FSFRebecca

I've been having a bit of a scoot through some recent inspection recommendations from our local areas (Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, West Sussex) and there are a couple of recommendations that seem to crop up more than others - I have no idea if this is a national 'push' or if it's purely coincidental. They are from a range of inspectors too - so not just an inspector with a particular 'bee in their bonnet':

• Monitoring staff performance to raise good practice / opportunities for staff to gain new knowledge and skills
• Link with parents to continue learning at home

With the new inspection framework and the revision to the ELGs happening this year it will be interesting to keep an eye out to see if any 'agendas' make their way through the back door ... I have my eyes peeled 

All very familiar worries zigzag I am sure - I'm agreeing with finleysmaid and saying 'go half full' rather than 'half empty'! I've written an enormous development plan this holiday just to keep me and the staff looking forward and focusing on continual improvement.

Yes, ours is not great either, a lot of encrypted emails back and forth - and some HVs forget to encrypt them which makes something of a mockery of the set up!

Welcome to 2019 - as we look back over our (collective) shoulder at 2018 we can speculate about what is to come in 2019. Musing in the office, as you do on New Year's Eve, I thought of the following things we have to look forward to - some we look forward to with positivity, others are less welcome and cause concern and worry. It would be interesting to hear what you have on your early years horizons for the coming year - do share!

In 2019 the FSF remains committed to our work in Westminster with the Childcare and Early Education APPG, we have held the first meeting of the inquiry into financial sustainability and are due a second early in the New Year. It was heartening to see a cross-bench representation of MPs following our lobby day last July - hopefully there will be a developing shared understanding of the issues faced by our sector. The juggernaut that is the 30 hours scheme ploughs on. Whilst providers work tirelessly to make the system work for the parents, the children and themselves, whilst losing money hand over fist in the process. The Government remains adamant that the scheme is a success because 'parents are paying less'. Gradually though, local authorities are supporting their providers allowing the use of the term 'funding' rather than 'free' in their offers to parents. On April 1st 2019, the new national minimum wage levels come into effect. These rises, whilst appreciated by staff and recognised as important by providers place an additional financial burden on settings at a time when purse strings are extremely tight. I wonder if staff ratios will be adjusted by providers currently working 'under' ratio to accommodate the increased wages bill? If this happens,  it will be interesting to see if there is any impact on the quality of provision. 

In January, FSF will be listening to Ofsted at their early years launch event in London. This event will detail how Ofsted intend to change the current inspection process from September 2019. Their initial thoughts are detailed here. Ofsted have said that comments and feedback from the launch events will be used to inform their final document, due for release in the Summer of 2019, ready for implementation on 1st September 2019. We'll keep you informed about what they say!

The schools piloting the revised EYFSPs are one term 'in' to the new requirements and their feedback and results will be collected and collated at the end of the summer term 2019, with an evaluation in the Autumn of 2019. There will then be an overhaul of the EYFS Statutory Framework to reflect the conclusions drawn in the evaluation to bring 'our' learning requirements into line with the EYFSP judgements made at the end of the Reception year. I wonder if there are any FSF members involved in the pilot?

What is on your horizon? How are you feeling about the ones we have highlighted? 

Whatever you think, we wish you an extremely Happy New Year and we look forward to sharing the adventures ahead with you all 

The Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, has announced a change to the current 'red book' system. We all use this when completing our '2 year checks' so it will be interesting to see how settings will be able to input into the new online system. 

Morning Gina! This article is a good opening introduction  It has some useful reference links

Merry Christmas all! Sue and I are just comparing Christmas notes - all is well in the land of FSF HQ 

Panders, we have been making champagne cocktails (champagne glass with a cm of brandy, a brown sugar cube, top up with fizziness) - not making these at FSF HQ though, obviously!

Afternoon!

Have you looked at the next steps articles on here? There are three, one of which is written by Anna Ephgrave  Next steps 1, Next steps 2, Next steps 3

Personally I think that if you can talk confidently about what you are working on next with children and that you can demonstrate a shared understanding between the setting, parents and any other professionals then you are covering the requirement. By demonstrate, I mean talk about with confidence - I don't necessarily mean written down. If you read the Statutory Framework there is only a requirement to 'know and do' the next steps - not to write them anywhere. I would say that the pitfall to avoid is just one person knowing them if you are working in a team.

11 minutes ago, louby loo said:

 

checking if this works.

  Hide contents

 it does

 

Top job!

On 19/12/2018 at 18:58, finleysmaid said:

that's very clever Inge...how do you do that????

 

what did the frog do when he broke down??

 

  Reveal hidden contents

he got toad away!

 

Well, if you highlight the phrase you want to hide and then click the 'eye' button on the toolbar it will say 'spoiler' then, when you save, that phrase will be hidden

On 12/20/2018 at 13:46, Rebecca said:

Most odd - I can't see NDNA either??? I'm sure they were on the original Twitter list ... I'll do more investigating

mmm, I can't find them either - I must have imagined it, so sorry - I'll edit the original post 

15 hours ago, finleysmaid said:

The psla representative i've never heard of (apparently in charge of their ICO stuff) and I didn't see the NDNA on there...have I missed them? (under a different name?) I wonder HOW ofsted came to the conclusion that these people were a fair representation, they appear to have had a large response and yet I sort of feel there is a bit of a hidden agenda in their selection. (really must stop the conspiracy theory thing)

Most odd - I can't see NDNA either??? I'm sure they were on the original Twitter list ... I'll do more investigating

On 19/12/2018 at 18:37, finleysmaid said:

pleased to see Penny Tassoni on there but I do feel that early years independent setting are not well presented from the looks of things. The pressures we suffer from are quite different to nursery chains etc.

Absolutely, I quite agree. However, PLA are excellent advocates for the PVI sector

The Children’s Services Omnibus, Wave 4 Research Report, December 2018 has been published and has identified that some Local Authorities are struggling to implement the available funding for disadvantaged 2 year olds effectively. The report says "While the LAs that responded to the survey appeared to be taking multiple actions to promote funded early education entitlements for disadvantaged 2 year-olds, 44% of the responding LAs reported that they had experienced difficulties over the last year in implementing them.The most commonly reported difficulty local authorities faced was eligible parents not wanting or needing child care for their 2 year-old, with 34% of authorities saying that they had experienced this. Twenty per cent of local authorities said they experienced a lack of funding for publicity, outreach or infrastructure development. Two local authorities also mentioned experiencing difficulties with the impact and harmonisation with the 30 hours of free child-care offer." 

What is your experience of recruiting children who are eligible for 2 year funding?

Ofsted have announced those that they have chosen to be on their early years pedagogy and practice forum. There is a wide range of knowledge and expertise amongst the forum members. It will be extremely interesting to hear how their discussions progress and to follow the outcomes of their meetings. We (FSF) applied to be on the panel, unfortunately we were not chosen to participate but are looking forward to being part of the webinars in the new year.

Ofsted Early Years Pedagogy and Practice Forum members announced

Yes, similar experiences with YMCA. We have also used The Childcare Company, we have had one learner go through with them - we were pleased with how they managed things, the tutor was very nice and was accessible. Again, you need to have good IT skills as it is online with visits to the setting for observations and assessments.

Hi Michelle09!

Welcome to the Foundation Stage Forum! Lovely to have you here  I have asked our resident Childminder Tim to help you out ... he'll be along in a minute 

We always ask candidates to spend 1/2 hour with a group of children alongside our staff. This works really well as it lets the staff feedback on the 'vibe' from the candidate (we always take feedback from our staff before we make any decisions). We then always have a question 'when you were working with our children, what do you think they were learning?' - this means that those who have experience can demonstrate their ability to link to EYFS and those who are new to the profession show if they have any sense of what it is we are trying to do.

Like Finleysmaid we have two interviewers and we score candidates on their answers and then take into account the 'soft skills' how they fit into the team, what the other staff felt about them etc

example interview 1.docx

10 hours ago, finleysmaid said:

that took me a minute to work out...I read MANAGER not manger!

I hope they risk assessed what to do if the manager was left behind - I assume they had a nominated, responsible deputy who could lead in the manager's absence 

I agree with zigzag, however knowing that we are due a new statutory framework I would imagine it will be incorporated into our requirements at that point

Good morning Chelledam ... welcome to the Foundation Stage Forum! Lovely to have you here!  

That's such an interesting question, I'm sure lots of our members will be able to offer advice based on their own experience. It's not something I've ever had to think about (our settling is all on one level) but my first thoughts would be the following:

I would write a comprehensive risk assessment covering every eventuality (these are first few things that came to mind): 

• How do you evacuate in the event of a fire?
• How will you move children up and down the stairs safely to go to the garden or out of the setting?
• How will you hand children over to relatives / carers if they are not able to get up the stairs (e.g mobility impairment)?
• How will you carry hot food to the room and clear away afterwards (hot items, trays etc)?

I would telephone my insurance company and ask if there are any specific requirements they need you to fulfill in order to keep the validity of your policy?

I would telephone my LA advisor and ask if there are any settings in my area that I could go to visit to see how they manage

I would check the planning use designation (it'll be D1) and see if there are any restrictions placed on the use of the upper floors being used for children (sometimes planners put certain restrictions on how buildings are used)

I hope that helps to begin with, hopefully someone else will be along with more useful information 

Amanda Spielman's report was published last week, aspects relating to early years begin on p31. The headlines from the section summary are as follows:

"Inspection outcomes for providers on the Early Years Register (EYR) remain strong. More than nine out of 10 were good or outstanding at their most recent inspection. The total number of early years and childcare providers registered with us continues to decrease over time. This can be attributed to a large decrease in childminders and smaller decreases in the number of nurseries and pre-schools. However, the number of places in early years providers has remained relatively stable, at around 1.3 million. Nurseries and pre-schools operating as part of a group under a single registration are more likely to be judged outstanding than those operating alone. The quality of provision is also linked to other factors, such as levels of local area deprivation."

You can read the full report here

There have been several press relases by difference organisations in reposnse to the Chief Inspectors report. a selection of these are listed below.

• Ofsted annual report: Top marks for large groups (Nursery World)
• Ofsted outlines focus on "substance of education" in annual report (Pre-school Learning Alliance)
• School readiness and lack of SEND funding: Ofsted Annual Report (NDNA)

The DfE has released the updated EYFSP handbook you can download it from here

Make sure you keep copies of the emails and notes of when things were sent - if you have sent things in a timely manner and there is a delay elsewhere then it isn't your fault. I would, because I am overly cautious, write a risk assessment of how children are 'protected' from the new committee members until they have clearance e.g no unsupervised access to children, no binding committee decisions until forms/approvals are back etc (I don't have experience of committee run provisions so these things might not be super relevant - I'm sure you have better examples you could use on a risk assessment).

18 hours ago, finleysmaid said:

have spoken to the mash team and quite frankly they have dropped me in to a situation! I then had a doctor ring me and question my authority to do anything! Sorry can't really say any more at the moment but I DO really appreciate your help.

Oh, we're all here if you need to vent