Early Years and Childcare Update - 26 June 2025

Welcome to this week's Early Years and Childcare update!

This week's update includes information on:

Please feel free to share this update with anyone you think would benefit from accessing this content. 

If you have any questions or feedback, please contact familyinformation@birmingham.gov.uk

Nominate a Provider Portal User

As you may already be aware, the Early Years and Childcare Team has launched a new Information Portal for providers called the Nexus Provider Portal. 

Many providers have already nominated a Nexus Provider Portal user. If you haven’t already done so, please do this today using our online form. You can have accounts for up to four people within your organisation. 

The introduction of this portal will enable us to:

  • strengthen the information that we collect from you to support our sufficiency data
  • improve the information that we can provide to parents and third parties when they are looking for childcare options
  • contact you more efficiently.  

Please note: Completing this form does not immediately create your account. After we verify the nominated user form, we will send you a link to create your Provider Portal account.

If you have any queries about the Nexus Provider Portal, please contact FamilyInformation@birmingham.gov.uk.

Summer Water Safety

47% of UK accidental drownings occur between May and August. We also see a heightened risk of drowning when air temperatures are higher. When UK average maximum air temperatures reach or exceed 25°C: Summer Water Safety | Royal Life Saving Society UK ( RLSS UK)

Accidents are mostly preventable with the correct knowledge and judgment and here are our tips to staying safe in the water during the summer: Summer Water Safety

Early Words Together

Early Words Together by National Literacy Trust is a DfE approved programme that aims to support the communication, language, and early literacy of young children aged 3-4 through evidence-based activities which lead to improvements in their home learning environments. The programme is delivered to small groups of families over 6 weeks, led by practitioners and volunteers. It empowers parents to develop and enrich the home learning environment and support their child's early language and literacy.

Programme Aims

  • Support communication, language, and early literacy of children aged 3–4 through evidence-based activities.
  • Improve confidence and understanding of children’s language development.
  • Support sustained positive changes to the home learning environment (HLE).
  • Foster partnerships between practitioners and families, and across local systems.
  • Close the language gap among children of different socio-economic classes.

Programme Objectives

  • Close the language gap among children of different socio-economic statuses.
  • Improve HLE as parents feel empowered as their child’s first educator.
  • Foster educator-parent partnerships.
  • Build practitioner networks using evidence-based strategies.
  • Raise community expectations for children’s communication, language, and literacy (CLL) development.

Programme Content

  • One-day practitioner training by the National Literacy Trust.
  • Toolkits with six detailed session plans.
  • Project management support including training, implementation, QA, and network facilitation.
  • Volunteer training for peer support.
  • Pre- and post-surveys for evaluation (provided by the Trust).

Benefits

  • Parental Engagement: Improved communication and mutual understanding between parents and practitioners.
  • Parental Awareness: Parents learn the importance of play and conversation.
  • Home Learning: Parents gain ideas and confidence to support learning at home.
  • Child Development: Improved school readiness and classroom outcomes.

This training is FREE and suitable for all Birmingham Early Years Providers, EEE Funding Registered Day Nurseries, Nursery Schools and School Nursery Classes, Childminders, Family Hubs and Children’s Centre settings.

Please complete the expression of interest form below to apply for a place on the Early Words Together programme by National Literacy Trust. Please note that spaces are limited, with capacity for only 30 settings to participate in Birmingham. The programme is funded by the DfE's Family Hubs initiative and all resources for families will be provided at no extra cost. To take part, your setting must have adequate space for families and children to work together. The programme is expected to begin in Autumn term 2 and continue through Spring term 2026. Places will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.

https://forms.office.com/e/WLeEgspKcb

Please feel free to share the Early Words Together programme flyer.

Free Online Storytelling 

A Fiesta of Stories

Join us for a FREE online storytelling celebration for Early Years settings and families as part of the Fiesta Finale on Friday 4 July 2025. Enjoy six lively storytelling sessions throughout the day:

  • Morning – 9:30–10:00am, 10:15–10:45am, 11:00–11:30am
  • Afternoon – 1:30–2:00pm, 2:00–2:30pm, 2:30–3:00pm

Younger and older children are welcome—whether at home or at school.

All sessions will be delivered via Zoom. To register, please complete this form: https://forms.gle/iKHy6HCuhCQ5cUrG8

To find out more, please click here.

Important Information from Public Health Regarding Measles

What is measles?

Measles cases have been increasing across Birmingham. Measles is a very infectious disease that spreads easily and can lead to serious health complications, particularly for vulnerable individuals, including those who have weakened immune systems or are pregnant. Outbreaks can happen when not enough people have been immunised. 

To protect your early years setting and community from measles, please share this flyer with children and parents so that they know how to stay safe from measles: How to protect yourself and your family from measles.

What are the symptoms of measles?

Measles usually starts with cold-like symptoms. The first symptoms of measles include:

  • a high temperature
  • a runny or blocked nose
  • sneezing
  • a cough
  • red, sore, watery eyes

A rash usually appears a few days after the cold-like symptoms. The rash starts on the face and behind the ears before spreading to the rest of the body. Some people may also get small spots in their mouth, particularly inside the cheeks and on the back of the lips. To learn more about symptoms, visit https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/measles/

What should you do if you or someone in your early years setting has suspected measles? 

If a child develops symptoms in your early years setting, urgently ask their parents to contact their GP.  Parents must contact the surgery by telephone before visiting and tell the reception staff that they think that their child may have measles. They cannot attend the surgery unless they are asked to. The doctor will make special arrangements to see the child so that if they have measles, they won’t pass it on to others.

If you suspect that someone in your early years setting has measles, please contact your UKHSA Health Protection team (HPT). The HPT will do a risk assessment and determine what actions are needed. You can find your UKHSA HPT by visiting https://www.gov.uk/health-protection-team, or call 0344 225 3560.

How can you protect yourself and others from measles?

The MMR immunisation is the best way to protect yourself and others against measles because it is:

  • effective 
  • safe
  • free of charge

2 doses of the MMR immunisation are needed to give the best protection against measles. The first dose of the MMR immunisation is normally given soon after the first birthday, and a second dose before starting school, but you can catch-up with missed MMR doses at any age.

Research has shown there is no link between the MMR immunisation and autism.

The MMR immunisation is safe for all faiths and cultures. A pork-free version is available for those who avoid pork products. It is available at every GP practice, and it is free.

Further information on the MMR immunisation can be found on the NHS website: https://www.nhs.uk/vaccinations/mmr-vaccine/.

Thank you for your continued support in helping us keep Birmingham safe and healthy. 

Early Education Entitlements

2-year-olds: Disadvantaged and Working

Disadvantaged 2-year-old funding application

Working Code Application via HMRC

Working entitlement will be increasing to 30 hours from Autumn 25 term

From September any child who meets the eligibility criteria for both the disadvantaged and working entitlement will be advised to claim 15 hours of each entitlement.

  • 15 hours disadvantaged funding – with an eligible EY2 code.
  • 15 hours of working entitlement with a valid and eligible working code.

Providers must confirm the eligibility of both codes – working codes must have a validity start date before the start of term. 

If the parent loses their working entitlement, they can continue to claim the disadvantaged funding.

Working Codes Autumn 2025

Please ensure you have checked codes ready for Autumn term, before children start.  Working entitlement for children aged 9 months to 3-years will be eligible for 30 working hours, provided they have an eligible code.

Your parent will need to apply or reconfirm now before and receive their code before 31st August 2025.

Working Entitlement codes for 9 months, 2-, 3- and 4-year-olds.

(501******** / 400******** / 114********)

Please check your parents’ Working Entitlement codes before confirming places. Do you have parents that may be entitled? They need to apply now.

For existing parents is good practice to encourage them to remain within their validity dates, parents can do this by reconfirming their code every 12 weeks. Remind parents towards the end of term to do this.

Whilst parents are responsible for maintaining their codes on their childcare accounts with HMRC, we would expect providers to be informing parents and reminding them to apply or reconfirm within the deadlines. You will need to check your parents’ codes on Portal. For Autumn term, you are looking for a validity start date on or before 31st August 2025. For parents who have reconfirmed late and fallen out of grace period or parents who have made late applications after 31st August 2025, this will result in codes not being eligible for Autumn term 2025. 

Children will not be funded for the working entitlement 30 hours if they have a code with has expired or was applied after the deadline. Any 3- and 4-year-olds will then be entitled to the Universal 15 hours only.

There may be a very small number of families eligible for 2 year funding under the current disadvantaged eligibility criteria who may also be eligible for the working entitlement. These parents should be encouraged to claim both elements – a total of 30 hours (claiming 15 hours of each).

Please refer parents to Childcare Choices for further information on Working Entitlement.

WellComm Data Collection

The WellComm Data Spreadsheet is intended to assist in collating your WellComm screening results. The spreadsheet includes instructions for its use, a page for entering all of your children's screening results, and an automated analysis page. This analysis page offers a comprehensive summary of the data required for completing the WellComm Data Collection form. Using the spreadsheet is optional, as you may have already developed your own, and it is for your use only and not to be returned to us. We ask that you share your screening data through the online data collection form.

Thank you to the day nurseries, childminders and preschool playgroups that have shared their WellComm screenings on their EEE portal headcount submission in May. You will not be required to fill out the online WellComm data collection form as we already have your screening data.

If you are a school, maintained nursery school or PVI setting that has not shared your screening results on the EEE portal please complete the summer term WellComm data collection form.

The deadline for the form to be submitted is Thursday 31st August 2025.

To complete the survey, please click here.

WellComm data collection sessions

We will be holding 4 online sessions in July to demonstrate how to use the WellComm data spreadsheet, complete the data collection form and prepare for sharing your WellComm screens on the EEE portal from the autumn term. You will have the opportunity to ask questions and be signposted to practical support if required. Please use the booking links below for your preferred date.

Early Talk Boost

This training is FREE and funded by Birmingham City Council, suitable for Birmingham EEE Funding Registered Day Nurseries, Nursery Schools, and School Nursery Classes.

Early Talk Boost is a targeted intervention aimed at 3-4-year-old children who need help with talking and understanding words, helping to boost their language skills to narrow the gap between them and their peers. The programme aims to accelerate children’s progress in language and communication by an average of 6 months, after a nine-week intervention. 

Children selected to take part in the intervention will attend three sessions per week during circle/story time, each lasting 15-20 minutes, delivered by an early year’s practitioner. The sessions activities include the foundation skills in speech, language, and communication that children need for learning and understanding new words, as well as having conversations. The training is delivered face to face and each setting will receive two boxes of Early Talk Boost resources.

The sessions take place at 9.30am – 3.00pm with a 20-person capacity:

4 NEW DATES:

  • Tuesday 1st July, Anthony Road Children's Centre, 80 Anthony Road, Alum Rock, B8 3AA
  • Tuesday 8th July 2025, Hodge Hill Family Hub (Dyson Garden's Children's Centre), Highfield Road, Saltley, B8 3QF
  • Wednesday 13th August 2025, Edgbaston Family Hub (Doddington Children's Centre), 28 Doddington Grove, B32 4EL
  • Monday 18th August 2025, Erdington Family Hub (Lakeside Children's Centre), 22 Lakes Road, B23 7UH

Settings to fill out a Microsoft form and choose their preferred date https://forms.office.com/e/znJaMgzt9C  

This entry was posted by Jessica Wykes on 25/06/2025.

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