Babcock Early Years Consultancy Team
Newsletter 1: September 2021
Dear EYFS Colleagues,
Welcome back. We know that many of you have worked during the summer, but we all tend to view September and the autumn term as the new start to the Academic Year. This September you will all be implementing the New EYFS Statutory Framework and putting in place any changes to your practice and provision. Remember “Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater” as you implement the new educational programmes. The aims of the reforms are to improve outcomes for all children whilst leading to a reduction in your workload, enabling you to spend more time interacting with your children.
Closing the Word Gap in the Early Years
The Word Gap training aligns nicely with the EYFS Reforms and the emphasis on vocabulary. “Putting language at the heart of the curriculum” becomes the focus as you ‘Model new words every day as you talk, read and play’. We have responded to requests to deliver more of this training and will continue to respond to demand with our next session on 28th September. All Word Gap resources will be available to download from our website in the near future.
Working Together: Progress Check and the Healthy Child Review
The Progress Check documentation and flow chart process have been updated and circulated with this Newsletter. Both will be available to download from our website in the future. In order to support early identification of children’s needs and joint working with the Public Health Nursing Team (Health Visitors and Community Health Workers), we are jointly delivering remote briefings in November to share updates in relation to the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ), Early Language Identification Measure (ELIM) and a revised Communication and Language Monitoring Tool.
EYFS Training Update
It was great to have so many delegates on our first training, Letters and Sounds, this week. The Babcock Training Team are currently in discussion with developers in relation to the possible provision of certificates for delegates following attendance at remotely delivered training. As part of this development, we are asking all delegates to ‘register’ by entering their full name and the name of their setting in the chat box. We know we have usually done this in an informal way in the past with Christian names and saying “Hi” but we need a little more information now. We are looking forward to ‘seeing’ you at our autumn term subsidised training including: Child Development, Self-regulation and Executive Function, and two courses on Crafting a Curriculum (one for schools and one for settings – please ensure you book on the appropriate one).
We continue to offer a range of Inclusion training, including our New to SENDCo. Don’t forget to book onto our autumn term fully funded events including the SENDCo Forums, Requesting an EHC Needs Assessment and the Working Together Progress Check and the Healthy Child Review. There is also a funded session for those settings with a Devon Child in Care on roll. Attendance for this is invitation only.
All training can be booked via the Babcock LDP Shop.
If you have difficulty booking on the training or briefings, or require additional support to register, please email tina.turner@babcockinternational.com or telephone 01392 287224 or 287352.
EYFS documents
There has been a flurry of updates during the summer. Please find links below:
- Education inspection framework – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
- The EYFS in schools – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
- Registered early years providers – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
- Early years inspection handbook for Ofsted-registered provision for September 2021 – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
SEND / Inclusion
Individual inclusion funding
The panel has recently held their emergency funding meeting which indicated that there are high numbers of children who remain on waiting lists to be seen by professional services. Please ensure that you seek advice from your Early Years Consultant if you have any concerns.
The new funding request form will be available by half term but meanwhile continue to us the old request form. New guidance will also be available soon.
Nursery Plus
Your Nursery Plus teams will be resuming their outreach support during the week beginning 27th September. Since the start of term they have been working in base nurseries and carrying out observational visits to settings. They have also been updating paperwork and evaluating and reviewing practice to ensure that they are ready to meet the requirements of the revised EYFS.
Planning ahead
You should already be identifying children who may need an enhanced transition package when transferring to school September 2022. Please consider if you have any children for whom a request for an EHC needs assessment may be required and ensure that you are following the graduated response. Contact your Early Years Consultant if you need advice.
Finally, thank you for all that you do to give children the best possible start in life and the support that enables them to fulfil their potential. You have all faced many challenges during the past 18 months and worked tirelessly, supporting each other, your children and their families.
Let us hope that that we face fewer challenges this year and that we all return to what we enjoy doing best, both in our working and personal lives.
With very best wishes for the future