I just applied to join my local network , Northampton Childminding Association said that i have to in order to offer funded places
Im really confused now :(
and are the rules different for 2 year old compared to 3 and 4 yr olds ??
I just applied to join my local network , Northampton Childminding Association said that i have to in order to offer funded places
Im really confused now :(
and are the rules different for 2 year old compared to 3 and 4 yr olds ??
It is a requirement with my la that we have to have crbs less than 3 years old and the same applies to nurseries as well.
Nothing has changed yet Phoenix - we are talking about future plans to make changes to the way the funded sessions going to be offered to parents.Quote:
Originally Posted by phoenix2010
Until any changes become law you have to do whatever your LA tells you and jump through their hoops.
hth :D
The consultation doesn't finish until 6 May so I don't see how it can be definite yet? Probably someone from PACEY jumping the gun?!Quote:
Originally Posted by Simona
You can view all emails sent from the DofE to LA's here... there doesn't seem to be one confirming the FEEE changes as yet.
https://www.gov.uk/government/organi...ries/la-emails
It is because of the consultation closing on 6 May that we are trying to get clarification from the LAs on their role and support...all I can input in that consultation is that I find many barriers in my way and they should be removed??
Pacey tweeted exactly what was being said at the event: cms do not need to belong to a network to do the funding...however getting some of the LAs to engage and give an answer is proving hard as they say they need the DfE to tell them while the DfE want us to find out???
At this point I am unsure what we need to do but cms are getting fed up with this state of affairs...all we are trying to do is plan ahead a bit...I am glad to read I am not the only cm getting frustrated by all this.
I was at the Pacey meeting in Marlow.
The D of E Guy was quite clear.
From September no conditions can be put on Ofsted Registered Childcarers by anyone for them to be able to deliver the Free Funding. The ONLY requirement will be that you are Ofsted Registered so on that basis Ofsted Registered Nannies will be able to delver the free funding.
All Networks will not only be stopped but if an LA continues with them and insists that anyone has to be part of one to deliver the funding they will be breaking the law. I for one am glad about this. Networks were the most exclusive and divisive system. They disappeared in our County several years ago because they did not work. There were only 4 or 4 in a massive county and if you didn't happen to live in the right place, even if you were qualified in every other way you could not deliver the funding.
As for having to be Good or above this only applied to CM in our County and the Satisfactory graded Day Nursery down the road from me could deliver the funding so it was a two tier very unfair system.
A least now it is a level playing field. It does however fly in the face of Truss that a min of Level 3 and a Good or above is no longer required and does make you wonder how this raises the outcomes for the children. The reality is though that by insisting on Min of Good Inspection would mean that many Day Nurseries would not be able to deliver the funding and as the Outstanding ones in this area have opted out of the free funding and no longer offer it to their parents the government must be sweating about having enough free places on offer.
Sorry im getting confused , are you talking about free funding for 2 yr olds only or is this relevant to 3 and 4 yr olds too , I understand this doesnt happen until Sept , but Im about to embark o the extra work involved in joining my network so I can offer funding to 3 and 4 yr olds , am I wasting my time ?Quote:
Originally Posted by rickysmiths
Indeed , hoop jumping my speciality :-) However Im loathed to start the process of joining the network (which Ive resisted for so long because I dont actually like its elitist feel) if by September my work becomes pointless and anyone can offer what Ive worked hard to offerQuote:
Originally Posted by sarah707
Yes you will be because there will be no Networks from September. Yes the 2-4yr Funding will be able to be delivered by any Ofsted Registered Childcarer and that is the only requirement. No Level 3 (I wasted my money last year :panic:), no Quality Assurance, and only Satisfactory as a Grading.Quote:
Originally Posted by phoenix2010
It will be actually against the law for any LA to add any requirements from Sept. This is what the D of E speaker at the Marlow Pacey meeting last Saturday told us and he was very clear.
I am glad I waited then. I would like to offer it to my current parents when the time comes and was thinking about doing it now. My do give me the RAG rating list and I was going to work through it but I will now just wait. I have a question though. Will new cm be allowed to deliver the funding or will they have to wait until after their first inspection?
There will be no networks from Septmeber?..my LA is busy surveying their N/cms on their future requirements such as training and cost if necessary...they have even suggested a m'ship fee for them!
Non network cms will be surveyed later on ...apparently
What the DfE is saying is clear but LAs are not responding to that...see the reply I received this morning to one of my questions
''It seems likely, given the current national information, that childminders with ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ Ofsted outcomes and not on the Network, will be able to draw down funding. At present, we require childminders to be on the Network as this makes the administration much easier. When we get the final confirmation we will of course follow the proper procedure''.
Will networks disappear? some LAs have moved to a system open to all where cms get equal support, the question is whether they are removing the hoops we have to jump through
Well our local childminding association just sent out an email pleading with us to join the network , stating that more will be needed to provide all the extra funded places for children
I really dont get why they would do that and I even sent an email back asking why in the light of the announcements are they still requiring us to join and they said that they will still require childminders to join the network as it has been proven that network minders provide a higher standard of care
I have children who could benefit now , so might plough on anyway rather than wait til september , but it does seem like another waste of time if this really is the case
Network cms are perceived to be better ...maybe they are but they do get huge support and training
We must also salute those not in a network who have independently achieved high standards, maybe paid for own training, committed to CPD and offered peer support to others in many shapes or forms.
I know many like that with good/outstanding grades and no intention to join the network...anything now revolves around peer support and hubs!
If the networks were open to all cms and a bit less prescriptive...in some LAs they are...we would have a more fair system
In my view networks have created a two tier of cms...I have no problem with those who belong , what bugs me they get a lot of money spent on them, visits, personalised training and much more
The DfE funds LAs to support ALL cms not just the few...where is the money allocated to non network cms going??
No ALL Cms who are Registered. They only have to have Satisfactory and that is the case in Hertfordshire already. It was lowered to Satisfactory and we no longer have to do the Herts Quality Accreditation. Networks went in Herts several years ago. From September it will no longer be a requirement to have a Level 3. Networks from Sept will be illegal.Quote:
Originally Posted by Simona
Rickysmiths...there are 152 LAs and each allowed to do as they see fit according to their 'basket of measures'...the very words by DfE David Fitzgerald at our ncma local event
what your LA does is totally different from mine...that is the problem...the LAs are a law unto themselves
Here in my LA the network is very much alive...my LA thinks of nothing else and spends money as if we were back to when the previous govt was in power and they had plenty of funding!!
I have read nowhere that networks will be illegal from Sept...please share if you have any news of that it would help to clarify
please look DfE's document at who can apply to become an 'agency' ...networks!!
And isn't it a bit strange that while everyone is sitting with the DfE developing agencies...or whatever they are allowed to do, listening or observing...the very organisation that should be doing that is not there and will be recruiting new cms in future...a scheme they are keeping very quiet about indeed!!
There is an agenda out there and it is becoming very clear what it is....
To be fair to networks if they are run right then it is down to the cm in question whether or not they join.
I joined mine about 6 years ago as an "good" cm then got "satisfactory". Shock horror that they allowed me to stay on but my network fought my corner and allowed me to become an accredited cm to offer the funding because they knew my practise and that my grading didnt reflect my practice.
A lot of cms around here refuse to join because you have to agree to doing x amount if hours on training think it's 18 because they don't want to do it. Also shock horror they have to do more paperwork.
I think its a shame ours will go. Not all network's are elitist its just sometimes certain cms will not put themselves out and go a biy further. But maybe I'm lucky with mine.
Some networks, or whatever they now call themselves as many LAs are changing the name, are run very well, they are inclusive and allow cms to be 'themselves', run their practice without too much prescription while accepting peer support as vital in attracting reluctant cms to seek help from colleagues
If they were all like that they would survive...it is up to cms to argue the best way to remain independent is to have an effective network or hub to keep each other supported not just via forum, helpful as it is, but face to face and revolving around cms communities
FussyElmo...have you received confirmation yours is going and why??
Quote:
Originally Posted by Simona
At our pacey meeting the week after yours we were told by Chris Armstrong-Stacey from the D of E. He is a Team Leader, Free Entitlement & Childcare and he was talking about the Update on the Two Year Old Programme. He was quite clear that it wouls not be possible for LAs to put any conditions on CM for delivering any of the funding and that from September the only requirement would be that you are an Ofsted Reg carer. He was very clear about it and was heavily questioned about the not needing a Level 3 qualification. People were quite shocked.
With regard to the local authorities, will they still be setting the hourly payment for the free entitlement then, because that varies across the country too. Here in bristol childminders have been given a £1 decrease per hour, which is now over £2 per hour per child less than a nursery.
So what exactly will the funding be, as per hour for a 2 year old, or is the rate set by the CM. If the hourly rate is less we could potentially lose financially