Norfolkearly years developmentand childcare partnership

Norfolkearly years developmentand childcare partnership

NATIONAL SURE START MONTHCatch up on all the action fromacross the region.

SEPTEMBER 2003

partnership news

PatchworkProjectIt does exactlywhat it says onthe tin!pages 5 - 6

Jobcentre PlusInitiativeInterview withChildcare ManagerLouise Gedgepage 11

The NEWMaking Choicesan innovativeapproach to recruitmentpages 3 - 4

STOP PRESS● STOP PRESS ● STOP PRESS ● STOPWE HAVE A NUMBER

OF PLACES LEFT

ON SOME OF OUR

TRAINING COURSES.

Please see the list inside

and make sure that you're

not missing out.

If you’re interested in any

of the courses listed

please fill in the booking

form attached.

welcomeWelcome to the start of another busy school year andthe end of what was hopefully a restful summer breakand the chance to recharge your batteries.

We look forward this term to a number of key challenges and back at our past successes as a reminder of what is possible and what we canachieve together.

We congratulate all those who took part in the summerholiday play schemes and made them so successful.Particularly those who worked tirelessly to get themopen and staffed and to those who attended.

We bask in the glory of Norfolk being the highestreceiver of NOF grant allocation in the country and lookto all those who were instrumental in making thesebids happen.

Looking forward, this term we concentrate, as ever, onthe delivery of “open” childcare places and the creationof new places to meet the growing needs of children,parents and carers. We continue to focus on meetingour targets and in particular on overcoming barriers toopening such as recruitment campaigns, ongoingtraining opportunities and information on businessfinance & marketing. Particular emphasis will be givento these areas in the autumn term.

During the summer many of you, all around the county,were involved in celebrating National Surestart Month.These included our two successful

2-day outings with ‘Adventures in Learning’ at theForum in Norwich and the Ecotec Centre in Swaffham,the Royal Norfolk Show, the Preventative StrategyConference, and many other local events.

So, I invite you to celebrate the successes andembrace the challenges as we move forward into anew school year.

Best Wishes

Marcelle CurtisHead of Early Years and Childcare Strategy

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Private Finance InitiativeJarvis – the company currently bidding in the Private Finance Initiative (PFI)offered cabinet a number of variant proposals, amongst which was onethat looked at Nursery Provision for a number of schools in the GreatYarmouth area and other market towns. Consultation began and a num-ber of open public meetings were held. All of the proposed projects offermuch needed childcare provision in areas that would not otherwise attractany other source of funding. Extended consultation continues in theautumn term and we look forward positively to the outcomes.

Children's CentresChildren’s Centres continues to be a key focus. They offer a joining up ofchildcare, early education provision and family and health support in a seam-less collection of quality services for children, parents and communities. Overthe last term we have been progressing towards developing a plan forNorfolk which will be submitted in October this year. Local consultationmeetings have taken place and local working groups have been set up.

Extended schoolsThe extended schools agenda concentrates on the new legisalation thatallows schools to develop childcare and other services on the school sites.Some schools have begun the development process and in partnershipwith their local development workers are progressing well. If there is a needin your area or you are interested in finding out more about the extendedschools project please contact your local development team.

Western Area Team – 01553 667620East and South Team – 01493 335740Central and Northern Team - 01603 598484

InclusionEach area team has a lead development worker responsible for inclusion.Aliona Laker (Central) Peter Nash (East) and Sue Martin (West) have beenworking hard on a detailed questionnaire and resource pack, ready tobegin their research in the autumn term. This offers a real opportunity togain valuable information and statistics about the type of inclusive childcarethat is available around the county and offer guidance and actions for thefuture. We look forward to an update in the next edition.

SustainabilitySustainability is recognised as a major barrier. To combat the issues we areplanning a small working party who at the start of the autumn term willbegin to look at issues and report back with actions. We already have theBusiness Support programme and are encouraging new and existingproviders to log-on and use the tutorials and discussion groups, (moreinformation in training news). Check out the site at www.buspack.info. Alsowe have the new A4E programme coming on board, and we will report onthe implications for Norfolk soon.

KitemarkCongratulations to all involved in the successful bid to obtain Investors inChildren status for our quality assurance scheme – the kitemark. We plan tolaunch the scheme county wide in the coming months – so watch this space!

Neighbourhood Nursery InitiativeThe first NNI is now open and receiving children, and we wish Shona andher team at the ‘Starting Out Day Nursery’ in Norwich continued success.Congratulations as well to Maureen Sewell and her team at Woodside FirstNursery School in Norwich who have just received their NOF Capital awardfor £440,000 and St Michaels for their award of £63,000.

New Opportunities Fund (NOF)We await the last round of NOF funding grants and look forward to suc-cessful awards. We also welcome the news that the next stream of fund-ing will be available via the Surestart out-of-school grant. More informationto follow next issue.

Job VacanciesIn an effort to offer the most accurate and up-to-date information the jobvacancies list will be available online only as from the beginning of July2003. We hope that this will improve the service we can offer to potentialchildcare workers and providers alike. To view the latest information pleasecheck out www.childcarelink.gov.uk

Joiners and LeaversWelcome Back to:Jenny Cuthbert, back from maternity leave,admin for the South and East Team.

Welcome to:Margaret Dewsbury, Childcare Coordinator – NHS Project Marilyn Attwood – Secretary to Marcelle Curtis and Anne Dobson Nicky Bird – Admin for NHS Project Sarah Barrie – Admin for the South and East Team (part time)

Goodbye to:Pauline Jackson – County Training ManagerJessica Gooch – Project Development Worker (Central Team)Chris Jones – Admin for Business and Finance TeamJenny Eaton – Admin for Business and Finance TeamChristine Runagall – Secretary to Marcelle Curtis and Anne Dobson

Childcare Standards andRegulations - Consultation During the summer term the DfES carried out a consultation exerciseabout proposals for the review of childcare standards and regulations.Norfolk Education Department consulted with Schools, EYDCP and earlyyears workers before responding. Proposed changes to the standardsincluded a no smacking and no smoking policy for childminders which willbring them in line with group daycare providers. Another area concentrat-ed on the regulation of childcare provision in schools. There is a proposalto phase in registration of out of school clubs and other childcare provisionover a 2-year period. After acknowledgment of our views we await theconfirmation of changes in standards and regulations, proposed to comeinto effect in September 2003.

New Minister for ChildrenWe welcome the first ever appointment of a New Minister for Children -Margaret Hodge. She will assume responsibility for children’s services,childcare and provision for the under-fives and family policy. Specificresponsibilities will include oversight of Sure Start, Early Years andChildcare as well as LEA Special Education Needs.

New Children Co-ordinator forthe NHSNorfolk NHS trusts have appointed a new childcare co-ordinator to sup-port the NHS childcare strategy. This strategy concentrates on increasingthe availability of childcare provision and facilities for their staff and makingavailable information in order to improve staff recruitment and retentionrates. These trusts have drawn up a service level agreement with the localauthority via the EYDCP to deliver the project. The project aims to producea scoping exercise to assess the needs of NHS employees; provide infor-mation, advice and guidance to staff and to promote high quality childcarewithin the specified trusts.

For more information about the project please contact Margaret Dewsburyat the Childcare Information Service on (01603) 62 2292

Care to LearnCare to learn is a new stream of funding designed to support young parents looking to continue with their learning, with their childcare costs.This scheme is aimed at any parents who are aged between 16 and 19 yearsand who will start learning anytime after August 1st 2003 (or continuing acourse in a school sixth form or sixth form college that they started beforethey were 19.) The criteria allows for courses from two weeks to two years,and parents can claim childcare and travel costs up to £5000 per child peryear to get them to and from any registered childcare provider.

This will NOT affect their, or the family’s benefits or allowances. They do nothave to be on benefits in order to have childcare paid for, and the paymentwill be made directly to the childcare provider and the course provider willrefund the travel expenses.

For further information on Care to Learn please contact the help line number0845 600 2809

The Link Teacher Team growsThis September marks the first anniversary of the formation of the LinkTeacher team - a team of early years practitioners which exemplifies bestearly years practice and includes a wide range of specialist expertiseacross the Foundation Stage curriculum.

To develop and increase the support available to groups, another four linkteachers have been appointed. They are Stephanie Broad fromSheringham Primary School; Nemonie Grummett from Dersingham Firstand Nursery School; Anne James an experienced Foundation Stageteacher and Samantha Goodfellow from London where she has beencompleting her M.A.

We say goodbye to Kathy Bailey who will be moving to a new home inGreece and will be greatly missed, but welcome the return of Jo Mixer,Early Years Co-ordinator, from maternity leave.

A Change in Location From September the resource bank managed by the Early Years Co-ordi-nators will be spread across the county at three bases. They will be WestNorfolk Professional Development Centre at King’s Lynn, Earlham EarlyYears Centre in Norwich and Greenacre First and Middle School in GreatYarmouth. A much larger resource bank will now be easier to manage andbe more responsive to local needs.

Foundation Stage CommunityPre-schools, nurseries, playgroups and other Foundation Stage environ-ments throughout the country are frequently one-off settings, where thestaff and management can feel isolated and unsupported. This is especiallyso now, as the government has, over recent years, produced a flood ofstandards, curriculum guidance, regulations and requirements to whichearly years settings and reception classes need to comply.

In response to this, a new online community for those interested in andworking with Foundation Stage education and care has been set up. If youhave access to the internet and would like to meet fellow practitioners,from all types of setting, to discuss the new curriculum, Foundation Stageprofiling, child development, SEN, practical issues and resource provision- or just want to put your feet up with a virtual cup of coffee and have achat - find us at: http://www.foundation-stage.info

Good News at GooderstoneGooderstone is the same as many villages in rural Norfolk, beautiful, peace-ful and miles from the nearest B road. There is a school, church, pub andan idyllic, tiny river. But there is very little employment or public transport.

Rainbows Pre School works closely with the village primary school andhave a mobile on the school site.

They were keen to provide wraparound for the 3 – 5 year olds, despitecomments that it wouldn’t be used and would be too expensive.

Within two weeks of opening in April twelve children attended most ses-sions. They now have over 30 children on the books and one parent hasbeen able to find a job. Fantastic!!

Exciting Developments for Outof School GroupsIt has recently been agreed that a development worker in each of the 3area teams will take on lead responsibility for Out of School Support. Theseare Angela Johns in the South East, Kathleen Clark in Central and Northernand Karen Johnson in the West. Together they will be working on lots ofnew ideas to support out of school groups including developing localPlayworker Networks, looking at training needs of groups to ensure thelocal delivery of an appropriate training programme and working to raisethe profile of playwork across the county. They would also like to hearabout exciting events and activities that have been taking place in yourclub. Why not let them know what’s been happening in your club by ring-ing your local area office!

2Got any News? We are always interested to hear from you. If you have any news stories or feedback please contact Catherine Wedge-Clarke on 01603 223994 or email catherine.wedge-clarke@norfolk.gov.uk

partnership news

The New MakingChoicesRecruitment has been priority No1 andalongside recruitment adverts, road shows,conferences and awareness raising wehave developed a new way of introducinga career in childcare. We have taken theunique step of commissioning an outsidetheatre group to write, produce and perform a bespoke forum theatre piece asNorfolk’s way of introducing a career inchildcare. The new style bitesize seminarreplaces the old Making Choices course,which was limited to approx. 15 delegatesand lasted 6 weeks. Trainers and atten-dees found the course heavy going and itsretention rates were poor. We are hopefulthat this new style course will offer a goodintroductory insight into the many pathsthat a career in childcare can offer. So far ithas been received enthusiastically by thedelegates and advisors and we have beensuccessful in placing nearly 100 people onthe 2 days of training we have run to date.We look forward to a new round of activityin September and hope that the delegatesthat we are attracting can make the suc-cessful move into training or work.

The NewMakingChoices

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a chance to name the coursewe need a new name for Making Choices, please email your

suggestions to catherine.wedge-clarke@norfolk.gov.uk There will be a prize for the selected name winner announced soon.

"It was quite a comical way to get a serious message across, they made you feel at ease and I have now had a pre-registration interview to

become a Childminder" Ms B, Norwich

About PurpleMonsterPurple Monster Training Company has atits core a talented team of professionalactors who have been in the business ofusing drama and theatre for training pur-poses for almost ten years now. It is how-ever only in the last two years since thearrival of Karen Benjamin into the compa-ny that the Playwork and Early YearsTraining has developed. When the contractarose to provide a theatre piece for NorfolkCounty Council via the EYDCP it was afantastic opportunity to bring both parts ofthe company together.

Having delivered Making Choices on a reg-ular basis for Walsall local authority via theirEYDCP in the Midlands Karen was veryfamiliar with the course and its aims. It wastherefore relatively easy to see how a road-show presentation would help inform andrecruit interested people.

With an inside knowledge of the courseand a variety of real life situations to drawupon, from both her own experience as aManager of an Adventure Playground and

from having practitioners regularly speakon her courses, Karen was able to write ascript that was entertaining and true to thecore job roles and available training forworking with children.

In casting the theatre piece Purple Monsterwas able to use the talents of Ellie Darvill,who has for many years been the pup-peteer behind the Why Bird in Play Bus, aswell as her son Tom Darvill, who was a pre-senter for CITV and who is now off to studyat RADA, London’s top drama school. Byusing the skills of the cast and the knowl-edge of the purpose of the original courseand its objectives, Karen Benjamin wasable to write a show that is entertaining,informative and has just that little bit ofaudience participation!

“Making Choices” – The Roadshow, will betouring around Norfolk over the next fewmonths hoping to attract people into work-ing with children and encourage them totake up the necessary training coursesthat will enhance their career opportuni-ties.

Come and see it if you can!

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"The theatre thing is a good idea, it made you

see it from different points of view"

Miss H, Aylsham

partnership news

5

The new Norfolk and Norwich UniversityHospital celebrated childcare month byholding a childcare information day.

Various stalls were set up near the mainentrance and staff popped in throughoutthe day to obtain information. Organisationsattending gave advise on such matters asmaternity entitlements, child care tax andchild care vouchers.

The event was set up as part of the NHSImproving Working Lives Initiative.

The main aim of the initiative is to providea high quality, working environment that willassist the recruitment and retention staff.

NHS staff were present to promote thehospital’s annual summer playscheme andfuture plans for a new nursery.

The CIS was invited to promote its serviceand to represent the County Council whichwas about to agree a new partnership withthe NHS - provision of the services of aChildcare Co-ordinator.

Staff showed a lot of interest in the serviceprovided by the CIS. Those who hadalready used their services sang theirpraises and spoke highly of their childcarearrangements.

Fen Border Sure Start

To coincide with celebration of NationalChildcare Month we launched our collec-tors card scheme in the village of Welney,Norfolk. The library services in Norfolk andCambridgeshire joined with Fen BorderSure Start to create a scheme to encour-age families with young children to join thelibrary and use the mobile facilities avail-able in their local villages. Each childunder 4 who uses the mobile library is pre-sented with a colourful pack whichincludes a collectors card, activity andrhyme sheets, book plates and bookmarks and other small goodies. On eachsubsequent visit the children receive asticker for their card, and after five visitsreceive a cuddly Fen Border Sure Startteddy bear. The scheme will continuethrough the summer, and will be conclud-ed with a teddy bears picnic to be held inNational Children’s Book Week in October.

NationalSure StartMonth

'We had a fantastic time'

'Very well set up with friendly staff –

well worth the journey'

'I learnt todrive'

'Super afternoon – all the children andadults thoroughly

enjoyed it'

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Adventures in RolePlay in NorfolkThe Local authority via the Early YearsDevelopment and Childcare Partnershiporganised a series of workshops to pro-mote role play in the Foundation Stage.

30 practitioners, from a range of settings,were involved in planning and presentingthe role play scenarios, which included: aGarden Centre, Travel Agents, HealthCentre, the Three Bears’ Cottage, theJungle, Under the Sea, a Trip to the Moon.They also had a chance to experiencebeing a lighthouse keeper, getting married,taking a driving test and exploring aTraveller’s trailer, with rest and refresh-ments available in the Beach Café and theChinese Takeaway.

In Norwich we saw over 360 children and90 adults on the first day ! In Swaffham thesuccess continued with over 320 childrenand 80 adults coming to the Ecotec centre.

For more information on Adventures inLearning please contact Constance Tyceat the Professional Development Centre inNorwich on 01603 433276 or via email onconstance.tyce.edu@norfolk.gov.uk

Fantastic PLA Fun DayTo celebrate Playweek in June, 110 childrenand their parents and carers enjoyed anactivity packed day at The VillageExperience in Fleggburgh on Friday June13th. The theme was Nursery Rhymes and some people bought a teddy bear toshare their picnic with. Activities includedpainting, dough, making shakers, masks,crowns and capes with a decorated heart.Many of the children(and adults) joined in the fun music session, and the parachute play and then went off to followthe Treasure Trail No wonder someonecommented there was so much to dothere was no time to explore the VillageExperience properly!

We were grateful to the local authority/EYDCP trailer that came to promote child-care training and childminding and for ourgood friend Jim from the Mini Scrapbox.

Many thanks are also due to the tolerantand flexible attitude of the VillageExperience staff. It was a perfect venuewith perfect weather and many people saidthey would return with their families again

None of this would have been possiblewithout present and past Alliance staff andnumerous sub committee volunteers fromCentral and District and North EastCoastal Branches.

WELL DONE AND THANK YOU.

'The children wanted to come

again the next day'

partnership news

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Diary DatesChildminder Information SessionsDay Date Area Venue Times Thursday 3rd July Norwich The Annexe, County Hall, Martineau Lane, Norwich 7.30pm to 9.30pm

Monday 7th July Thetford Queensway Community Junior School, Hilary Road, Thetford 7.30pm to 9.30pm

Monday 14th July Gorleston Oriel High School, Oriel Avenue, Gorleston 7.30pm to 9.30pm

Tuesday 15th July Cromer Cromer Junior School, Norwich Road, Cromer 7.30pm to 9.30pm

Thursday 17th July Norwich The Annexe, County Hall, Martineau Lane, Norwich 7.30pm to 9.30pm

Thursday 11th Sept Norwich The Annexe, County Hall, Martineau Lane, Norwich 7.30pm to 9.30pm

Tuesday 16th Sept King’s Lynn Alderman Jackson School, Marsh Lane, King’s Lynn 7.30pm to 9.30pm

Wednesday 24th Sept Fakenham Fakenham High School, Field Lane, Fakenham 7.30pm to 9.30pm

Monday 29th Sept Dereham Dereham Neatherd Community High School, Norwich Road, Dereham 7.30pm to 9.30pm

Tuesday 30th Sept Gt Yarmouth Gt Yarmouth High School, Salisbury Road, Great Yarmouth 7.30pm to 9.30pm

Wednesday 1st Oct Norwich The Anna Sewell Room, County Hall Annexe, Martineau Lane 7.30pm to 9.30pm

Monday 20th Oct King’s Lynn Alderman Jackson School, Marsh Lane, Gaywood, 7.30pm to 9.30pm

Monday 3rd Nov Swaffham Hammond’s High School, Brandon Road, 7.30pm to 9.30pm

Thursday 6th Nov Norwich Rudling Room, The Norman Centre, Bignold Road 7.30pm to 9.30pm

Thursday 13th Nov Harleston Archbishop Sancroft High School, Wilderness Lane, 7.30pm to 9.30pm

Thursday 4th Dec Stalham Stalham High School, Brumstead Road, Stalham, 7.30pm to 9.30pm

Tuesday 9th Dec King’s Lynn Alderman Jackson School, Marsh Lane, Gaywood, 7.30pm to 9.30pm

Wednesday 10th Dec Norwich The Anna Sewell Room, County Hall Annexe, Martineau Lane 7.30pm to 9.30pm

Thursday 11th Dec Gorleston Oriel High School, Oriel Avenue 7.30pm to 9.30pm

Monday 12th Jan King’s Lynn Alderman Jackson School, Marsh Lane, Gaywood 7.30pm to 9.30pm

Tuesday 13th Jan Norwich Greenfield’s Community Centre, Ives Road 7.30pm to 9.30pm

Tuesday 20th Wymondham Wymondham High School, Folly Road 7.30pm to 9.30pm

Monday 23rd Feb Watton Wayland Community High School, Merton Road 7.30pm to 9.30pm

Thursday 26th Feb Norwich The Anna Sewell Room, County Hall Annexe, Martineau Lane 7.30pm to 9.30pm

Thursday 26th Feb Gt Yarmouth Gt Yarmouth High School, Salisbury Road 7.30pm to 9.30pm

Wednesday 3rd March Holt Holt Community Primary School, Norwich Road 7.30pm to 9.30pm

Thursday 18th March Dereham Dereham Neatherd Community High School, Norwich Road 7.30pm to 9.30pm

Thursday 25th March Thetford Queeensway Community Junior School, Hillary Road 7.30pm to 9.30pm

Monday 29th March Norwich Cloverhill Village Hall, Humbleyard, Bowthorpe 7.30pm to 9.30pm

Useful ContactNumbersNorfolk Childcare Information Service For information on available childcare,training and recruitment and developingyour services.

01603 62 22 92

Area OfficesKings Lynn

01553 66 76 20Yarmouth

01493 33 57 40Norwich

01603 59 84 84Childminding MattersNorfolk County Childminding Association.Offering a support service for childmindersin the county

01603 61 56 67

NEYSNNorfolk Early Years Support Network.Offering help and support for providers ofearly years education/childcare.

01603 21 93 00PLAPre-school Learning Alliance. The localbranch of this national charity offers support for early education and the development of children.

01603 76 75 25

A Guide To Working TaxCredit & Child Tax CreditWhy are tax credits important?Parents● Provides financial support to low and middle income parents

● Helps parents with childcare costs allowing parents to securequality and affordable childcare

Childcare Providers● An increased demand for services

● Providers should promote childcare element of working tax creditas it will help with sustainability

Both tax credits came into effect on 7th April 2003CHILD TAX CREDIT (CTC)

CTC will be paid in addition to Child Benefit and any WTC.For families with at least one child

Claim whether or not you are workingFamilies can claim CTC with an income of up to £58,000 a year

CTC will be paid directly to the main carer

Childcare element of WORKING TAX CREDIT (WTC)You must be working at least 16 hours per week in paid employment

If you are part of a couple, both you and your partner must each work 16 hours per week.

You are expected to work for at least 4 weeks per yearYou cannot claim if you are a student, unemployed, working lessthan 16 hours per week, or if your income is over £58,000 a year

The childcare must be approved, OFSTED Registered or an accredited organisation

Children in childcare are aged 15 or under, up to 16 for Disabled children

Allows parents to claim up to 70% of childcare costsWTC will be paid through your wages. If you are self-employed theInland Revenue will pay you directly. The childcare element of WTC

will be paid direct to main carer of the child(ren) alongside CTC.

How to apply for the tax credits● You complete a claim form for both tax credits – CTC and WTC

every year

● For the childcare element of WTC, childcare providers no longerhave to sign the claim form

● You can either apply on-line at www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/tax-credits or contact the New Tax Credits Response Line on 0800500 222.

● If you need further assistance please contact the New TaxCredits Helpline on 0845 300 3900

● If you have changes in your circumstances during the year pleasecall the New Tax Credits Helpline

Inland Revenue services in NorfolkThere are 4 bases in Norfolk, which offer a full service to the public andcan deal with actual money transactions. They are at Norwich, GreatYarmouth, King's Lynn & Dereham. An appointment is not necessary.

There are also Outreach Clinics around the county & they can offerhelp & advice, but can't deal with financial payments.

Inland Revenue LeafletsThe Inland Revenue produce a wide range of leaflets and helpsheets. Youcan get these by calling the Orderline on 0845 9000 404 or by e-mail onsaorderline.ir@gtnet.gov.uk or on the Internet at www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk

Some you may find useful are

● Child Tax Credit & Working Tax Credit: an introduction - WTC1

● Child Tax Credit & Working Tax Credit: a guide - WTC2

● Help with the costs of child care: information for parents & childcare providers - WTC5

● Child Tax Credit & Working Tax Credit: other types of help youmay be able to get - WTC6

Forum DatesNorth Norfolk Forum:North Walsham Old Court HouseSeptember 15th at 7-30pm.

Norwich Forum:Treehouse Nursery, Chatham Street, Norwich10th September at 7-30

Starting Out Day Nursery, Thorpe HamletWednesday 12th November 7.30pm

West Norfolk Forum:Emneth Nursery School, EmnethTuesday 23 September 2003 6.30pmSpeaker: Carol McGin from the Dyspraxia Support Group

Early Years and Childcare - West Team Office, King’s LynnThursday 6 November 2003 6.30pmSpeaker: Caroline Bordoni on Cranial Osteopathy (which can

help babies with colic and children with migraines,recurrent ear infections, post whiplash and more.)

Breckland Forum:South Green Park Children’s Centre, Mattishall, DerehamTuesday 4 November 2003 7.30pm

South Forum:Swan House, Long Startton, 7th October, 7.30pm Speaker: Caroline Pearson on The Partially Sighted.

Swan House Long Stratton4th December - 7.30 pm Speaker: Lisa Moore on Children of Prisoners.

East Forum:St. Nicholas Childrens Centre, Great Yarmouth. 9th October 4pm Speaker: to be arranged.

NATLLNational Association of Toy and Leisure Libraries.

020 7387 9592KCNKids Club Network. Offering help and support for ‘out of school’ childcare providers across the UK.

0207 512 2100Ofstedgeneral enquiries

0845 601 4771complaints

0845 601 4772

partnership news ✁✁

In its desire to achieve a community-based project the committee responsiblehave worked hard to achieved just that. A project based in the community, andused by parents and children from the community.

This project began life as an expression of interest to provide a communitybased childcare provision for the parents of Mousehold. Funding was securedfrom East of England Development Association (EEDA) through the Shaping theFuture project and a feasibility study of the childcare, health and family supportneeds was carried out. This was done by Jessica Gooch, supported by devel-opment workers and other services from the local authority. She helped bid formoney from the New Opportunities Fund (NOF) and in October 2003 with fund-ing secured the project was ready to get going.

Since leaving the local authority Jess has taken up a new role as the Children’sServices Manager and in this issue we hear from her and find out about someof the high points and low points to getting this provision open.

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October 2002. Funded secured via NOFJessica comments “ As part of our bid tosecure funding we needed to submit abusiness plan, The help from the Businessand Finance Officer (EYDCP) was soimportant in getting this right. Not only didshe work tirelessly on the actual plan butshe helped me think about the project longterm. We talked about what would happenafter the initial 3 years and how the projectcould sustain itself in the long term. Thisgave me confidence to steam ahead know-ing that the charging structure and the wayin which the project was financed couldcontinue to support the community and thestaff after the NOF funding had finished.

November 2002. Jessica undertook a fea-sibility study into childcare. The main func-tion was to update the previous researchand to establish what the needs of parentswere. Her findings concluded thePatchwork Community Project needed toprovide a mixture of care, which was:breakfast clubafter school clubholiday club wrap-around care.

She also discovered that there was aneed for more care for pre school childrenand lowered the age group to 2yrs. January 2003. Patchwork CommunityProject began the Ofsted registrationprocess, opting for full day care.

Jessica comments, “ I actually found theOfsted registration process quite straightforward, and the inspector helpful andsupportive. Obviously there was a lot toconsider and personally I found the visitfrom the Care Standards Officer (EYDCP)invaluable. She helped me think aboutissues that I had missed or overlooked,and saw the project with a fresh pair ofeyes. We went through all the areas for thechildren and this helped me identify thetype of rooms and activities that needed tobe provided. The most difficult part wasthe “fit-person” interview. However havinghad advice I knew what was important. Ifelt able to demonstrate and explain theactivities. I knew my setting and my equip-ment and I knew about the staff and histo-ry of the project. I felt that I could talk withconfidence and that really came across inthe interview. I wasn’t worried about meet-ing the criteria, because I knew in advancewhat they were and that I had done all thework to meet them. “

patchworkproject Patchwork Community

Project does exactly what it says on the tin!

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February 2003. In this period work wasdone to produce the logo and establishthe branding and marketing for the project.

Jessica comments “I met with theMarketing and Communications Managerfrom Norfolk County Council/Early Years totalk through ideas for our brand. This washelpful to establish in my mind what wasneeded and how best to go about pro-ducing it. Many things that I hadn’t previ-ously thought about came to light. We alsodiscussed the launch of the project andbegan to set the wheels in motion for that.Early planning is essential and havingaccess to professional people from varioussupport services was invaluable.”

May 2003. The recruitment processbegins. Recruitment of the right type ofqualified and unqualified staff is essential,and often this is seen as a barrier to open-ing. Good interview techniques and clearjob specifications help ensure that the rightcandidates are chosen.

Jessica comments “The recruitment processis often very difficult and actually I wasdreading this part, as getting the right peo-ple in post can make or break a project.However I was surprised. We used thechannels at the EYDCP to publicise ourvacancies and we were inundated withgood quality applications, particularly fromchildcare workers from our own community.

In all we have successfully appointed 7staff. These include a deputy playleader, aplayworker (currently training) and 5 holi-day scheme workers who are part-timeover the summer but of which 2 will con-tinue as relief workers for the term time.We also have a local mum who is volun-teering whilst completing her NVQ2 qualifi-cation. “

June 2003. Planning for the launch. Timeto plan for the launch is essential. Use thetime effectively and plan as much as youcan in advance. Work out your sessionsand have the information available to par-ents and children when they enquire. Makesure you have contingency plans. Maketime to brief staff on procedures and keepaccurate records to ensure your ratios arecorrect.

Jessica comments “ Time to plan is key todelivering a successful project. We workedon the entire summer programme andthemed the weeks. We ensure that eachday had a variety of activities and includedactive time as well as quiet time. I foundthat the active kids clubs training was fan-tastic and I have used many of the ideas inthis scheme. We have also incorporatedvisits and outings as well to support ourweeks and to offer the children extra variety.

July 2003. Patchwork Community Projectis launched. As part of the actual launchevent all the children produced a piece ofartwork that will be linked together to forma huge canvass of patches.

Jessica comments “ we felt it was veryimportant to produce something for theproject by the people who will use it. Ourpatchwork of art illustrates this idea sowell. Everyone who sees it comments howfantastic it is and we are so proud of it andwhat we have produced so far. Everyoneinvolved in Patchwork has worked so hardto get this provision open and we arebeginning to see the fruits of our labour.One mum commented only the other day,“ knowing that my child can come hereeveryday is really great. It means the worldof difference to me, and starting inSeptember I’m going to go and get a job!”

Patchwork Community Project is based atSt Mary Magdalene Church, Silver Road,Norwich and still has a few places left. Soif you are interested in the project or wantto book a place for your child, please con-tact Jessica Gooch on 01603 763699.

partnership news

Jobcentre Plus is a new business withinthe Department for Work and Pensions. Ithas replaced the Employment Service,which ran Jobcentres, and those parts ofthe Benefits Agency that provided servicesto people of working age through socialsecurity offices.

Jobcentre Plus provides works focused‘benefits system’ and a dedicated servicethat enables employers to quickly and successfully fill their vacancies. PersonalAdvisers in Jobcentres and Jobcentre Plusoffices help people find and remain in work.

A number of initiatives have been instigatedto help those who face disadvantage insecuring sustainable employment. All theNew Deals provide advice and help withjobseeking and the support of a dedicatedPersonal Adviser.

New Deal for Lone Parent Advisers (NDLPAs)specifically work with single parents to givethem extra help to identify areas such astraining, locating childcare, making careerchoices, dealing with other agencies andjob matching. They can also provide an ‘In Work Benefit Calculation’ to enable jobseekers to make an informed choice asto the financial viability of a particular job(with regard to the Working Tax Credit)

It has also been recognised that jobseekerswith children face the additional hurdle offinding someone to look after their children-both while jobseeking and once they startwork. To help address this issue JobcentrePlus has introduced a new role that is dedicated to reducing the childcare barriersfacing jobseeking parents.

In order that the Government can reach itsaims of taking children out of poverty,reducing the proportion of children living inworkless households and increasingemployment opportunities for parents, itwas identified that a specific ChildcareManager was required in each JobcentrePlus District to take this agenda forward.

Louise Gedge was appointed to this role inApril 2003 and is based at the JobcentrePlus District Office in Norwich. In this issuewe hear from Louise about her new role andwhat it means for jobseekers, childcareproviders and children and parents in Norfolk.

Louise, how closely do youidentify with the issues ofchildcare and employment? As a working parent myself I can closelyidentify with the problems faced by parentslooking for a job whilst juggling childcareresponsibilities. I understand how difficult itis to find the right childcare for your chil-dren and sustain employment. I hope thatthe extra resources and high priorityJobcentre Plus is now giving this area willenable many more parents to enjoy sus-tained and rewarding employment.

What links have you madeto date?I am already working closely with the localauthority, Sure Start and other agencies toidentify gaps in childcare provision that arebeing experienced by jobseekers, and toencourage growth in these areas. I workclosely with:

● Jobcentre and Jobcentre Plus staff

● Employers

● Local Authority EYDCP (EarlyYears Development ChildcarePartnerships)

● Childcare Information Service

● Sure Start

● The Childminding Network

● Children’s Centres etc

Louise – there’s only one ofyou in Norfolk, is that enough?Obviously Norfolk is a huge county but byestablishing a Childcare PartnershipManager in a central position with a cen-tralised service it can:

● Improve the co-ordination of andaccess to childcare information forJobcentre Plus advisers, jobseek-ers and employers

● Identify common childcare issuesexperienced by parents who wantto work, and promotes solutions

● Improve Jobcentre Plus under-standing of all aspects of the child-care workforce, encouraging moreJobcentre Plus customers to takechildcare related jobs

● Increase the amount of childcareavailable to meet the needs of job-seekers with children, helping themovercome barriers to work, and

● Builds and maintains a morefocused business relationship withother organisations.

So, what’s going to happen now?Over the next few months I shall be visitingall Norfolk Jobcentres and Jobcentre Plusoffices to deliver awareness sessions tofrontline staff, providing an opportunity todiscuss with them any relevant issues. I willcontinue meeting with the relevant agen-cies and the local authority to identify gapsin childcare provision that are being expe-rienced by jobseekers, forge greater linksand understanding and to encouragegrowth in these areas and create joined uppractices and services.

11

The ChildcarePartnershipManagera new Jobcentre Plus initiative

Can we contact you direct?Yes, obviously I am available and willing to provide any other additional information. So if you need any help please contact me - Louise Gedge on 01603 636030 or viae-mail louise.gedge@jobcentreplus.gsi.gov.uk

The West TeamThe West Team continues working hard toget our new places open and were delight-ed to hear that our Round 14 FebruaryNOF bid had been successful. This willmean lots more places opening in thearea. Hopefully by the time you read thiswe will have appointed a newDevelopment Worker to the team.Following a small reorganisation within theteam, the new worker will cover Methwoldand Watton as well as supporting otherteam members. Teresa now covers theSwaffham, Karen has taken on leadresponsibility for out of school support andwork with extended schools. Sue focuseson Thetford and lead responsibility forinclusion. With Gill off sick, we have allcovered the work in King’s Lynn andHunstanton. We all long for the day whenwe are up to full strength, but in the mean-time assure you that we are still very muchhere to help. My own focus has been onsupporting the 5 NeighbourhoodNurseries in the West in preparation fortheir opening by March 04. Children’sCentres continues to take much of mytime. It’s very exciting to be working withso many agencies and groups to finally pulltogether what most of us have believed forso long, that children do better when theycan access all their services together fromone single point of access.

Hoping that you had a good summerbreak and look forward to working withmany of you again this term.

Tracey AndrewsPartnership Area Team Leader- West

Central Development TeamGreat news for childcare! Out of schoolcare projects have received fundingthrough the New Opportunities Fund (NOF)in the latest round of awards. A NOFawards evening was held to celebrate thissuccess and prepare groups for the financialand Ofsted requirements. Congratulationsgo out to the development workers andthe projects for this achievement. Round14 was one of the biggest rounds submit-ted to NOF.

A Come & Play project has been piloted inNorwich with some of the out of schoolclubs to introduce music to children. A cele-bration event was held at Waterloo Park andchildren, parents and grandparents tookpart in a fun and noisy musical workshop.

The team continues to support other initia-tives in the local community such as theExtended Schools programme,Neighbourhood Nurseries, Children’sCentres and Sure Start Local programmes.

We have two members of the team whohave taken on lead responsibility for partic-ular areas, Aliona Laker for Inclusion andmore recently Kathleen Clark for Out ofSchool Care support.

Jessica Gooch has since left the team aftercompleting a study of the childcare, healthand family support needs and working toopen the out of school places in Mousehold.Jess still continues to work in the area as theChildren’s Services Manager.

Finally if you are thinking of setting upchildcare provision in the Norwich,Broadland and North Norfolk areas wewould like to hear from you. Call us on01603 598484.

Alison WoodcockPartnership Area Team Leader- Central & North

South & East Development TeamWe are pleased to announce that all 19partners have been successful in theFebruary NOF round and look forward tosupporting these new projects to opennew childcare places. Recently we havebeen successful in opening 9 new projectstotalling 242 new childcare places. Thesummer holiday’s has seen an increase inthe number of playschemes, particularly inareas of disadvantage, to support familiesduring the long summer break.

Jane Paterson’s involvement in TheExtended Schools Pathfinder Project atFlegg High School comes to an end inAugust. She organised Childminder infor-mation sessions, Childcare training andcreated links with local childminders andthe school.

The first in a series of Active Club TrainingCourses for Playworkers has been suc-cessful in Gt. Yarmouth and there are moreplanned throughout the county inSeptember.

We have had the Trailer out and beeninvolved in recruitment events acrossSouth & East Norfolk, particularly duringSure Start Month.

We are currently busy with the newChildren’s Centres initiative and PFI pro-posals on developing nurseries.

Welcome back to Jenny Cuthbert - Admin Assistant, from maternity leave.

Jill WarwaickPartnership Area Team Leader- South & East

12

newsfrom the development teams

partnership news

13

New Name for NCCMAChildminding MattersAt our annual general meeting on 14thJune, childminders voted unanimously tochange the name of the Association fromNorfolk County Childminding Association toChildminding Matters. The new logo still hasNorfolk County Childminding Associationprinted in smaller letters, so childminderscan be in no doubt that ChildmindingMatters will be providing all the advice,support and help that NCCMA always did.Our activities remain the same, it’s only thename that has changed! The old namewas difficult for people to remember andthe abbreviation, NCCMA, did not meananything to many people in the county. Wehope that the new name will make it veryclear that we believe Childminding Mattersand will continue to do our best to pro-mote registered childminding in Norfolk.

At the same time, we incorporatedChildminding Matters as a company limitedby guarantee, so that childminders on theManagement Committee would no longerbe personally liable for the finances of theassociation. Now you can join our commit-tee secure in the knowledge that you wouldonly be liable for £1, so please contact ourChair, Felicity Pettengell on 01263 732704and register your interest in joining.Committee meetings are open to all regis-tered childminders who have an interest inseeing how the association is managed.

Childminding MattersWebsiteWe are pleased to announce that our website is up and running. It containsloads of information about childminding in Norfolk and details of all our trainingcourses and events. The address iswww.childmindingmatters.org.uk Pleasehave a look.

Changes to the NationalStandards – ConsultationPaperAll registered childminders received a con-sultation pack to explain the proposedchanges to the national standards. Pleasenote that these changes are not yet con-firmed, although they are planned forSeptember 2003.

Although it is proposed that Ofsted ChildCare Inspectors should no longer checkplanning permission documentation,please be aware that in certain circum-stances planning permission will still haveto be sought e.g. childminders with assis-tants or working from the same premises.So, even though the Child Care Inspectorwill not be asking about planning permis-sion, childminders may have to apply totheir district councils before setting up orexpanding their childminding businesses.

If any childminder is having difficulty withplanning permission, please contact SarahMutch, County Liaison Officer on 01953498115. Sarah is compiling a dossier ofcases to discuss with Planning Officers.There is more information in ChildmindingMatters’ newsletter “Between You & Me”.

Professional DevelopmentOpportunity – in Sardinia!Childminding trip planned for end ofOctober, to exchange good practiceThose of you who attended the AGM andconference in June will have heard how theWEETU/Childminding Matters project islinked to a larger project with activities atlocal, national and international levels. Atthe international level there is funding foran opportunity to observe and exchangegood practice in childcare with ourEuropean partners - Belgium, Germany,Greece, Holland, Sardinia, Spain, andSweden.

The initial plans were to visit Sweden butfor various reasons we have recently hadto change these plans and the destinationwill now be Sardinia. Three lucky child-minders will have the opportunity to visitSardinia at the end of October this year tolearn about social co-operatives and child-care provision there, and share their workand experiences in childminding.

We plan to fly to Alghero, Sardinia, fromStansted on Wednesday 29th October,returning on Tuesday 4th November, andstay in Cagliari. Our Sardinian host,Roberto Doneddu, is planning a couple ofdays of presentations and visits in theCagliari area, after which we will have theopportunity to share our information andgood practice in the field of childminding.The finer details and timetable for the tripwill be confirmed nearer the date of travel.

Those going on the trip will need to be pre-pared to talk to our Sardinian colleaguesabout childminding, and will be ‘ambassa-dors of good practice’ for childminding inNorfolk. Participants will also be requiredto record their experiences/learning in ashort evaluation of the trip on their return.Apart from the excellent opportunity forprofessional, and personal, development,we hope that you will be reporting on thefun you had along the way!

The expenses covered by funding include:

● Return flights from Stansted toSardinia

● Travel to and from the airports andon ‘official’ visits within Sardinia

● Bed, breakfast and most eveningmeals whilst in Sardinia

You will need to take some euros with youto cover any additional refreshments andtravel you may require outside the plannedactivities – there will be some free time atthe weekend!

How to apply for thisopportunityYou will need to request a ProfessionalDevelopment Opportunity (PDO) packfrom me, Tricia Davies, at WEETU(Women’s Employment Enterprise andTraining Unit), details below, and return thecompleted forms by midday on Friday12th September.

So don’t delay, request it today! By telephone,email or in person, from: Tricia Davies,Childminder Enterprise Development Officer

WEETU, Sackville Place, 44-48 Magdalen Street, Norwich NR3 1JU Tel: 01603 665555Email: t.davies@weetu.org

Network Opportunities for ChildmindersNCCMA is setting up childminding net-works in several areas of the county. Ifchildminders are interested in joining andso benefiting from the extra support,vacancy matching, toy and equipmentlibraries and training; please contact theNetwork Co-ordinator for the area, whowill give more details:

Great Yarmouth Sally Lee: 01493 445556North Norfolk Sue Farrow: 01263 821997Emneth Sarah Vick: 01945 587990King’s Lynn Steph Copeland: 01406 350756

Partner Focus

14

Reminder Any communication received

from Ms Verney Jackson is not valid and should be sent to us at Anderson

yard park Lane Norwich NR2 3EL. It will be forwarded to The National Alliance

partnership news

Norfolk Early Years Support NetworkThe Network held this years AGM at WensumValley Hotel on June 19th and a new committeewere elected. We were delighted to haveenough people interested in joining us as, like allcharitable organisations, we need to haveenough people coming forward to serve on thecommittee in order for our organisation to continue.The Network has some 360 member groupsacross the county and all of them are entitled tonominate a representative. It is important to usto have this imput from our members if we areto be able to truly represent your views andunderstand how the constantly changing issuesin Early Years are having an impact 'on theground'. Although we have a full committee westill have places available for co-opted membersand if your group would like to send a represen-tative we would be delighted to hear from you.

If you would like to discuss what this entailsplease contact Gill Heaford the County Co-ordi-nator at the Admin. Centre (01603 219300).

We were thrilled to hear that Andrea Scott-Coythe Daycare Advisor for the South West of thecounty had given birth to a third son, FinnWilliam, in June. Andrea is still away on maternityleave but has already been in to the office tointroduce Finn to his adoring public. JacquiLearoyd is currently covering Andrea's area,and is out and about working with many of you,along with Fran Hoskins who replaced JillWilson in the South East. They both tell us thatthey are enjoying their work!

The Network have a variety of training opportu-nities planned for the coming term and detailsappeared in the Training News, However, if youhave specific training requirements you wouldlike advice with please feel free to talk to us. Theoffice is open in term time, Monday to Fridayfrom 9.30am until 3.30pm.

Grants for ChildmindersIf you are starting out as a childminder orstruggling to keep going because you haveunfilled vacancies, ring NCCMA’s CountyLiasion Officers for advice on Start-UpGrants or Sustainability Grants. They willtalk you through your application and, if youwould like, they can visit you to help youwith your application for a Start-Up Grant.

North NorfolkGlynis Hannant: 01692 404904

NorwichLinda Wright: 01263 722744

Norwich/North NorfolkHazel Auckland: 01263 721734

Eastern Norfolk Sarah Mutch: 01953 499912Nikki Bird: 01986 872181

Western NorfolkMandy Maguire: 01953 717582Eileen Parker: 01603 890847

WEETU working withChildminding Matters tosupport ChildmindersWEETU (Women’s Employment Enterpriseand Training Unit) is working in partnershipwith Childminding Matters to offer child-minders two types of loan to help them setup or develop their business.

An interest free mini-loan of £60 is avail-able to new childminders to help meet reg-istration costs, repayable when the Start-up Grant is received. Application formscan be obtained from WEETU and the loancheques could be released within twoweeks of form completion.

A loan of up to £1000 is available viaWEETU’s Full Circle programme. Full Circleworks through establishing small supportgroups, i.e. lending circles, that will helpchildminders through the development oftheir business and application for a FullCircle loan, and the programme providesadditional business support e.g. for writinga business plan.

For more information you can contact meon 01603 665555, or by email att.davies@weetu.org.

PLA Contribution All Change !As the end of our Community Fund projectapproaches we are very sad to have to saygoodbye to loyal members of staff—-Dawn Rackham, Sadie Ditton, ZeenaAhamath , Debbie Wise and Cheryl Gage.Kerensa Martin will remain as County bookkeeper and Sharon Lock has beenappointed as office administrator. Sadieremains in her role as manager of KingsLynn Sure Start Alliance Toddler workers–Sandra Addison and Denise Jary, Zeenacontinues with her work with Fen BoarderSure Start.

On behalf of all the branch subcommitteesand Alliance members, a huge “thankyou”to everyone for making the project such asuccess. We will continue to apply for fund-ing, so that we can resume visits to groups.

What can we do for you ?In the meantime we will be offering the fol-lowing services:

Training courses for parents and staff at all levels – please see our Summer news letter or ring 01603 767525 or 01284750160 for details.

Loan equipment eg Woodwork bench‘parachute, story sacks etc

Creche Equipment for loan eg: Tables andChairs, baby and Toddler toys

Alliance publications for viewing some forsale – Now available updated editions onEmployment Matters and Pre-school policies.

Various meetings and workshops organisedby county and branches details to follow.

Alliance members represented on theCounty Council/Early Years Partnershippanel by: Christine Clark – 01603 279345and Jane Tagg – 01954232327. Pleasefeed any comments/concerns to them.

Telephone advice and supportThe office will be manned by Sharon onMondays and Thursdays and by a volun-teer on Tuesday and Friday. There is a24hour answering service so please leaveyour message and we will respond assoon as we can.

CongratulationsMo Bland from Seaview Playgroup Cromer.Mo received an award for long service topreschools from Cromer Town Council andfeatured in the North Norfolk news.

Chloe Hipperson from North East Coastalbranch has successfully completed a spe-cial training course in skills for volunteers.This course was offered free at city college.

West Walton Parent and Toddler group forsuccessfully bidding for a grant of £ 500for equipment from the Working TogetherPartnerships Community Chest FundKings Lynn and West Norfolk BoroughCouncil.

Activity Workshops forParents and ChildrenAlthough we can no longer offer theseworkshops free we can still bring them toyour group at a cost of approx £40./ session.Ideally , no more than about 20 families atany one time If you are interested pleasering 01603 767 525.

Norfolkearly years developmentand childcare partnership

Norfolkearly years developmentand childcare partnership

whatever you’re thinkingabout childcare or early years

education call theNorfolk Childcare Information Service

on 01603 62 22 92

thinking about childcare for your own children ?

thinking about training to gain more qualificationsso that you can progress your existingchildcare career ?

thinking about childcare as a career, becominga childminder or playworker, or settingup in business as a nursery orout of school playscheme ?

thinking about providing childcare for youremployees ?

Available in large print, braille & alternativelanguages

training news

Norfolkearly years developmentand childcare partnership

training update

We have a number ofplaces left on some ofour training courses.

Please see the listinside and make sure that you're not missing out. If you’re interested inany of the courses listed please fill in thebooking form attached.

EUROPEAN SOCIAL FUND

GRANT ENDS DECEMBER 2004

BOOK YOURCOURSE NOW!TO ENSURE YOU QUALIFY

FOR FUNDING

training update

For any other information or for

a full course list and place availability contact

the training team on

01603622292

Qualification courses @ levels 2 & 3These courses can help your staff to meetrequirements of the National DaycareStandards, where leaders/persons incharge are expected to have a level 3 qual-ification and at least 50% of staff in yoursetting must have a level 2 qualification.Priority will be given to staff of settings/groups which currently don't meet theNational Day-care Standards. Through theLearning and Skills Council (LSC) and theEuropean Social Fund (ESF) all courses areFREE but need to be completed byDecember 2004. Therefore, it is important thatstudents start no later then November 2003.

● Level 3 Certificate in ChildmindingPractice

● Level 3 Diploma in Pre-SchoolPractice

● Level 2 Certificate in Pre-SchoolPractice

● NVQ Level 2 Early Years Care andEducation

● NVQ Level 3 Early Years Care andEducation

● NVQ 2 in Playwork

● NVQ 3 in Playwork

● Level 2 Certificate in Playwork

● Level 2 Certificate in working withChildren

● Accrediatation of prior learning

Short course programmeWe have an extensive short course programme and offer many courses thatwill assist your staff in meeting otherrequirements, such as risk assessment,child protection, behaviour managementand many other behind the scenes coursesas well. There is some availability on thesecourses and again, if you are interestedplease check the course details in the latestedition of training news before you fill in thebooking form.

Senco TrainingThese training sessions are specifically forsetting based special educational needscoordinators (sencos) in pre-school setting.All sencos are expected to attend threedays of relevant training by March 2004.This year we have already had the Sencoconference, but we are now offering aseries of further half day courses. To ensurethat you meet the requirements, pleaseenroll on the most appropriate dates.Check out the list of dates, times and ven-ues on the SENCO insert in July’s edition ofTraining News.

Equal OpportunitiesTrainingEqual Opportunities courses start inSeptember 2003 and run at various venuesright through until March 2004. This courseis specifically aimed at the person who hasbeen identified as holding responsibility forimplementing the equal opportunities policyin your childcare setting. This course alsocover the needs of childminders and staff inout-of-school clubs. The list appears onPage 4 of the latest edition of TrainingNews. Please specify which dates and ven-ues you require when completing yourbooking form.

Introduction coursesAre you thinking about a career in childcare?Do you know of someone interested butwith no childcare qualifications, or some-one looking for a career change? Thesecourses are for people interested in work-ing in early years & childcare settings andwho need some introductory information.Students must have access to a setting orgroup (paid and/or on voluntary basis)

Introduction Courses include:● Early Years and Childcare

Getting Started

Introduction to Early Years Care andEducation

● Playwork

Take 5 for PlayFull list of dates and venues in the latestedition of Training News.

Continuing professional developmentCourses for continuing professional development fall within the short courseprogramme for Early Years, Playwork andBusiness Support. Please check our shortcourse programme list within training newsto find out which course best suits your needs.

Step in to Learning -Training Opportunities● Step in to Learning trains people like

you to recognise literacy, numeracyand language needs of the parentsand carers you work with

● The programme will show you how toencourage and sign-post parents andcarers to take up local learning oppor-tunities to improve their skills

● 97% of parents and carers want help!

● Over 1000 nursery staff have alreadybeen successfully trained across thecountry

● You can have your learning accreditedthrough this programme

● Get involved and make a difference!

● The programme is delivered over 2days with time between for you to do3 tasks in your community

● Cover costs of £100 a day are avail-able for staff released from workingwith children

Step in to Learning Training Dates

Norwich: Day 1 – 15th September 2003

Day 2 – 10th November 2003

enrolment form

general detailsName

Address

Postcode

Phone Number

Email

National Insurance No

Date of Birth Your age today

Are you male? ■■ female? ■■

personal detailsWhich of the following groups do you belong to:

White - British ■■

White - Irish ■■

White - other ■■

Other ■■

Mixed – Whiteand Black Caribbean ■■

Mixed – Whiteand Black African ■■

Mixed – Whiteand Asian ■■

Mixed – Other ■■

Do you have a disability?

Yes ■■ No ■■ Prefer not to say ■■

European Social FundThis project is being part-financed by the European Social Fund (ESF).Have you been on any other ESF-funded courses in the last 3 years?

Yes ■■ No ■■

If 'Yes', please provide details of the courses

employment detailsAre you currently employed? Yes ■■ No ■■

If yes, what is the name and address of your employer?

Start date with employer?

Job role in firm?

Company type?Private ■■ Charity ■■ Voluntary Organisation ■■ CommunityBusiness ■■ Other ■■ (if so list below)

Are you self employed? Yes ■■ No ■■Start date of self employment?

Please ask your employer for the following informationHow many people does the company employ?

Less than 50 ■■ 199 to 250 ■■

50 to 199 ■■ 251 or more ■■

If unemployed, how long have you been unemployed?Up to 6 months ■■

Over 6 months ■■

Are you?In full time education ■■

Doing voluntary work ■■

looking after the home ■■

Please detail the relevant qualifications (or equivalent) thatyou hold and the dates they were obtained?

Asian or Asian British– Indian ■■

Asian or Asian British– Pakistani ■■

Asian or Asian British- Bangladeshi ■■

Chinese ■■

Prefer not to say ■■

Black or Black British– African ■■

Black or Black British– Caribbean ■■

Black or Black British– Other ■■

✁

beneficiary declarationI declare that the details given on this form are true to the best of my knowledge.

Signed Date

Information from this form will be held in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998. Norfolk County Council will hold it for monitoring purposes in association with the EuropeanSocial Fund. All information given will be treated in the strictest confidence.

Please photocopy if applying for more than one applicant

continued overleaf

✁

whatever you're

thinking ...

...about childcareor early years educationplease call the Norfolk ChildcareInformation Serviceon 01603 62 22 92for details

Norfolkearly years developmentand childcare partnership

courses leading to qualifications see Training News (July 2003) pages 8-9Indicate below the course you wish to do for qualification.

Level 3 Certificate in Child Minding Practice NVQ 3 in Playwork

Level 3 Diploma in Pre-School Practice Level 2 Certificate in Playwork

Level 2 Certificate in Pre-School Practice Level 3 Certificate in Working with Children

NVQ Level 2 Early Years Care and Education NVQ Accreditation of Prior Learning

NVQ Level 3 Early Years Care and Education If you require Distance Learning indicate here

NVQ 2 in Playwork Any Other

course title tick here course title tick here

step in to learning - training opportunitiesTo book a place on the Step in to Learning Training, please complete your details below and return to Alex Webster at the Basic SkillsAgency, Commonwealth House, 1-19 New Oxford Street, London, WC1A 1NU. Tel: 020 7440 6500 Fax: 0870 191 8622

Name: Position:

Organisation:

Address:

Postcode: Tel No: Fax No: E.Mail:

If you have any dietary requirments, please give details.

PLEASE RETURN THIS FORM TO:The Training and Recruitment Team, 1st Floor, St Andrew’s House, St Andrew’s Street, Norwich, NR2 4UH.

ESF Enrolment form (Please do not submit applications to EYDCP on Pre-schoolLearning Alliance, Norfolk Early Years Support Network or Norfolk ChildmindingAssociation forms)

course title course no. date venue

Available in large print, brailleand alternative languages030944

Please photocopy if applying for more than one applicant

enrolment form

new short courses see Training News (July 2003) pages 3-7Places on short courses will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. We will be in touch with joining instructions 3 weeks prior tothe course, if you have been successful. Please insert the expiry date of your existing First Aid Certificate below if you are applying for aFirst Aid Course.

First Aid Certificate expiry date No. of staff in Setting No. who hold current First Aid certificates

PLEASE REMEMBER If you are unable to attend an allocated training course,you must inform a member of the Training and Recruitment Team.

✁