In the Loop Bulletin for Childcare Providers

“Anyone who does anything to help a child is a hero to me.”   — Fred Rogers, television personality.

Bright Futures Teaching School Hubs are pleased to announce that they will be offering The National Professional Qualification in Early Years Leadership. The programme is designed specifically for leaders of early years education. The programme is for leaders qualified to at least level 3 with a full and relevant qualification who are, or are aspiring to be:

• managers of private, voluntary and independent nurseries

• headteachers of school-based or maintained nurseries

• childminders with leadership responsibilities

The application window for the National Professional Qualification (NPQ) Programme starting in October 2022, is now open. Further Information can be found here : NPQEYL - Bright Futures Teaching School Hubs (bright-futures.co.uk)

Please see attached guidance. 

We would like to invite you to an engagement event to hear more about the Charter (please see attachment) and share your perspectives as a Childcare setting Owner/Director. The session will take place in person on Thursday 20^th October 10am – 12pm, at ACAS North West Offices, 3 Piccadilly Place, Manchester, M1 3BN.  

The session will specifically cover:

• An overview of the Charter, Good Employment Characteristics and engagement processes.
• An exploration of the key issues and barriers that face the Early Years sector employers.
• Discussions on the support available and needed.

If you are interested in representing Trafford at this event and would like to book your place, please register your interest at earlyyearscpd@trafford.gov.uk

Places are limited to 35 to ensure plenty of opportunity for discussion.

Many thanks for your support with this work.

Please advise any parents that haven’t already done so to reconfirm or apply for new 30 hours codes as soon as possible on the childcare choices website. This must be done by 31 August, there are no exceptions to the code date criteria. You will not be able to make a claim for any extended hours if a child does not have a valid 30 hours code. For a code to be valid in Autumn 22 it must have a start date of 31/8/22 or earlier and a grace period end date of 31/12/2022 or later.

Reminder! Children should not be allowed to start accessing any extended hours without a valid code. Where parents / carers do not provide you with a valid code, you should not deliver these as funded hours.

Eligibility Dates: Children are eligible for 2, 3 & 4 year old funding the 1 September, 1 January or 1 April after their 2^nd or 3^rd birthday. If you are unsure of when a child will be able to access funded hours, there is an age eligibility checker on the Dashboard page of The Portal.
New Starters: Providers can update the live register with new starters from 1 September which is when autumn term starts. It is not possible to add on any children who are not yet age eligible for funding until this date.

30 Hours Codes:  Children do not need to be added to the live register for their code to be checked. This is done using the code checker on the dashboard page.

Guides to using the portal and checking / auditing codes can be found on our website: www.trafford.gov.uk/establishmentportal It is advisable that you review this information if you are delivering any extended hours in autumn term.

Parents / Carers can apply now to confirm their funding for autumn term. The criteria and declaration form can be found on our website: www.trafford.gov.uk/2yo. Please ensure declarations are submitted by Sunday 25 September so that they can be processed and added to your live register in order for you to make a claim for funding on the headcount.

Reminder! Children should not be allowed to start in a 2 year old funded place if you do not have confirmation they are eligible. Where you have not received confirmation, you should not deliver any funded 2 year old hours. 

The provider timeline for Autumn 2022 will be available when term starts, see below the upcoming important dates for early education funding:

• 31 August: Last day of summer term, final deadline for parents to reconfirm or apply for new 30 hours codes
• 1 September: Start of autumn term
• 25 September: Deadline for 2 year old declaration forms
• 6 October: Headcount Day

Manchester Metropolitan University have launched a series of new trailblazing Short Courses that are aligned to GMCA’s Early Years Workforce Competency Framework. A range of innovative short courses are available from September and are a flexible approach to develop and certify skills aligned to the Greater Manchester Early Years Workforce Competency Framework. The short courses are a new way to study towards a university qualification whilst balancing work and home life. Please find the flyer for this opportunity attached as a PDF.  

Foundation Years is pleased to share with you a new vodcast taking a look at the mental health and wellbeing of the early years professionals working every day with babies and young children. Gill Holden, Principal Officer of the Early Childhood Unit at the National Children’s Bureau (NCB), speaks to Sonia Mainstone-Cotton, an independent early year’s consultant who specialises in this area.

We are excited to share with you our training package for 2022-2023 which has been specifically tailored, taking into consideration the impact on children and early years practitioners over the last year.

To demonstrate our commitment to the sector we will be offering the membership at a subsided rate of £20.00 per person.

Please note:

To access the Early Years training programme including Me Learning you will be required to join the 2022-23 Membership Scheme.

Membership will be charged at £20.00 per person.

You can apply for membership by completing our membership application form by visiting www.trafford.gov.uk/ldp

Please allow up to 5 working days for membership applications to be processed.

Please click on the links below to view:

2022-23 training programme

https://www.traffordearlyyears.co.uk/Article/88158

Me Learning courses

https://www.traffordearlyyears.co.uk/Article/88103