Agenda item

(To receive a report from Michelle Andrews, Children's Service Manager, Early Years, which enables the Schools' Forum to consider the Early Years annual report)

The Forum received a report from Michelle Andrews, Children's Services Manager, Early Years, which provided the Forum with the Annual Report for Early Years and information on the delivery and performance of Early Years and Childcare across Lincolnshire.

In guiding the Forum through the report, Geraldine O'Neill, Lead Consultant – Early Years Entitlement, reference was made to:-

·         The six key areas of responsibility for Early Years and Childcare Support;

·         The Early Years Entitlement for 2, 3 and 4 years olds.  The Forum was advised that all three and four year olds were entitled to 15 hours a week free early learning.  It was reported that take up for this entitlement was currently at 95% nationally and 97% in Lincolnshire;

·         Two Year Old Early Education Entitlement – It was highlighted that Lincolnshire had seen a decrease in the number of children potentially eligible based on lists produced by the Department of Work and Pensions.  It was highlighted further that as at the spring term 2019, Lincolnshire's take-up was at 80% with 2,093 children accessing a funded place.  The take-up nationally was 72%.  It was noted that the number of Early Years providers delivering funded 2 year old places continued to rise and currently there was 580 providers registered to deliver 2 year old places in Lincolnshire, which represented 85% of all providers delivering free education places to 3 and 4 year olds;

·         Early Years Pupil Premium -  It was reported that Early Years Pupil Premium was additional funding for providers to improve the education they provided for disadvantaged three and four years olds;

·         Disability Access Funding – The Forum was advised that for 2018/19, a total of 157 children had qualified for disability access funding in Lincolnshire.  The Local Authority continued to encourage providers to seek parent's permission to check eligibility for this additional funding to maximise take-up;

·         30 Hours Entitlement – It was reported that currently 96% of children were accessing a place in Lincolnshire; and that this exceeded the national take-up of 92%; and the East Midlands Regional take-up of 93%.  Additionally, 95% of childcare providers in Lincolnshire were offering the extended 30 hours entitlement;

·         Monthly Payments – The Forum was advised that Lincolnshire had successfully implemented a monthly payment system from September 2018, following consultation with the sector.  It was noted that feedback from the sector regarding the new payments system had been very positive; and that the system was helping to support providers to manage their budgets more effectively;

·         Sufficient and Sustainable Early Years and Childcare Provision – The Forum was advised that a sufficiency audit undertaken by the local authority in 2017 had demonstrated that Lincolnshire was in a strong position to meet the needs of families and that there was sufficient capacity within the market place to meet the needs.  As the audit had not taken into account parental choice, a parental survey had been undertaken; details of which were shown on page 45 of the report;

·         Quality Provision/Educational Outcomes – Details the Early Years Foundation (EYFS) Stage Profile outcomes and profiles were shown on pages 45 to 49 of the report.  It was noted Lincolnshire had achieved in its EYFS data a score of 69.1%, which was lower than the national average of 71.5%, in addition Lincolnshire was slightly wider than national figures for the lowest attaining 20% of children.  It was noted further that a development plan was being produced to improve the performance amongst this age group;

·         Quality of Provider Judged by Ofsted – The Forum was advised that 97% of Early Years and Childcare providers in Lincolnshire had achieved a 'Good' or 'Outstanding' Judgement, which was 2% higher than national average.  The Forum was advised further that Lincolnshire's maintained Nursery Schools had continued to achieve very strong Ofsted outcomes with three schools being graded as 'Outstanding' and the remaining two schools being graded as 'Good';

·         Workforce and Professional Development - It was reported that Early Years Child Care was continuing to support the development of the early years and childcare workforce across Lincolnshire.  Full details of the training provided were shown on pages 51 and 52 of the report;

·         Inclusion and Early Intervention – The Forum was advised that there were 317 children accessing Early Years Inclusion Fund.  The Forum noted that the process for Inclusion Funding enabled children with lower emerging SEND to access universal early year's provision;

·         Details of the Early Years Budget was shown on page 55 of the report; and

·         Details of the Early Years and Childcare Support – Key Priorities for 2019/20 were shown on page 56 of the report.

During discussion, the following comments were raised:-

·         A question was raised that Lincolnshire had high performing providers, and that this did not correlate with the EYFS outcomes – why this was so?  It was highlighted further that Boston district had a low good level of development – as resource being targeted to more deprived areas in terms of LA support, or were there particular reasons for this.  It was reported that further details would be provided to the forum before the October meeting.

RESOLVED

1.    That the Annual Report for Early Years be noted.

2.    That the priorities for Early Years and Childcare for 2019/20 as detailed on page 56 of the report be received.