Welcome and introduction Alex Gamby
Dear Kent early years and childcare providers.
I hope that this edition of the Early Years and Childcare Bulletin finds you all feeling suitably festive. I have no doubt that you are heads down, knee deep, up to your eyes (choose your favourite analogy!) in Christmas creativity, nativity rehearsals and the like, which I hope are going well and bringing lots of learning, fun, pleasure and enjoyment for your children and their families and, of course, (as well as lots of hard work!) for your staff (where this applies).
Plans for the implementation of KCCs Early Years Review are moving forward, with a planned date for new ways of working to start being late April 2025.
During Terms 3 and 4, information about this will be forthcoming, including in these bulletins and at the briefing and networking sessions in the weeks commencing 10 and 24 February. I know that working in the early years and childcare sector continues to be challenging and sometimes stressful. Whilst many things about it are largely outside of the control of The Education People’s Early Years and Childcare Service, as we move towards a new year, I want to reiterate our continuing commitment to bringing you the best and most timely information, support, advice and training that we are able to do, across the full scope of our responsibilities.
Thank you all so very much for all that you have done for Kent’s children and their families in 2024 and for the difference that I know this makes.
I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year that bring enjoyment, rest and relaxation as you spend time with family and friends.
Alex Gamby Head of Early Years and Childcare
Kent Early Years and Childcare Provider Association
The Early Years and Childcare Provider Association met on Monday 9 December. It was pleased to welcome two new members, being:
• Debbie Gunn (Director and Manager of D-Dee’s Day Nursery in Faversham) as the Early Years Groups Representative for Swale
• Carmen Kimble (Co-owner of Cobnuts Woodland Nursery and Forest School Ltd) the Early Years Groups Representative for Canterbury. The Association was able to discuss and consider:
• the implications of the 2024 budget for childcare providers
• KCC’s draft Education Strategy
• as part of KCC Early Years Review, developing ‘Ordinarily Available Provision’ (which will build on but ultimately replace the Best Practice Guidance).
• what the legacy of the Stronger Practice Hub (currently due to end in March 2025) could and should look like.
The Provider Association next meets in March 2025.
National news and updates
A message from Dingley’s Promise
Please do keep sharing our ‘parent carer Facebook group flyer’ below, we are really keen to engage more parent and carers in doing and sharing the Dingley’s Promise training. We know it can really help families to feel more confident in talking about what good inclusion looks like with their settings and schools. Our parent and carers do some amazing work to spread the word too – ‘Thank you’ for your efforts!
More information for parents can be found on Dingley’s Promise website.
Kent news and updates
Ofsted trends for childminders and PVI provision
Below is a range of Ofsted recommendations taken from published reports for September 2024. They form a trend identified across the county.
Take time to view these as they will support the leadership and management of your provision not just prior to inspection but will form part of monitoring your continuous improvements thus contributing towards your setting development plans.
Quality of education
• Strengthen the support for children to follow their own interests and explore their own ideas to embed their learning.
• Support staff to use language and interactions that encourage fuller responses from children to further encourage their communication and language skills.
• Provide a more consistent approach to helping parents know what their children are learning, so that they can help prepare them for school and support learning at home.
• Strengthen staff's skills in helping children gain a broad understanding of early mathematics in preparation for school.
• Review and improve the organisation of group times to more effectively engage all children who are taking part.
• Enhance the support for children to develop their already good communication skills even further.
Behaviours and attitudes
• Support staff in using consistent behaviour management strategies to help children self-regulate their behaviour.
Personal development
• Enhance the support for children to complete tasks they are capable of with more independence.
• Enrich the curriculum to further extend children's understanding of the richly diverse communities in which they live.
Leadership recommendations
• Review and improve processes for sharing information with parents to enable a consistent two-way flow of information.
• Support staff to be more vigilant of children that would benefit from adult interaction to further encourage their enjoyment in learning.
• Develop staff's understanding of the importance of quality interactions to further support children's communication skills.
• Develop teaching further to focus more precisely on what children need to learn next.
• Review and improve transition routines for older children to support their engagement and focus.
• Enhance support for staff to help them identify opportunities to encourage and extend children's language skills even further.
• Provide support for staff in planning activities that have a clear learning purpose to challenge children even further in their thinking.
• Build more effective partnerships with staff at other settings that children also attend.
• Strengthen opportunities to engage parents in children's individual learning to further improve outcomes for children.
• Review and improve routines and staff deployment to better support children's engagement in activities and staff's interactions with children
• Improve information sharing between staff about children, to help them plan activities that extend children's thinking and learning.
• Strengthen consistency of staff's practice to support them to develop children's language and understanding more effectively.
• Support staff to plan group times more effectively so all children can remain engaged and fully benefit from the intended learning.
• Strengthen the arrangements to support new children to settle and become familiar with routines.
• Support staff to focus more consistently on providing experiences that build further on children's existing skills and knowledge to successfully extend their learning.
• Strengthen staff understanding of their key children's needs to precisely target their next steps in learning.
LADO Education Safeguarding Advisory Service (LESAS) Child Protection Newsletter for Designated Safeguarding Leads –November/December 2024
Please find a link below to the latest edition of the LADO Education Safeguarding Advisory Service (LESAS) Child Protection Newsletter for Designated Safeguarding Leads in education settings to review and disseminate within their organisation as appropriate.
Term 2 (November/December) 2024-25 edition
Previous newsletter editions (September 2018 to present):
Child Protection Updates for Designated Safeguarding Leads
Kent Book Start Annual Report 2023-24
The latest Kent Bookstart Annual Report 2023-24 is now available. Find out about how Bookstart’s different initiatives are delivered in Kent via different partners, free books for babies and young children in Kent, how to get them, what free additional needs packs are available and how Kent Libraries support other areas of work with early years children and their families/carers.
How have you and your children/families used theirs? We’d love to know – send your feedback and any requests for further information to bookstart@kent.gov.uk
News flash!
The Education People’s Early Years and Childcare Service has developed a new resource for all practitioners, (early years practitioners working with group and childminding settings, teachers and other professionals working with families).
A package containing a guide, and two posters will be posted to you prior to Christmas
• Forging Family Partnerships. Eight fundamental footsteps to forging fruitful relationships with F.A.M.I.L.I.E.S guide.
• Fundamental Family Footsteps. Eight key footsteps to fostering fruitful relationships with F.A.M.L.I.E.S
• Forging Family Partnerships, poster for families
Look out for your package, information about an introductory webinar and face to face training opportunities in your mailbox and the next Early Years and Childcare Bulletin.
Early years settings named as “Centres of Excellence” for speech language and communication
Kent is celebrating a significant milestone as the first group of early years settings have successfully completed the Scheme for Schools and Settings® accreditation. This licensed accreditation program uses the Balanced System®
outcomes framework to help schools and settings improve outcomes for children and young people with speech, language, and communication needs (SLCN).
Achieving this accreditation is a testament to the dedication of these settings in supporting children and young people with SLCN. While Kent as a whole is working towards achieving the Balanced System® outcomes, these early years settings, along with a further sixteen Kent schools so far, have demonstrated their commitment by completing this accreditation.
Remarkably, three out of the six early years settings that completed the accreditation were also awarded Centre of Excellence status. The ratification panel was particularly impressed with the high standards of evidence being produced in Kent, especially within these early years settings.
Discovery Nursery and Woodland’s Under-5s Pre-school in Maidstone, and Ladybirds Pre-school in Canterbury have all successfully completed the Scheme for Schools and Settings® accreditation.
Abacus Nursery in Folkestone, Borden Village Pre-School in Sittingbourne and Briary Pre-school in Thanet have been named as Centres of Excellence for speech, language and communication in addition to completing the accreditation. Congratulations to all involved for their unwavering commitment and outstanding achievements!
Focus on childminders
New flexibilities for childminders
From 1 November 2024, Ofsted started accepting applications for a new category of childcare provider, as part of a series of changes the Department for Education has introduced to give the early years and childcare sector more flexibility.
Childcare providers now have the option to register as Childminders Without Domestic Premises, meaning they can work solely from somewhere other than a home, such as a village hall, or a room on a school site.
Previously, childminders had to register on domestic premises and spend at least 50% of their time working from a home address. The Government has now removed this limit, but those registered to provide care at someone’s home will still have to spend some of their time on domestic premises. It will be up to individual providers to decide how best to split this between settings.
The total number of people who can work together under a childminder’s registration has also increased from three to four, allowing childminders more flexibility to work with others, such as co-childminders and childminding assistants.
The following diagram, taken from the Ofsted New Flexibilities for Childminders Webinar: 6 November, offers a helpful route to ensuring childminders are registered on the correct register.
Those already registered as childcare on domestic premises can continue to operate with a minimum of four people working together, but from 1 November 2024 new applications for this type of provision will need a minimum of five people.
If you are already a registered childcare provider and don’t want to change the way you operate, you don’t need to do anything.
Ofsted has recorded a short vlog to help give further explanation about the changes
Further information can also be found on the Ofsted website.
Good practice
Safeguarding
Term One can often bring challenges as staff settle new children and their families into the setting. They need to become familiar with your routines and protocols and especially those in place to safeguard children.
Reviewing the reasons for Ofsted visiting settings (following a complaint or a concern). There are a significant number of settings not keeping children in sight and or sound of staff as well as not considering the risks to prevent accidents/incidents before they happen. These incidents can happen throughout the day, so let’s start by considering what is a risk and what is a hazard:
• a risk is about the probability of something or someone causing harm (perceived hazard); usually categorised by high, medium or low risk that someone may be harmed by the hazard
• a hazard is something that could cause harm for example, an exposed pond or dangerous flora:
We would never advocate removing all risks, as children thrive in a challenging environment. It is about appropriate risk taking and removing hazards.
A dynamic risk assessment is when people assess the risk in the moment, something that wasn’t a hazard until something in the environment changes. For example, the gate onto the road is usually locked. During the morning checks it was discovered to be unlocked and could be opened with ease by a child. This requires the practitioner to react immediately.
Through play children need to take appropriate risk, for example, a child who has built a loose part construction and it looks slightly unstable, as an adult you may stand nearby to watch their next move as they decide to crawl across their construction, taking a lower centre of gravity or wait for them to ask for assistance. Clearly if the child is at immediate risk, it is important for the adult to step in; this is a dynamic risk assessment, considering the risk and benefit for the child.
The Health and Safety Executive document, ‘Children’s Play and Leisure: promoting a balanced approach’ looks at risk and getting a balanced approach, and they highlight how it is not about eliminating risk.
‘Striking the right balance’ does mean:
• weighing up risks and benefits when designing and providing play opportunities and activities
• focussing on and controlling the most serious risks, and those that are not beneficial to the play activity or foreseeable by the user
• recognising that the introduction of risk might form part of play opportunities and activity
• understanding that the purpose of risk control is not the elimination of all risk, and so accepting that the possibility of even serious or life-threatening injuries cannot be eliminated, though it should be managed
• ensuring that the benefits of play are experienced to the full.
It is about common sense and constantly reflecting and risk assessing your environment, resources and activities.
With this in mind it is important that staff are never complacent when accessing risk. A morning check may have been completed, but this does not mean the environment is necessarily ‘safe’ for the rest of the day as things constantly change and evolve. For example, a bin bag placed by a door, or a paving slap that lifts or a new trailing cable, must not be ignored and must be instantly dealt with, as they are all hazards.
When carrying out daily routines such as going into the garden, or procedures like emergency evacuation, headcounts are imperative as it is key time for children to hide or for a child to be in the toilet, which can lead to a child being out of sight and/or sound as you exit or re-enter a building. If this happens it would mean the setting breaches the Statutory Framework as children must always be in sight and or sound, and the setting must then inform Ofsted.
Accidents do happen, however many are preventable through all staff taking responsibility for the environment they are in, and they can also involve the children, so they are alert to the hazards and risk around them.
It is imperative that settings give regard to safety updates concerning various items they may use like water beads or flour, so they can make informed choices about these resources. You should always ensure the toys you have in the setting meet the safety standards and display a CE mark, proof that the product has passed EU safety regulations, or the UKCA mark, which is the UK equivalent. Do
not be tempted to purchase cheaper alternatives like some fidget toys which can be purchased via online providers. You can see one that was recalled (below).
Risk updates – Please read
Flour play, from the Food Standards Agency
Water beads from the Government
Fidget toy recall – Government
Mustard, from the Food Standards Agency
Some questions to consider
• How are all staff informed and upskilled to ensure they are continually assessing risk within the environment (dynamic risk assessment)?
• How do you involve children with risk assessment so they can make informed decisions about the risks they take?
• Have you identified the key times or transitions where headcounts are conducted to ensure children are always in sight and sound of staff?
• Are the procedures and policies clear about risk assessment and expectations for all members of staff, volunteers and visitors?
• Do you use a generic risk checklist or one you have devised based on your own risk assessment of the environment considering things that you have like paving slabs?
• Do you explore the risk benefit of the activities you carry out?
For further information you can visit
Play Scotland – information on risk benefit approach.
Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents - has a plethora of information to support you and families
Health and Safety Executive - risk assessment
What is creativity and where does it happen?
Maybe it’s easier to describe what creativity is not. Creativity is not just the art area and some musical instruments in the corner of the room, it is so much more.
Firstly, creativity is a process so let’s start by looking at this.
Creativity is often seen as being only about the moment of insight - the moment of inspiration when the answer comes to us. That "Ahaa!" moment!
What actually happens is a far more complex process, it is a process in which there are five main stages.
Firstly Preparation - this is where young children explore, analyse, gather information, look for patterns, try out ideas, and begin to form their own thoughts. It is where everything they already know about a situation is bought together and they continue to gather all the resources they can. (Think of the child who is continually collecting and gathering and trying out ideas in their play).
Secondly comes - Frustration - this is often seen as a sign of failure and lack of a child’s ability. In fact, it indicates precisely the opposite. The feeling of frustration is actually the way our conscious mind recognises that it doesn't know the answer and how we begin to let go of all that we know. Think of children who appear frustrated and react when things are not working out the way they would like them to.
It is a signal that the normal way we think about a problem is breaking down and that creativity is becoming possible by thinking of another way of doing something.
To be creative, by definition, we need to get away from what we currently know, explore new territories and to bring what is outside of our normal remit into our awareness. But our rational mind wants to stay with what it knows and tries to hold us back from moving into the unknown … the only place we can be creative!
Next is Incubation - this is the time when we sometimes give up trying; everything is consciously put on hold and left for the unconscious mind to take over. As an adult, this may be when we sleep on the problem or go and do the washing up! A baby or young child may just ‘down tools’ and go and do something completely different and distract themselves from thinking about the problem. It doesn’t mean that their minds have completely forgotten about the problem, as they may go back to it and continue to explore, analyse and gather
information. Then having done all the groundwork, gathered information, found the resources and had a go, it is only then there is then the moment of …….
Insight - the "Ahaa!" moment - this is when something shifts and children see things in a new way or create new possibilities. Whilst the insight moment often appears to have come from nowhere, the creative person knows that it actually occurs as a result of everything that has happened before. To have an insight is one thing; to then turn it into something real is quite another.
The final stage, Working Out - involves testing this new idea and creating it into something physical that they can work with. Maybe this will be the answer, maybe, maybe not, if not then the whole process will begin again.
To allow children to feel secure enough to let their creative ideas flow they need you as adults as anchors, to ‘be there’ for them. You as this anchor need to be aware of the child’s initiatives and efforts to communicate their needs. We all know how toddlers can be very dismissive of help as they want to be independent, but because they can’t achieve what they want to do because they haven’t acquired the relevant skills, it takes you as a very tuned in practitioner to support the child through this tricky moment. As a practitioner you are constantly checking in with the child, what they have in mind, so you can support them through the process. This might be holding ‘the piece of paper’ with them whilst they try using the scissors. As long as a practitioner you are not taking over and directing the child, the child will learn that with perseverance, ideas can be developed, knowledge gained and stored ready for future endeavours.
Your environment is important too Is your provision for creativity inspirational? Presentation is important, what is available and what catches the children’s eye?
What does your display say about your settings culture to promote creativity? Is it full of children’s creations, is there somewhere to display their own work, does it show children’s individuality or are there identical pieces of work?
Do you offer the children the chance to explore as many materials as possible? Is sensory play available for the children every day? Do you vary what is offered to the children and do you tailor it to the individual children’s interests or is everyone offered the same? Do you have a mixture of sensory activities or just one at a time?
All things to consider when children are in that creative process, if you can’t take the soil to the sand tray how are you going to know if the soil can be moulded, fit through the sieve, go through the wheel? If the water from the water tray doesn’t get transported to the soil, how is that child going to discover the properties of
them when they are mixed, all things required for the Incubation period of the creative process.
Children need access to a wealth of well organised materials, for exploration, discovery, investigation and stimulation of ideas, in all areas of the EYFS from mathematics to storytelling, role play to movement.
Children also need to be aware of themselves as separate and creative individuals. Children who are encouraged to develop their own creativity are later shown to be less dependent on others. Research has shown (Bettelheim, 1977; Storr, 1989:81; Kitzinger,1997) that when children are encouraged to do everything as a group, they develop a group identity and through this have shared feelings. This in turn seems to discourage creativity as they are less likely to do something different to the rest of the group.
Doing something different, new or original is a central part of creativity. It is important for the key person to cultivate and support this in their key children. However, you may find when you scan the room you will see children although busy doing their own thing, they will be with others who share their interests, but this choosing to be with others in a group is ok as they are being creative with others. As adults we know it is often comforting and supportive to be with others who share the same interests as us and give us the confidence to go and do things alone.
Being creative for the younger children is about a totally sensory experience and is motivated by the process (the doing, exploration, trial and error) and not by the end product.
Through this strong relationship with a significant adult and multi-sensory experiences, babies and young children develop a sense of self. This is the beginnings of creativity as they begin to see that they are the cause of making things happen and the effect they have on the behaviour of others. Prediction, anticipating and controlling are the beginnings of creativity. All this and not a paintbrush in sight.
Briefing and networking sessions
Our regular Early Years & Childcare Briefing and Networking Sessions provide a good opportunity to keep your setting and staff up to date with relevant national and local issues and to network with colleagues from other settings.
Why not book a place on the next round of sessions and benefit from the
opportunity to network and hear important updates? In line with provider feedback and to maximise ability to attend, these sessions will continue to be held virtually via Zoom, and you can access your place by clicking on the titles below.
EYC Briefing and Networking – North Tuesday 11 February 2025 4 – 6 pm
EYC Briefing and Networking – West Wednesday 12 February 2025 4 – 6 pm
EYC Briefing and Networking – East Wednesday 26 February 2025 4 – 6 pm
EYC Briefing and Networking – South Thursday 13 February 2025 4 – 6 pm
We are also running an additional evening Briefing and Networking Session specifically for eligible childminders and out of school settings who may find it difficult to attend the weekday afternoon sessions.
EYC Briefing and Networking –Childminders and Out of School Tuesday 25 February 2025 7.30 – 9.30 pm
Contact us
Alex Gamby Head of Early Years & Childcare
Threads of Success
Threads of Success Recruitment Hub
Alex.gamby@theeducationpeople.org
https://www.theeducationpeople.org/our-expertise/earlyyears-childcare/threads-of-success/
https://www.theeducationpeople.org/our-expertise/earlyyears-childcare/recruitment-hub/
Sufficiency and Sustainability sufficiencyandsustainability@theeducationpeople.org
Education for Sustainable Development esd@theeducationpeople.org
Improvement and Standards eycimprovementservices@theeducationpeople.org
Equality and Inclusion eyinclusion@theeducationpeople.org
Collaborations eycollaborations@theeducationpeople.org
Childminding childminding@theeducationpeople.org
Workforce Development earlyyearsworkforce.ask@theeducationpeople.org
Kent Children & Families Information Service kentcfis@theeducationpeople.org
KCC Management Information miearlyyears@kent.gov.uk
KELSI http://www.kelsi.org.uk
Schools E-bulletin http://www.kelsi.org.uk/working_in_education/news.aspx
