early years alliance - Business management

Employing an early years apprentice for your setting

caroline.graham — Wed, 09 Feb 2022 10:50:06 +0000

Velda Bartholomew, training operations manager at the ��, outlines early years apprenticeships

Employing an apprentice can be an effective way to bring new skills to your early years setting and grow your workforce.

The apprenticeship training programmes cover the vocational skills and knowledge your member of staff requires to ensure babies and young children learn and develop well while remaining healthy and safe.

What is an apprenticeship?

An apprenticeship is a job with training.

Through an apprenticeship, an apprentice will gain the technical knowledge, practical experience and wider skills and behaviours that they need for their immediate job and future career.

The apprentice must be employed by you for a period which is long enough for the apprentice to complete the apprenticeship successfully (including the endpoint assessment).

Apprentices gain experience and learn through a variety of ways including formal off-the-job training and the opportunity to practise new skills in a real work environment. They must be aged 16 or over (with no upper age limit) and can be new employees or current employees who wish to obtain formal qualifications.

The benefits of employing an early years apprentice

The benefits of employing an apprentice:

employing a motivated member of staff at an affordable pay rate
well trained staff who work to the standard you expect as an employer
supports loyalty and retention of staff
apprentices gain up-to-date knowledge on current practice and can bring new ideas to the setting
apprentices can be counted in ratios from aged 16, if ‘competent and responsible’ (EYFS 3.30)

How to employ an apprentice

There are two ways to employ an apprentice. Either an existing member of staff who requires formal training can be funded, or a vacancy can be offered to a new apprentice.

An apprentice should be treated the same as all other employees, with the same terms and conditions.

For existing staff, their terms and conditions must be honoured, including usual salary but in addition 20% of their contracted hours must be spent on off the job training.

Apprenticeships should be full-time roles – in some circumstances, the role can be part-time but this means the duration of the training plan must be extended to ensure the apprentice gains the necessary work experience to fulfill all elements of the programme and meet the apprenticeship funding requirements.

The apprenticeship rate can be paid to all new apprentices during the first year of their programme. If they are aged 19 or over on completion of this year, they are entitled to the National Minimum Wage or the National Living Wage for those aged 23 and over (gov.uk/national-minimum-wage-rates).

20% off-the-job training

20% off-the-job training is a compulsory component, defined as learning which is undertaken outside of the normal day-to-day working environment, for a minimum of 20% of their working hours.

The employers’ chosen training providers will guide and advise how this training can be delivered. The apprentice must be out of ratio and taking part in learning which is relevant to their programme.

Examples include completing on-line training, attending workshops, completing course work or shadowing their mentor.

Training may be delivered weekly or in blocks. This time must be planned well, with special consideration paid to the provider’s staff-to-child ratios to allow this aspect of the programme to take place.

Funding arrangements

Employers with an annual pay bill of over £3 million will pay the apprenticeship levy. Their levy funding is reserved in a digital account which can then be used to pay their chosen training provider.

Most early years providers annual pay bill falls below this amount, so they would need to set up an apprenticeship service account and reserve funding to pay for apprenticeship training.

These smaller, non-levy employers pay 5% towards the cost of training and the remaining 95% is paid by government.

There are additional payments of £1,000 for employers recruiting 16-18-year-olds, or under 25-year-olds either with an education, health and care plan or who have been in the care of their local authority.

Learning and assessing

Employers must have a contract with a registered apprenticeship training provider to offer a structured learning programme to cover the knowledge and skills requirements of their programme.

Employers are seen as central to the day-to-day training of apprentice’s work-based skills and competencies.

The employer and apprentice must sign an Apprenticeship Agreement, that corresponds with the duration and planned off job hours.

This is alongside a Commitment Statement, which contains information on the training plan and expectations of all parties.

End point assessment

On completion of the programme, the apprentice will be registered for their end point assessment which is the final part of their training. This includes a multiple-choice-question test and a professional discussion with an external assessor. The professional discussion will be based upon a portfolio of work-based products which will have been gathered throughout their time in the setting.

On completion, the apprentice could remain working with you, where a job opportunity exists. Where this is not possible you will need to work with the training provider to assist the Apprentice in seeking alternative opportunities. The visiting assessor will liaise with you during their visit and assist you with discussing the next steps.

Employing an apprentice is a big decision and there are considerable responsibilities that need to be undertaken. However, the rewards can be tremendous and for a sector that justly prides itself on offering career and life-changing opportunities, apprentices can only be embraced as a positive force for good.

Useful links and info

Employing and apprentice government guidance

Apprenticeship Service - free webinars

Or to learn more contact our �� Training Centre: training@eyalliance.org.uk or call 01732 363 070

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Business management

The Early Years Pupil Premium - making the most of it

caroline.graham — Mon, 29 Nov 2021 11:17:00 +0000

By Juliette Moran

We don’t need to work in early years to know that not everyone has the same start in life.

As educators, we want to make sure that we use our Early Years Pupil Premium Funding (EYPP), in the most inclusive and effective way possible to make it stretch — to make a lasting impact that is across the cohort rather than being child specific. We want to ensure that our use of EYPP is innovative, proactive and truly inclusive.

Removing shame and stigma

However, first, we need to get parents to apply by filling in the forms so that we can receive the EYPP and secondly, once it is received, we need to use it to achieve the best outcomes for all our children and that that spend can be wholly justified.

We do need to recognise some of the reasons why parents and/or carers are reluctant to provide the information that is needed. Ask yourself how you would feel if you were asked to sign another form which may have a perceived stigma attached to it or that you don’t understand? Would you like it to be made known that your child may be disadvantaged? Would you like the nursery to know your financial status? No, no parent wants that.

In a society that can be too quick to label families, parents and children do we want to add another one to the list?

One of the strengths of early years is the thread of inclusivity tying everything together, so we need to ensure that these forms are not targeted at one family over another. We need to make sure that the question is asked of everyone. That’s why we have registration forms isn’t it? We must gather information about our children and families and so we ensure that these forms are part of the registration process for every child.

Is the process worth it?

Moving on from the perceived potential stigma attached to EYPP, a more pertinent question could be - is it really worth the hassle? Is the chasing of application forms worth the time and actual money? It can be such a long-winded process that it can almost become just another thing you have to do with no real perceived benefit.

But £342 per year per child can amount to quite a lot depending on where you are and your demographic. We can agree that payments can take a frustratingly long time to come through but clever budgeting and an invested staff and/or committee can help you achieve a budget that can be ringfenced for the benefit of all.

Spending on SEND and beyond

There is also something else to consider when using your EYPP. There is instruction in the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Code of Practice that says that we “….. should consider [our] strategic approach to meeting SEN in the context of the total resources available, including any resources targeted at particular groups, such as the pupil premium”. (6.97).

So, there is an expectation that EYPP can and should be used for a wider SEND need.

How can we spend our EYPP funding in a way that is, as already stated, innovative, proactive and wholly inclusive?

Do we always approach our funding spend in a way that is removing barriers for all, not creating them? It is worth remembering that we can spend our EYPP funding in a way that can be applied to all our current cohort and will continue to have an impact on all future children coming through our doors. So, how do we justify this to Ofsted? To ourselves?

Investing in the bigger picture

Arguably, early years is less about narrowing the attainment gap and more about personal, social and emotional development (PSED). Looking at the bigger picture then, shouldn’t we tap into our children’s cultural capital and create experiences, particularly for those less disadvantaged?

Do you think taking your children on a visit or paying for someone to come and visit you, would help? Could we use it for yoga sessions, music sessions, or (scarily!!!) swimming lessons? (The latter would certainly address the risk-taking aspect of children’s development, although the risk may apply to those adults with them!).

It stands to reason then, that rather than just considering purchased resources that are child specific we should also be developing our children’s PSED and nurturing their lived experiences so that we set them up with all of the tools to be able to navigate that attainment gap later in life.

Can’t we justify the importance of the form-filling to parents by reinforcing the benefit of creating experiences that will open their child’s eyes to the potential the world has to offer them, and shouldn’t we use the same justification to Ofsted?

Where next?

Early years funding in 2021

Business management

Six months since lockdown: how we have supported you

rachel.lawler — Wed, 23 Sep 2020 11:30:03 +0000

On 18 March 2020 early years providers in England were asked to close to most children, with only those from vulnerable or key worker families allowed to continue attending in order to help prevent the spread of coronavirus. Several days later, on 23 March, the Prime Minister announced that people must stay at home, starting a nationwide lockdown.

In the six months that have passed since then, the early years sector has continued to support children and their families across the country. Dealing with unprecedented challenges, practitioners have shown inspirational courage and creativity as they adjust to the ‘new normal’.

To help support our members in this time, the �� has been hard at work to respond to the sector’s needs. Between moving local meetings online, chasing the government for clarity on its guidance and sharing updates during our evenings and weekends, it’s been a very busy six months!

Here is just some of the ways we have been supporting you since the lockdown started six months ago on 23 March…

485
We have posted 485 tweets – including breaking news updates, answering questions and sharing guidance. Our tweets reached more than 1.7 million people in the past six months.

239
We have posted 239 times on Facebook – with 40% of these updates being posted outside of our usual office hours. We reached 1.5 million people and received more than 360,000 engagements – including comments, likes and shares.

43
We have sent 43 email updates to our members and subscribers. This includes our usual busy newsletters and more than 30 breaking news updates – often sent late at night or over the weekend, depending on when government guidance was announced!

�� connect
While we were unable to host our usual in-person events, and of course had to postpone our Annual Conference this year, we found new ways to connect with members. This resulted in the launch of our online �� Connect events, hosted on Zoom.

We hosted a total of 70 events, offering providers a chance to chat through common problems together.

Legal helpline
With many providers concerned about the impact of closing on their business, our 24-hour legal helpline was even busier than usual in this time. Our Law-Call team dealt with a total of 3,888 queries in six months, with many of these connected to closures, parent fees and the job retention scheme.

FAQs
Our popular FAQs page on operating in the lockdown and beyond answers 49 common questions and has been one of the most popular pages on our website throughout.

Online training
While our members took advantage of our free training courses with EduCare in record numbers, the �� team was also busy creating new training materials. In may we launched five new online courses dedicated to helping improve wellbeing during the outbreak.

Campaigning
As ever, our team has been busy calling for better support for early years providers throughout the pandemic. More than 3,000 providers and parents contacted their MP about the government’s u-turn on giving providers full access to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.

Press coverage
While raising concerns about the early years sector, the �� appeared in 182 separate pieces of press coverage – including national newspapers, trade press articles and TV and radio interviews. This has all helped to keep the early years sector on the agenda and help our push for better funding and support.

Next steps
Going forward, we will be keeping up the hard work to support our members – and the wider sector – however we can. Please do keep sharing your questions, thoughts and concern with us – you can get in touch at feedback@eyalliance.org.uk.

Thank you as well to those who have shared their kind comments and words of thanks in the last six months. We love hearing how our work has been helping you!

Business management

Are you getting the most out of your software?

rachel.lawler — Wed, 16 Sep 2020 10:19:07 +0000

Promotional offer

More and more providers are turning to software to help them handle their parent communication, observations and admin. But are you getting your money’s worth?

When Sarah Mackenzie, chief academic officer at N Family Club, started her career in the early years, she took on daily tasks that would sound arcane to many of her younger colleagues today. “When I started in childcare, there was no such thing as observations or assessments online, or any of that. I remember having to take photos of children and glue them into a scrapbook for record-keeping, jotting down observations on sticky notes and using a highlighter for assessments,” she says. “That would probably seem ancient to some of the team in our nurseries now.”

Seamless connections
In her role at N Family Club, Sarah has seen software grow to be far more than just a replacement for scrapbooking. The group uses modern technology to serve around 300 children across four settings in London, with two more due to launch next month.

As a relatively new provider, N Family Club started using Famly to help run their settings from the start, creating more seamless connections with parents and ultimately making more time to spend with the children.

Better for parents
For prospective parents, Sarah says, making smart use of technology in an early years setting is becoming an increasingly important selling point. “So much of parents’ lives are online now, using their smartphones for everything from banking to food and shopping,” she says. “For a lot of busy working families, they naturally assume that their childcare provider is also going to have some sort of software that makes things easier and simpler.”

But nursery management software isn’t an instant fix. You can’t just install the apps and expect a sudden improvement in your offer. What sets you apart from competitors, Sarah says, is showing your team and your families that you know how to use it well.

Right tools for the right job
Finding the right software isn’t everything. How you choose to use it is just as important. So to help you understand how to make the most of the software you choose, Sarah has some top tips to keep in mind:

Save yourself time – You shouldn’t be spending hours fiddling with your tech setup each day. Ideally, you’ll only be using it to take care of your daily admin duties, leaving you with more time to spend with the children.
Learn its capabilities – As you adopt a new software platform, make time to read up on everything that it can do. If you’re investing in quality tools, you don’t what to find out later that you have still been using some clunky workarounds when the software has a simpler solution.

Get your team on board – If you have new staff joining from another setting that didn’t use software, or used a different programme, they may have different expectations of how and when they’ll use your new system. Bring everyone together to discuss how you will use the software as a team to avoid any misunderstandings or inefficiencies.
Know when to use it – There may be cases where you could rely on your software to solve a problem, but it still works better for your team doing it the old-fashioned way. Remember that your ultimate goal is to save time and make things simpler, so it’s worth considering which parts of the software will really help you meet that goal.
Keep an eye of for updates – It’s easy enough to just ignore the “update alert” messages that pop up every so often. But you could be missing a new feature that will have a big impact on your business. You want to choose a software provider that’s reinvesting back into development and giving you new capabilities or improvements. Take time to read any update notes that you are given and get familiar with new features.

Contact customer support – Your management software provider should have a team of specialists on hand to help with any problems you run into. That’s part of what you are paying for. If you get stuck on anything or want to learn how to use a new feature, give them a ring.
Put your mission first – Your software should reflect your goals and values, not the other way around. Think about what your setting’s mission is and how software can support that. In most cases, the software is there to help minimise the time you spend away from the children. It’s a tool to accomplish your core goal of delivering outstanding education and helping to raise curious, independent young people. Don’t get caught up in tech saturation – keep those values front and centre and only use the software when it is helpful.

Special offer – 50% off
Famly has extended its exclusive �� discount offer until 1 October 2020. That means all �� members who become Famly customers can get 50% of all packages for their first year with Famly.

For as little as £34.50 a month, you can benefit from early years software used by 1000s of providers - including groups like N Family Club, single settings and childminders across the UK.

To learn more about just how much time Famly could save you, head to famly.co.uk/early-years-alliance and see it for yourself with an online demo today.

Business management

Why we must recruit more men into the early years — and how we can do it

caroline.graham — Tue, 07 Jan 2020 14:09:15 +0000

By Dr Jeremy Davies from MITEY (Men in the The Early Years)

Latest figures show that in England and Wales only 3% of staff working in early years education are male; in Scotland it’s 4%.

In more than three-quarters of early years settings, there is not a single male employee.

This is not a phenomenon unique to the UK: it is global.

Investing — financially and strategically

But we know that countries which invest in more coordinated gender equality policies are doing better at encouraging greater male participation.

The proportion of male early years educators is more like 10% in Norway, for example; Germany, after concerted investment and effort through its government-funded Men in Kitas campaign over the last decade, has broken the 6% barrier.

The UK’s figures have barely improved over the last 20 years.

The lack of gender diversity is not unique to early years education; there are other ‘caring’ workforces where men are under-represented.

But it is extreme – men make up 15% of the primary school workforce, 14% of social workers and 11% of nurses, for example.

So something is going badly wrong.

Often the blame for all this is laid at men’s door: we hear that men aren’t interested in this kind of work; that it would threaten their masculinity; that the pay is not good enough.

Tell that to the man who makes your cappuccino, stacks the shelves in your local supermarket or delivers your Amazon packages!

Less attention tends to be paid to thinking strategically about how to attract men into the workforce and look after them once they’ve joined it.

Getting rid of stereotyped gendered roles

And even where settings recognise the lack of men and see it as a problem, all too often their rationale is that having more men would be helpful in creating a better ‘gender balance’ – effectively strengthening gender inequalities by suggesting that men and women are fundamentally different, with women being cast as more ‘natural’ at caregiving (like mothers are) and men offering some not-very-clearly-defined-but-highly-heteronormative male ingredient.

The latter usually translates as “men are better at rough and tumble (with the boys)”; “men like doing outdoors play (with the boys)” and “we need men to act as role models for the children (boys) who don’t have fathers at home”…or a mixture of these.

This is problematic in several ways.

First, there is no evidence that women are ‘naturally’ any better at the caregiving elements of early education than men are – and to suggest so, or build a workforce on the basis of such an idea, is to ‘box in’ female staff to a stereotype that overlooks the possibility of their excelling in other skills and areas (like outdoor play, for example)…and do the converse to men.

Second, beliefs about the number of ‘absent’ fathers are wildly exaggerated.

For example, in a major study of highly disadvantaged families using children’s centres, 22% of mothers said their child’s father looked after the child every day; a further 53% said he did so on a minimum of 3 days per week; only 3% answered ‘never’, and 70% went on to say they could ‘always’ rely on him to look after the child, if needed.

Third, in the tiny minority of families where fathers are truly ‘absent’, what difference might the presence of a male early years practitioner, per se, make on the children affected?

An interesting question, but we are not aware of any studies that furnish us with an answer. This is not to minimise the enormously positive impact that early years practitioners can have on children’s outcomes – but evidence suggests that this holds regardless of gender, and that in terms of ‘role modelling’, children draw on all the adults around them as they look for people to confide in, learn from and emulate.

Why bother with gender diversity?

So why should we care about the lack of gender diversity in early years education, then?

There’s a pragmatic reason: in the context of an Early Years recruitment crisis, we make our lives doubly difficult by excluding men, and therefore halving the potential talent pool from which we could be recruiting.

But there are social/philosophical reasons too.

Here at MITEY HQ we believe that recruiting more men is a question of building a representative workforce. Just as we should care about whether the early years workforce draws its staff from minority ethnic groups, we should care about whether it is open to, and inclusive of, men as well as women.

Further, we believe that early years providers have a duty to show children from the earliest point possible, that men and women are equally capable of, and responsible for, looking after and teaching them. In that respect, recruiting more men is a stepping-stone towards a more gender-equal future for our children and grandchildren.

Evidence shows that children’s career aspirations are restricted by gender stereotypes at a very young age.

By the time they are 7, girls are nine times more likely than boys to say they’d like to be a teacher. Looked at this way, it is easy to see the long-term benefits that could arise from bringing more men into the field.

Get started with our free guide

In our free 20-page Guide to Recruiting Men into Early Years Education – endorsed by the ��, National Day Nurseries Association and the Men and Boys Coalition, among others – you will find a host of suggestions for practical ways to make your setting more inclusive of potential male recruits.

These include:

Replacing ‘feminised’ job titles like ‘nursery nurse’ with more gender-neutral terms like ‘early years practitioner’
Keeping a check on sexist ‘workplace banter’
Including ‘positive action’ statements, images of men and male case studies in job advertisements, to clarify that male applicants are welcome
Holding open days targeted at attracting male recruits
Promoting early years and other caring jobs to boys of all ages
Working with Job Centres to promote early years careers to men
Promoting vacancies via fathers who use early years provision, as well as mothers.

The Guide is available as a free download to members of the MITEY network (which is also free to join).

Register for your copy here

MITEY is run by the Fatherhood Institute. It is a national network and campaign which works to bring more men into the early years education workforce, and support them once they are part of it.

Business management

Preparing your childcare setting against flooding

caroline.graham — Tue, 19 Nov 2019 14:28:01 +0000

As any business owner will know, serious weather-related events can have a disastrous effect on the running of your setting and how you operate, even if you have adequate insurance cover.

In recent weeks we have seen some of the worst flooding on record in the UK and this has brought home to everyone just how disruptive an event like this can be.

Even if you have adequate insurance cover — including buildings, contents and business interruption cover — you will want to know ways in which you can help reduce the effect a loss like this would have on your setting.

Be prepared

Don’t be taken by surprise - listen out for flood warnings on local TV and radio, and from the Environment Agency. They also provide a helpline which will provide information and advice (listed below). If a red weather warning is issued, it means that there could be a threat to life due to the weather. If such a warning is given, then in all likelihood flooding within the region will happen.
Contact your local council to see where they are distributing sandbags and whether you can have any.
Make sure you've considered all ways water could access your property, not just the doorways.
Ensure you have an evacuation plan ready. You will need to know quick and safe routes out of your property and road routes out of flooded areas. Have a road map somewhere accessible so you know your options should usual routes become inaccessible.
Be ready to switch off gas and electricity supplies if you are advised of imminent flooding.
Consider having a “Flood Pack”, and make sure staff know where it is. This could contain torches, battery operated radios (with spare batteries), a first aid kit, spare clothes and/or blankets, and bottles of water.

Protect your assets

Keep all insurance documents in a watertight container somewhere easily accessible.
Back up electronic documents in case computers are damaged.
Ensure that fire and security systems will still work, and that the property is adequately protected against theft and burglary.
Relocate any items that could be damaged at low levels. As a minimum, make sure items which could be easily damaged by water are not stored directly on the floor.

What to do if your childcare setting gets flooded

If the worst should happen and your property is flooded, contact your buildings / contents insurers. If you are a tenant, contact your landlord straightaway so that they can contact their building insurers. Also, use the Environment Agency’s Floodline number for advice: 0845 988 1188

First steps

Ensure that nobody touches electrical equipment. Qualified professionals will need to check electrical and fire systems.

Once the water has started to recede, open windows to try to dry the building out, but only in the mornings, as the air is likely to turn damp in the afternoons. Don’t be tempted to use extreme sources of heat to try and dry out contents; this can cause more damage and cost more in the long run.

Store any damaged furniture and photograph any food damaged if your refrigerator fails.

Take care

Remember that floodwater is often contaminated, so be careful what you touch. If you do enter, wear overalls, overshoes and rubber gloves — your welfare is of prime importance.

You may need to take steps such as removing debris from airbricks and taking rubber-backed carpets outside to dry.

Don’t be tempted to redecorate until you are certain that the property has dried out – it can take months and you could end up with mould problems. It is important to check with a decorator or other expert to ensure that the walls and other surfaces are fully dried out and, if necessary, treated to prevent mould.

Your insurers and/or your landlord’s building insurers may appoint contractors to clean and dry the property where appropriate, while your contents insurers may appoint contractor to clean and dry your contents, should it be worthwhile. The contractors can start to make lists of the items which are beyond economic repair and need to be disposed of. Installation of drying equipment and air movers will occur.

Where the loss is significant a loss adjuster will be appointed by either your buildings and/or contents insurers to assist you in dealing with this traumatic experience. The loss adjuster will be there to help co-ordinate the buildings re-instatement works and/ or assist with the settlement of your damaged contents/ business interruption claim.

Getting back on track

If the worst should happen, it is essential that you get your setting back on its feet as quickly as possible. If the flooding means that you cannot operate look for nearby locations where you can operate from, make enquires if these can be rented.

Ensure that all the parents are kept up to date with the progress of works to reinstate the setting, as good communication is essential.

Following the advice given here will go a long way to ensuring a smooth process, allowing you to get back to business as usual.

If you have any questions about your insurance organised through the ��, you can reach the team on 0207 697 2585.

Business management