1140 Early Learning and Childcare Expansion Programme Update
North Lanarkshire Council · 28 February 2023
Back to Education, Children and Families Committee — 28 February 2023 and its agenda
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North Lanarkshire Council Report Education Children & Families Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☐ Yes ☒ No Ref GML/JOH Date 28/02/23 P030.1 – 1140 Early Learning & Childcare Expansion Programme Update From Gerard McLaughlin, Chief Officer (Education - North) E-mail mclaughling@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 01236 812269 Executive Summary The 1140 Hours Expansion programme for Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) is a national programme developed in a unique way, in response to specific local circumstances. This report provides Committee with an updated position on the 1140 hours Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) expansion programme within North Lanarkshire. It reinforces previous reports which have already been approved by Committee and is based on significant consultation with stakeholders. In addition, it supports The Plan for North Lanarkshire. The report focuses on the capital programme, workforce and progress in relation to quality. In addition, it provides a financial update as of period 9. Recommendations It is recommended that the Education and Families Committee: (1) Endorse the 1140 project update (2) Endorse the progress of Heathery Park Family Learning Centre (3) Endorse the position regarding the ELC Procurement Framework (4) Endorse the increase in rates for day care providers. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority All priorities Ambition statement (7) Enhance collaborative working to maximise support and ensure all our children and young people are included, supported, and safe
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1. Background 1.1 North Lanarkshire Council (NLC) achieved full delivery of 1140 hours by 30 September 2020, prior to it being legislative from August 2021. 1.2 The ELC team continues to progress with plans to ensure children and families fully access the benefits of 1140 hours. 2. Report 2.1 Infrastructure Projects 2.1.1 Table 1 provides an update regarding the outstanding infrastructure projects. Table 1 Site Start Date Completion Date Extensions / Adaptations Craigneuk FLC February 2023 March 2023 Heatherypark FLC April 2022 May 2023 2.1.2 The work being carried out at Craigneuk Family Learning Centre has been delayed due to issues with the centres roof. The roof is being replaced and work is scheduled to be completed by the end of January, allowing the nursery adaptions to then start. 2.1.3 Work continues within Heatherypark FLC. Albeit the project is delayed the contractor is making progress. The building / extension is effectively wind and watertight, the carpark is complete and groundworkers have been appointed and work re-commenced on the deck area. Regular meetings continue to take place with the contractors and officers from Asset & Procurement to ensure the continuous progress of the work. At this time, the service believes the completion date will be by the end of May 2023. 2.1.4 The Head of Centre and ELC practitioners have been appointed. Plans are in place to fully resource and set up Heatherypark FLC at the end of May 2023 to enable it to open for June 2023. The service will review eligible 2-year-old applications and the ELC locality panel chair will work closely with other agencies to review applications (requests for assistance) and allocated placements for 2-year-old children most in need. 2.2 Workforce 2.2.1 Committee will recall NLC employed 536 additional employees to support the implementation of 1140 hours ELC. Just over 300 positions were temporary (Support Workers & Keyworkers) and it is now our ambition to secure permanency for these positions. There was recognition that due to the large volume of these positions there 8 FLC completed 7 ELC adaptations completed 103 settings benefitting from minor works
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was the potential to impact significantly on the Council’s recruitment team if standard methods were used. As a result, there was discussion with the Human Resource Business Partnership Manager, Human Resource Business Partner Team and Employment Service Centre. It was agreed to implement a modified process to expedite the exercise. 2.2.2 A series of briefing meetings was held to disseminate information via Heads and detailed email instructions were issued along with Process Maps / Frequently Asked Questions Trade Unions were fully involved in agreeing the process and have been updated periodically. The modified process had three stages: • Stage 1 – Professional dialogue for like for like vacancies in current establishment for employees with qualifying service at 4/11/22. • Stage 2 - Professional dialogue for like for like vacancies in current establishment for employees with qualifying service at 28/6/23. • Stage 3 – Residual vacancies recruited by formal internal exercise via standard method. 2.2.3 A further update regarding the outcome of this recruitment process will be provided to the next committee. 2.2.4 It is anticipated that the exercise will be completed by Spring 2023, and this will provide employees with certainty and the service with a stable workforce. 2.2.5 Opportunities for all levels of ELC staff to work towards and achieve certificated qualifications have been offered annually. Table 3 provides a breakdown of the number of staff attending this year with associated costs. Committee are asked to note the BA costs are for the 4-year period. Table 3 Course Number of participants Costs PDA Day Release 15 £9,000 PDA Online 21 £12,030 HNC Day Release 30 £6,000 BA Evening (over 4yrs) 44 £290,138 Total 110 £317,168 2.2.6 Committee should note that the career pathway established to support the professional development of the workforce and the implementation of 1140 hours has provided in total 312 ELC staff with the opportunity to work towards and achieve additional qualifications. This is a significant achievement and recognises the excellent work between the service and partners. 2.3 Quality 2.3.1 Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) Training Calendar A full catalogue of training for ELC Practitioners at all levels has been established for August 22 – June 23. The training sessions on offer are in response to need derived from previous training evaluation forms, scrutiny visits carried out by the Quality Team, The Care Inspectorate and Education Scotland. Training courses are inclusive of both Local Authority and Partner Providers and sessions are added throughout the year in response to need.
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2.3.2 In addition to the training calendar, a revised ten session leadership programme will be delivered to Heads of Centre, Depute Heads of Centre, Principal Lead and Leads (within both partner providers and local authority settings). This programme will develop highly effective lead practitioners through high-quality professional learning opportunities. It will facilitate a collaborative network between colleagues and develop pedagogical skills and practice of leaders at all levels. The programme will run from January - June 2023 and will be delivered. 2.3.3 Taking cognisance of the increasing number of new Heads of Centre within the service, a full and robust Induction programme will be rolled out to new and existing Heads which will include a range of operational issues that are essential for effective service delivery. 2.3.4 All training sessions for session 2022-2023 will be a hybrid model of face-to-face and virtual sessions. 2.3.5 Quality Assurance: The national standard sets out what children and families should expect from their early learning and childcare experience regardless of where they access their child’s funded hours. Scottish Government have outlined that children and families should expect quality services with evaluations that rate good (4) or above. To support continuous improvement the following activities and actions are undertaken to support establishments to meet the national standards: The Quality Team carry out support visits to work alongside settings to evaluate and monitor performance, to highlight good practice and provide support and challenge to make improvements. Formal inspections / scrutiny is also a key aspect of the quality framework within ELC. Education Scotland completes announced inspections using a variety of models. This includes a full model inspection which covers four Quality Indicators (QI), and a short model inspection which covers two QI. Some inspections are undertaken by both the Care Inspectorate and Education. In addition to this, Care Inspectorate carry out unannounced inspections of both nursery settings and childminders. Reference is made to the newly published quality framework “A quality framework for day care of children, childminding and school-aged childcare” (February 2022.). The framework supports settings to evaluate their own performance in addition to providing an independent assurance for care inspectors. 2.3.6 Appendix 01 provides an overview of the standards of quality across ELC as of December 2022. 2.4 Early Learning and Childcare Framework 2.4.1 Committee will recall that, due to the current Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) Framework coming to an end – 31 July 2023, a new tender went live on Public Contract Scotland on 4 October 2023, to establish an ELC Framework from 1 August 2023 – 31 July 2027. 2.4.2 The tender closed at 12 noon on 24 October 2022, with 140 applications received from childcare providers.
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2.4.3 Due to a legal challenge within the standstill period, and in compliance with The Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015, tenderers were advised that North Lanarkshire Council are unable to award the Flexible Framework for Early Learning and Childcare Services in North Lanarkshire 2023 was delayed. 2.4.4 Following an evaluation of applications, 138 were assessed as successful – 98 childminders and 40 partner nurseries, and 2 unsuccessful; tenderers were notified of the outcome in writing and the required standstill period has been successfully completed. 2.5 Admissions 2023/2024 2.5.1 Due to the legal challenge, and in accordance with procurement regulations, the council was legally prohibited from concluding the ELC framework and therefore the commencement of the 20234/2024 admissions process was delayed. In previous years the deadline for admissions would be on, or around, 10 February 2023. 2.5.2 Following the successful completion of the framework the admissions process went live on Wednesday, 8 February 2023, with applications being accepted up to, and including 10 March 2023. All providers have been notified that the process has gone live and will be supported by the Ealy Years team. 2.5.3 The website has been updated to reflect the above, with access available to all necessary information – application form, guidance notes, etc. The application process will be advertised on various social media platforms to ensure a high uptake. 2.6 Cross Boundary 2.6.1 Committee will recall that a Cross Boundary Protocol is currently in place for children attending partner provider settings. Cross boundary local authority applications continue to be progressed in line with NLC admission policy. 2.6.2 Following the commencement of the 2023/2024 admissions process, Committee will be updated regarding cross boundary applications received following the commencement of the admissions process. 2.7 Deferred Entry 2.7.1 Committee will recall that due to the forthcoming change in legislation, effective from 1 August 2022, the Deferred Entry Working Group reconvened to review processes and communications. 2.7.2 Legislation states that those children who are 4 years of age, on the date they are eligible to start school (i.e., children with birth dates on or between the day after school commencement date in August and the last day in February), can defer entry to school for a year and access an additional year of funded early learning and childcare. The Board is advised that following consideration it was agreed that the ‘school commencement date’ will be 16 August 2023. It should be noted that this date will change annually, in line with the summer leave period. 2.7.3 Information on the NLC website has now been updated to reflect the changes in legislation. This has also been shared with all providers, ELC colleagues and representatives from the Give Them Time campaign.
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2.7.4 This legislative change will align the funded ELC offer more closely with the existing right to defer children commencing Primary 1. This will allow families to make decisions based on what they feel is in the best interests of their child, without the financial barrier of additional ELC costs. 2.7.5 Guidance explaining the change is available online on the Scottish Government website https://www.gov.scot/publications/early-learning-childcare-statutory-guidance- july-2021/ 2.7.6 Table 4 below provides an overview of the number of applications received for the 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 academic session and the current number received to date for academic session 2023/2024. Committee are asked to note the increase in applications for the academic session 2023/2024, which was anticipated due to the change in legislation. Table 4 2021 / 2022 2022 / 2023 2023 / 2024 Automatic Discretionary Automatic Discretionary Automatic Discretionary 192 91 181 83 383 18 Total: 283 Total: 264 Total: 401 2.8 Day Care Providers - Rate 2.8.1 Following guidance from Scottish Government, Committee will recall that the rate paid to funded providers, £5.77 for 3-5 years olds and £6.03 for eligible 2-year-olds, was increased from 1 August 2022. 2.8.2 Day care providers who are in the main childminders that provide short term care for families in crisis are paid at the same rate as that for eligible 2-year-olds. This has been the case for several years. Therefore, committee are asked to endorse an increase in the rate paid to day carers. That is, an increase from £5.80 to £6.03 per hour. 2.9 External Partner Provider Commission Payments 2.9.1 Table 5 provides an overview of Partner Provider Commission Payments, from April 2022 to December 2022. Table 5 External Commission Payments April to July September to December 3-5 Payments 1140 hours £4.572m £4.884m Eligible 2 Payments 1140 hours £0.328m £0.348m Meal Payments 2-5-year-olds £0.316m £0.363m Total £5.216 £5.595 2.10 Healthy Milk & Snack Scheme 2.10.1 Committee will recall that there is a requirement for providers to re-register for the Healthy Milk and Snack Scheme on an annual basis. In doing so this allows them to update the figures re children in their care. 2.10.2 Currently 79 partners have registered for session 2022-2023: 31 from Partner Nurseries and 48 from Childminders.
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2.10.3 The registration process closed at the end of January 2023 and will re-open on 1 March 2023 to allow new providers to join the scheme. Further updates will be provided to committee. 2.11 Parent Survey 2.11.1 Committee will recall the consultation that took place between 20 September – 14 October 2022, re the delivery of early learning and childcare. 2.11.2 Whilst a summary of findings from the consultation was previously reported, a more comprehensive overview has been provided for the members – Appendix 02. 2.11.3 In total 845 responses were received (approximately 7,500 children within ELC 845 responses equates to approximately 11%). An overview of the outcomes is provided in Table 6 below: Table 6 Question Highest Response Percentage What best describes your situation Child currently accessing ELC 93% Main benefit of 1140 To support wellbeing development 62% Reason for choosing provider Quality / Reputation 42% Preferred choice/future choice of provider Nursery attached to a school 40% Do you use/plan to use the full 1140 hours Yes 92% Preference to using 1140 hours All hours in one setting 35% Where do you access ELC updates Social Media 33% 2.11.4 Overall, the consultation was very positive and highlighted that almost all children are accessing their full entitlement and that that parents/carers are benefiting from the choice of provision and operating models available to them 2.11.5 Based on the low number of overall responses and the low numbers of responses from parents/carers whose child is due to access ELC, the service plans to review and improve communication strategies for future consultations. It is important to ensure we capture the views of both existing and future service users to better inform planning. The consultation will be recirculated in Spring 2023 with a focus on parent/carers due to access ELC from August 2024. 2.12 Communications 2.12.1 The service continues to meet regularly with both Care Inspectorate and Trade Unions regarding delivery of ELC provision. Relations continue to be collaborative and positive. 2.12.2 The Corporate Communications team continue to support ELC with all communications to support the delivery of 1140 hours. Update deferred entry information has been posted on the ELC website and communications has been prepared to support the 2023/2024 admissions process.
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2.12.3 A copy of the ELC 1140 newsletter, circulated in November is attached – please refer to Appendix 03. This edition includes examples of excellent practice across local authority nurseries and funded providers, including childminders. 2.13 Financial Update Capital 2.13.1 Since inception, the ELC Expansion (1140 Hours) Capital Programme has spanned several financial years cumulating in new Family Learning Centres and renovations of existing establishments across the authority. 2.13.2 The Enterprise & Communities 2022/23 capital programme of £157.168m was approved at Policy & Strategy Committee on 17 March 2022. The 2022/23 programme has since been increase by £21.479m relating to carry forwards from 2021/22 (£5.796m) and additional external funding (£15.683m). Included in the approved 2022/23 capital programme, for Enterprise & Communities, is £2.192m regarding ELC Expansion (1140 Hours). 2.13.3 As at Period 09, the Service is projecting an underspend of £0.256m in relation to the associated ELC Expansion (1140 Hours) capital workstreams. 2.13.4 t should be noted that there are recruitment fees, that have been paid since 2018, included within capital spend. This year the spend is £0.075m at period 9, and this projects £0.125m by the end of the year. The service will require to review this based on the programme of works outstanding. 2.13.5 Also, for Covid costs for the Phase 1 builds, there was £0.537m of budget set aside for this. The final bill has been agreed as £0.391m. This underspend of £0.146m is included within the current year projection, so if there is any clawback of this budget, then the 1140 capital spend will fall into an overspend position. Revenue 2.13.6 The gross expenditure budget for ELC in 2022/23 is £61.445m which is partly offset by the ELC Expansion Grant of £34.842m. The projected outturn for 2022/23 as of 9 December 2022 (Period 9) is a net underspend of £0.323m. 3. Measures of success 3.1 Children have access to funded entitlement of 1140 hours of ELC. 4. Supporting documentation 4.1 Appendix 01: ELC Standards of Quality 4.2 Appendix 02: Parent/Carer Survey Outcomes 4.3 Appendix 03: ELC Newsletter Gerard McLaughlin Chief Officer (Education - North)
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5. Impacts ( http://connect/report-template-guidance ) 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? The strategy of the service, as approved by the Education Corporate Management Team (November 2017), is to positively target families who live in SIMD areas 1 – 4 to address disadvantage and barriers to success. Consideration has also been given to ensure that there is a mix of services within localities to support accessibility and parental demand. If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality- and-fairer-scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☒ No ☐ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts have been discussed and agreed with Finance? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Section 2.13 provides a financial update/impact as of period 9 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts have been discussed and agreed with People Resources? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Support in place from HR to support the ELC recruitment 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts have been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Consultations are ongoing with Legal regarding the the position with the ELC procurement framework. 5.5 Data protection impact Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data?
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Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e- mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.6 Technology / Digital impact Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Where the impact identifies a requirement for significant technology change, has an assessment been carried out (or is scheduled to be carried out) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? The paper contains information regarding the delay of the ELC admissions process, which may impact on the level of enquiries the ELC website will receive. A statement has been produced to keep parents/carers up to date. 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts, highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed? Delays to the admissions process 2023/2024 could impact on the timeline to secure placements for all eligible 2-5-year-olds by August 2023. This will impact on the statutory 1140 hours entitlement for children and families. 5.10 Armed Forces Covenant Duty Does the report require to take due regard of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty (i.e. does it relate to healthcare, housing, or education services for in-Service or ex- Service personnel, or their families, or widow(er)s)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the provision which has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the particular needs of the Armed Forces community to make sure that they do not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services.
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Appendix 01 Early Learning & Childcare Standards of Quality December 2022 __________________________________________________________________________ Standards / Gradings (National Standard / Expectations: 4 – Good) • 1: Unsatisfactory • 2: Weak • 3: Adequate • 4: Good • 5: Very Good • 6: Excellent It should be noted settings are graded on 4 key themes therefore the standards below are based on an average across settings.
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Appendix 02 ELC Parent/Carer Consultation Findings The ELC Parent / Carer Consultation went live on Tuesday, 20 September 2022 and closed on Friday, 14 October 2022. In total 845 responses were received. Outlined below is an overview of the responses, to each of the nine questions asked: Q 1 – What Best Describes Your Current Situation? This question was looking to understand, from those completing the consultation, if they currently had a child within an ELC setting or a child due to take up a place soon. A total of 841 responses were received. Response Selected Number of Responses % Of Total Responses Child currently within an ELC setting 777 93% Child due to take up place within ELC Setting 45 5% Neither of the above 19 2% Q 2 - Do you have a child or children under 5 years of age? This question was looking to gauge, from those responding, if they had a child under 55 years of age. A total of 843 responses were received. Response Selected Number of Responses % Of Total Responses Yes 838 99% No 5 1% Q 3 - If yes, please provide dates of birth for each child. This allowed us to gauge the number of children, from birth to 5 years of those responding. A total of 838 responses were received. * Response Selected Number of Responses % of Total Responses* Born in 2018 315 38% Born in 2019 342 41% Born in 2020 101 12% Born in 2021 96 11% Born in 2022 61 7% *Please note that many responses had multiple children born in different years, therefore the total result is greater than 100% when collated.
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Q 4 - Where do you reside in North Lanarkshire? Responses to this question allow us to see, from those responding, the areas of North Lanarkshire people reside in. A total of 837 responses were received. Response Selected Number of Responses % Of Total Responses Airdrie (ML6 area) 151 18% Motherwell (ML1 area) 135 16% Cumbernauld (G67/G68 area) 113 13% Wishaw (ML2 area) 97 12% Coatbridge (ML5 area) 89 11% Stepps/Moodiesburn (G33/G66/G69 area) 67 8% Bellshill (ML4 area) 60 7% Shotts (ML7 area) 59 7% Kilsyth (G65 area) 37 4% Uddingston (G71 area) 23 3% No address provided 6 1% Q 5 - What do you see as the main benefit of funded ELC? This question provides us with understanding of people see as being the main benefit of funded early learning and childcare. A total of 843 responses were received. Response Selected Number of Responses % Of Total Responses Child Wellbeing & Development 530 62% Support to Work/Study 181 22% Reduction in Childcare Costs 104 12% Parental Support 14 2% Other 14 2% Q 6 - When choosing an ELC provider, what do you consider to be most important? Responses to this question allow us to understand what is important when choosing an ELC provider. A total of 844 responses were received. Response Selected Number of Responses % Of Total Responses Quality / Reputation 355 42% Proximity to Home 169 20% Service Attached to Future School 122 14% Operating Hours 79 9% Continuity – Family Member Attends 58 7% Other 32 4% Option to Purchase Additional Hours 15 2%
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Offers Full Time Outdoor Provision 9 1% Offers Gaelic Provision 5 1% Q 7 - What ELC services do you use, or are planning to/considering using in the future? This question provides an insight into the preferred option of type of services being used or are or are considering using. A total of 837 responses were received. Response Selected Number of Responses % Of Total Responses Nursery Attached to a School 331 40% Local Authority Nursery 274 32% Private / Voluntary Nursery 195 23% Childminder 35 4% Outdoor Provision 2 1% Q 8 - Do you use, or plan to use, all your 1140 funded hours? Responses to this question allow us to gauge the numbers of children utilising their full 1140 hours entitlement. A total of 840 responses were received. Response Selected Number of Responses % Of Total Responses Yes 771 92% No 69 8% Q 9 - What is your preference to using 1140 Hours? Where possible we look to meet the needs of all parents/carers, including the delivery model of 1140 hours. With these responses we can identify the preferences in regard to how hours are delivered. A total of 838 responses were received. Response Selected Number of Responses % Of Total Responses All Hours in One Setting 291 35% Term-Time 285 34% Full-Time 190 23% Other 37 4% Split Between 2 Providers 35 4%
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EARLY LEARNING & CHILDCARE 1140 News WELCOME Reflective practice and self-evaluation are at the foundation of the delivery of high quality Early Learning and Childcare. This newsletter will share some of the excellent practice across ELC settings within North Lanarkshire where staff use a range of ways to support continuous improvement. Jennifer O’Hara, Operational Manager – Inclusion and Early Learning and Childcare. Contributions to the newsletter and suggestions are welcome. Please email: corporatecommunications@northlan.gov.uk ‘Without proper self-evaluation, failure is inevitable.’ John Wooden I am delighted to introduce our full team of Quality Officers who will be supporting early learning settings across North Lanarkshire to ensure we provide the very best for our families. Lorraine Smith smithlo@northlan.gov.uk Lynn Walsh Walshlyn@northlan.gov.uk Liz Kerr KerrLiz@northlan.gov.uk Vicky Harris harrisv@northlan.gov.uk Ruth Eglinton eglintonr@nborthlan.gov.uk Cheryl Valentine valentineC@northlan.gov.uk Appendix 03
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The Care Inspectorate published their new Quality Framework in March this year and advised that they would use the framework in their inspections from June 2022. Here is the experience of some of our settings who have recently been inspected. The inspection lasted 21/2hrs and the children in attendance that day, attend my service for the full 1140 funding. The inspector was very focused on the Quality Framework and spoke to me about the children and looked closely at the environment. I had evaluated my own performance using the Quality Framework. To help me evaluate my service I also work closely with families to involve them in their child’s care and development. I do this through personal plans and regular communication. I use best practice guidance to reflect on the quality of the children’s care within my setting helping me to identify strengths and areas for improvement. The views of children and families are sought regularly. I gather information both informally through daily chats and texts, and formally through questionnaires. I am committed to the ongoing improvement of my service, and this is demonstrated in the wide variety of training that myself and my husband have undertaken. When the child starts, I provide a detailed handbook and provide regular updates to policies as practice changes. • Staff were caring, nurturing and responsive and knew children very well. This created a secure, supportive play and learning environment for children. • The environment offered many opportunities for child-led, free flow play, both indoors and outdoors. • The manager and depute provided strong leadership and supported the staff team to provide high quality care and support for children. • There was a focus on self-evaluation, quality assurance and a clear vision in place to ensure ongoing service development and positive outcomes for children and their families. • The overall lunchtime experience for children was relaxed, pleasant and sociable. • The staff team at Calderview were delighted by the feedback provided from the Inspector. She highlighted the strengths of our service and reinforced our commitment and dedication to children and families in the community of Chapelhall. We are so proud of how far we have come and strive to continue to develop our service further. Weans World Calderview Family Learning Centre Please follow our Twitter feed on @EarlyYearsNLC for the most up to date information. northlanarkshire.gov.uk/elc Geraldine Duffy, Childminder On 27 June 2022 between 09:30 and 13:15 we received our first unannounced visit from Care Inspectorate. During the process the inspector spoke with children, parents, staff and visiting professionals. They observed practice and daily life and reviewed documents. The inspection was a very relaxed and pleasant experience for staff and children. The day was no different from a normal day at Calderview. Our Inspector was mindful of the needs of our children and families and asked questions during appropriate times. The key points from our inspection were that: Jayne Donaldson, Depute
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The provision within Step by Step is of high quality and the way we support children is embedded in our practice. The expectations of the management team are high and both the head and depute are very visible on the playroom floors to provide support and encourage development. Staff actively participate in their own self-evaluation and are very honest about their own strengths and areas of improvement. Self-evaluation, in a meaningful way, is a regular discussion point and this over time has become a habit to us. These discussions help the team gain a greater insight and confidence to set future goals for improvement. Staff feel confident and valued and ready to learn new skills. Play is always at the centre of what we do, and this was showcased throughout the inspection. Step by Step Nursery Claire Irvine, Manager Berryhill Nursery Class Carrie Nicol, Head Teacher Following our most recent Care Inspection in June this year, we are delighted with the positive validation and feedback we have received. The inspection team highlighted many areas of strength throughout our report. Some high-level messages included our shared approach to self-evaluation which ensures continuous improvement within our setting. A key feature of this is our robust systems that are in place to allow us to evaluate what is working well and what could be done better to improve outcomes for our children and families. To inform ongoing reflections, staff refer to ‘How Good is our Early Learning and Childcare’, and ‘The Quality Framework’. Staff regularly analyse a variety of data to ensure that improvements are specific to the needs of our learners and our context, and we ensure that staff training opportunities are linked closely to identified areas of improvement. Surveys, improvement conversations and professional dialogues allow all stakeholders to contribute to our improvement process on an ongoing basis. Staff are empowered to have ownership of change and our staff development processes allow all staff to take responsibility and lead the development of specific areas, while sharing skills and expertise. Our children are at the heart of everything that we do, and they are crucial in our improvement processes. Our children’s voice is evidenced through observations, mind maps, floor books and our ‘Little Chatter Matters Wall’ which links clearly to the UNCRC. Staff ensure that they create a rich and engaging learning environment for our children allowing them to have fun while being inquisitive and creative. Our children are very much involved in planning their own learning and staff are responsive to this and facilitate their learning through various pathways. The outdoor environment is extremely well utilised with lots of emphasis on sand and water play experiences. Play experiences within the setting incorporate STEM and this practice was highlighted by the Care Inspectorate. Staff all have a very good understanding of child development and are skilled at creating high quality play and learning experiences which meet the needs of all. Interactions between staff and children are warm, welcoming, caring and respectful. Solihull approaches are embedded and there is a very positive and nurturing ethos throughout.
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Here at Honeywell Nursery Class, we recognise that it is important to place the children and their families at the heart of everything we do. We consult regularly with children and parents/carers. Their voices and views are listened and responded to. We recently took part in the STV Children’s Appeal – Big Scottish Breakfast. This was a way to bring our families together to enjoy a lovely breakfast together and raise lots of money for a great cause. Our children are all very confident at sharing what types of foods make up a healthy breakfast and were delighted to share their knowledge with their families. Our families enjoyed this experience so much that we are planning to arrange another one soon Families also join us on our visits to our Forest Space. Through continuous self-evaluation and consultations, we have adapted the way we offer these sessions to suit families. We now offer each group of children and their families a 4-week block. Children, parents/carers and staff all agreed that attending over these weeks gave everyone a real flavour of what goes on at these visits. The skills the children have developed have been amazing and the parents/carers told us how they feel more confident spending time outdoors with their children and recognised how important this is for all their families’ health and wellbeing. Family Engagement at Honeywell Nursery Class Maureen O’Hare, Lead Early Learning Practitioner
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Abernethyn Family Learning Centre and Balmalloch Nursery Class very kindly shared an honest account of their journey towards achieving the award. “The staff at Abernethyn Family Learning Centre are delighted to have recently gained our Breastfeeding Scotland Friendly accreditation. When we began our journey, we did have some initial concerns about being inclusive and respectful of the different family dynamics of the families accessing our service. These concerns were allayed through discussions with Louise our Health Improvement Practitioner, staff and our families, so we embarked on our journey. All staff have now completed the online course and we as a team feel that we now have a better understanding of how to support our families with breastfeeding within our centre as we begin to fully embed the principals in our practice”. “Here at Balmalloch Nursery Class we are proud to provide an inclusive environment where all families are welcome. We discussed our environment and the changes if any, we would need to make, and to be honest it was a very easy journey for us. When we think of our children, their play spaces, and our resources it made sense to us that we wouldn’t include bottles or dummies in our environment. A breastfeeding friendly approach means inclusivity for everyone. We don’t provide our children with superhero costumes, instead we provide materials and loose parts to allow them to develop their creativity. If our children need a house for the dolls, they make one from construction materials and in the same way, our children can use loose parts and open-ended resources to role play feeding babies with a bottle, if they wanted to do so. We have not alienated anyone by removing these resources, it’s had the opposite effect. Our staff team, children and parents are valued, nurtured and included.” Breastfeeding Friendly Scotland Award We are delighted to share that all our Local Authority ELC settings are now working towards the Breastfeeding Friendly Scotland Award with 38% having achieved the award to date. We are hopeful that all Local Authority ELC settings will be accredited as being “Breastfeeding Friendly” establishments by the end of 2022. Staff comments “We have a breastfeeding policy within our nursery. It’s there for both parents and staff. We didn’t create a specific feeding area as it’s important that our breastfeeding Mum’s feel comfortable to feed anywhere in our establishment, whether that’s in the playroom or in the staff room if they choose somewhere more private.” “Using the correct terminology normalises breastfeeding and takes away that stigma. It means, as our children get older, using language such as breasts and breastfeeding isn’t out of the ordinary.” absolutely encourage them to learn about their bodies, how they grow and develop and how some babies as well as animals are fed. It’s so natural and we need to embrace that and take that stigma away.” Children’s comments “I think milk comes from Mum’s belly button.” “the Mummy’s breasts.” “it comes from here” and pointed to his nipple. “the Mummy drinks milk and it goes into her breast.” “my wee sister gets milk from my Mum’s breast.” Lorraine Smith, Quality Officer