Our seasonal news updates summarise the latest childcare news plus which MindingKids resources have been added or revised so you can easily keep on track and up to date.
The Easter holidays have been and gone and the warmer weather is on our way at last. (At least it seemed to be until yesterday!) We would like to welcome all our new visitors, and give a BIG THANK YOU to those who have recently purchased resources or signed up for Gold Membership. We hope our resources are helping you with the amazing work that you do.
So What’s Everyone Talking About?
New Safeguarding Guidance
HM Government has published new documents to replace old safeguarding documents:
‘What to do if you’re worried a child is being abused – Advice for practitioners’ has been re-written to replace the 2006 version.
The purpose of this document is to help practitioners to identify the signs of abuse and neglect and what action should be taken if you think a child may be at risk.
‘Information sharing advice for practitioners providing safeguarding services to children, young people, parents and carers’ also replaces the previous ‘Information sharing: guidance for practitioners and managers’(2008).
MindingKids has amended our template Child Protection / Safeguarding Policy to include both this new Safeguarding guidance. Please see updates below.
New Prevent Duty Guidance
Prevent is the name of a government programme aimed at preventing people being drawn towards terrorism. Whilst it has been in place since 2007, the new legislation means that it will have legal force for the first time.
The new guidance places a duty on all childcare providers ‘to have due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism’.
There are two versions of the guidance, one for authorities in England and Wales, and one for authorities in Scotland:
Prevent Duty Guidance: For England and Wales
Prevent Duty Guidance: For Scotland
The guidance states that all childcare providers must understand the risk of radicalisation and know who to contact if there are concerns that a child is being drawn into terrorism or radicalised.
MindingKids has amended our template Child Protection / Safeguarding Policy to include both the new Prevent Duty guidance. Please see updates below.
New Car Seat Laws
New car seat laws came into force on 1st April specifying the use of forward and rear facing child seats. The new i-Size legislation however, does not replace the current legislation but sits alongside it as it is likely to take till around 2018 for there to be enough i-Size compliant seats in circulation.
The law states that:
- Weight-based car seats must be rear-facing until the child weighs more than 9kg.
- Height-based car seats (also known as ‘i-Size’ seats) must be rear facing until the child is more than 15 months old.
It is the responsibility of the driver to ensure that all children under the age of 14 are using the correct restraint. All seats should be checked to ensure the appropriate type is being used for each child depending on their height and weight.
Click here to read the law on car seats.
News from the North…
Excellence in Care
The Care Inspectorate have issued their ‘Excellence in Care’ booklet to outline changes to the way it inspects. The main changes are as follows:
Requirements – Previously a requirement was made each time a breach of regulation was identified, no matter how small. Now the Care Inspectorate will only make requirements where they feel that a breach of regulation will result in poor or potentially poor outcomes for the service users.
Re-grading – Outwith an inspection, services will now only be re-graded following a complaint where there have been poor outcomes or potentially poor outcomes for people in general (not just one individual). How the service has responded to or what changes they have implemented following an incident or complaint will also be taken into consideration.
Information from self-assessments – The Care Inspectorate will give credit to services who can identify weaknesses and put an action plan in place to improve in these areas. Only services who are not aware of their weaknesses or who have not taken steps to improve will be recorded as having an area for improvement.
Follow-up inspections – Follow-up inspections will take place in services that have performed poorly. These follow-up inspections will take place within a year of the original inspection and will focus on the requirements made after the initial inspection.
Complaints – Where a complaint is made which suggests a systemic issue within a service the Care Inspectorate may decide to bring the next scheduled inspection forward in order to address the matter.
Detailed information on the changes can be found on the Care Inspectorate website.
News from the South….
Promoting British Values
Foundation Years have released a document ‘Fundamental British Values in the Early Years’ to help clarify what Ofsted are looking for when they consider whether providers are promoting British Values. As confirmed by the Department For Education, the fundamental British Values (democracy, rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect and tolerance for those with different faiths and beliefs) are already embedded in the EYFS requirements. This document gives examples of how providers will already be promoting these values through their ongoing curriculum planning.
Changes to 2 Year Progress Check
From September 2015 guidance from the Department of Health and the Department For Education states that early years providers will be expected to work closely with Health Visitors and parents to ensure the 2 year progress check is delivered in a joined up way. Further information about the new integrated 2 year review can be found here.
Health Visitors will be required to carry out the integrated review using the Ages and Stages Questionnaire document ASQ-3 to assess whether children are making appropriate progress. As this document will be used alongside the progress check, it is also a worthwhile read. Further information about the ASQ-3 can be found at www.agesandstages.com.
The e-Learning for Healthcare website: www.e-lfh.org.uk currently offers materials to support health professionals using the ASQ-3 but these will soon be accessible to all practitioners working with young children.
New Parent’s Guide – ‘What to Expect, When?’
4 Children have published a very helpful guide for parents to help them understand what to expect from their children as they grow and to develop and how they can help support their learning. A very handy guide also for practitioners! If you have not already done so, you can download a copy from the Foundations Years website.
MindingKids has amended our template Learning & Play Policy and Parent Information & Marketing Pack (Information Booklet) to refer to this new guidance. Please see updates below.
New Ofsted Common Inspection Framework
The new common inspection framework will come into force from September 2015. As well as early years settings, the framework will also apply to maintained schools and academies, non-association independent schools, further education and skills providers.
Settings will be inspected to an equal set of standards and inspectors will make 4 graded judgements based on the following key areas:
- effectiveness of leadership and management
- quality of teaching, learning and assessment
- personal development, behaviour and welfare
- outcomes for children and learners
The aim of the new framework is to standardise inspection and ensure consistency. The framework should make it easier to compare the inspection of different providers that cater for similar age ranges and therefore help to make things clearer to parents when selecting an appropriate setting for their child.
Details can be found on the Ofsted website.
Further guidance specific to childminders and early years settings is expected to be released from Ofsted in the summer.
Childcare Business Grants
If you are just starting out as a childminder or looking to set up a nursery (In England) then fantastic news! The government is extending the existing Childcare Business Grant scheme to cover 2015 / 2016. You could be eligible for a grant of between £500 and £1000 to help you get up and running. For full details, visit http://www.childcarebusinessgrants.dcms.gov.uk/
MindingKids News
New Website
Our new website has been up and running for a couple of months now and we are very pleased to hear positive feedback from our customers. If you have any feedback, comments or suggestions, please feel free to leave reviews on the site. Good communication helps us to ensure we are providing the best resources and service for our customers.
Social Media
If you have not already done so, please like our Facebook Page to follow all our latest news. Please feel free to share our posts, add feedback, comments or suggestions.
We have also recently joined Twitter! Follow us here @MindingKids
We are not junk!
Unfortunately a small minority of customers have not been receiving our emails. They have been landing in their junk folders! This may be a minor issue related to the launch of our new website and email address. We apologise for any inconvenience caused. If you have contacted us and received no response, please check your spam / junk folders to see if messages have landed in there. Please unmark as junk / spam to ensure future emails go to the correct place. This issue should resolve itself in time once google begins to recognise our new details. MindingKids will always try to respond within a 24 hour period. If you have not heard from us please check your spam / junk folders or alternatively you can contact us through Facebook or Twitter.
Have an idea for a resource?
Please let us know if you have any ideas or suggestions for new resources. We are always on the look out for fresh ideas so any suggestions are always helpful. Depending on the request, MindingKids may be able to provide you with the resource you have requested for FREE! Please email us at contact@mindingkids.co.uk with your ideas!
Since our new website launch in February the following resources have been added, updated or improved…
Remember MindingKids Members have unlimited access to all MindingKids resources immediately as they are added or updated! Click here for further details!
New Resources
- Dental Hygiene Policy (Now included in Policies & Procedures Pack) (15.03.15)
- Dental Hygiene Consent & Toothbrush Log (Now included in Logbooks & Forms Pack) (15.03.15)
- Adverse Weather Policy (Now included in Polices & Procedures Pack) (15.03.15)
Updated Resources
- Healthy Eating Policy – Amended for Scottish Childcare Providers to refer to ‘Setting the table – Nutritional guidance and food standards for early years childcare providers in Scotland.’ (15.03.15)
- Use, Storage & Administration Of Medication Policy – Updated to include request for parents to administer the first dose of any new medication as per…… (15.03.15)
- Child Protection / Safeguarding Policy – Updated to include new government safeguarding guidance ‘What to do if you’re worried a child is being abused – Advice for practitioners’. (27.03.15)
- Child Protection / Safeguarding Policy – Updated (AGAIN!) to include new Prevent Duty Guidance. (22.04.15)
- Learning & Play Policy (England) – updated to refer to further information about the EYFS, Parent’s Guide to the EYFS and the new ‘What to Expect, When?’ document. (23.04.15)
Parent Information & Marketing Pack (Scottish Version)Meals, Snacks & Healthy Eating section – Amended to refer to ‘Setting the table – Nutritional guidance and food standards for early years childcare providers in Scotland.’ (15.03.15)
Parent Information & Marketing Pack (EYFS Version) Learning & Play section – Amended to refer to ‘What to Expect, When? – A Parent’s Guide’ (23.04.15)
Coming soon…
Healthy Eating Pack!
A bundle of resources to help you ensure you are providing healthy balanced meal choices and fun activities to help children learn about healthy foods. Includes ALLERGEN POSTER, ALLERGEN QUESTIONNAIRE, HEALTHY EATING CHARTS, MENU PLANNERS, RECIPE CARDS, HEALTHY EATING ACTIVITIES & MORE!
The MindingKids WEB APP!
Our software expert is working hard behind the scenes and the MindingKids WEB APP is taking shape! The web app will allow childminders (or nurseries) to complete all the information they require over a typical childcare day including attendance register, diaries, observations and logs (accidents, visitors, medication, etc). The App will make everything easy to complete using either a computer, tablet or smart phone. Photos can be uploaded to children’s diaries or observations and reports will be automatically created for parents containing all the information that has been entered. A principle diary for the childcare group can be completed which will automatically duplicate the information into each of the children’s diaries. Think of the time that will be saved by not having to write the same meals, snack and activities over and over again! Simply edit each child’s diary as required before submitting or printing their personalised report. Users can choose whether to create daily or weekly reports for the children which can be automatically emailed to parents straight from the App (or printed to be delivered by hand). Users can also personalise their reports by uploading their own logo and will be sent regular back-ups of their work.
The Web App will be available to Platinum Members who, like Gold Members will also be granted unlimited access to all of MindingKids downloads.
Watch this space for more MindingKids News!
