Agenda item

This report sets out the findings of the commissioned Local Government Association (LGA) Early Years review; details of recent national and local initiatives; Medway priorities; existing provision; emerging issues and planned next steps within this phase of education.

Discussion:

The Committee received the report on the findings of the commissioned Local Government Association (LGA) Early Years review; Medway priorities; existing provision; emerging issues and planned next steps.

Members raised several comments and questions which included:

Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND)- it was commented that there was an increase in children with SEND and complex issues and it was asked, in light of workforce gaps and size of the Team if the SEND funding in place was sufficient enough to meet needs. The Committee was informed that Special Educational Needs Inclusion Funding (SENIF) was a large part of the commissioned review, with exploration of whether it was being utilised efficiently. The review highlighted that SENIF funding was not claimed by many settings, there were issues with settings understanding of processes which impacted their ability to claim. This was a gap highlighted by the review and work was being undertaken to encourage and support providers to submit claims. An increase in claimants would enable the teams to better gauge whether it was sufficient or not to meet needs.

Capacity - in response to a question on whether it was known how many children  were not accessing early years placements, the Committee learned that there were 7000 available places, with take up of 4000. An annual audit is undertaken, and it was difficult to disaggregate it with children with additional needs. The focus was on working in partnership with settings on being inclusive and addressing barriers to meeting the rise in children with complex needs. Government funding was being utilised on wrap around care, and provision of greater childcare support to enable parents to return to work should they want to. 

In response to a further question on what was being done by the service  to increase confidence of providers to take on more SEND children, the Committee was informed that whilst the numbers of take up of the free childcare offer was known, it was unknown how many were SEND as children did not receive a formal diagnosis at such a young age. On examining the data of total pupil population, there were 4.3% of children with EHCP in place as they became older, so an assumption could be made of numbers at a young age. The focus however was identifying needs at early age, provision of support with inclusion for early years settings and encouraging to access SENIF and putting in place support for children prior to diagnoses. Few children had a diagnosis at early stage and those that did attended specialist nurseries.

Focus on quality - in response to a comment on how to remain focused on quality with reduced workforce capacity, the officer said that all providers were Ofsted inspected and when it was known that a setting required additional support, a team was commissioned to go in to address areas of improvement and progress tracked. Capacity was also being built in to share good practice through the Early Years Forum and newsletter.

Decision:

a)     The Committee noted the report.

b)     That an update on the recommendations in this report come back to the board in 9 months.