This week's update includes information on:

• Nominate a Provider Portal User
• Summer Immunisation Reminder and Important Changes to the Routine Childhood Immunisation Programme
• Using Button and Coin Batteries
• Early Words Together
• Early Education Entitlement
  • WellComm Data Collection
• Early Talk Boost

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 Immunisation Reminder and Important Changes to the Routine Childhood Immunisation Programme

The summer holidays are the perfect opportunity to catch up on any missed immunisations ahead of the new term in September, especially in light of the measles outbreak of 2023/24 and the recent measles cases in Birmingham.

Sally Burns, Director of Public Health at Birmingham City Council, and Ruth Tennant, Director of Public Health at Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council, have written a letter to parents to encourage them to get their children immunised over the summer break. The letter also includes information on updates to the routine childhood immunisation schedule.

Please could the letter be shared with parents before the summer holidays to ensure plenty of time for appointment bookings before the next academic year begins: Summer immunisation reminders and schedule changes letter

We have also shared a video from Dr Naveed Syed at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) reminding parents that the summer break is a great time to catch up on any missed immunisations. This video can be accessed at this link, and shared with parents via your usual online communications with parents.

If you have any questions, please email the Birmingham City Council Health Protection Team on HPTeam@birmingham.gov.uk

Using Button and Coin Batteries

The Government have produced updates on the guidance for the use of button and coin batteries for those businesses producing toys and resources with button batteries.

It highlights the importance of careful use and disposal of these for all providers.

Please find further information here:

• https://www.gov.uk/guidance/using-button-and-coin-batteries
• https://capt.org.uk/resources/watch-dangers-of-button-batteries/

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.

Early Education 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.

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:

2 NEW DATES:

• 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

Fill out a Microsoft form and choose your preferred date https://forms.office.com/e/znJaMgzt9C