EYCC Noticeboard

Early Years and Childcare Update - 16 April 2026

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.

Birmingham’s Best Start in Life Strategy – Initial Draft Now Live

We are pleased to share that the initial draft of the Birmingham Best Start in Life Strategy is now live on the Birmingham City Council website.

The Best Start in Life Strategy sets out a shared vision for how Birmingham will work together to ensure every child is safe, healthy, included, confident and ready to learn.

Developed in partnership with the Centre for Research in Early Childhood (CREC), the strategy brings together early education and childcare, health, family support and community services around a common purpose: giving every child the best possible start in life.

Co‑production sits at the heart of the strategy. The draft has been shaped through engagement with early years and childcare providers, professionals, partners, and parents/carers across the city.

For early years and childcare providers, the strategy offers a clear shared direction, supports stronger partnership working, and reinforces the importance of quality, inclusion and early development.

This is a draft – and your feedback matters

This version has been published to support ongoing co‑production. Feedback is crucial in helping to shape the final iteration:

Child Safety Week: 1st – 7th June 2026 

This year’s theme is Making Prevention Possible and CAPT (Child Accident Prevention Trust) are on a mission to empower families to make simple changes without feeling overwhelmed. 
 
You can help by sharing messages far and wide: Grab your 2026 resources.

Fresh on the website you'll find: 

  • Parent Pack - Get the latest version of our parent pack with top tips to share with your communities. Includes all of our fact sheets on the most serious accident risks.  
  • Display pack - Bring your Child Safety Week displays to life with our colourful posters. Includes our brand new Child Safety Week poster for 2026.  
  • Information Pack  - Your guide to the theme, what’s available and why your involvement is so important. 
  • Logo  - Add the We support Child Safety Week logo to your website and emails. 
  • Social media pack - Sharing our posts throughout the week is an easy win. If you want to get your social sorted in advance, this is the pack for you. 

National Year of Reading 2026 

The National Year of Reading 2026 is the biggest campaign in a generation designed to help more people (re)discover the joy of reading and make it part of their everyday lives. 

Reading expands our world and sharpens our minds, yet fewer people are making time to read. A Department for Education initiative, in collaboration with the National Literacy Trust, the campaign aims to tackle the profound decline in reading enjoyment in the UK and reconnect people of all ages with reading as a relevant and immediately rewarding activity. The campaign asks the nation to Go All In on their passions and interests for 2026 and discover how reading can unlock the things they already love – be that music, football, baking, family-time, sci-fi, or anything!

Schools and Early Years settings can take part in a flexible, programme packed with professional learning opportunities and unmissable events for your children and young people. Join this monumental national celebration of reading designed to bring reading to life in classrooms, corridors, playgrounds and communities. You can join the Go All In campaign and download an Early Years toolkit of resources Schools And Early Years Settings Offer Toolkit & Resources | National Year Of Reading | National Literacy Trust.

Wraparound Childcare Opportunity

Grendon Primary School have an opportunity to host a good quality Wraparound Childcare provider at their school based in Kings Heath, Birmingham. 

The provider will be required to deliver Before and After school provision for fee paying parents of primary school age children from January 2027. 

The successful provider will be: 

  • Ofsted Registered at the time of opening 
  • Have experience of running good quality Before and After school provision 
  • Be happy to work to the school ethos and be part of the Grendon Primary School community. 

The successful provider will have the opportunity to apply to Birmingham City Council for Wraparound Childcare Start Up Funding. 

The school will use a formal application process to appoint the successful provider.  

Applications will be accepted until 23:59 pm Wednesday 20th May 2026  

If you are interested in applying for this fantastic opportunity, please contact the Head Teacher Mrs Helen Ridley directly at: hridley@grendon.bham.sch.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 and 5pm except Bank Holidays. 

Two 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 and 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!  

NEW Inclusive Practice in Early Years Resources from a Collaboration Between Childcare Works and Dingley’s Promise 

Creating an inclusive environment is essential for every child to thrive. To help you achieve this, Childcare Works, in collaboration with Dingley’s Promise (England’s largest specialist provider of nursery education for children under 5 with SEND) has developed a collection of practical resources designed to support inclusive practice in your setting. 

What’s Included? 

Note: Birmingham’s Ordinarily Available Provision document is called Ordinarily Available Guidance (OAG). 

We have three versions available: 

  1. Early Years Ordinarily Available Guidance 
  2. School Age Ordinarily Available Guidance 
  3. Post-16 Ordinarily Available Guidance 

The Early Years version is currently in draft form but can still be used. 

How to Access: 

Click the links or visit: Dingley’s Promise and Childcare Works: Inclusive Practice in the Early Years 

Speech, Language and Communication (SLC) and the Home Learning Environment (HLE)

Deadline extension for Spring Term WellComm Data Collection

Thank you to the settings that have returned the Spring Term WellComm Data Collection Form. We can appreciate that the end of term is a busy time, therefore we have extended the deadline for submission to 20th April 2026.

To complete the survey, please click Primary Schools and Maintained Nursery Schools WellComm Data Collection Spring 2026 – Fill in form. 

We have developed a WellComm Spreadsheet to assist you in collating your 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. You can download a copy of the spreadsheet at this link Guidance for using the Excel spreadsheet to record pupil level data for WellComm - Schools | Birmingham City Council.

If you have questions about WellComm screening or speech and language interventions for early years children please email eyduty@birmingham.gov.uk or call 0121 675 4996.

Introduction to WellComm training 

For the attention of EEE providers.

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. If you are not yet using WellComm to screen your children’s speech and language, please attend one of our online training sessions. Birmingham City Council will fully fund one WellComm Toolkit for all schools, nurseries, pre-schools, and childminders registered to offer Early Education Entitlement (EEE) places. Early Years settings need to attend an ‘Introduction to WellComm’ workshop. During the workshop, you will be provided with instructions on how to receive your 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. 

Please click the link next to your preferred date to book your place:

How confident are you that your setting can clearly demonstrate to Ofsted the support you provide for Birmingham’s children in care?

For the attention of Early Years Providers.

Do leaders and practitioners in your setting feel confident about how to robustly support children in care? 

Are staff clear about the key processes and paperwork required and why they matter? 

Do leaders and practitioners understand which meetings they are expected to contribute to and the purpose of their involvement? 

We want to help you to be able to confidently demonstrate how your setting supports and champions Birmingham’s children in care! 

Even if you do not currently have any children in care to support, you can never be too prepared as a child can become a child in care overnight.  Therefore, we urge you to prepare now by attending one of our free briefings aimed at supporting you to robustly respond to the needs of Birmingham’s Children in Care. 

The briefing is titled Target Setting for Early Years Personal Education Plans (PEPs) but goes beyond exploring target setting for Children in Care.  Developed and delivered by Birmingham Virtual School and Birmingham’s Early Years and Childcare Service, this important briefing is designed to support early years practitioners, leaders and managers in setting clear, effective and meaningful targets for Birmingham’s Children in Care, while also exploring the importance of why professionals need to be ready to support children in care. 

Why This Matters 

Too many care-experienced adults continue to face economic instability and limited life opportunities - a reflection of the early disadvantage they often experience due to disrupted attachments, trauma and/or instability. 

To change this narrative, we must act early and with purpose.  It is our shared responsibility to ensure that children in care develop in line with their peers and achieve well.  By doing so, we contribute meaningfully to the collective goal of giving every child the best start in life, as emphasised in national guidance and the Ofsted Early Years Inspection Toolkit, which calls for a robust and inclusive response from all providers. 

This briefing will: 

  • Introduce a practical approach to promoting the developmental progress of early years children in care and furthering all children’s learning outcomes 
  • Briefly explore reasons why children come into care and impact it can have on them 
  • Support you in meeting the requirements for completing early years Personal Education Plans (ePEPs) 

Who Should Attend? 

If your setting is currently supporting children in care — or may do so in future — we strongly recommend that you attend one of these briefings.  The sessions are free and designed to equip you with the tools and confidence to make a real difference. 

How to book your place 

Our next round of briefing sessions will be held next week. We have morning, evening, afternoon and evening sessions which be booked via the following link: 

Book your place via Birmingham Early Years Network  

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. 

New Funded Opportunity: Boost Children’s Early Maths & Good Level of Development (GLD) Outcomes!

For the attention of Maintained and school-based Nursery Schools, Private, Voluntary or Independent (PVI), and Early Years Providers only.

The Department for Education (DfE) has released 5,000 additional fully funded places for the National Day Nurseries Association’s (NDNA) Maths Champions programme - a programme that ordinarily costs £1205!  The Maths Champion programme is a nationally recognised, evidence‑based approach to strengthening early maths across group and school‑based early years settings.

Why this matters?

Strong early maths isn’t just about numbers - it’s a key driver of wider learning.  An independent evaluation by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) stipulates that children in participating nurseries made, on average, three months’ additional progress in maths and language, with an even higher impact on children from disadvantaged backgrounds. 

Direct impact on children’s outcomes & their achievement of a Good Level of Development (GLD):

Improving the quality of everyday maths interactions supports:

  • Higher confidence and engagement in early maths
  • Stronger communication and language skills
  • Secure foundations across multiple EYFS areas

These are all critical ingredients for raising achievement and improving GLD - particularly in Numeracy, Communication & Language, Literacy and Understanding the World.

Put simply: stronger maths talk = stronger learning foundations = stronger GLD outcomes.

What the flexible year‑long programme offers:

  • Practical strategies to embed maths throughout the day
  • Targeted support that builds practitioner confidence
  • Ready‑to‑use tools and guidance that benefit the whole setting

How to apply?

Funded places are limited so act now so that you do not miss the chance to secure a place for your setting.

Apply for funded places here: Maths Champions Expression of Interest

For more information about the programme, please click here.

Register Your Interest: Fully Funded Specialist Baby Room Practice Training for Birmingham Practitioners (Limited Spaces)

This training is for Baby Room Practitioners in Birmingham Early Years Settings. 

Birmingham Early Years practitioners are invited to register their interest in attending a fully funded specialist Baby Room training programme, designed to strengthen practice for babies in Birmingham by enhancing the work of existing baby room practitioners across the city. 

This five session programme, funded by the Department for Education, will be delivered through the HEART Midlands Early Years Stronger Practice Hub by Clare Stead.  Clare is an Early Years specialist, trainer and researcher with over 20 years’ experience in education.  Clare is also internationally recognised for her work on baby brain development and the first 1,000 days.  She’s experienced in helping practitioners to move baby room provision beyond care routines to environments where babies can truly thrive. 

About the Training Programme 

This programme will explore how high-quality baby room environments, interactions and partnerships can support babies’ learning, development and wellbeing. 

Participants must be able to commit to attending all five sessions. 

Programme Structure 

  • Day 1 – Full day (in person) - Wednesday 20th May 2026 - 9.30am to 4pm 
  • The First 1,000 Days & Neural Growth 
  • Day 2 – 2 hours (online) - Wednesday 10th June 2026 - 10.30am to 12.30pm 
  • Connecting Through Communication 
  • Day 3 – Full day (in person) - Thursday 25th June 2026 - 9.30am to 4pm 
  • Space, Movement & Rhythm for Development 
  • Day 4 – 2 hours (online) - Wednesday 8th July 2026 - 10.30am to 12.30pm 
  • Observation, Planning and Partnership 
  • Day 5 – 2 hours (online) - Wednesday 22nd July 2026 - 10.30am to 12.30pm 
  • Sustaining Curiosity & Growth: Reflection 

Who Is This Programme For? 

  • Baby room practitioners working with children aged 0–2 
  • Practitioners currently based in Birmingham Early Years settings 
  • Staff with a specific responsibility or interest in baby room practice 
  • Practitioners who can commit to the full programme including the completion of pre and post training questionnaires 

Spaces are limited to 30 practitioners to ensure high-quality learning, discussion and reflection. 

How to Register Your Interest 

If you would like to be considered for a place, please register your interest via the following Microsoft Form: 

Click here to register your interest 

Deadline: This form will close at 12:00 noon on Thursday 30 April 2026, or earlier if high levels of interest are received. 

Submitting the form does not guarantee a place. If demand exceeds capacity, places will be allocated to ensure a spread across Birmingham settings and to maximise impact. 

This programme is being delivered through the HEART Midlands Early Years Stronger Practice Hub and is funded by the Department for Education (DfE). 

Wraparound: The missing jigsaw piece in the proposed SEND reforms? Meeting for Wraparound Providers

Thursday the 30th of April, 6:30PM-7:30PM - Our next peer network for wraparound care providers.

We have decided to dedicate this next peer network meeting to doing our very best to make sure your sector is represented in the government's consultation about the proposed SEND reforms. We feel strongly that the proposals are showing a gap at present as they are entirely focused on schools and the early years sector, and completely miss an opportunity to support the wraparound or out of school sector.

We know you play a crucial part in supporting families with school age children, and that you do an amazing job of supporting inclusion in your settings. We also know, however, that inclusion can be very challenging without support, and that sometimes children and families miss out as a result.

Please join us for a dedicated conversation to support as many settings as possible to respond to the consultation and make sure the wraparound sector has a voice in these proposed changes.

Who Should Attend?

The meeting is open to the wraparound sector in its widest sense, so breakfast clubs, after school clubs and holiday clubs, Holiday Activities and Food providers, leisure and sports providers, voluntary and community groups, short breaks providers and schools too.

How Do I Join?

This is a free event and open event hosted by Families First.

When: Thursday the 30th of April, 6.30–7.30pm

Where: Zoom

PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR THE MEETING LINK.

Please contact info@familiesfirst.org.uk for any questions or if you have difficulty accessing the link.

www.familiesfirst.org.uk

 

This entry was posted by Jessica Wykes on 15/04/2026.

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