Minutes:
Appendix A
Barbara Arzymanow
Early Years Presentation to P&S 26th January
Recommendations
1. Support for the “Early Help Strategy” document. This covers early year’s Intervention all the way to adulthood. There are known critical points during the course of a child’s education where a little support can avoid a permanent derailment.
2. Recognition that early year’s intervention is more effective and cheaper than delaying until problems become more apparent. Nursery Education is particularly important to needy children.
3. Ideally we should identify the children most in need before they’re 2.
4. Increased focus on part time places for 3 & 4 year-olds and selected 2 year-olds.
5. Benefit from the strong building blocks in place particularly for maintained nursery schools.
6. Formalise income streams to the maintained nursery schools:- teaching childminders, educating NSs teachers and helping poor performing NSs in the borough.
7. Coordinate message to parents through family centre hubs to ensure full awareness of what nursery education offers.
8. One of my most important recommendations is that one project officer should be given overall responsibility for coordinating all these complicated financial administrative matters so that liaison with the Government, nursery providers and the Council runs smoothly. A project officer would also keep both Westminster and Tri borough informed. Nursery schools and nursery classes in primary schools must be made aware of all possible ways to rearrange themselves so as to benefit from all available Government money.
9. The project officer could also keep a watchful eye on possible ways of reducing costs without effecting services for example, sharing facilities or sharing activities.
10. Nobody should miss out on their free 15 hours entitlement or their top-up tax credit through ignorance. Posters about child-minders and the 15 hour offer have been widely displayed. Publicity relating to nursery schools and nursery classes would benefit from a similar approach.
11. Parents on higher incomes would still find the full top-up payment of £20-30 per day a very good deal and it will help those who cannot afford the top up. The nursery schools need more help with publicity because parents are more likely to hear about nursery classes in their preferred future primary schools. A good primary school does have more bargaining power but if the child has some need the maintained school really is a better place to deal with it.
12. Help in the move to bring health visitors under local councils in the autumn this year. For example, the Personal Child Health Record better known as the Red Book could have a section on education. Alternatively, we could have a Green book for education. Currently there is nowhere a parent can track their child’s education and thereby encouraging them to take pride in their achievements.
13. Under capacity providers should be encouraged to take up the two year offer and increasing the uptake of the 15 hour offer with both 3 & 4year olds and 2 year olds by targeting places. This requires a concerted marketing effort and greater collaboration and communication in family information services.
14. To capitalise on the outstanding Ofsted inspections and offer help Special Needs. Children in need of any additional support are definitely best off in the maintained nursery schools.