Under 5 Nov/Dec 2019

Under 5 the magazine of the early years alliance November/December 2019

WINstom-

10 cu A set of -shirts or 20 T printed sweatshirts d e ety print road saf plus 20 tors with reflec f Norfolk o Samuels

‘Tis the season

Getting out and about this winter

Giving back Making a reverse advent calendar

Funding and fees

What are the rules on consumables charges?

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contents

WELCOME & CONTENTS

welcome

Welcome to Under 5 4

News round up

8

My Under 5

10

Letters to the editor

12

Funding and fees: what are the rules?

15

A common blind spot

16

Should we scrap Ofsted?

18

Not a penny less

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

12

A chance for Alliance member settings to share news of recent events and projects Under 5 readers share their views on the early years sector A guide to the rules on charging for consumables How to make sure your setting’s blinds are child-safe Early years providers share their views on Labour’s pledge to replace Ofsted inspections The rules on minimum wages for setting staff

22 How to make a reverse advent calendar

Help out another good cause with a Christmas collection

18 30

26 How to hire an apprentice

A guide for takin on an apprentice under the new framework

28 Can we help save the planet?

Ideas for reducing your setting’s environmental impact

30 ’Tis the season to be outdoors

Getting out and about over the winter months

32 Have a healthy Christmas

The Early Years Nutrition Partnership shares healthy snack ideas for your setting

33 Competition

November and December are always exciting months in early years settings – between Guy Fawkes Night, Christmas and New Year there is something to excite every child between now and the end of the year.

Unfortunately, this time of year also often signals the start of colder mornings and darker evenings that can make it tempting to stay indoors as much as possible. We’ve pulled together lots of fun ideas for getting out and about – and keeping children active – whatever the weather throws at you (page 30).

With all the different festivals and celebrations, this time of year can also prove tricky for practitioners trying to limit the number of unhealthy treats and snacks offered to children. The Early Years Nutrition Partnership has shared some ideas for making healthy food just as fun and exciting for children in your setting (page 32). For similar reasons, practitioners may also be looking for an alternative to the chocolate advent calendar. The reverse advent calendar is a good alternative and an increasingly popular way for people to collect donations for good causes – we’ve got some easy instructions for how you can create your own this year (page 22).

As the year comes to a close, some settings may also be taking a look over their finances as they get ready for January. We know that many members may need to charge families for consumables, so we have taken a look at the current rules about funded hours (page 12).

Another common point of confusion for some settings is the rules on the national living and minimum wages. The team behind Law-Call, a free legal helpline available to all Alliance members, has shared a guide to the rules on wages (page 18) to help make sure your setting is following the rules.

With the new year already on the horizon, we’ve also got some ideas for how you can make your setting a little bit greener (page 28). Environmental issues are of increasing importance, particularly for children, and we know lots of practitioners are taking steps to reduce their carbon footprint and reduce the amount of plastic they use. On which note, we’ve had a number of questions about the plastic wrapper that Under 5 is mailed in. I’d like to confirm that the wrapping is recyclable – if your local authority doesn’t collect plastic wrap at the kerbside, it can be recycled alongside carrier bags at your local supermarket.

Please do keep sharing your questions and comments with us – as well as your good news stories for My Under 5. I hope you all get a chance to relax and celebrate the festive season. We’ll be back in January with all the latest news and features for the New Year!

Rachel Lawler, editor

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in brief...

VACCINES: Health secretary Matt Hancock has said that there is a “strong argument” in favour of making vaccinations compulsory to stop the rise in measles outbreaks in England.

New petition calls for increased early years funding

round-up DfE must publish data on funding rates The Department for Education (DfE) has been ordered to publish the information it holds on how the current early years funding levels in England were calculated.

The ruling follows a long-running dispute between the DfE and the Alliance, which filed a request for the data under the Freedom of Information laws in December 2018. The DfE had initially refused to publish it, arguing that the information formed part of its policy development and that the need to keep it private outweighed any public interest in releasing it. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has told the DfE that it must publish the date before 14 November and warned that failure to comply may result in action for contempt in the High Court.

Current funding rates for the sector were announced in 2015 and came into effect in 2017. The government claims that these rates take into consideration the impact of cost increases in this time period.

The Alliance asked the DfE for information on how these increasing costs were calculated and was told it has a “spreadsheet, presentation and documentation”. The DfE rejected

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the Alliance’s request to publish this information, arguing that it formed part of its policy development work. The Alliance then took the case to the ICO, which has rejected the DfE’s argument and ordered it to disclose the withheld information before the set deadline.

Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Alliance, commented: “Week after week, we are seeing more and more nurseries, childminders and pre-schools across the country being forced to shut their doors as they simply can’t cope with the ongoing lack of adequate funding, while many of those who remain open can only do so by charging parents extra to make up for the funding shortfall.

“The government has always claimed that increases in costs like wages, rents and business rates, were factored into the childcare funding levels when they were originally set. All we are asking for is proof that this was indeed the case, and it is disappointing that we were forced to appeal to the ICO in order to obtain this information. We hope that the DfE will now make this information available to us without any further delay.”

An Alliance member has launched a parliamentary petition calling on the government to increase early years funding. The petition, which at the time of going to print had more than 8,500 signatures, was created by staff at Cholsley Pre-school in Oxon and says low government funding levels are making it “impossible to keep [childcare] settings going”, leading to closures.

Parliamentary petitions require 10,000 signatures before the government responds to them. If a petition reaches 100,000 signatures its subject is considered for debate in Parliament.

Earlier this year, ahead of the increase to the National Minimum and Living Wages, a petition calling on funding to be increased in line with rising costs reached the 10,000 signature threshold and received a response from the government. Early years funding levels have remained frozen since 2017, creating a shortfall of £662 million.

“It’s not just our little pre-school at risk, it’s everywhere.”

Rebecca Heal, who created the petition along with her colleague Faye Turner, said: “After reading an email from the Alliance about early years underfunding, it made us realise it’s not just our little pre-school at risk, it’s everywhere - and if nothing is done about it, the situation will get worse. So, we thought we would start a petition to reach out to people to spread the message and hope that everyone will get behind it.”

“It’s very hard for us to keep going.

We have to ask our parents for help and continually keep fundraising just to be able to support the children in our care.

We want to keep our standards high and give our children the best starts to life and we want the same for every setting.”

COUNTING: Children aged 14 months understand the concept of counting, according to a new study from Johns Hopkins University.

SMACKING BAN: Scotland has become the first country in the UK to ban parents from smacking their children.

Call for “national food standards” in early years settings Early years settings should play a “central role” in preventing childhood obesity, according to a new report from England’s outgoing chief medical officer.

Dame Sally Davies has called for “early years food national standards” to be introduced and adhered to in all settings in her final report. The report also calls for settings to adopt “water and milk only” drinking policies and asks for Ofsted to support these policies. Physical activity is also mentioned. Davies called for settings and schools to adopt the daily mile as well as energetic play, walking and skipping.

According to the report, early years settings are not currently offering children enough vegetables, pulses and oily fish,

serving too many processed foods high in sugar and fat. However, the report also notes that children are generally more active in early years settings than they usually are at home with their parents.

Davies said: “Infancy and early childhood are an important period for establishing healthy eating patterns. Many infant foods exceed the recommended standards for sugar and some contain added salt. They are also sold in large portions with no indication of individual portion sizes.”

Other measures suggested in the report include making better use of data on children’s weight, phasing out advertising for less healthy food and VAT changes on junk foods.

Annie Denny, nutrition development manager for the Early Years Nutrition Partnership, said: “The early years are a key window of opportunity for improving health. With nearly one in four children entering reception overweight or obese, it’s vital that efforts to promote a healthy diet and lifestyle start early, before children get to school. While voluntary guidance is available for early years settings, there are currently no regulated standards.

The Early Years Nutrition Partnership welcomes the recommendation that food, drink and physical activity standards should be set and adhered to in all settings.”

Universal Credit claimants given longer to claim childcare costs The Department for Work and Pensions has confirmed that Universal Credit claimants will now have longer to claim back the cost of childcare. Previously, Universal Credit claimants needed to report the amount spent on childcare within the same assessment period in order to claim it back.

As of this month, claimants now have until the end of the next assessment period to report their childcare costs. This gives people two months instead of one to claim back the cost of childcare.

However, the Alliance has warned that the change does not go far enough, with

many families still struggling to pay for childcare upfront and waiting to claim it back. Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Alliance, said: “The change that providers and parents really wanted to see was help with making childcare payments up front.

However useful this latest change is to parents, my worry is that, without support for those initial up front costs, any impact it has will be limited.

“At the moment providers are forced to choose between allowing parents to pay in arrears or refuse places for families on Universal Credit. It’s not fair

to ask providers to shoulder the risk of non-payment by allowing parents who could already be struggling with Universal Credit-related repayments to build up further debt and it’s not right that poorer children, who stand to gain the most from early education, are in danger of missing out on it completely.

“Sadly, that’s the situation current government policy is creating. It doesn’t have to be this way but, to fix it, ministers need to look seriously at ensuring there is upfront financial support for Universal Credit claimants who need childcare.”

Government “considers extending funded childcare to all two-year-olds” The government is said to be considering extending funded childcare for two-year-olds to all families in England. The Sun reported that ministers believe that the pledge should be a “top priority” in the next election.

Currently, families receiving certain benefits can get up to 15 hours a week of funded childcare and education for two-year-old children. This change could see all two-year-old children in England receive the funded hours.

The government is also said to be considering extending the 30-hours offer to be available all year round.

Currently, some working families in England are entitled to a total of 30 hours a week of childcare and education for 38 weeks of the year.

Stephen McPartland, MP for Stevenage, told The Sun: “If we really want to help and support working families, we must make 30 hours free childcare available all year round. It is ridiculous that it was only designed for school term times. We should extend it to the school holidays in the next Budget or our manifesto.”

Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Alliance, said: “Extending the existing

so-called ‘free childcare’ schemes – whether by offering funded places to a wider range of children, or increasing the number of hours being funded – without ensuring that early years providers are paid a fair rate to deliver places will place unbearable pressure on a sector that is already struggling to survive. Prioritising ‘eye-catching’ manifesto pledges over and above workable, sustainable and properly costed polices is exactly what got us into the mess we’re in today. The government simply must not make the same mistake twice.”

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Consultation on proposed changes to the EYFS opens Government plans £10.50 an hour national living wage Sajid Javid has pledged to raise the National Living Wage to £10.50 by 2024 in a speech at the Conservative Party conference.

The Chancellor also pledged to make the National Living Wage applicable to workers aged 21 and over, down from the current minimum age of 25.

The National Minimum Wage is the minimum pay per hour workers aged under 25 are entitled to. The National Living Wage

is the minimum rate that workers aged 25 and older are entitled to. Currently, workers aged 25 and over must be paid a minimum of £8.21 per hour. Those aged between 21 and 25 must be paid a minimum of £7.70 an hour. The government says it will reveal more details of this plan in its next Budget, which was due to take place later this year.

Earlier this year, the Labour Party also pledged to increase the National Living Wage if elected. The party promised to increase the minimum rate to £10 an hour by 2020 and extend this to apply to all workers aged 18 and above.

Report warns that SEND reforms are failing families The government is failing children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and their families, according to a new report from the Education Select Committee. The group of MPs has warned that SEND reforms introduced in 2014, designed to improve the experiences of children with SEND and their families, have been poorly implemented.

Based on 70 interviews and 700 pieces of written evidence, the report says that parents and carers for children with SEND face a tangle of bureaucracy, while local authorities struggle to meet parent expectations in the face of budget cuts. The report calls for more rigorous inspections of local authorities and for parents to be able to appeal directly to the Department for Education for help when local authorities are not complying with the law.

Robert Halfon, chair of the Education Select Committee, said: “Many parents face

a titanic struggle just to try and ensure their child gets access to the right support. Families are often forced to wade through a treacle of bureaucracy, in a system which breeds conflict and despair as parents try and navigate a postcode lottery of provision. Children and parents should not have to struggle in this way – they should be supported.”

Responding to the report, Nicola Gibson, inclusion manager at the Alliance, said: “The committee is right to highlight the many challenges that the families of children with special educational needs and disabilities face: excessive bureaucracy, a complex and confusing system, and an ongoing lack of adequate resources. It’s very disappointing, therefore, that the report makes so little reference to the early years, given that these problems are so acutely felt in this part of the education sector.”

Alliance Connect national meeting & AGM Our next Alliance Connect national meeting and AGM takes place on: Saturday 30 November, 11am – 4pm.

Members and non-members are all welcome to this free event and will enjoy a full programme of speakers. This is an opportunity to discuss some of the issues facing our sector, so please share with your networks and encourage everyone to attend.

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The AGM begins at 13.30pm and should only take around 20 minutes. The event will take place at National Council for Voluntary Organisations Society Building (NCVO) near Kings cross, London N1 9RL. Please encourage your contacts to come along!

The full agenda can be found in the members’ area of the website or at bit.ly/2BNRYUp.

The Department for Education (DfE) has opened a consultation on proposed changes to the statutory framework for the early years foundation stage (EYFS).

The consultation is asking for views on the proposed changes to the educational programmes, early learning goals, assessment and moderation process for the EYFS profile and safeguarding and welfare requirements to promote good oral health.

The consultation opened on 24 October and will close on 31 January 2020.

Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Alliance, commented: “Since the publication of the draft revised Early Learning Goals in June 2018 and their pilot in a limited number of reception classes, the sector has been keen to engage in this review of the EYFS. Unfortunately, the publication of this consultation will do little to reassure those who are concerned that the review marks a move towards an overly narrow and formal approach to early years practice.

“The sector is keen to engage in this review of the EYFS.” “We know that young children benefit from a broad, rounded and holistic approach to early years learning – and yet the proposed changes to the Early Learning Goals demonstrate a move in the opposite direction. The decision to increase the number of literacy ELGs from two to three, and to remove the real world contexts that support children to gain a solid understanding of maths from the mathematics ELGs, are just two of a number of examples of this concerning shift outlined in this consultation.

“What’s more, the use of open-text boxes for consultation responses is likely to make genuine, detailed analysis of responses very difficult, and begs the question: how interested is the government on what the sector has to say on this issue? That said, we urge all providers to respond to this consultation. It is vital that the views of those who use the EYFS on a day-to-day basis, and have an in-depth understanding of the way children learn and develop, are taken into account during this process.”

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Outstanding setting

Nether Green Nusery in Sheffield is celebrating after being graded ‘Outstanding’ at its first Ofsted inspection.

The inspector said that staff are “consistently kind and gentle role models to children” and that “they closely monitor children’s progress to help build the stepping stones to their future success”.

The inspector also noted the many “magical wow moments” in the setting, including children making handmade rockets launch using bicarbonate of soda and working out which musical instrument is being played behind a screen. Owners Louise and Edward Burdall say they are “delighted” with the outcome.

25th annivers

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team has g success ndraising Fundraisin munity Pre-school’s fu ing. The of the sett

p k Com the upkee Woodstoc elp with a 9 towards 1 ,7 2 £ unity to h f m o l m o ta c to l a a c on d lo raise h a selecti rs of the llage. Wit d membe vi e it e ru th c in ts re c team ly produ event held eco-friend ival-style f st o r fe e k b c d m o n u Kidst people a s and a n than 250 ring game re e o ff m o y lls b a ed of st as attend e raflle. e event w rizes for th p for sale, th d re e ff o s e ss e n usi 23 local b

Tinytoons in Cheshunt ha s celebrated party. The lo its 25 th annive cal mayor jo rsary with a in ed children, and previous st aff and parent , in the celebr s, both curre ations. Manag nt amazing achi er Tina comm evement and en ted: “It is an w e are proud th that so many at our reputa parents return tion means to us again an parents who d again. We came to us w now have he n they were ch with children ildren who ar of their own! e returning We have a st have been w rong team, so ith us for mor me of whom e than 10 ye ars.”

Veterinary v

isit

Children at B oys and Girl s Nursery in veterinary pr Stanmore en actice, Mediv joyed a visit et. The visito from their lo care of cats rs talked to th cal and how impo e children ab rtant their w out taking to try using so ork is. The ch me of their ildren were gi ven a chance equipment, including stethoscopes and brushes.

The visit cam e after the children chos e cats as one of their topics of the month, via th eir preschool coun cil, which th e setting elects each month .

Natasha Kirb y, director at the setting, said: “The ve t’s visit was a hu ge hit with the children.

They loved lear ned abou t looking after cats an d using the equipment.”

Outstanding inspec

tion

s been rk, west London ha rsery in Chalfont Pa r noted Buttercups Day Nu cto pe ins e ction. Th g’ in its latest inspe er graded ‘Outstandin off ff” sta d ualifie perienced and well-q ” and ng that the setting’s “ex rni lea ’s the children nities that support new for “excellent opportu ls” de mo good role acts as “extremely ger at na ma said that the team w, ha ns learn from. Sam Re to ff sta ed nc rie pe and less ex knowledge and ud of them all. Their pro ry ve am “I id: sa ren’s the setting, vements in the child about fantastic achie ion.” nit commitment bring og rec s thi serve ment – they really de learning and develop

Out and about

Children at Jellybab ies Nursery and Pre -school in Rednal, Birmingham enjoyed a sensory nature wa lk in nearby Rubery. The children looked for changes in their local environment, signa lling the start of au tum n.

They collected fallen leaves, acorn s, conkers and twigs .

Th ey then used these items to make an interest table in the se ttin g and create their own bir ds nest. Children als o lea rne d about the caring for the local environment and wh y it’s im po rta nt not to drop litter. Jacq ueline Walker, mana ger at the setting, said: “This was a lov ely autumn-inspired walk which provided the children with so many learni ng opportunities.”

The festival of lights Children at Oak Tree Nursery in Ilfracombe celebrated the festival of Diwali last month with story-telling and role play activities. The festival is celebrated by Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and some Buddhists, as they remember the story of Rama, who was greeted with a trail of lights on his return from exile after rescuing his wife Sita. They also enjoyed a re-telling of the popular book, The Enormous Turnip and celebrated the harvest season by making their own scarecrow. The setting is also due to open a new sensory play area in the next few weeks.

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’.

HAVE YOUR SAY

Letters to the editor STAR LETTER Fighting for funding Thank you to everyone for sharing and promoting our petition [on the government’s website at bit.ly/32Z7YPq]. We are really passionate about getting the message out to as many people as possible.

We have seen many pre-schools closing recently – including one that was ‘Outstanding’ but just couldn’t afford to stay open. The funding just isn’t enough. Being a charity, it’s very hard to keep going on the current funding rates. We have to ask parents for help and are continually fundraising just to be able to support the children in our care. We want to keep standards high and give our children the best start in life – and we want the same for every setting. It’s unfair on children. Every child deserves a good start in life.

We want to see a change in funding. There needs to be an increase to allow us to keep delivering high quality childcare and early years workers need to be recognised for the hard work and dedication they put in. They need to be treated like every other sector in the is country. Early years isn’t currently respected as it should be. We want to empower everyone with the message that early years is the most important time in a child’s life and without having providers that are sustainable, your children won’t enjoy the best early years experiences.

After reading an email about underfunding from the Alliance, we realised that it’s not just our little pre-school that’s at risk – it’s happening across the country. If nothing is done about this, the situation will get worse. So we have started a petition to spread the message. We hope that everyone gets behind it.

Rebecca Heal, Chorley Pre-school You can sign the petition at bit.ly/32Z7YPq. Childminder challenges As part of the Ofsted Big Conversation north west’s steering group, I am often called on to ‘challenge the nonsense’ and being approached by childminders complaining that they are being told

by Ofsted inspectors to plan, track and observe school-aged children was one of those occasions when I feel nonsense needs to be urgently challenged.

I was given to understand, when it was first introduced, that Annex A in the Early Years Inspection handbook was worded so that childminders who care for multi-age children could have a foot in both camps – we provide early years care (with a full inspection) and provide out of school and holiday care (light touch/Childcare Register inspection). I also note Footnote 5 in the EYFS says that providers ‘do not have to meet the learning and development requirements’ once children are in school.

Ofsted’s own Facebook page ‘Childcare Registration’ contains a post stating Ofsted recognise when children receive out of school care they need to relax after a busy day at school.

Yet childminders, not any other types of out-of-school provider, are being told by some inspectors to plan challenging

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activities for school-age children because Ofsted inspectors are able to use their ‘professional judgement’ in this matter. It is inconsistent and it is unfair. It is discrimination towards childminders.

If the Department for Education and Ofsted wish to keep childminders, they will need to work with us and stop this nonsense before it escalates. Otherwise more childminders will leave the profession or give notice to the older children they care for.

Sarah Neville-Graven, Knutsford Childminding If you are a childminder and have experienced this problem with an Ofsted inspection, please get in touch at feedback@eyalliance. org.uk.

Plastic not so fantastic I noticed in the September issue [Going plastic free, Under 5, September 2019] that while encouraging us to make a change and find alternatives to plastic, you continue to mail the magazine in a plastic wrapper – which I don’t think is recyclable. Would it be possible to find an alternative?

Denise Taylor, Peter Pan Nursery Note from editor: The wrapper your copies of Under 5 is mailed in is recyclable – if your local authority doesn’t collect plastic wrapping with your usual recycling, you can recycle it alongside carrier bags at your local supermarket. We’ve added a recyclable logo to the wrapping to make this clearer.

Send your letters to Under 5 magazine, Early Years Alliance, 50 Featherstone Street, London, EC1Y 8RT or email: editor.u5@eyalliance.org.uk using the subject line ‘Letters’.

This issue’s star letter writer wins a bundle of Classmates goodies including paints, gluesticks, chalk, highlighters and more, thanks to Hope Education. With art and stationery products regularly needing replacing, this £80 set will be a welcome addition to any art cupboard or learning space.

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Funding and fees: what are the rules?

With many providers struggling with current funding rates, Deri Jones, press and public affairs officer at the Alliance, looks at the rules on ‘top-up’ fees and charging for optional extras

I

n September, the government announced an injection of £66m in new funding for the early years, to be shared between maintained nursery schools and the PVI sector delivering funded hours. Given the ever-rising cost of delivering high quality childcare, ministers were quickly warned that, in the grand scheme of things, this funding amounted to less than nothing. With the early years funding shortfall currently estimated to total £662 million, and the national minimum and living wages set to rise again in 2020, such a small injection of cash is likely to disappear completely.

So, if adequate government investment is still not forthcoming, what can providers struggling to break even do? For many providers, the answer has been to increase their fees for non-funded hours – in particular fees for younger children. However, since the introduction of the 30 hours offer in September 2017, there has also been much debate on the use of voluntary charges as a tool to make up the shortfall in funding.

Introducing additional charges for parents remains a controversial solution to the longrunning problem of underfunding. There is widespread concern that any system of funded

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childcare reliant on such charges forces providers to choose between children whose parents can afford them and those that can’t.

Some argue that voluntary charges create more questions than answers: What am I allowed to charge for? What can’t I charge for? What should I do if a parent can’t pay the charges?

We at the Alliance strongly believe that all families should have equal access to quality early years provision, and that a parent’s ability to pay for optional extras should not determine whether or not their child is offered a place at a setting. We’re worried this could lead to a twotier system where wealthier families get their pick of childcare places while those on lowerincomes are pushed to the back of the queue.

That said, it’s important that all providers are clear on exactly what the rules on top-ups and additional charges actually are, so that they can take an informed decision on how to approach this issue for their own businesses.

Voluntary charges, top-up fees and the law The rule on top-up fees are clear: the government says that you cannot charge them. This means that if, for example, your

hourly funding rate for three- and four-yearolds is £3.80, but the cost of delivering places is £5 per hour, you cannot say to parents: “You need to pay an extra £1.20 an hour to make up that shortfall.” This would be a top-up charge, and current government guidance on the delivery of funded hours makes clear that these are not allowed.

What providers can do, however, is to charge for ‘optional extras’ such as meals, nappies, and trips. As stated by the guidance, ‘free entitlement’ funding is “not intended to cover the cost of meals, other consumables, additional hours or additional activities” and so parents should also expect to pay for meals and any additional activities such as trips or items like nappies. It adds: “Where parents choose to purchase these, the guidance states that it is “a private matter between the provider and parent”.

So what does this mean in practice? It means while you cannot ask parents to simply make up the difference for any hourly funding shortfall you are facing, you can charge them for any additional goods and services they take up.

However, it is important to note that any such charges must be voluntary – the government

FUNDING

Using the Early Years Pupil Premium

guidance states that “Where parents are unable or unwilling to pay for meals and consumables, providers who choose to offer the free entitlements are responsible for setting their own policy on how to respond, with options including allowing parents to supply their own meals or nappies, or waiving or reducing the cost of meals and snacks.”

Getting parents on side It’s hard to see the Department for Education’s advice on charging for meals or additional activities as anything other than a tacit admission that early years funding simply doesn’t cover the true cost of delivering childcare. However, with government continuing to promote current schemes as ‘free childcare’, many parents take issue with being asked to pay for any part of a service they were led to believe was completely free.

So how should providers go about making sure their charges adhere to government rules and are fair on parents? As with any conversation with parents, getting your communication right will be key. The government’s guidance is helpful here. It says providers should ensure they are “completely

clear and transparent about which hours/ sessions can be taken as ‘free’ provision and this should be consistent for all parents”.

When it comes to invoicing, the guidance also says providers should have clear structures in place. This is sound advice. Trying to obscure costs is only likely to lead to more questions and lose any goodwill you have with parents, while being overly formal could leave you unable to deploy your best asset when it comes to parents: your close relationships with them.

Crucially, when you’re talking to parents, remember that the facts are on your side. Make sure you place any voluntary charges in their wide context: explain that the government has frozen funding at levels set in 2015, despite soaring costs. This won’t necessarily change parents’ feelings about paying more, but it will make clear these charges are necessary and beyond your control.

The Alliance has plenty of resources to help you explain to parents the challenges that the early years sector is facing. Visit bit. ly/30hrparents to download our popular ’30 hours: what parents need to know’ guide, which provides a simple, clear explanation of the current funding challenges facing the sector.

While the impact of underfunding on providers has been widely reported, the impact on lower income families has perhaps received less attention. Many providers might feel it’s all very well for the government to say there should be no difference between those parents able to pay for additional charges and those who cannot – but without meaningful help, it’s difficult to see how that advice can be followed.

For some providers, that’s where the early years pupil premium (EYPP) comes in.

The EYPP was designed to narrow the attainment gap between young children from low-income families and their peers, it’s paid directly to providers and should have an annual value for a 15-hour place over a full year of just over £300, or 53p per hour.

Providers must identify eligible children – those with parents on income support, universal credit or in receipt of similar support – and will need to be able to demonstrate to Ofsted they are spending the money effectively.

It goes without saying that the EYPP cannot replace adequate funding for quality childcare – but for those providers struggling to provide places for disadvantaged children, it could provide a welcome financial boost.

Useful resources The Alliance recently published a new book on how providers can run a childcare setting that thrives, Operating a Viable Early Years Provision, and it is now available in the Alliance shop at shop.eyalliance.org.uk.

Alliance members can also access a free online course, Effective Use of the Early Years Pupil Premium through our partnership with EduCare. Visit www.eyalliance.org.uk/ EduCare to find out more.

Alliance members can access advice on communicating with parents, including a sample letter about increasing fees, and a cost calculator in the members’ area of the Alliance website at www.eyalliance.org.uk/ membersarea.

The Alliance also has a mini-guide on the Effective Use of the Early Years Pupil Premium – available in the members’ area.

You can find the government’s operational guidance for providers delivering funded hours at bit.ly/2JdZZ63.

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SAFETY

A common blind spot A new campaign is asking parents and providers to make sure that any window blinds in their homes and settings are safe for children. Here’s how you can help…

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aking sure your window blinds are safe for babies and children is crucial. It’s also quick and easy to do. The British Blind and Shutter Association’s (BBSA) Make it Safe campaign helps parents and carers to make safe choices with window blinds in their homes and other buildings.

Here are some steps you can take to help make sure that blinds in your setting and/or home are safe: Examine every blind – if your blinds have a looped control chain or cord, the loop needs to be securely tidied away out of the reach of young children and babies with a safety device. Families should be particularly careful of any blinds in children’s bedrooms.

Cots, beds, playpens and other furniture should be kept away from windows with blinds – remember that children love to climb.

When buying a new blind, consider choosing designs without cords or chains first – you can buy options with concealed cords. Examples of child-safe options for different styles of blind can be found on the Make it Safe website at makeitsafe.org.uk.

with strict regulations, limiting the length of cords and chains and making sure that safety devices have been installed with the blinds. There are child-safe alternatives for every style of blind available on the market, so make sure you are choosing a safe option when buying new blinds.

Ask the supplier about the child safety features on each style you are considering for your setting or home.

If you are planning to buy and fit a blind yourselves, you must make sure that you read the instructions carefully and fit all the safety devices supplied with the blind. This also applies to any families attending your setting who are planning to install a set of blinds in their home themselves.

Professional installers must fit safety devices with new blinds – there are no exceptions for blinds fitted in homes. Ask them to explain to you how the safety devices work. They should leave instructions with you for making sure that the blinds remain safe in the years to come.

If you have blinds that were installed in your setting or home before 2014, you should not wait until they are replaced to make sure they are safe.

Here are some ways you can make your existing blinds safer:

A number of child-safe blind designs have been on the market for many years, including those that do not need looped cords. Vertical blinds operated by a wand or stick are also available.

The wands allow for the blinds to be adjusted without any loose cord. Motorised blinds are also available, eliminating the need for cords or chains completely and adding the option of automated opening and closing.

Since 2014, all new blinds sold or professionally installed in England must comply

Blinds with looped chains can be made safer with the addition of a tensioning device.

These should be fitted securely to an adjacent surface, as high above the top of the blind as possible. This will keep the cords or chains constantly taut.

Blinds operated by cords, such as venetian blinds, can be made safer with cleats. These should be fitted to a surface adjacent to the blinds and out of the reach of young children – so at least 1.5 metres away from the floor.

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After each and every use, the cord should be secured in a figure of eight, keeping all spare cord securely stored away from children on the cleat.

All members of staff in your setting should know how to safely operate the blinds you use. You should frequently inspect the blinds – as well as any safety devices in use – to check that they are still secure and working correctly.

The law on blind safety If children under the age of 42 months are present, or are likely to have access to your setting or home at any point, you must install blinds that comply with the child safety regulations of BS EN 12120:2009 +A1: 2014. This applies to all public buildings and the publicly accessible areas of commercial buildings.

Find out more The Make it Safe campaign website has a range of resources available to share with parents, including posters in 12 different languages at makeitsafe.org.uk.

SAFETY

Should we sc Earlier this year, the Labour Party pledged that it would replace Ofsted inspections with ‘health checks’ led by local authorities if it wins the next election. What does the early years sector think of this idea?

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f the Labour Party wins the next election, we could one day see Ofsted inspections replaced with regular ‘health checks’ lead by local authorities, according to their shadow education secretary Angela Rayner.

Speaking at the party’s conference in Brighton earlier this year, she said these health checks would be followed up by more in-depth inspections in response to concerns raised in the checks or complaints from parents. The inspectors leading the checks would be trained, full-time members of staff with “experience and expertise in the areas they inspect”.

While it’s not entirely clear how this proposal would be rolled out and exactly how it would work in the early years, the idea has certainly raised eyebrows in the sector. Here, we speak to early years professionals about their views on the proposal…

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“I am an Ofsted-registered, independent childminder. I am proud of this title – it says that I have chosen to remain independent of childminder agencies. I am registered with Ofsted because I strongly believe that it is best for my business. I registered in October 1994 and have seen a lot of changes. I remember the battles childminders fought, and are still fighting, to be seen as equal to nurseries and pre-schools. I remember the hoops we have jumped through over the years to comply with the ever-changing requirements from Ofsted, local authorities and the Department for Education.

“Would I change things? Yes, absolutely. For example, I think that many aspects of the new Ofsted inspection framework are damaging to childminders. I also believe that some Ofsted departments are not fit for purpose. But would I scrap Ofsted? No. I believe all early years providers need to be held accountable. That’s why I am part of Ofsted’s Big Conversation – a voluntary-run forum for providers and Ofsted representatives. Ofsted talks and we listen, providers talk and Ofsted listens. I believe we can make a difference if we all work together.”

Sarah Neville-Graven, Knutsford Childminding

“I had mixed feelings when I first read that Labour wants to scrap Ofsted. At first I thought it was a good idea – no more inspectors telling us what we are doing wrong! On deeper reflection, I wonder if it is better to work with the devil you know. Nobody can deny the many positive changes that Ofsted has implemented in the past few years. There are still gaps in the consistency of inspections and the specific early years knowledge and experience of the inspectors. But I’m sure we can agree that Ofsted is striving to plug these gaps and improve its own standards.

“I would much prefer to keep Ofsted and add some of Labour’s new ideas as well. Having input from local authorities could be really valuable, subject to a proper process of accountability. And why not let parents have a bigger say in the inspection outcomes? Our ultimate objective should be an inspection that reflects the overall quality of the setting. Let’s work with Ofsted, local authorities and parents so that we can look forward to inspections as an opportunity to showcase how good we are.”

Sanjay Morzaria, Little Darling Childcare

OFSTED

crap Ofsted?

“Labour’s proposal to abolish Ofsted is certainly radical. It reflects a deep animosity towards the inspection regime held by some. In the early years sector, opinion of Ofsted has evolved in recent years and some feel that inspectors are now engaging with managers, staff and trying to get a real sense of the child’s experience. The national inspection framework also ensures that the criteria practitioners are assessed against are consistent.

“However, that is not to say that the inspection regime should not evolve. With 97% of inspections leading to a ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ overall judgement, we might wonder what can be learned from more general inspections. Perhaps themed inspections focusing on cohorts of children, such as those with SEN, or elements of provision, such as speech and language support, could be a way forward? Abolishing Ofsted may play to the gallery of a general election, but it would probably be a negative step for the early years sector.”

Michael Freeston, Alliance director of quality improvement

“When I first heard this suggestion, I started looking forward to a huge weight being lifted from my shoulders. At our last inspection, we achieved an ‘outstanding’ rating, but there is nothing to say that we will retain that with the new inspection framework.

Not because we feel our standards have dropped, but because the goal posts have been changed yet again. How can any comparisons be made when no two sets of regulation and information have been the same? How can someone visit our setting for one day, judge and grade our setting? How many demoralised practitioners feel that their settings are outstanding but don’t quite make the grade on their inspection day?

“I am all for regulation being handed to local authorities, provided that they are fully recompensed to fulfil this requirement. Previously, we had annual conversations with our local development workers – they knew us and our settings as well as the local area and its demographics. Yes, we do need regulation, but why not through our local authorities? Why does it have to come through Ofsted?

“Various political parties have taken credit for improving the number of settings graded ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ when the politicians didn’t achieve this and neither did Ofsted – the practitioners did! We are at the coal face each day, giving 100 per cent (and more) to provide quality environments for the children in our care and for our parents. So while I support having no Ofsted, and less stress, I shall reserve my judgment on this for now. As with every manifesto pledge, the ideas may sound great but the devil is always in the detail!”

Name and setting supplied

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LAW-CALL

Not a penny less The legal team behind Law-Call, a 24-hour helpline available to Alliance members, explains the rules on the national minimum and living wages

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he national minimum wage (NMW) and national living wage (NLW) are the prescribed minimum hourly rates of pay that all employers in the UK must pay. There are five separate rates that vary based on the employee’s age. HMRC has the power to serve notices of underpayment, issue civil penalties, “name and shame” employers who don’t pay, recover underpayments through tribunals or civil courts and even pursue a criminal prosecution if your setting is in breach of the law.

If you have any term-time only employees who are paid in equal instalments throughout the year, you could be inadvertently caught out. Where an employee is paid monthly it could result in HMRC assessing that the pay is less than the NMW or NLW for the number of hours actually worked in that month – although in reality, this will be offset by pay during holidays when they are not working.

To avoid these months being considered in isolation, you must ensure that these staff are classed as salaried employees.

Salaried employees You are allowed to pay a salaried worker in equal instalments over the course of the year, even if this may result in the pay for some months being less than the minimum wage for the hours actually worked in some months. The legislation defines the “salaried hours” for a pay reference period of one month to be the total annual hours divided by 12. This means that the number of hours worked each month may vary, but the monthly pay will remain the same – provided that the annual salary divided by the number of hours in the year is at least equal to the minimum wage for that worker.

To qualify as salaried hours work, the total basic annual hours must either be ideally specified or ascertainable from the contract. If the contract does not specify the exact number of hours to be worked, the employer needs to provide this. If you are unable to do, the worker will not be performing salaried hours work.

A contract providing for “at least 20 hours a week” or a requirement to work a minimum number of hours “plus additional hours as may

be required from time to time” would not be considered to be a salaried contract. This is because it would not be possible to ascertain the exact number of basic hours of work.

However, a contract providing for a total number of annual hours (for example, 2000 hours) would count as salaried hours work.

Missing the target Where an employee has ‘banked’ hours under an annualised hours contract – i.e. the employee has worked more than their pro-rated amount across the contract – HMRC says that the excess hours should be treated as having been worked in the employee’s final pay period.

Staff should be paid for these hours when the worker is paid for that period. Paying the worker is required to comply with the NLW or NMW, irrespective of the existence of a contractual right to this money.

Where an employee has not worked enough hours on an annualised hours contract, a deduction may be taken from their salary as they have received an effective overpayment – provided that you have reserved the right to deduct pay for hours not worked in their employment contract. For example: “The company shall be entitled to deduct from your pay, or other payments due to you, any money which you may owe to the company at any time. This includes deductions arising as a result of you working fewer hours than your average weekly hours.”

Where there is no contractual power to do so, it is likely that recovering the money by making a

deduction from the employee’s salary amounts to both an unlawful deduction and a breach of contract. However, if it is clear that there has been an overpayment because the employee is not entitled to pay in respect of hours not worked, you could bring a separate claim against the employee instead. Alternatively, you could take the risk and make the deduction and make a counter-claim if the employee raises breach of contract proceedings. But if they raise an unlawful deductions from wages claim it will not be possible to raise a counter claim.

Dealing with absences A salaried employee can have their salary reduced because they have been absent from work – and have therefore not worked all the anticipated hours in their contract – provided that you have included a right to reduce their annual salary due to absence in their contract.

The number of hours worked can then be adjusted in the normal calculation to reflect the absence and thus avoid an issued associated with the national living or minimum wage.

With respect to holidays, all staff are entitled to a statutory minimum of 5.6 weeks of paid holiday. This applies even if they only work, for example, 39 weeks of the year. Staff should have an additional amount of pay added to their annual salary to reflect this. The amount of holiday pay should be calculated based on the number of hours they would work in a normal working week. For example, if they work 10 hours a week then their annual paid holiday would be 56 hours at their usual hourly rate.

Current national living and national minimum wages: These rates change every April, based on the government’s latest Budget. The government has already pledged to increase the national living wage to £10.50 an hour within the next five years and eventually lower the minimum age for the living wage from 25 to 21.

25 and over £8.21

21–24 18–20 £7.70 £6.15

Under 18 £4.35

Apprentice £3.90

Find out more The number to contact Law-Call on can be found on your membership card, or in the members’ area of the Alliance website at eyalliance.org.uk/membersarea.

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TRAINING

Being a key person Our new online training bundle with EduCare offers courses designed to support practitioners in their role as a key person

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t is a key requirement of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) that settings ensure that there is key person for every child. For children with special educational needs or disabilities, this person carries additional responsibilities under the Special Education Needs and Disability Code of Practice. They must ensure that the child’s needs are identified and met, and that the setting carries out their part in relation to applying appropriate SEND support when necessary.

Wellbeing and development Babies and very young children need to feel secure when they are cared for outside the home and family. They need to feel loved, safe, nurtured, listen to, understood and encouraged in order to grow as a human being in confidence and self-esteem. This is the bedrock of emotional wellbeing, which enables all other aspects of development to flourish.

Aspects of development, including communication, making sense of the world, thinking creatively, social awareness and behaving appropriately towards others, will all rely on wellbeing. None of these areas will meet the full extent of the child’s innate potential without emotional wellbeing and this rests upon the foundation of secure relationships. Through forming a close, trusting relationship with their key person, each child is assured of warmth and responsiveness.

Essential person A key person is a significant, important, priority, valued, valuable, crucial, top-of-the-list,

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special, fundamental, foremost and essential person in a child’s experience within an early years setting. A key person holds the key to unlocking a child’s potential, happiness and learning. A key person tunes in to the child’s being so that the two harmonise their shared understanding of one another. A key person adjusts their approach to fit with the child’s needs; they bond, and so an attachment relationship is formed.

For a key person to have a positive effect on the wellbeing and development of a baby or young child, that person needs to be a contented person, whose own wellbeing is high. Being contented at work, getting on with colleagues, having support when non-work issues are pressing and feeling valued by managers and parents are essential to ensuring that a key person feels good at work and communicates this to the children they care for.

Staff wellbeing Working as a team with a common purpose, good communication and support all help staff feel they matter and are cared for.

Contented staff are able to show higher levels of commitment and have less time off work, enabling them to realise that being there for their key children is really making a difference in an important way.

From having secure attachments in their family and then in early years settings, babies and young children are better placed for learning how to navigate their way in the world, to understand right and wrong, and to manage or regulate their own emotions and behaviour.

Building relationships Just one of the many important areas for a key person’s focus is children’s relationships with each other. They are important for social and emotional development as children learn skills such as sharing, taking turns and being considerate towards one another. Through making friends, children have play partners to explore ideas, roles and the world around them.

As an activity, reflect on the role that friendships played in your childhood by answering the following questions: Can you remember who you were friends with?

What did those friendships mean to you?

What were your favourite games?

What did you learn or explore together?

How did it feel if you became separated from those friendships?

[This is an edited extract from the Alliance publication Being a Key Person in an Early Years Setting.]

Find out more The Be the Best: Key person set of five courses costs £70+ VAT. Alliance members can access these courses for free as part of their membership. Alliance membership for early years settings starts at £122.

Find out more about our EduCare bundles at eyalliance.org.uk/educare-bundles.

You can purchase a copy of Being a Key Person in an Early Years Setting at shop.eyalliance.org.uk.

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Early Years Alliance

training bundle!

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ally e r … h c u m o rown s g s a h e c ith not n e w s ip h s n io My confid t my rela e v o r p im o t o…’ o t s t helped me n e r a p ir but the n e r d il h c e h t just Be the best: Key person contains five Cache-endorsed, CPD-approved online training courses recommended especially for anyone interested in developing and improving their key person skills.

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Entire bundle is free to existing members T. 020 7697 2595 W. eyalliance.org.uk/educare-bundles

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COMMUNITY

Reverse advent calendars are an increasingly popular way for families and settings to give something back to their communities over the festive period.

Here is how you can make your own

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hildren and staff in your setting may soon be enjoying the annual treat of an advent calendar.

Traditionally, advent calendars are used to count down the days of advent in the run up to Christmas. The first day of advent falls between 27 November and 3 December, but for ease most calendars start on 1 December and run until Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. Years ago, most calendars comprised a series of doors or windows to open, revealing a picture or small chocolate for each each day. Today, there are a huge range of alternatives available for both adults and children – offering daily treats of small toys, beauty products or luxury food items. The reverse advent calendar turns this expensive trend on its head.

Instead of receiving a gift, those taking part in a reverse calendar donate an item each day. At the end of advent, the calendar will result in a collection of 24 items that can be dropped off at a local food bank, shelter or other good cause in time for them to use at Christmas.

Giving back The Trussell Trust, which supports a network of 1,200 foodbanks, estimates that it sees a 45% increase in demand for emergency parcels in the two weeks before Christmas each year. The festive period is also a busy period for many other organisations, including women’s shelters, baby banks, homeless shelters and even animal shelters. The good cause you choose to support is up to you and your setting – you could start by asking

children, families and staff which cause they would like to support and taking a quick vote. If you are able to collect enough donations you may even be able to select more than one charity to support this year.

If you are looking for a local good cause, the Trussell Trust’s website allows you to search by postcode to find your nearest foodbank, along with their opening hours and contact details.

Visit www.trusselltrust.org. for more information.

Before you start, make sure you get in touch with your chosen charity to check that they are happy to accept your setting’s donations. They will be able to give you instructions for how to drop off your completed calendar and the type of items they can accept as donations.

They may have a ‘wishlist’ of items they are in particular need of at the moment or a list of things that they always need.

Depending on their opening hours, and whether or not your setting will close over the Christmas and New Year period, you may need to start your advent early so that it is ready in time to donate before the end of the year. If you are running late, as long as you haven’t collected any perishable items, you may be able to drop off your calendar in the new year, as many charities will be in need of donations year-round.

Start collecting Let families and staff know about the reverse advent calendar, explaining what it is and which cause you have chosen. Ask them to join in with adding to the calendar if they are able to do so.

There’s no need for everyone to donate something every day so make sure families don’t feel pressured to do so. You could arrange in advance to take turns at donating, or simply offer families the chance to add something as and when they can over the advent weeks.

If your chosen charity has given you a wishlist of items or other instructions, you should share this with everyone so they

know the types of things you need. Then you’ll need a safe space to collect all your donated items ready to go to the charity.

A spare shelf or a couple of large boxes would work well. You could decorate the box with wrapping paper or ask the children to create their own design – you can add numbers to count down to the end of advent, when your calendar will be complete.

Popular items The items that you and your families collect will of course depend on the good cause you have selected. As a general rule, it’s best to choose non-perishable items with long use-by dates for food banks. Charities will not usually accept any expired or opened products. Brand new personal care items such as soaps, deodorants and feminine products are also usually welcome. As well as the usual dried pasta and tins of food, try to also include long-life milks, coffee, tea and fruit juices, which don’t get donated as often. Remember that free-from products for those with allergies will also be welcome.

Donations don’t always have to be brand new. Some charities may accept second-hand items if they are still in good condition – just be sure to check with your chosen good cause before you start collecting. Items including toys, clothes and blankets may be accepted, depending on the charity you have chosen.

Once your collection is complete, all you need to do is drop off your 24, or more, donated items as arranged with your chosen good cause. Remember to thank all your staff, children and families for all their hard work in helping you assemble the calendar.

Get in touch If you decide to try a reverse advent calendar collection this year, get in touch and share your story and pictures with us at editor.u5@eyalliance.org.uk.

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BEST PRACTICE

First and foremost The Alliance is delivering speech and language support to children in eight local authorities, as part of a wider drive for improved outcomes. Here’s what we have learned so far…

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here are more than 1.4 million children and young people in the UK with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN). Around 50% of those living in socially disadvantaged areas start school with some communication difficulties.

Extra investment in supporting children’s communication and literacy skills, announced by the government in November 2018, was a much-needed boost to a system that was found to be patchy, with children’s SLCN not sufficiently prioritised in some areas. The Alliance was one of several organisations to be chosen by the government to deliver support to children in eight local authorities as part of its drive to improve children’s communication and literacy skills, and social mobility.

The First and Foremost programme brings together education, health and social care teams to screen children for possible delays in their communication development and to work with their parents to encourage continuation of learning in the home. Southend is one of eight local authority areas that aims to narrow the communication gap between disadvantaged children and their more advantaged peers.

Identifying needs At the centre of the scheme is the Wellcomm screening tool which helps practitioners to identify potential communication delays in children from the age of two years, allowing for structured interventions and referral to specialists if necessary. If mild transient delays are identified, practitioners are guided through activities which build on children’s language development helping them to make the speech, language and communication gains they need.

Children who after intervention go on to need further specialist support can then access their locality’s preferred referral pathway. In Southend, where seven childcare settings are taking part in the First and Foremost programme, the team hopes to see a significant drop in the number of children being referred to their clinical service ensuring that inappropriate referrals decrease.

Sian Ansell, a specialist early years

communication and language teacher who works on the project in Southend, said: “The Wellcomm tool and the developmental activities it suggests focus the whole setting on the subtle nuances of communication. Practitioners within early years settings taking part in the approach are now more sensitive to maximising their interactions with children. Settings engage with parents from the outset to get their permission for screening and it gives practitioners the opportunity to open a dialogue with parents and encourage them to take part in the home learning activities. The Wellcomm resources offer lots of different ideas for home learning activities, when the settings have taken time to take an idea and create home learning kits, they have made language playful and fun. There are also play cards that have been devised to support play and talk at home, as does the Whatsapp First and Foremost Weekend Talk Tips chat group.”

Involving parents Alison Jarrett, communication champion at Blenheim Nursery in Southend, says that by involving parents in the process, they have found the screening programme to be useful in engaging them in more holistic conversations about their child’s development. “We’ve found it is a way of getting parents to open up to us about any concerns they may have, or about how our perception of their child’s language and communication skills may be very different to theirs. For example, we had a conversation with a parent whose child speaks very little in nursery. They shared with us observations of the child engaging in lengthy conversations at home. It shows how important partnership working with parents and carers is.”

The team at Play@Churwell in Leeds – another local authority area involved in the First and Foremost pilot – found the Wellcomm tool has helped them to do things differently, with ‘listening’ now a specific focus following a listening audit by staff, and floor-based activities with very young children encouraged. Richard Knight, early years service officer at the Alliance in the north of England, who provided training to

staff at Play@Churwell, said: “Of the 21 children to have been screened at Play@Churwell, five were identified with a need to be rescreened.

The information from the screening has given staff an opportunity to provide more targeted activities to meet individual children’s needs. I spoke with staff about hosting a listening week because when practitioners invariable get very busy, it can sometimes prevent them from properly listening to children. The programme has also helped staff in the setting to think about asking children more open-ended questions and making sure children have sufficient time to process information.”

The Wellcomm screening tool has had positive feedback from practitioners. Using play-based props, pictures and objects, it is able to check the level of language development of children aged two to six. If a communication delay is flagged, the tool provides activities that relate to the areas children find most challenging. It also creates a useful route through which to have meaningful dialogue with parents, not only to encourage learning in the home, but softens any concerns parents may have if their child needs to be referred for extra support.

The First and Foremost programme is taking place in Luton, Southend, Lewisham, North Yorkshire, Leeds, Birmingham, Portsmouth and Lincolnshire. Working with 10 early years settings in each area, 1,600 children and families will benefit from targeted support and 3,200 will access expert information and guidance, online support and community language information.

Outreach engagement forms a third tier of the project, and aims to reach 540 families whose children could benefit from targeted language development support but who are not currently accessing early education.

Further information For more information about speech, language and communication development in your setting, you can view an Alliance webinar on YouTube at bit.ly/2JnA7rz.

You can find more information about the First and Foremost project at eyalliance.org.uk/ first-and-foremost.

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Hiring an apprentice Michael Freeston, director quality improvement at the Alliance, explains the apprenticeship programme for early years settings

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TRAINING

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t has been a long time coming, but the early years sector is finally starting to see the benefits of the new apprenticeship standards. The new standards and assessment arrangements for apprenticeship Levels 2 and 3 have been publicised by the Institute for Technical and Apprenticeship Education, with Level 5 currently in development. The development of these qualifications has at times been marred by disputes and funding concerns.

But the new standards are now ready to offer strong foundations to support apprentices build effective careers in the early years sector.

With many settings reporting difficulty in recruiting suitable practitioners, these new standards will be very welcome. This is an ideal time for managers and leaders to consider whether employing an apprentice could help them find motivated and capable new practitioners for their setting.

What is an apprentice?

An apprenticeship is a job with an accompanying training programme lasting a minimum of 12 months. The job must be a real role, in which they could remain at the end of the apprenticeship if they successfully complete their training.

Apprentices develop skills through a mixture of workplace learning and formal learning – at least 20% of their working hours should be dedicated to off-the-job training.

They could be a new recruit or an existing member of staff retraining into a new role – such as a practitioner qualified at Level 2 training to gain a Level 3 qualification. They should be given a structured learning programme to give them all the knowledge they require for the role. This includes the relevant qualification, a knowledge test and an end point assessment, demonstrating that they are able to apply their knowledge practically in the setting.

What funding is available?

Funding for apprentices differs depending on the size of the employer’s annual salary

bill. Large employers with a total salary bill higher than £3 million a year must pay the Apprenticeship Levy, which is equivalent to 0.5% of their total salary bill minus a £15,000 allowance. This money is held in a digital fund, which is topped up with a 10% contribution from the government. This can be spent on training apprentices. Employers with a total salary bill lower than £3 million will be asked to make a contribution towards the cost of training the apprentice – the government will pay the remaining bill.

Your setting may be entitled to further funding, depending on the number of employees you have and the individual apprentice’s circumstances. Visit bit.ly/32JTqTw for more information.

Settings will need to consider the apprentice’s salary – while it needs to be affordable, you’ll also need to think about how you will attract the best candidates. You will also need to bear in mind the need for apprentices to spend 20% of their paid hours studying and the additional cost this might have in terms of additional staffing.

Apprentices must be paid at least the minimum wage – currently £3.90 an hour if they are aged under 19 or aged 19 and over and in the first year of their apprenticeship.

Apprentices are entitled to the minimum wage for their age if they are older than 19 and have already completed the first year of their apprenticeship.

long as the manager believes them to be “competent and responsible”.

Apprentice employers are also entitled to a £1,000 incentive payment from the government, provided the apprentice is aged 16-18 or 19-24 with an education, heath and care plan. This is paid to employers in two instalments – one £500 payment after the first three months of their training and another after 12 months.

What are the benefits of hiring an apprentice?

Benefits of employing an apprentice:

Apprenticeships offer settings a chance to hire new, motivated members of staff. As they complete their work-based training at the setting itself, they are able to learn the specific standards and requirements you require. This supports the ‘grow your own’ ethos that many settings aspire to, inspiring loyalty in the team.

Apprentices aged over 16 can be counted in setting ratios, according to the EYFS, as

Finding a space in your setting Apprentices must be given a proper role within your setting. So you will need to have an available vacancy or create a new one for the apprentice to take on. The role will need to last at least as long as their 12 month training period.

Apprentices should be entitled to the same terms and conditions as the other members of your staff team.

You’ll need to identify a member of staff who can act as a mentor to the apprentice and help guide them through their training and employment. They will need to make sure the apprentice is able to track their progress and achievements as they go. The whole team should also be ready to support the apprentice when needed, so you’ll need to be confident that they are all ready to help them learn and develop.

Settings with an apprentice will also need to be prepared for visits from the apprentice’s training assessor, who will want to observe the apprentice’s practice in their workplace.

pprentices are usually motivated and wellA trained members of staff.

Training helps inspire loyalty and improve staff retention.

Apprentices receive the latest advice on current best-practice, which they can share with the rest of your team.

Further information For more information about apprenticeships, contact the Alliance’s Training Centre at training@eyalliance.org.uk or 01732 363070.

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Can we help sa The earth is getting warmer, causing adverse weather conditions, including melting icebergs, warmer summers and an increase in the number of hurricanes and typhoons. The use of fossil fuel is one of the major reasons why the earth is getting warmer. There are four types of fossil fuels that harm the environment – coal, oil, petroleum and natural gas.

When any of these gases are burnt, they create pollutants that are harmful to both the environment and people’s health.

Unfortunately, due to the increase of the world’s population and the fact we are all living longer, we are using more fossil fuel.

Did you know, almost everything we do, own or consume relies on the use of fossil

fuel? For example, we can now enjoy eating watermelons all year round. Many years ago, this would not be possible, but due to improved transport links across the continent, exotic fruits can travel for miles, requiring the use of petrol and diesel – fossil fuel.

While we can’t single-handedly stop climate change, there are many things early years practitioners and communities can do to help slow down the process. Many providers are becoming ‘eco-friendly’ and encouraging families and local people to get involved with their plans. It can be argued that climate change may be too complex a concept for children under five years to understand or even grasp. But children can gain a wealth of knowledge providing learning activities are set

at an appropriate level for the child and that they lead their learning.

Small steps Incorporating climate change as part of learning and development can be stimulating and valuable for children. For instance, we are very fortunate to be in a part of the world where we experience a variety of weather conditions. Children can learn a lot daily from activities that relate to the world they live in. At an early age, you can help children differentiate between materials such as paper and plastic. They can be taught how to sort, reduce and recycle waste by using different colour-coded or picture bins.

Providers can: install sensor lights or ensure lights are switched off when not in use keep external doors closed in cold weather fix leaky taps and turn them off when not in use reduce the amount of paper used – write on both sides where possible use text messages and email to contact parents rather than paper letters have recycling bins – separated according to local council requirements create an area where children can leave a scooter or bike to encourage a greener way to travel put all fruit and garden waste in a compost waste bin Settings can adopt ‘eco-friendly’ elements to their curriculum as a result of discussions with parents and volunteers. Parents and volunteers can bring in clean items such as cereal boxes to be reused as play items for the children. Repackaging the cereal box with large balls of used paper, fills out the

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ENVIRONMENT

ave the planet? box, making it firm, like those found in the supermarket. Once sealed the cereal box is can be used by the children. Making toys that have come from home makes playing in the home/kitchen area more fun as the children can relate to items they are using.

Reduce, reuse, recycle Parents and volunteers can bring in unwanted clothes, shoes and accessories in various sizes, styles, colours and materials for the children to use as dressing up clothes.

Having a variety of clothes gives children the opportunity to be creative with who they want to be for the day. For instance, white shirts are useful for children to dress up as a doctor or a vet. Accessories such as hats, shoes and scarves also provide a lot of fun.

Plastic milk bottles can also be put to good

use in the outdoor play area. Once cut in half horizontally they can used for scooping sand, water, mud and gravel.

December is a great time of the year to enjoy arts and crafts activities. Providers can ask families to bring in jam jars, tin cans, paper, card, old fabric and wallpaper to make a variety of festive gifts. greeting cards – stick cards together to create a collage picture

paper/card – snowflakes, metallic wreath, swirly paper tree ornaments tin cans – use two cans, attach string to each to create telephones wallpaper – draw around children to create a human, put in picture frames old fabrics – create a purse or small bag, fabric collage

Funding and grants There are national and local organisations offering grants and funding for environmental projects in the UK. Early years providers can claim a grant of up to £1000 towards their community project from Groundwork, a charity that works nationally and locally to transform communities. More information can be found on their website at www. groundwork.org.uk. Funding can also be requested for garden utensils such as spades and forks to create a community garden. Comic Relief also offers grant funding through ‘Children Survive and Thrive’, which supports projects for children under the age of five.

Special offer 30% off My Favourite Colour is Green Early Years Alliance (Ref: A132). £9.95 members, £12.95 non-members

Climate change is a major issue. It affects and involves all communities and individuals. Those who work with our youngest children are in an ideal position to contribute to the climate change agenda.

This publication will support practitioners to engage children with issues about their own environment, sustainable living and their ability to act to influence climate change. The issues of environmental awareness and climate change are ones around which the setting can be the driver for the development of a true learning community; providing opportunities for all adults involved with the setting to learn and act with the children.

Order by 31 December, quoting Green19 to receive this offer

Interested in buying?

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

’Tis the season Melanie Pilcher, quality and standards manager at the Alliance, shares ideas for getting out and about in the colder months

T

he often repeated saying “there is no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing,” is said to have its origins in Scandinavia. In these countries, parents are determined to give children access to fresh air at every opportunity, no matter how cold it gets. Babies will be bundled up against the cold and placed outside in their prams in a bid to help them sleep for longer and more deeply and reduce their exposure to germs.

Here in the UK, we are increasingly aware of the benefits of being outdoors for our physical and mental health. But despite this, the long winter months can be challenging for early years settings. Staff are not always inspired to stand in the pouring rain, sleet or snow for outdoor play. Meanwhile, parents may be unduly concerned about the health risks of taking little ones outdoors, especially if they are suffering with a cold or cough. Some community groups will even stop families from accessing grassy areas for fear of them being

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damaged. This often proves a real issue for pack-away settings that do not have access to their own outdoor space.

But while it is harder to find the motivation in the winter, most of the barriers to being outdoors can be readily overcome with appropriate clothing, a positive attitude, the right information and a little bit of creativity.

If parents are worried about you taking children outside when it’s cold and wet, you should make sure that you have plenty of accessible information about the benefits of fresh air for their health and wellbeing. Give them lots of examples of the types of activities you will be doing outside and how they will help promote areas of learning and development.

Here are some ideas that will ensure children are not confined indoors during the winter:

Go on a discovery walk Create a treasure map – older children can help tick off items on their way. Ask them

all to look out for such as festive displays in shops windows, Christmas trees and lights and people wearing festive hats or jumpers.

Use simple pictures for the list. If time is short, you can be more focused asking children to look out for the tallest Christmas tree, biggest bauble or the most lights on one house.

Take plenty of photos to create a display, laid out as a map of your local area. Let children vote for the best thing they have spotted. Don’t forget your babies and toddlers – they will delight in the multi-sensory experience of all the sights and sounds at this time of year.

Visit a Christmas market – many larger towns and cities host winter markets at this time of year, often with a German theme. These are often quieter during the day, especially midweek and mornings. Plan an outing, taking children to see the ornaments and crafts on display. You could use these as inspiration for making your own decorations when you return to the setting.

ACTIVITY CORNER

to be outdoors If you are able to do so, try to sample some of the traditional foods on offer at the market. As always, plan ahead with a risk assessment and check for any food allergies. If possible, talk to one of the stall holders in advance before you visit. They might be able to advise what will be suitable for the children to eat and may even be able to serve smaller child-size portions if you let them know in advance.

Rediscover your outdoor space Make the most of frosty mornings – Everything looks different on a crisp, clear frosty morning, especially if it is foggy too.

Cobwebs will look like they are strung with pearls, you may find some icicles and even just enjoy the sheer delight of seeing your own breath forming misty clouds.

Puddles will be frozen over with ice that can be jumped on and cracked or skidded over if they are solid enough. Provide children with resources with wheels and ones without and see which ones can be slid across the puddle. Scaffold children’s learning as they

experiment and draw their own conclusions.

Let the activity flow as children explore their own ideas.

Get physical – Shorter days and longer winter nights can limit the opportunities for all-round physical activity that gets children’s hearts pumping, cheeks glowing and muscles moving.

Even though you are providing access to outdoor space all year round, the way children use them may be limited by the resources and space available.

Remember that outdoor clothing can make all the difference – sturdy boots offer good grip and waterproofs are made to get wet and dirty, so don’t limit opportunities for children to climb across logs or crawl through tunnels.

Try music and movement outside – Even children who are reluctant to be outdoors on a cold day are likely to be motivated by an enthusiastic practitioner who gets them moving to music. Keala Settle’s This is Me is a great

marching song that will be familiar to lots of children. Try the following routine with the tune: 1. March once around the playground, swinging your arms and stamping your feet.

2. Then stop, stand still and reach high into the air, up on tip toes.

3. Bring your arms down to your sides and shake them, then shake your bottom and legs.

4. Flap your arms up and down like a bird trying to take off.

5. Now touch your toes.

6. Run on the spot as fast as you can for a count of 10.

7. Finish by stretching into the air and reaching up on tip toes again.

Try traditional games – Games like stuck in the mud, What’s the time Mr Wolf?, tag, hopscotch, duck duck goose, statues and hide and seek have been enjoyed by generations of children.

If you are not sure of the rules, ask parents and grandparents to share their ideas and jot them all down for later use.

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NUTRITION

Have a healthy Christmas Annie Denny, nutrition development manager at the Early Years Nutrition Partnership, shares some healthy treat ideas for children during the festive season

A

re you dreaming of a white Christmas?

Or just one where children in your setting will eat fewer sweets and chocolate? While many parents will want to treat children at this time of year, the number of snacks high in sugars, salt and fats can really start to add up in the weeks leading up to Christmas. With lots of sugary treats on offer at home during this time of year, it makes sense for providers to break it up with some fruit and vegetable-based alternatives.

Here are some ideas for offering children fun treats over the festive period that are tasty, healthy and easy to make.

Wholemeal pastry Give festive treats like mince pies and cheese straws a healthier twist by swapping your usual pastry for one made with wholemeal flour. This pastry is better for children than alternative ingredients, without needing to compromise on the taste of your festive treats.

Strawberry Santa Slice a strawberry in half across the middle and place a slice of banana between the two pieces. You could try adding small pieces of blackberry for the eyes or a dash of yoghurt on the top for the tip of his hat and a bit below for the white of his beard.

it into a festive shape – a Christmas tree works well – before adding lots of vegetables such as spinach, orange peppers, pitted olives and tomatoes to resemble decorations.

Snowman sandwiches Cut out circles of wholemeal or brown bread using a cookie cutter and arrange them in a snowman shape. Then add bite-sized chunks of vegetables on top to make a face, buttons, arms and a scarf. Offer children a dip of cream cheese or hummus to dunk the pieces into.

Vegetable Christmas trees Arrange a handful of washed sugar snap peas in a tree shape and scatter across some small cherry tomatoes (cut in half) to look like baubles.

Use a cookie cutter to make a small star using an orange or yellow bell pepper. Unsalted pretzel sticks can be used to make a tree trunk. If you’re feeling creative, you could make some tinsel with strips of bell pepper or different coloured varieties of cherry tomato could be used to add yellow, green and purple baubles.

Banana penguins Pear reindeers Pears are a great fruit, bursting at the seams with nutrients and juicy flavour. Conveniently for this time of year, they also double-up as a great shape for a reindeer face. Add a raspberry on the tip of the narrow end of the pear to look like Rudolph’s nose and two halved blueberries or grapes as the eyes. Unsalted pretzels can be balanced on top to look like antlers.

Banana snowmen Ask children to help you place slices of banana onto blunt wooden skewers in the shape of a snowman. They could use blueberries and sultanas to make a face on the side.

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Christmas tree pizza Pizza doesn’t have to be as unhealthy as you may think. Making your own wholemeal dough can be a fun activity to try with the children, with the added bonus of knowing exactly what’s going into it. Once it’s ready, you can roll

Bring your own piece of Antarctica into your kitchen with a banana penguin. Dip one side of a peeled banana into melted dark chocolate and add a face using sultanas or sliced blackcurrants on the other side.

Egg snowmen Place slices of hard-boiled eggs together on a plate so that they resemble the head and body of a snowman. Try making a hat and scarf out of slices of vegetables – you could try a slice of kale or lettuce wrapped around the neck. A small piece of ground black pepper could be used for the eyes and a triangle of carrot for the nose.

More information For practical support with food and nutrition in your setting from an expert nutritionist or dietitian, contact the Early Years Nutrition Partnership at www.eynpartnership.org.

COMPETITION

WIN

SC RE E N PR I NT I N G & E M B RO I DE R Y

10 custom-printed T-shirts or 20 printed sweatshirts plus 20 road safety reflectors from Samuels of Norfolk, worth £100 With winter just around the corner, Samuels of Norfolk has a very practical prize this issue. The winner can choose to either have their own printed T-shirts or sweatshirts as well as 20 road safety reflectors.

Samuels has been producing printed and embroidered clothing since 1984.

They can provide early years settings with a full range of quality items including book bags, baseball caps, sweatshirts and printed polo shirts.

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.

Unless copyright is indicated, material from Under 5 may be reproduced without charge, for non-commercial purposes only, on condition that the source is acknowledged.

Acceptance of advertisements for Under 5 does not constitute endorsement by the charity of the advertisers’ products.

For your chance to win, send your answer to the following question, along with your name and address, to: under5.competitions@ eyalliance.org.uk before 20 December 2019.

What’s the current national living wage for workers aged 25 and over? (hint: see page 19) a) £8.21 b) £6.15 c) £3.90

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

Under 5 Magazine Early Years Alliance 50 Featherstone street, London, EC1Y 8RT T: 020 7697 2521 E: editor.u5@eyalliance.org.uk Please quote your membership number on all correspondence.

ADVERTISING James Hanson Fellows Media The Gallery, Manor Farm, Southam, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire GL52 3PB T: 01242 259249 E: james@fellowsmedia.com

EARLY YEARS ALLIANCE CONTACT DETAILS

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

DEVELOPMENT SERVICES DEPARTMENT 50 Featherstone Street London, EC1Y 8RT T: 0207 697 2599 E: southdivision@eyalliance.org.uk EARLY YEARS ALLIANCE SHOP 50 Featherstone Street London EC1Y 8RT T: 0300 330 0996 E: shop@eyalliance.org.uk W: www.eyalliance.org.uk/shop

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