Transcript Swindon Borough Council Secondary School Place Planning

Childminder Networks
th
19 November 2013
Early Years and Childcare
Services and Trio Childcare
Connections
Childminder Meeting
• Nicola Perrett
• Helen David
• Dawn Brown
Apologies
• Denise Stewart
Where we were - 2008
Childcare Sufficiency Assessment
– Report on the state of the childcare market in
Swindon
– Consultation with childminders
• Told us work is spread too thinly
– Consultation with parents
• Told us they can’t find childcare
– Mismatch between supply and demand
What we did - 2008
• Discontinued the childminder start up grant
• Trio Childcare Connections / Swindon Sure
Start Partnership devised two new networks
• Opportunity network, accredited childminders
and GEMS became network level 3 specialists
Networks introduced - 2008
Aim of networks:
• To work towards a better ‘match’ between
supply and demand of childcare
• To provide a framework and incentives for
improvement
• Progression Stage1, Stage 2, Specialist
Where we are now – 2013
Change Drivers - Direct
• Statutory guidance for Early Education and
Childcare 2013
– Ofsted is the sole arbiter of quality
– Local network requirements are now acting as a
barrier to Early Education entitlement eg
• delivery of atypical services
• having a level 3 qualification
Where we are now – 2013
Change Drivers - Indirect
• National
– ‘Anything less than good is not good enough’
– Impact of childminder agencies an unknown
• Local
– Developments in the local childcare market since
2008
– Local employment prospects and the economy
– Developments at SBC (One Swindon)
Trio Quality Network achievements
• Successful Childminding Network with 200 network
members with 30% of these Childminders going on
to become specialists
• Childminders that have engaged with Trio Quality
improvement network have received better grades
with Ofsted compared to those not engaging:
Network CM’s good or outstanding – 75%
Non network CM’s good or outstanding 34%
The future
• Ofsted are the sole arbiters of quality
• Ofsted continue to drive up standards within
Early Years inspections, all providers will be
subject to a stricter inspection under Ofsted's
revised framework
• Childminders should continue to be reflective
and identify areas for improvement and
recognise they own good practice
How can Trio support Childminders
• Research has shown that no quality measure
should be used in isolation to judge a
practitioners ability to provide excellent care
to the children they are working with
• Trio will continue to offer the opportunity for
all Swindon Childminders to continue to
engage with a Quality Assurance Framework.
• The Family Childcare Environment Rating
Scales (FCCERS)
So what is The Family Childcare
Environment Rating Scales ?
• Internationally recognised and used by over 60 local
authorities
• Rating scales to suit all settings
• Evidenced based tool for improving the quality of
early years provision..
• Provides a measurable profile of a settings quality
• Rates the environment as experienced by the
children
• Recognised by Ofsted and aligns closely with the
EYFS
The value of using The Family
Childcare Environment Rating Scales
• Supporting Childminders to improve their Ofsted grading
• Provides evidence of good practice identifying strengths
and areas for improvement
• Enables you to set simple targets for improvement
• Excellent evidence for self reflection – transferrable to
Ofsted SEF
• Identify training needs for you and your assistants
• Children’s outcomes are at the heart of the scales
Reliable systematic structure that allows measurement of
progress over time
The Family Childcare Environment
Rating Scales Training
Available to all Swindon Childminders to:
• Gain an understanding of the rating scale
• Adopt the rating scales as a self reflective tool
to develop your practice
• Trio will be advertising training dates shortly
watch this space …..
Grants
(current financial year to 31st March 2014)
• We will honour this year’s network and flexible
working incentives based on membership of the
‘old’ network scheme
• Grant conditions will also be as before i.e.
– Return of information and workforce audits
– ‘Options’ claimed are reported to FIS
– Consent to publish information given
• Next audit is due to go out January 2014. 2013
audit will not be enforced but I will cross check
whether 2014 audits are returned
Grants
(next financial year April 14 – March 15)
• The 2014 – 15 budget has not yet been
confirmed
• Any grants available will be published in the
early years and childcare section of
Schoolsonline
• Local conditions can be attached to these
grants
Early Education Funding
(Denise Stewart)
• All childminders wishing to access the free
entitlement for children they are currently/in
the future caring for, will need to ensure that
they have signed and returned the Provider
Agreement before the beginning of the term
they wish the funding to commence. Failure
to do this within the required timescale will
result in funding being unavailable for the
appropriate term.
Early Education Funding
(Denise Stewart)
• It is the responsibility of the childminder to follow up
any issues regarding missing paperwork or payments.
If the paperwork has not been completed correctly this
will be returned and no payments can be awarded until
it has been returned with the correct information.
• Further information on the claim process, funding
documentation required by the Local Authority and
FAQ’s can be found by accessing the following link
http://schoolsonline.swindon.gov.uk/eyc/Pages/Home.
aspx
Messages from other colleagues
• Safeguarding (Ceri McAteer)
– Please complete and return you safeguarding
audit
– Ceri is there to provide advice BUT if you have a
concern about a child you must contact the
Referral Team (Family Contact Point)
• Workforce Development (Nicola Topp)
– Deadline to apply for an Artemis licence is 21st
November
Specialist networks
• A specialist network for EY accredited
childminders is no longer required
• GEMS will continue as is
• We are exploring some ideas about a
community childminding scheme in Swindon
to support the needs of vulnerable families
and children with special needs and
disabilities. More information will follow in
the near future.
Any questions?
Thank you for coming