EYCC Noticeboard

Early Years and Childcare Update - 01 October 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.

Who needs a Nexus Provider Portal account?

The Nexus Provider Portal is required for Private, Voluntary and Independent (PVI) providers that have registered provision for children of all ages. It is also required for Maintained Nursery Schools (MNS) where there is registered PVI provision for children under two years old.

School-based nurseries and schools do NOT require a Nexus Provider Portal account. These settings should continue to use Pendulum for all funding and provider-related processes

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

What’s on? Autumn Term CPD Round-Up

A skilled, confident and knowledgeable workforce is at the heart of giving every child the best start in life. Birmingham's Autumn Term CPD offer provides a wide range of opportunities for practitioners, leaders and childminders to strengthen practice, deepen professional knowledge and improve outcomes for children and families. The Best Start in Life approach places strong emphasis on a workforce that is supported, evidence-informed and committed to continual learning and improvement. 

As you explore this term's training programme, consider: 

  • The needs of the children and families in your setting. 
  • Areas for development identified through your quality assurance, SEND, safeguarding or curriculum reviews. 
  • Priorities highlighted by your district or cluster Early Years Consultant. 
  • The professional interests, aspirations and development needs of your team. 

A well-planned CPD journey can support higher quality provision, strengthen inclusive practice, improve early identification, enhance communication and language development and ultimately help more children thrive. 

Start planning your team's professional learning journey today.  Explore Birmingham’s Autumn Term CPD offer: 

Are thinking about becoming a childminder, starting a group-based childcare business in Birmingham?  We are also here to support you too: 

CPD Reflection Point for Childminders, Leaders and Managers 

Attending training is only the first step.  How will learning be brought back into your setting, shared with colleagues and embedded into everyday practice? Consider how you will create opportunities for reflection, discussion and coaching so that professional development strengthens the knowledge, confidence and capability of the whole team, not just the individuals who attend. 

Together, we can build the skilled, supported and consistent workforce needed to deliver Birmingham's Best Start in Life vision. 

Back by Popular Demand: Building Babies' Brains Specialist Baby Room Programme Returns to Birmingham (Apply Today)

Following the success of the first Birmingham cohort earlier this year, Building Babies' Brains Specialist Baby Room Training is returning for a second time to support Early Years practitioners and childminders working with children aged 0-2.  The programme proved extremely popular with practitioners across the city, with places filling quickly and participants reporting significant improvements in confidence, knowledge and practice. 

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

The previous Birmingham cohort demonstrated exceptionally strong engagement, with all participating practitioners reporting increased confidence in supporting babies' brain development. 

This three-session programme, funded by the Department for Education, will be delivered through the HEART Midlands Early Years Stronger Practice Hub by Clare Stead. 

What Previous Participants Said: 

"The best baby training."  

"My brain is full of so much knowledge. I am so proud of what I do now."  

"Since doing your training it's really opened my eyes and made me think: we don't just look after babies, we build their brains and help them grow." 

"I really enjoyed the training and found the practical examples and discussions helpful. It has made me reflect on my practice and given me ideas that I can use every day." 

"One of the best in-person trainings I have ever attended… I left feeling motivated, confident and proud of the work we do."  

About the Trainer 

Clare Stead is an Early Years specialist, trainer and researcher with over 20 years' experience in education.  She is internationally recognised for her work on baby brain development and the first 1,000 days.  Clare is passionate about helping practitioners move beyond care routines to create environments where babies can truly thrive. 

Programme Structure 

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

Key themes include: 

  • The First 1,000 Days & Neural Growth 
  • Connecting Through Communication 
  • Space, Movement & Rhythm for Development 
  • Observation, Planning and Partnership 
  • Sustaining Curiosity & Growth: Reflection 

Training Dates (In-person) 

  • Day 1: Tuesday 6th October 2026, 9:30am to 4:00pm 
  • Day 2: Tuesday 20th October 2026, 9:30am to 4:00pm 
  • Day 3: Tuesday 3rd November 2026, 9:30am to 4:00pm 

Participants must be able to attend all three sessions. 

Who Is This Programme For? 

  • Baby room practitioners, leads and childminders working with children aged 0-2 
  • Practitioners working in Birmingham Early Years settings 
  • Staff with a specific responsibility for baby room practice 
  • Practitioners able to commit to the full programme and complete pre- and post-training questionnaires 

Limited Places Available 

To ensure high-quality learning, discussion and reflection, places are limited to just 30 practitioners. 

Given the popularity of the previous programme and the highly positive feedback received, we strongly encourage interested practitioners to submit an expression of interest as soon as possible. 

Register Your Interest 

To be considered for a place, please complete the Microsoft Form: Register your interest 

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

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

Early Education Entitlement

EEE Notification Form

As per the EEE terms and conditions of funding you are required to notify us when a child stops attending and / or leaves your setting. The only time you don’t need to notify us is when they leave at their usual transition point to take up their reception class place.  

The terms and conditions of funding state: 

  1. The maximum absence of a child from a provision when claiming EEE funding is four consecutive weeks. Providers must follow their Safeguarding procedures when a funded child does not arrive for a booked session. In addition providers must follow the agreed process for reporting absent and missing children age 0-5 to the Local Authority as detailed in Section 2.94 and Appendix 2. 

  2. Providers must notify the Early Years Team promptly when a child permanently leaves, or is absent for four or more weeks. 

Please ensure that if a child leaves or stops attending that you follow your safeguarding procedures and that you complete the Early Education notification form – which can be found on Birmingham City Council’s Document Website – Early Education Entitlement » EEE Notification Form.

2 year olds: Early Learning and Working 

For PVIs – group care and Childminders – Early Learning 2 year old funding application 

For Nursery Schools – Early Learning 2 year old funding application 

Working Code Application via HMRC 

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 early learning 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. 

Flexible / Exceptional Funding Requests

The flexible funding request form enables a 9 month, 2, 3 or 4 year old who has never accessed a funded place before to start at any point in the term meaning that if they missed headcount they did not have to wait until the next term before they could start at their chosen childcare setting. 

If a 9-23 month, 2, 3 or 4 year old approaches your setting after headcount date has passed and has not accessed a funded place elsewhere (in this local authority or another local authority) you can submit a flexible funding request. 

Please note that the exceptional agreement process is still in place for children that have accessed a place before but need to start at a provider mid-term due to exceptional circumstances, e.g. A move from another local authority, child protection plan, temporary housing move, multi-agency plan etc.  Unfortunately, we cannot approve mid-term moves where parents have changed their mind about which childcare provider they want to use.  

Please do not include children on your claim if they start after headcount. You must use the flexible or exceptional request.   

Forms are available on the BCC Google docs website – 4. Headcount & Portal Information - Google Drive no password is needed. 

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

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:

WellComm Webinars

For the attention of EEE registered settings.

You’ve got the pack, you’ve started a screening, but what next? How can you get the most out of WellComm whilst making it work for you and your setting? 

Birmingham Early Years Networks ‘WellComm in Practice’ sessions offer real, practical advice and the sharing of ideas, supported by the Birmingham Speech and Language Therapy Team and Early Years Consultants.

This is a 'cameras on', interactive session – bring your WellComm pack including the Big Book of Ideas and be ready to share your experiences.

  • 7th October 2026: WellComm Babies
  • 4th November 2026: WellComm Two-Year-Olds
  • 6th January 2027: WellComm Pre-School/Nursery
  • 3rd February 2027: WellComm Reception
  • 3rd March 2027: WellComm Everyday
  • 5th May 2027: WellComm EAL Learners
  • 9th June 2027: WellComm SEND Learners

7th October 2026: This session is ideal for practitioners working in the Baby Room. It will look in more detail at Sections 1, 2 and 3 of the Big Book of Ideas, learn about strategies for effective interactions with younger children/babies and a chance to share ideas and learning.

Please use this link to book your place Webinar Wednesday: WellComm Babies

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 age 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.  

This training is FREE and suitable for all Birmingham Early Years Providers, EEE Funding Registered Day Nurseries, Nursery Schools and School Nursery Classes, Childminders, Best Start 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 10 settings to participate in Birmingham. The programme is funded by the DfE's Best Start 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, 2026. Places will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. 

Expression of Interest for Early Words Together - Academic Year 2026-2027 – Fill in form 

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. 

Early Talk Boost 

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 2026 and Spring term 2027: 

  • Monday 16th November 2026 - Perry Barr Best Start Family Hub, (Rookery Children’s Centre), 60 Mount Pleasant Avenue, Birmingham B21 9QA 
  • Monday 23rd November 2026 - Edgbaston Family Hub (Doddington Children’s Centre), 28 Doddington Grove, Birmingham, B32 4EL
  • Monday 7th December 2026 - Edgbaston Family Hub (Doddington Children’s Centre), 28 Doddington Grove, Birmingham, B32 4EL
  • Monday 14th December 2026 - Perry Barr Best Start Family Hub, (Rookery Children’s Centre), 60 Mount Pleasant Avenue, Birmingham B21 9QA 
  • Monday 11th January 2027 - Perry Barr Best Start Family Hub, (Rookery Children’s Centre), 60 Mount Pleasant Avenue, Birmingham B21 9QA 
  • Monday 8th February 2027 - Perry Barr Best Start Family Hub, (Rookery Children’s Centre), 60 Mount Pleasant Avenue, Birmingham B21 9QA 

More dates will be added soon.

10.00am – 3.00pm – Face to Face training at venues listed above 

20 places per venue 

Settings to fill out a Microsoft form and choose their preferred date: Expression of Interest for Early Talk Boost Training 2026/2027 – Fill in form 

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

Access Free Bitesize Training Suitable for Everyone Who Encounters Families During their Workday 

Do you, or members of your team, meet families as part of your role, even if that contact is indirect or very minimal?  

If you answered “yes,” you’re invited to join a free, short training session: Help Children Talk and Understand Words Where You Work, delivered by Speech and Language UK.  

You could be one of the following:  

  • Administration staff  
  • Transport driver  
  • Contact support staff  
  • Sport coach  
  • Librarian  
  • Shop assistant (or somebody else)  
  • If you have some interaction with families as part of your role (no matter how big or small), then this free, short training session is suitable for you.  The bitesize training provides information about how children learn to talk and communicate and explores five simple strategies that you can use, from within your job role, to help.  

Speech and Language UK will also share some useful links, both locally and nationally, to signpost families to if they are concerned about their child’s speech and language development.  

Where can I access this bitesize training?  

Dates for the sessions are:  

  • Tuesday 13th October 2026: 10.30am – 11.00am 
  • Wednesday 28th October 2026: 1.30pm – 2.00pm 
  • Thursday 12th November 2026: 3.30pm – 4.00pm 
  • Wednesday 18th November 2026: 9.30am – 10.00am 
  • Tuesday 8th December 2026: 12.00 – 12.30pm 
  • Thursday 17th December 2026: 4.30pm – 5.00pm 

Sign up here Booking form: Helping children talk and understand words where you work - Speech and Language UK: Changing young lives

DSL Network for School Aged Childcare Providers

For the attention of Out of School Clubs, Wraparound Providers, and Holiday Playschemes. 

This session is aimed at setting managers and DSLs (Designated Safeguarding Leads) who work with children aged over 5 (wraparound, out of school, holiday playschemes & HAF providers). 

These sessions are led by a Safeguarding Officer and will provide the latest safeguarding information, updates to statutory guidance, emerging themes, local developments and key considerations for providers of school aged childcare. 

These sessions are designed to help settings maintain effective safeguarding arrangements and ensure children remain safe, supported and protected.

DSL Sessions for Early Years and Childcare Providers Autumn Term

There has been a change of date for the Autumn Term DSL Sessions for Early Years and Childcare. 

Please find links below to register for the Autumn Term DSL Sessions. 

Please note: You need only register for one session as the same information is shared 

Look out for the new Termly Newsletter  ‘Safeguarding Matters’ coming soon packed with updates, links, hints and tips. 

This entry was posted by Jessica Wykes on 28/09/2026.

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