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BUFA BULLETIN,
BULLETIN June 2015
Charity no 516494
The Mayfield Centre, Broadway Avenue, BRADFORD, BD5 9NP
Tel. 01274-308725
01274
Website: www.bufa.org.uk
Bradford Under Fives Association:
on: promoting best practice in Pre-school
P
Playgroups and Parent and Toddler groups
Hi everyone,
Hope you have had a lovely half term break and are ready for what will obviously be a really busy time
for you with regard to assessments and the transition for many of your children. It will not be long
until the long summer
mer break, which I know you all deserve. Best Wishes
Vivienne.
Congratulations.
I am thrilled to inform
everyone that First Steps
Preschool, and Meridian
Nursery who both recently
had the knock on the door
from Ofsted, were graded as “OUTSTANDING”.
Well done to everyone involved. Keep up the
fantastic work and as they say - ever onwards and
upwards!
more recently as Parent and Toddler
Subcommittee member. She almost invariably
used to attend our AGM*, making good use of this
opportunity to keep up to date with BUFA’s work,
often asking questions that kept us on our toes!
Janet takes away lots of valuable experience and
we will miss her, but we wish her a very long and
happy retirement and thank her ffor all the work
she has done.
Committee Resignation.
Happy Retirement to Janet Clifford
.
I am really sorry to report that Tina Markey has
resigned from the BUFA management committee
for personal reasons. The BUFA team and all
those who know her, will, I am sure, hope that the
situation improves very quickly for Tina and her
family.
Our committee is now down to only 3 members
and would really love to hear from anyone who can
spare a couple
le of hours a month and who might be
interested in joining them. Please contact
Vivienne if you would like to know more.
Janet is seen holding a new laptop, presented by the church
BUFA staff members attended a farewell
retirement party for Janet Clifford at St John’s
Church, in Great Horton. Janet has been involved
with BUFA for almost 30 years,, since the good
old days of the PPA (Preschool Playgroups
Association).
Formerly, Janet worked as a fieldworker
worker for the
Bradford Parent & Toddler Association (which
amalgamated with BUFA) before becoming the
Childcare Co-ordinator
ordinator for St John’s Church.
However, Janet continued to be involved with
BUFA as a tutor, committee member and then
BUFA Funding.
At the point of writing this BUFA has been re
recommissioned until the end of June. However, we
are hopeful that we will have some positive news
soon.
*AGM – date for your diary
BUFA’s Annual General Meeting will be on
Monday 12th October, 7pm
Please think about attending
attending. Supper is provided
and it’s a great chance to catch up with us all the
people you’ve missed in the last year.
I expect that many of you will
have put uniforms and book
bags from your local schools in
your dressing up boxes. If not
why not ask your local school
if they have any lost property
items that would be suitable?
Perhaps you will have updated your homemade
transition books showing the receiving setting’s
practitioners, their building, the route from
preschool, the playground, dining hall, toilets etc.
But do you have any resources to support
parents? Do they understand the impact on
children when transitioning to another setting and
have they thought about the strategies for
dealing with their children in September?
Why not put together a leaflet explaining the
importance of their child having a good transition,
the behaviours they may encounter and the
strategies they could use in certain
circumstances? There is plenty of information on
the net. Why not check it out?
EYPP
I am hopeful that the majority of you are getting
to grips with EYPP funding. However, a small
number of you are reporting issues around
explaining to parents what the funding is for, its
importance to your settings and getting parents
to return completed forms. Just recently, one
setting reported that they have now had to
change the provided paperwork they give to
parents. This was because when they tried to
apply for the funding, they were asked to supply
details they didn’t have (parents’ dates of birth).
Unfortunately, as a result, they were not
allocated the additional funding for a small
number of children this term.
£307 per annum may not sound a lot but over a
number of children, it soon adds up to a tidy sum.
So please persevere. Do not forget to raise your
concerns at the Leaders and Managers network
meeting.
The DfE promised to publish some guidance on
what the additional funding could be used for.
The only document I have been able to find is a
consultation document, which clearly states that
respondents strongly agree with the proposal that
providers should have freedom to decide how to
make use of the funding, citing in particular that
providers are best placed to understand the
specific needs of the disadvantaged children that
they work with.
The DfE were clear that this needs to be
accompanied by a clear and effective
accountability system, as well as guidance for
providers on how to make best use of the EYPP in
supporting disadvantaged children.
The report also stated that the DfE will identify
and share good practice with providers to help
inform their planning on how to make the most
effective use of EYPP and how to demonstrate
impact through using available research and
evidence.
During the first year of the EYPP, Ofsted will
look for evidence that providers understand and
are planning to meet the needs of disadvantaged
children.
The DfE will help providers to access relevant
research and exemplary practice, and they are
working with other organisations such as The
Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) to bring
together the evidence on what works in
supporting better outcomes for children.
The Education Endowment Foundation
EEF is an independent
grant-making charity
dedicated to breaking the
link between family income
and educational achievement, ensuring that
children from all backgrounds can fulfil their
potential and make the most of their talents.
The Education Endowment Foundation Teaching
and Learning toolkit at:
https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.
uk/toolkit/early-years/
has been expanded to cover the early years. The
Toolkit is a live resource that will be extended
and updated on a regular basis as new summaries
are completed and as findings from EEF-funded
projects and other high-quality research become
available.
The toolkit currently provides a summary of
educational research to help teachers and schools
decide how to use their resources to improve the
attainment of disadvantaged children, but the
expanded toolkit will include research on
approaches to improving children’s outcomes in
the early years and support the effective
deployment of resources and staff.
In addition to resources that provide access to
research, the Early Intervention Foundation
Guidebook provides an online library of
programmes that can be delivered locally to
improve child outcomes including positive early
child development.
Communication Trust
Communication Trust has
an enhanced offer of
resources for the early
years, which was facilitated by the extension to
their grant last year to support implementation of
the SEND reforms. Free resources are now
available to help you understand and implement
the 2014 SEND Code of Practice.
A number of resources specifically for early
years practitioners are available to help develop
knowledge and skills around the SEND reforms
and speech, language and communication
development including.
• “Cracking the Code”. Poster with advice
about identifying and supporting children
with SEN;
• Online short course all about speech,
language and communication;
• Early identification framework to help you
identify children who are struggling;
• A guide to implementing the Graduated
Approach
These resources are all accessible via one handy
webpage:
http://www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk/early
-years/
and include resources in the following
categories/themes:
• Speech, language and communication
development
• Speaking and listening activities
•
•
•
Early Identification of SLCN (including a
new framework)
Supporting children with SLCN
Working with parents
SCAMS-BEWARE
The Charity Commission is
reminding charities and
the public to be vigilant
and look out for scams used by fraudsters to
obtain bank details. The commission says that it is
aware of a recent scam designed to trick religious
foundations in the USA, and possibly this country
too. The foundations were contacted with news
that they were due a large gift or donation from
an organisation promoted as being a legitimate
and registered charity in the UK, which does not
exist. In this instance, in an attempt to make the
scam appear more credible, the fraudster used
false documentation showing parts of the
commission’s logo and a forged staff signature.
The regulator has been contacted by a number of
concerned individuals. Before giving out any
information, particularly of a financial nature, to
another charity, trustees can take the simple
step of looking up the registered charity number
and the charity’s entry on the commission’s online
charity search tool.
Trustees who receive correspondence falsely
claiming to be from a genuine charity or from the
commission should report this to the commission
and to Action Fraud, the UK’s national fraud and
internet crime reporting centre. The commission
has referred this matter to Action Fraud.
Talking to Trustees
Trustees are the life-blood of the charity sector.
Almost all are volunteers who have accepted the
duties and responsibilities of trusteeship on top
of their other commitments. So it’s vital that
Charity Commission guidance for trustees is clear,
concise and easy to find. This is especially
important for core guidance that applies to all
trustees, at all times, in all situations, like The
Essential Trustee (CC3).
The Charities Commission has recently published
a draft revised version of The Essential trustee
(CC3), which is designed to make it even clearer
to trustees what the law expects of them.
Big conversation-Ofsted
A meeting in Leeds in May hosted
by Leeds Community Matters
enjoyed presentations by Nick
Hudson and John Coleman (the new
senior HMI for EYs and overseeing the work and
service providers such as Prospect). Nick and
John talked about Ofsted’s annual report and
discussed the key points and messages from the
report and changes required.
At the meeting a lot of data was shared and
there was a great emphasis on “closing the gaps”.
Sadly, Bradford still has a lot of catching up to
do. As we know, the bottom line is rising but the
gap isn’t closing because the top line is also rising.
Although there is a new common framework for
schools and the PVI sector, the focus for us will
be the 2 and 3 year old offer.
A Revised Inspection Handbook has now been
introduced as a working document for inspectors.
Ofsted said that all inspectors have received
training which was in response to the complaints
from the sector about the concerns of poor and
inconsistent interpretations of the Framework.
Also, Ofsted have been testing the new
framework using 35 pilot settings. The first
round of pilot settings were those already graded
outstanding, with the next pilot including settings
from a broader range of grades. The pilot
settings effectively had two inspections in
parallel. One inspector inspected and judged
against the old framework whilst the second
inspection was conducted as a “shadow” inspection
under the new framework.
The Early Years Inspection Handbook published
on the 22nd May combines existing guidance from
Conducting early years inspections, the Evaluation
Schedule and other Ofsted guidance. It sets out
what Ofsted inspectors must do, what early years
providers can expect during early years
inspections, and provides guidance for inspectors
on making judgements.
As you will probably be aware, early years
providers will be inspected on the following
criteria:
Effectiveness of leadership and
management
Quality of teaching, learning and
assessment
Personal development, behaviour and
welfare
Outcomes for children and learners.
Free Safeguarding Training.
BUFA has been funded to deliver some more face
to face safeguarding training for Workforce
Development. There will also be further dates to
follow. To book on the training please contact
Workforce Development directly.
Lead Practitioner training
The training looks at legislation, roles and
responsibilities of a lead practitioner, allegation
management and the referral processes for
children and adults.
Tuesday 16th June 2015 – 6.00 pm – 9.30 pm. St Peters
House, Bradford.
Basic Awareness of Child Abuse and Neglect
(Taught Course)
The training looks at the signs and symptoms of
abuse and neglect and accidental and non
accidental injuries.
Friday 12th June 2015 – 9.30 am – 12.30 pm St Peters
House, Bradford.
Combined Basic Awareness of Child Abuse and
Neglect and Safeguarding Lead Practitioner for
Non-regulated Sector
This training is aimed specially at volunteers and
committee members. It isn’t as in-depth as the
other two courses but it obviously provides
opportunities for attendees to ask questions and
seek clarification about things.
Monday 13th July 2015 – 9.30 am – 12.30 pm St Peters
House, Bradford.
BUFA MEMBERS’ SHOP
Open Hours: any reasonable time!
You are welcome to come to the shop whenever
you like now we operate 52 weeks per year, but
please ring the office first to check there will be
someone there to help you. Best availability
continues to be MON- WED term time.
BUFA does not necessarily endorse all the views that might be expressed in our publications.
Bradford Under Fives Association is a Commissioned Service for Bradford Early Childhood Services