Update on Early Years services

The Early Years offer in Warwickshire is open to all early years’ providers in Warwickshire who are responsible for learning, development and care of children from birth to five years. This includes maintained schools, non-maintained schools, all providers on the Early Years Register, and all providers registered with an early years childminder agency.

The Local Authority works directly with schools and early years providers to improve the quality of practice and outcomes for children. The Local Authority provides statutory one to one support for all providers who have early years Ofsted judgements that are not yet ‘Good’. This support is offered through two Local Authority Advisers who can also provide telephone and email advice and guidance for any early years queries (sarahaigh@warwickshire.gov.uk).

The Local Authority also has the duty to provide statutory Safeguarding functions and services to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. This includes cascading information from the Government and Warwickshire Safeguarding Children Board; attending Position of Trust meetings; and monitoring and reviewing safeguarding practices across Warwickshire early years providers.

The Local Authority has a statutory duty to secure sufficient early education and childcare places. This means we need to secure places for babies and young children whose parents are working, as well as funded early education places for 2, 3 and 4 year olds, and out of school and holiday care for school age children. The Early Years Sufficiency and Business Support Team oversee this duty, and offer advice and support to schools as well as private early years settings.

Settings are funded to provide early education places for 3 and 4 year olds as long as they achieve an Ofsted grading of at least ‘Requires Improvement’. Funding for 2 year olds is only available to settings with a grade of at least ‘Good’. The local authority has an established process for removing funding from settings who fall below this standard.

Recently designated as a Teaching School, the Warwickshire Consortium Teaching School Alliance is one of just 34 Teaching School Alliances nationally that are led by Nursery Schools, having demonstrated the capacity to offer expertise, knowledge and training of the highest quality.

The alliance is led by Bedworth Heath Nursery School and Kenilworth Nursery School, and provides 15 Initial Teacher Training places through an early years PGCE with Warwick University. Their long term plans are to develop a portfolio of accredited  training recognising the early years sector’s needs for training development from level 2 to Post Graduate level. It will build capacity within a joint Local Authority and Teaching School approach to system led quality improvement through the provision of training and support to ensure adequate expertise is sited in both our Schools and PVI sector settings and across the early years workforce.

The alliance also provides traded training and development in early years for Schools and settings through their website (www.warwickshireearlyyears.co.uk). This offers professional development opportunities for settings and schools to meet statutory EYFS requirements, develop a strong and enhanced learning culture, identify system leaders and support their training and designation from a cohort of teachers and early leaders across the county.