In the Loop Bulletin for Childcare Providers

“You cannot make people learn. You can only provide the right conditions for learning to happen” – Vince Gowmon

Barbara Jarkowski will be retiring at the end of August as Trafford’s SEN Advisory Service [SENAS] Early Years Consultant. We are delighted to let you know that Carmen Gornall, who is currently Deputy Head at Pictor Special School, will be taking over this role from September. Before Barbara leaves she would like to say a huge thank you to all the Trafford settings and SENCO’s she has worked with over the last 18 years. Barbara has been continually amazed at, and in awe of, your professionalism and skills, and your dedication to meeting the needs of Trafford’s most vulnerable children. She wishes you all the best for the future!

Trafford Strategic Safeguarding Partnership are running the above training session on Thursday 28 July from 12:30 – 2pm online. Please see the attachment for further information. 

Please ensure parents are aware they must reconfirm or apply for new 30 hours codes in good time. Codes must be issued or reconfirmed by 31 August to be valid for Autumn term. It is strongly recommended that Parents apply now so that any complications with HMRC can be resolved. Applications can be made 16 weeks prior to the child’s 3^rd birthday, so all children due to be eligible for 3 year old funding in autumn can now apply and be issued a code.

Parents should apply via the Childcare Service: www.childcarechoices.gov.uk or by contacting the Customer Interaction Centre on 0300 123 4097 if they do not have internet access.

Parents already in receipt of 30 hours must reconfirm their eligibility with HMRC by 31 August. This can be completed on their childcare service account.

Every child you intend to claim Extended Hours for must have a valid code. Families should provide you with their code so you can validate it. You will not be able to make a claim for extended hours without a valid 30 Hours code. For a code to be valid in autumn term it must have a start date of 31/8/2022 or earlier and a grace period end date of 31/12/2022 or later.

Children do not need to be added to the live register on the Portal for you to check their code. You can check the code for new children using the any-time code checker on the dashboard page of The Portal. More information about understanding the code audit and how to check codes can be found on our website.  A video guide is also available.  

Parents/ Carers can submit their 2 Year Old declaration form for children receiving the funding from Autumn term. It is advisable that the form is completed as soon as possible so that eligibility can be confirmed before the start of term. Children should not start in a 2 year old funded place until you receive confirmation they are eligible. The form and the eligibility criteria can be found on our website: www.trafford.gov.uk/2yofunding

The Government has launched a new campaign to encourage take-up of Tax-Free Childcare and the Universal Credit Childcare offer. Over a million families in the UK are entitled to support with the costs of childcare from the government, but many are missing out because childcare providers in their area haven’t signed up to accept the various offers. This also means that many providers are missing out on boosting their businesses by increasing demand as they aren’t accessible to the families who use the support. More information about Tax-Free Childcare can be found here.

Childcare Choices have put together this communications toolkit which includes a step-by-step guide to ensuring you are set-up to accept all the offers, along with promotional resources.

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:

• All current Me Learning accounts will close on 31 July 2022
• 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
• Membership applications will be processed from Tuesday 2 August 2022 (please allow up to 5 working days for applications to be actioned)

Please click on the links below to view:

• 2022-23 training programme
• Me Learning courses

This months newsletter introduction comes to you from the Early Years team at the Department for Education (DfE) and contains information on; government updates, views from the sector, stakeholder updates and research. For more information please view the newsletter online.