2008 NEWS ARCHIVE FOR INFORMATION ONLY
These items all appeared on our news page
during 2008
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2008 NEWS ARCHIVE
2008 NEWS ARCHIVE
NEWS ITEM REPUBLISHED JANUARY 2008
England goes smokefree -
From 1 July 2007 it became
illegal to smoke in virtually all enclosed public places and
workplaces in England.
Because childminders work in domestic premises, the law may apply differently
in some circumstances. NCMA has put together information, checked by the Department
of Health, about how the new law affects childminders and nannies.
To read the document
visit: http://www.ncma.org.uk/download/smokefree.doc
NEWS ITEM ADDED 2008
Confused about the new Ofsted registers?
Ofsted have published a leaflet explaining
the new registers and how it will come
into effect.
NEWS ITEM ADDED 9 FEBRUARY 2008
Updated Early Years Poster
All settings must display the Ofsted Early Years Poster.
This was re-
NEWS ITEM ADDED 13 NOVEMBER 2007
NEW EYFS PUBLICATIONS AVAILABLE TO DOWNLOAD
www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/primary/publications/
foundation_stage/supporting_achievements/
The booklet entitled 'Confident, capable and creative: supporting boys' achievements', is additional guidance material for the EYFS. It aims to provide support to all EYFS practitioners in creating the right provision to ensure that boys can achieve equally as well as girls
www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/primary/publications/
foundation_stage/eal_eyfs/
Practitioners in every setting want to ensure that their provision matches the development and learning needs of all their children. This advice and guidance booklet is drawn from existing good practice developed by practitioners working with babies, young children and their families.
NEWS ITEM ADDED 02 DECEMBER 2007
OFSTED want
to publish childminder details on their
website
Michael Hart, Ofsted’s Director of Children's Services, said, 'We are confident the benefits that parents will gain by having access to a greater range of information about childcare providers far outweigh the risks associated with publishing the registers. However, we know some people may have concerns over this, and hope they will let us know their views.'
What do YOU think?
You can read the full article and take part
in the consultation by visiting the Ofsted
website
AN APPEAL FOR YOUR HELP -
The children live in Belarus. They are aged between 10 and 13 years and all are in remission from different cancers. They travel with an interpreter and a Doctor. Belarus is still badly affected by the radiation fallout from the Chernobyl incident in 1986. The ground is still contaminated and the children eat contaminated food. Holidays abroad are vital for these children, particularly in their teens, when many fall ill for a second or third time, and the death rate is very high. Spending a month in the UK, with clean air and fresh fruit and vegetables can really make a difference to these children. Doctors in Belarus say that this boosts the children's immune systems for at least two years, helping them to resist, or recover from, serious illness. It can also significantly reduce the amount of radioactive caesium which has built up in a child's body.
The children and their helpers will be staying overnight in a Church Hall in West
Wickham
(Thanks to Ann Glover, BCMA Chair and Emmanuel Church for organising this)
We urgently need help with: Camp beds, Sleeping Bags, Pillows
We are also hoping to raise some funds to pay for the children to visit some of the major attractions in London. We would love to treat them to The London Eye, a boat trip on the Thames and a visit to the Tower of London. We also need to organise an evening meal, breakfast and packed lunches for day 2.
If you can help in any way
we would love to hear from you.
Please contact Liz at:info@bromleyccp.co.uk
If
you would like more information on
The Chernobyl Children’s Project visit
www.chernobyl-
NEWS ITEM PUBLISHED 8 MAY 2008
Childcare Sufficiency Report
The Childcare Act states
that from April 2008 every Local Authority needs to make sure that the childcare
available matches the needs of local families.
To demonstrate the state of play within Bromley, a childcare sufficiency assessment was undertaken. This involved talking to a wide range of people to find out what they want from childcare and then comparing this to what is available. The sufficiency assessment is carried out in full every three years but updated in parts every year.
This means there should be enough suitable childcare to match families' needs in terms of:
- the location of childcare; the affordability of childcare;
- meeting the needs of children with disabilities or Special Educational Needs;
- the times when childcare is available; the ages the childcare is available for;
- the different types of childcare (eg playgroup, nursery, childminder etc).
Bromley undertook the Childcare Sufficiency Assessment between the months of January
– March 2008, and the see LBB website to access the report
Comments and Feedback
Assessing the Childcare market is an ongoing process, and the report
will be updated
every year. We are constantly striving to improve, so
if you have any comments or
suggestions that you would like to make
on the report please contact: Manager of
CYP Information Services,
Tel: 020 8461 7219 e-
NEWS ITEM PUBLISHED 1 MAY 2008
Self Evaluation and Ofsted Inspection Process
In March 2008 the Children's Directorate of Ofsted held a series of four briefings
on the Early Years Foundation Stage for all local authorities in England. This set
of four presentations gives the details of briefings and are available to view on
Ofsted’s website
ww.ofsted.gov.uk We have summarised some of the main points here
Over the next few months BCMA will be publishing additional support
on completing
the Self Evaluation Forms
and the Ofsted Inspection process.
NEWS ITEM PUBLISHED 8 MAY 2008
Ofsted will be using two new childcare provider registers
from September 2008. This document introduces them, explains the new arrangements
for registration and highlights exemptions to registration. www.ofsted.gov.uk
NEWS ITEM PUBLISHED 8 MAY 2008
Ofsted has developed a user and stakeholder engagement
strategy. It sets out how they will encourage and promote user engagement as a driver
for improvement and
how they will listen to users, providers and stakeholders
in
all that they do. www.ofsted.gov.uk
NEWS ITEM PUBLISHED 12 APRIL 2008
National Childminding Week 2008
“It’s time to start planning this year’s National Childminding Week – our annual
chance to tell the world about the wonderful work that childminders and
nannies do with children and families every day.
This year, to tie in with the National
Year of Reading,
the theme is reading and the role childminders and
nannies play in supporting language, literacy and creativity. “
NEWS ITEM PUBLISHED 25 FEBRUARY 2008
New Inspection Framework for the Early Years
Foundation Stage
Michael Hart, Director of Children at Ofsted, outlined the changes at a conference last week , however they have not been posted in detail on the Ofsted website.
Hart said a new self-
Reports would be compiled under the headings of effectiveness of provision, how inclusive services are, welfare outcomes, learning and development requirements, and leadership and management quality.
For further information see
www.cypnow.co.uk/bulletins/Daily-
As soon as Ofsted publish the inspection framework BCMA will work to provide ideas on how Childminders can provide evidence under the new inspection headings etc.