EYCC Noticeboard

Early Years and Childcare Update - 13 November 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
  • 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.

Inclusion: Raising Awareness across all childcare settings in Birmingham (Free In person Workshop) 

Diverse Beginnings: Enhancing Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Childcare Settings is our free in-person workshop for all Birmingham providers of Early Years and Childcare. 

This workshop is suitable for all practitioners, managers, provision owners and directors, but spaces are limited.   

We are inviting early years and childcare providers across Birmingham to join us for a powerful in-person workshop designed to support and strengthen inclusive practice in your setting. We’ve listened to the sector and moved this workshop offer away from online formats to create a more impactful, collaborative learning space. 

Why Attend? 

This session is more than just a workshop – it’s a space for real connection, reflection and action.  Developed in response to sector feedback, Diverse Beginnings offers a rare opportunity to come together in person to explore how Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) can be meaningfully embedded across all aspects of early years and childcare provision. 

Together we’ll: 

  • Raise awareness of EDI within the context of early years practice 
  • Explore how EDI principles can be integrated into recruitment, routines, leadership and beyond 
  • Share experiences and reflect with peers in a supportive, face-to-face environment 
  • Feel empowered to champion inclusive and equitable approaches in your own setting 

Why Now? 

The new Ofsted Early Years Toolkit places a strong emphasis on inclusion. From November 2025, Ofsted will be considering: 

“The commitment of leaders and those responsible for governance to provide high standards of education and care to improve the lives of all children, especially those receiving statutory support, including disadvantaged children, those with SEND, those who are known (or previously known) to children’s social care, and those who may face barriers to their learning and/or well-being” 

This workshop will help you strengthen your inclusive practice, with confidence and enhanced clarity. 

Please note spaces are limited. 

This is a free workshop, but places are limited and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.   

Don’t miss out – book your place today and be part of the change. For more information about the venues and to access our booking links, please follow the links below: 

Other inclusion subject-based training and resources available to you for free include: 

Need support? Talk to us: 

If you need advice, guidance or support on any Early Years or Childcare topics, the Birmingham Early Years and Childcare Service is here to help. 

You can speak directly with an experienced Early Years Consultant who can offer support and expert insight. Contact us via our Early Years Duty Line on 0121 675 4996 or email us eyduty@birmingham.gov.uk Monday – Friday between 9am & 5pm except Bank Holidays. 

2 New Free Courses: Strengthen Inclusion with Dingley’s Promise 

Dingley’s Promise are thrilled to launch two brand new, expert-led training courses, fully funded by Comic Relief. 

  1. An Inclusive Approach to Curriculum & Assessment 

This course is designed to help practitioners build the confidence and knowledge to ensure their curriculum is underpinned by inclusive practice. You will learn to make necessary adaptations so your curriculum is accessible for all children and understand how to use effective assessment tools to identify needs early and accelerate learning. 

Inclusive curriculum assessment | Birmingham City Council

  1. Supporting Communication Development for Early Years Children with SEND 

Designed to respond to the growing number of children with early communication challenges, this course explores the stages of development and the barriers children with SEND can face. You will gain the confidence to identify needs and act quickly to support every child's communication journey. 

Developing communication in early years | Birmingham City Council

See the attached leaflets for further course information. 

Sign up to access the new courses here: 

https://forms.office.com/e/V3zvR1cPKr 

Other free courses available from Dingley’s Promise includes: 

  • An introduction to Early Years Inclusive Practice 
  • Early Years SEND Transitions  
  • Managing Behaviours that Challenge   
  • Having Difficult Conversations with Families 
  • Voice of the Child   
  • Leadership and Management for Inclusion 
  • Intersections within Early Years Practice 

You can access these other courses here - Comic Relief Early Years Inclusion Programme - Dingley's Promise but remember, free access to all of these 9 courses is only available for a limited time, so it's a good idea to prioritise completing them while you can!  

Wraparound Funding Opportunities

Millions in school funding still available.

Wraparound Childcare Grant Funding Opportunity  

As part of the government’s ambition, by September 2026 all parents and carers of primary school-aged children who need it should be able to access Wraparound childcare between 8:00am and 6:00pm during term time.  

Whether your school is planning to launch a new club or expand an existing one, we encourage providers to take advantage of the available funding. This is a valuable opportunity to establish new provision or increase the capacity of current clubs to better meet the needs of local families.  

What can you apply for?  

  • Creation of places: Create both new before school provision and after-school provision - where there is currently no provision.  
  • Extend hours: Extend the hours to meet full wraparound definition (8am to 6pm) - where you already provide wraparound, but it does not meet the 8am to 6pm expectation.  
  • Expand provision: Introduce before school provision or after school provision - where you have no existing provision in place to meet the full wraparound definition or increase the number of places currently on offer.  

Benefits of wraparound care provision  

  • Boost Attendance and Engagement - Children thrive with consistent routines and enriching activities that make school a place they love to be.  
  • Support Working Families - Flexible care options help parents balance work and family life, reducing stress and increasing satisfaction.  
  • Enhance Learning and Wellbeing - From homework clubs to creative arts, sports, and mindfulness — WAC offers holistic development in a safe, inclusive environment.  
  • Strengthen Community Ties - Your school becomes more than a place of learning — it becomes a trusted space for growth, connection, and opportunity.  
  • Makes your school more appealing to families - As more parents return to work, schools that offer flexible childcare options become increasingly attractive.     

Why apply?  

By applying for the Wraparound childcare grant you could receive:  

  • Thousands of pounds in funding to cover initial start-up costs for staffing, purchase of equipment, marketing and day to day premise costs.  
  • Tailored support from your own Development worker to support you through the application process.  
  • Parent survey templates to help ascertain parental demand  
  • Step by step guidance to support with hosting a PVI to run your Wraparound childcare provision  

How do you get involved?  

We’re inviting you to be part of this exciting journey. If you recognise that this is an opportunity not to be missed, complete the quick expression of interest form to determine whether your application is likely to be successful and walk you through the process.  

Still have questions? Contact us at WAC@birmingham.gov.uk   

Let’s work together to make school a place where every child has the chance to shine — before, during, and after the school day.  

Early Education Entitlement

Consumables 

The Early education and childcare statutory guidance is clear that anything provided over and above the free hours must be voluntary to parents. Your chargeable extras need to be clear, up to date and easily accessible and from January 2026 they must be included on your website where you have one.  

Your invoices and receipts must be itemised and provide a clear break down of the free hours, additional paid hours, food charges, non-food charges, activity charges.  

You can charge for: 

  • consumables to be used by the child, such as nappies or sun cream 
  • meals and snacks consumed by the child 
  • extra optional activities such as events, celebrations, specialist tuition (for example music classes or foreign languages) or other activities that are not directly related or necessary for the effective delivery of the EarlyYears Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework 
  • additional, private paid hours according to your usual terms and conditions provided that taking up private paid hours is not a condition of accessing a free place 

You cannot make the following charges:  

  • top-up fees (any difference between a provider’s normal charge to parents and the funding they receive from the local authority to deliver free places)
  • the supply of or use of any materials, including, but not limited to, craft materials, crayons, paper, books, instruments, toys, or other equipment or learning resources that are necessary for the effective delivery of childcare 
  • business running costs, including, but not limited to, rent, staff wages, cleaning materials, insurance, or utility bills such as energy, gas or water 
  • registration fees as a condition of taking up a child’s free entitlement place 
  • non-refundable deposits as a condition of taking up a child’s entitlement place 
  • general charges, including but not limited to, non-itemised enrichment charges, sustainability charges, business continuity charges, additional charges, enhanced ratios, hourly rates, or any other supplementary charges on top of the free hours 
  • any additional fees that are not specifically identified and itemised as being for chargeable extras as described in A1.33. 

You cannot ask parents to collect their children in the middle of a funded day to feed their children and return them back to the setting, or for example, only offer 10- midday and 1-3 entitlement hours with only private hours in between, as this is not reasonable and creates an artificial break in the day. 

All providers (PVI’s and schools) will have received an email this week about consumables charges with additional information included. 

WellComm Data Training 

If you are not yet using WellComm to screen your children’s speech and language, please attend one of our online training sessions to receive your free WellComm toolkit. Settings that have received a WellComm screening tool can continue to send staff that are new or require a refresher of how to use WellComm onto the training. We have training sessions available until the end of the year. Please click your preferred date to book your place. 

Guidance for using the Excel spreadsheet to record pupil level data for WellComm - PVI | Birmingham City Council

WellComm Data Collection for Schools and Nursery Schools 

WellComm is the approved screening tool in Birmingham, and it supports a consistent universal approach to assessing and supporting children’s speech, language and communication needs. We ask each setting to share their termly screening data with us so that we can track the impact of the WellComm screening tool. For schools and nursery schools we collect your WellComm data via an online form each term. The Autumn term data collection form is now available for schools and Nursery Schools. If you are a day nursery or childminder, you do not complete this form. 

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

To complete the survey, please click here.

Guidance for using the Excel spreadsheet to record pupil level data for WellComm - Schools | Birmingham City Council

Schools-based Nursery Programme – Phase 2 

For the attention of Schools, Maintained Nursery Schools (MNS), and Early Years Providers.

You may have already seen the 5th September 2025 announcement from DfE regards the roll out of Phase 2 of the Schools Based Nursery Capital Programme. 

Key Headlines are: 

  • Up to £150,000 Capital Funding is available to support the expansion or creation of onsite nursery provision. 
  • This phase supports projects ready to offer new childcare places in 2026/27. 
  • Funding is available to support childcare managed by School governing bodies on primary school sites, Maintained Nursery Schools, PVI providers and Childminders delivering nursery provision on a school site.
  • The online application process opens on the 22nd September 2025 and closes on the 11th December 2025. 
  • Schools have to apply to DfE direct. 
  • Local authorities will have a key role to play in assessing the suitability of proposed projects in line with their sufficiency duty. 
  • Schools will need to submit an LA Approval Form signed by the LA to support their application.  

 Please follow the following links for more information: 

If you want to discuss your proposal, share information and seek LA approval please contact: Kevin Caulfield, Childcare Sufficiency and Early Education Entitlement Strategy Manager. 

Email: Kevin.caulfield@birmingham.gov.uk

Early Talk Boost Training Sessions - New Dates Added for Autumn Term 2025

For the attention of EEE, Schools, Maintained Nursery Schools (MNS) and Early Years Providers.

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 include activities that cover 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 2 boxes of Early talk Boost resources.

New Dates Added for Autumn Term 2025:

09.30 – 15.00 – Face to Face training at venues listed below:

  • Monday 17th November 2025, Erdington Family Hub (Lakeside Children’s Centre), 22 Lakes Rd, Birmingham, B23 7UH
  • Tuesday 2nd December 2025, Perry Barr Family Hub (Rookery Children's Centre), 60 Mount Pleasant Avenue, Birmingham, B21 9QA
  • Monday 8th December 2025, Edgbaston Family Hub (Doddington Children’s Centre), 28 Doddington Grove, Birmingham, B32 4EL

Please note: There is a limit of 20 places per venue.

Settings to fill out a Microsoft form and choose their preferred date via this link: Expression of Interest for Early Talk Boost Training.

This training is suitable for Birmingham EEE Funding Registered Day Nurseries, Nursery Schools and School Nursery Classes.

This entry was posted by Jessica Wykes on 12/11/2025.

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