools and woodwork benches and many wonderful real-life resources to create awe and wonder for our mud kitchen. All we needed now was the children!

Chain reaction

A new start

This first project started a domino effect, highlighting other parts of our outdoor space that needed refreshing. Before we knew it, the whole area had been given a fresh coat of paint and looked much better.

Our outdoor space was already feeling

In September 2020, many children returned after having almost six months away.

September usually brings its challenges to pre-schools with children starting their educational journey and leaving their familiar adults for the first time. It can cause lots of

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worry and anxiety but each year we have the younger children from the previous cohort to help lead the way. In September 2020, the start of term felt felt like the first day for every child and carer.

During lockdown children had not had the opportunities that they are used to, like days out or visits to the park and many had been restricted from seeing family members. It must have been such a confusing time for them.

This reflected in the behaviour of the children – until they accessed the new garden.

Wellbeing boost The space allows the children the time to become fully engrossed in their play and learning. By using ‘In the Moment’ planning the children take the lead. The Forest School is a place where the children can take risks – it is exciting. The children are given more freedom than in the classroom. Having the opportunity for open ended play means the children are completely in charge, they learn to make choices, expand their cognitive skills and feel more inspired.

Supporting the children’s wellbeing has been paramount for us since they returned.

The benefits of time spent in nature to children’s mental and physical wellbeing is a proven fact. Our revitalised Forest School garden and sessions provide our children with much needed time to feel refreshed, revitalised, calm, and relaxed. The outcomes and change in behaviour have been remarkable. We are so proud of what we have achieved.

NUTRITION

Plant-based diets for toddlers With vegan and vegetarian diets becoming increasingly popular, the ITF looks at some of the things to consider when feeding meat-free diets to toddlers

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s vegetarian and vegan diets have become increasingly popular amongst adults in recent years, there has also been a rise in the number of parents choosing to raise their children on a vegetarian or vegan diet. Alongside this, many parents are opting to follow a more plant-based diet and reducing the amount of animal products they consume.

Toddlers nutritional requirements can be met when following any of these diets with careful planning. However, it is important to stress that toddlers have high energy and nutrient needs and small stomachs. As such, there are some key issues to be aware of when menu planning for these children’s diets but it doesn’t have to be a headache.

The Infant & Toddler Forum has put together some practical tips to support early years professional catering for vegan or vegetarian children.

1. Key nutrients to include for a healthy and balanced diet: Lots of protein rich food such as eggs, beans, chickpeas, lentils, soya products e.g. tofu, Quorn, seeds and nuts (well ground or a butter for children under five).

Iron to prevent anaemia. Iron is readily found in beans, chickpeas, lentils, seeds and nuts, dark green vegetables and wholegrains.

Plant-based sources of iron (called ‘nonhaem iron’) can be more difficult for the body to absorb than iron from meat sources. Try to include iron rich foods at every meal and offer alongside foods high in vitamin C at mealtimes to help improve iron absorption.

Vitamin B12 is predominantly found in animalbased sources (eggs and dairy produce).

Vegan diets should include food fortified with B12 such as breakfast cereals and plantbased milk alternatives. Parents may wish to consider a supplement.

Calcium is essential for bone health. Dairy sources include milk, yoghurt and cheese.

Non-dairy sources include pulses, fortified plant-based milk alternatives, fortified bread or cereals, tahini and almond butter.

Vitamin D is essential for healthy bones.

Sunshine and daily vitamin D supplements are recommended.

Iodine can be lacking in predominately plantbased and non-dairy diets. This can be found in plant-based milks fortified with iodine, however children following a vegan diet should consider supplements.

Omega 3 is typically found in oily fish such as salmon, mackerel. Plant-based options

include rapeseed/flaxseed, similar oils and walnuts, however supplementation may be recommended for some children.

2. Combine food groups Try combining lower fat, higher fibre foods with more energy dense options. For example, vegetables and grains can be combined with higher energy foods, like falafel, beans/lentils, tofu, dairy or eggs (for vegetarian children), nut or seed-based products. Fibre is especially important to help digestion and prevent constipation.

3. Increase energy Increase the energy content of foods Use nut butters, ground nuts, avocado, full fat dairy products, fat spreads and oils to meet toddlers’ energy needs. Toddlers need a diet high in energy to fuel their growth and development.

4. Think fortified Include fortified foods like cereals, breads and plant-based milks to make sure children get all their key nutrients. These can be helpful to include in a toddler’s diet to contribute to daily vitamin and mineral intake.

5. Little and often Children should be given regular meals and snacks and encouraged to eat a wide variety of foods. Three main meals and two nutritious snack a day is recommended for toddlers.

6. Variety is key A well-planned menu will provide meals and snacks with food from all the key food groups.

It will make budgeting and shopping for food quick and easy. This will also help with timeplanning for cooking and preparing food. The Toddler Menu Planner, created by the Infant & Toddler Forum, is a simple guide to help families and childcare professionals ensure that toddlers receive a balanced diet every day and it also includes four vegetarian days.

Find out more For more information and advice on keeping toddlers healthy, read the 10 Steps for Healthy Toddlers guidance & tips and download the Healthy Eating for Toddlers Factsheet (1.1) at www.infantandtoddlerforum.org. Don’t forget to visit our new shop for all our latest products www.shop.infantandtoddlerforum.org.

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Feeling safe, sta Last summer, the Alliance collated evidence to assess if the first lockdown had impacted on the wellbeing and behaviour of children in early years settings. Here, we reflect on that evidence as well as emerging trends from the second lockdown in November.

At the start of the first lockdown, early years providers expressed their fears for the wellbeing and behaviour of children when they started returning to their settings. The Alliance believes that unless young children were directly affected, for example by their main carer contracting the virus, experienced high levels of stress at home, or if they or their parents had complex need, then for most children under four there was largely no negative impact.

Benefits to children

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Language concerns However, while overall behaviour had generally improved, some settings reported observing children regressing in their development since the start of the pandemic. This was particularly true for some language skills, namely listening and attending.

By September, most children had returned to their settings happy and well.

Minor tweaks were being made to accommodate the needs of those children who had regressed developmentally, but generally there appeared to be no lasting impact.

In November, Ofsted published a report on the impact of Covid-19 on children. It highlighted that some of children’s basic skills and learning had regressed. In some cases, Ofsted said, children had returned to “using dummies” or were “back in nappies”. The report also said that providers were most concerned about children with SEND, those who speak English as an additional language and children living in poverty. It warned that children from disadvantaged backgrounds did not always have access to the same variety of toys at home and that those living in flats did not have regular access to outdoor space.

However, Ofsted’s report also noted

“Some changes made at settings in response to the pandemic were said to have a positive impact, such as leaving parents at the gate.”

Children under four tend to be egocentric. Unless something impacts on them directly, the current crisis could largely go on unnoticed. Alongside this, many children and families will have actually benefitted from the extra time they had to spend together during lockdown.

This time may have strengthened their attachments and relationships.

The Alliance collected anecdotal evidence about children’s behaviour from member settings as well as an academic study (co-SYPCE study) conducted

by Reading, Oxford and Southampton universities. This evidence showed that for most children, the lockdown had no

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adverse impact on their behaviour. The research findings went even further and stated that in some instances, children’s behaviour had improved.

that for those children who had been able to continue to attend settings, or were well supported at home, there was good progress in their learning. It also found that some providers felt children’s communication and language skills had improved in the lockdown as parents who had more time to spend reading and talking to their children had a positive impact. Some changes made at settings in response to the pandemic were also said to have a positive impact, such as leaving parents at the gate or staggered starts to the day.

Ongoing crisis As we moved into autumn and the number of Covid-19 cases in England began to rise again, the country entered another lockdown at the start of November. With this second lockdown period, we anticipated that the impact on children’s wellbeing and behaviour would likely be much more variable. This was due to influencing factors such as the: longevity of the pandemic, increased infection rates and seasonal illnesses impact on higher risk communities and individuals decline of the mental health and wellbeing of increasing number of parents and carers financial implications of lost parental income due to furlough or redundancy increasing levels of poverty and use of foodbanks heightened social limitations and escalating isolation for some families failure of some children to return to early years provision, including those with additional needs

BEHAVIOUR

able and secure delays in providing support services to those in need rise in domestic violence and incidences of safeguarding continued restrictions on freedoms and movement.

For some children, their families will be experiencing more than one of these changes – all of which could have a devastating impact on a child’s wellbeing.

Losing touch

those families that had disappeared “off their radar” during the pandemic or were choosing not to return their children to settings.

Staff concerns Some settings have also highlighted mental health concerns within their own staff teams.

Providers have sometimes needed to finance external support for their own staff members using their own budgets.

During this time of continued uncertainty, it is important that settings identify families and children who are struggling and offer appropriate and timely intervention. Every child should feel that their setting offers them a stable and secure base where they feel happy, calm, safe and receive consistent care and support.

“Every child should feel that their setting offers them a stable and secure base, where they feel happy and safe.”

More recent anecdotal evidence gathered from settings on children’s behaviour after the second lockdown indicated that some settings were starting to observe changes in children’s behaviour.

Practitioners also expressed concerns for

It is crucial that the teams surrounding and supporting children and families during this difficult time feel able to offer a stable and secure base within provision.

However, if a staff member feels unable to offer this level of support because they are concerned abut their own mental health and wellbeing, then it is important that they speak to their line manager.

If further support is required, staff should be directed to speak with their GP or specialist services such as the Mental Health Foundation.

Special offer 20% off Behaviour Matters Just £7.64 members or £11.16 non-members, using the code below

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Please visit shop.eyalliance.org.uk, call 0300 330 0996 or email shop@eyalliance.org.uk. shop.eyalliance.org.uk

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COVID-19

Should early years staff get Covid-19 vaccines?

Matt Arnerich, head of content at Famly, explains the arguments around priority access to coronavirus vaccines in the early years sector

A

s early years practitioners you are walking every day into a place where you can’t really stay at a distance, in a world where we’re all meant to be keeping each other at an arm’s length. As a result, there’s a lot of debate right now about vaccinations and the early years workforce.

As one of the few sectors who are being asked to remain fully open, and one of the very few who do so without any real protection from the snot, spit, and germs of those who come in, you shouldn’t be at the back of the queue for coronavirus vaccines as they enter the next phase of the roll-out.

The risk to providers The risk of harm COVID-19 poses to young children themselves is low and this is being pointed to by the government and their advisors as the main reason why they are keeping early years provision open in the latest lockdown. “One of the very few things that’s positive about this virus is that it, relatively, affects children less,” explained Chief Medical Officer Chris Witty when he was asked about why nurseries remain open on BBC Breakfast.

Of course, the thing missing from this explanation is that children can still transmit the disease. They can contribute both to the spread of the virus directly to vulnerable adults, or to healthy adults who can easily pass it on before they realise they’re sick.

Whether the decision to remain open or not is the right one, I can’t definitively say. But to ask you to do so without a safety net, any protection, or the financial support early years businesses need, is definitely the wrong one.

Alliance chief executive Neil Leitch says: “In an environment where there’s no social distancing – wiping snotty noses, wiping tears – adults are exposed. The focus around the safety of settings should shift to adults and not facts and data around the children. It should be about closely analysing the transmission and infection rates with our staff.”

While we do know that the incidence of cases for children aged 0-9 is the lowest, and 70-80%

of children who get COVID-19 are asymptomatic, the data on infection rates spells out the story for those children generally, not just those in early years settings. The number of cases in settings often reflects the infection rates more generally.

Research does suggest that they don’t elevate that rate as significantly as other places in the community might. But that might not be good enough when rates are so high.

As we’ve explained, while children are safe, they can still transmit the disease. With masks not always a feasible option, and social distancing difficult, the risk for crossinfection to adults can be high. All this means that the government simply cannot treat early years teams like essential workers when it’s convenient, and then avoid policy that protects you when it’s not.

Should early years staff be the first in the queue for vaccinations then?

2. We need to stop the spread of the disease “The data does suggest that the danger to children is very small, and that it is a safe space to be in for children,” Andy explains. “But the fear is that if the child has it, and takes it home, that could be really difficult – how could a vulnerable or sick parent look after the child, and what if they’re a single parent? And if they have family members who are at risk, that’s of course a danger too.” If your teams are some of the few people in society interacting daily, and closely with others, then it seems logical to protect them.

You would struggle to find anyone who thinks healthy early years staff should jump to the very front of the queue ahead of more vulnerable people. Andy Matthews, Nest Royal Wharf Day Nursery, London, said he completely understands the need to prioritise the most vulnerable first. “We’re looking to limit the number of deaths and that’s the most important,” he explains, “My gran was vaccinated in December, and of course that’s a huge weight off my family’s mind.”

But once the vaccination programme moves beyond the most critically vulnerable, there has to be a move to protect those on the front line who are best placed to get society functioning again.

“We are providing the opportunity for a lot of parents to be able to function as normal at home and emergency services need to function too,” Andy explained, “that’s why it’s important that we maintain provision in nurseries for them.”

If you are going to continue to be asked to stay open, you should be prioritised as soon as the most vulnerable in society are safe. Currently, Andy says that he sits 39 millionth in the queue to get a vaccine. Here’s why that’s not good enough: 1. We need to protect a vulnerable workforce “When you have asked a particular element of a sector to remain open, when you’ve closed every other part of it, as they have here with early years education compared to schools, you should prioritise it with vaccinations, testing and the assurance of focused clinical evidence,” says Neil.

3. We need to make sure key workers can still access childcare One thing that the pandemic has revealed to parents is how important early years settings are in keeping our critical workers able to do their jobs. If transmission between children and staff increases, we risk losing that.

“It’s all well and good keeping nurseries open and ‘allowing’ them more income from other parents who are deemed non-essential,” explains Andy, “but if they hemorrhage their staff team because of a couple cases of COVID, they won’t be able to stay open for anyone.”

And if that happens, then the infrastructure keeping the NHS and other emergency services open, may start to buckle under the strain. Andy has currently only had to close a small bubble of children once in the last year, but more broadly, there are reports this is happening more and more often.

Find out more A longer version of this article originally appeared on the Famly blog. Visit famly.co/ blog for more articles, tips and inspiration.

FAMILIES

Family time tips In a new series to help you support children’s learning and development outside your setting, we share some ideas for families to try at home

Flip, flop and fan that fish!

Today, why not try this classic game of fishy fun? All you need are some pieces of paper (we used old envelopes), some crayons/ pencils or felt tips to decorate, some scissors for paper cutting, a little bit of floor space inside or out and you’re all set!

Encourage your little one to draw a large fishy shape. Then, depending on the age of your little one and their developing scissor skills, cut out their fish and spend some time

together decorating it.

Once your little one is ready and the fish is finished, take another piece of paper and fold it over and back to make a fan. Your little one might like to have a go at this, as all that folding really helps to strengthen their fingers.

Finally, clear some floor space and ready…steady…start flipping! Have a FAN-tastic time.

Where’s something?

Who am I?

Before you go for your walk today, why not play the “where‘s something” game? Encourage your little one and any other family members to find something in the room that’s…bumpy, furry, shiny or whatever describing words you wish.

Make sure that the items are easy to carry, then, pop them in a bag to take with you when you go out. We found things that were red, smooth, round, shiny, fluffy, scratchy and bumpy!

Later, when you’re out and about, take turns to pull an object out of the bag. Can your little one find a new object to match it? For example, “where’s something red?” or “where’s something bumpy?”

Another great game to play is the ‘Who Am I?’ game? It’s a great way for your little one to practice their listening and attention skills and to learn new vocabulary.

The game could be played in various ways using either a selection of books, some photos, or you could even cut out some pictures together from magazines or newspapers.

With your child looking at a small selection of pictures, start describing the characters that you see. For example: “I live under water, I have a hard shell, I have tiny eyes, I am orange…”. Then, swap over, so your little one has a go at describing the character to you.

Find out more Our Family Time Tips offer is due to run until March 2021. It offers fun, practical tips and advice to promote children’s learning and development sent directly to your mobile. Daily topics include language and learning through play activities, health and wellbeing tips plus nutritional advice for you and your child.

The service use WhatsApp to send you

learning and development ideas direct to your phone. It is a broadcast service, so you won’t be added to a group with lots of people sending messages. This is not a commercial activity, so you won’t receive any advertising and you can choose to opt out at any time.

For more information, visit bit.ly/33ZlsNs or contact Jonathan Lucas at jonathan.lucas@ eyalliance.org.uk.

Please feel free to share this page with parents and carers.

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COMPETITION

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Each bird has four unique sounds so when you place your birds on different stages/branches at the same time, you’ll create your own unique song that Rockin’ Robin

The views expressed in Under 5 are not necessarily those of the Early Years Alliance. The editor reserves the right to shorten submitted material and to reprint copy from newsletters.

No responsibility can be accepted for loss of MSS, photographs or artwork. Unused material will be returned if submitted with a stamped, addressed envelope. The editor is unable to enter into correspondence about unsolicited copy.

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would be proud of. Keep switching your birds around to make the most beautiful Tweet Beat combinations and listen to the coolest music!

For your chance to win, simply send your answer to the following question, along with your name and contact details to:under5. competitions@eyalliance.org.uk using the subject line ‘Tweet Beats’: What date will Pancake Day be celebrated on this year? (see page 24) a) 16 February b) 18 February c) 19 February

UNDER 5 MAGAZINE ISSN 0969-9481 EDITOR: Rachel Lawler DESIGN: room111.co.uk

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INFORMATION LINE T: 020 7697 2595 E: info@eyalliance.org.uk NATIONAL CENTRE T: 020 7697 2500 E: info@eyalliance.org.uk 50 Featherstone Street London EC1Y 8RT TRAINING CENTRE T: 01732 363070 E: training@eyalliance.org.uk 1st Floor, Bridge House, 97-101 High Street, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1DP

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