Derbyshire Early Years!!!!!!

I am so so mad!

A few weeks ago my local LEA - Derbyshire Early Years wrote to me inviting me to join their new Quality Childminder Scheme. I had to be Good or Outstanding, Disclosure within last 12 months, evidence of insurance and tax account copy of Ofsted report. No problem. I decided to join as it would mean that I would have access to 2 and 3 year old funding and thought it would be daft of me to cut off a source of income. I had a visit and undertook a FCCERS assessment. This was a new initiative in the county as the NCMA model had been used in the past. I was to be one of the first batch of childminders to be put through the new FCCERS system.

Having read through this forum I found out (with some great help from Sarah and RickySmiths) that access to this funding would be automatic from Sept so long as the proposed sections in the Truss report go through to become law.

Anyway, I emailed Early Years to be given the following reply:

Thankyou for your email, you are right that the Truss report recommends that access to early years funding is opened up to all providers judged Good and Outstanding without any other stipulations from the local authority. This recommendation is the subject of wider consultation at the moment so it is not yet policy, we will hear the outcome from government in due course. If this does become policy we will of course consider our own scheme and will communicate with all childminders at that point. I hope this helps, there is a lot of change for the sector at the moment, we do try and keep you updated via our newsletter, and there is one about to come out to everyone. Do contact me again if you feel I can help further.

I am so angry that my LEA has decided to change things so close to a possible "scrapping" of additional requirements for funding and has let me pay for mine and my husbands updated disclosure reports £50 in total.

I thought that my local Early Years dept was supposed to help and advise not lead me up the garden path.

Has anyone else had similar problems?

I thought that my local Early Years dept was supposed to help and advise not lead me up the garden path.




HA HA HA :laughing::laughing: :laughing::laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

I feel for you, my half says it's like p :censored: g in the wind.

Very annoying and Im in a similar position myself at the moment

but im not sure its the LAs fault as its the government pushing the changes and although its bad timing for you and me
in the long run it will make accessing funding easier for all childminders and remove some of the exclusivity and hoop jumping

Our local childminding association recently sent out an email urging us to become accredited and join the network , which I found really odd timing considering the changes afoot , but they must have their reasons

I have applied but not sure I want all the extra work , only for it to have been pointless by september , might make more sense to just wait

none of my parents are bothered and in fact we are currently organising for 2 mindees to go to preschool (still staying with me) so they can get their funded hours

Quote:

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Originally Posted by phoenix2010

Very annoying and Im in a similar position myself at the moment

but im not sure its the LAs fault as its the government pushing the changes and although its bad timing for you and me
in the long run it will make accessing funding easier for all childminders and remove some of the exclusivity and hoop jumping

Our local childminding association recently sent out an email urging us to become accredited and join the network , which I found really odd timing considering the changes afoot , but they must have their reasons

I have applied but not sure I want all the extra work , only for it to have been pointless by september , might make more sense to just wait

none of my parents are bothered and in fact we are currently organising for 2 mindees to go to preschool (still staying with me) so they can get their funded hours

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This is exactly my thought..... is there no common sense in Govt? be it local or national????

I too am in the same position. If I go ahead with wanting to become accredited to get 3 & 4 yr funding now I have a 33 page document to fill out on top of the other one I've already completed to get the 2yr funding. Plus I have to attend more training and meetings. I wont have time to start the work til end June after my hols now but if I wait 2 mths I wont have to bother at all maybe? Dont know what to do really.

In the same postion myself, do I get started with the Pacey accredition check list my DO has given me
or sit tight and see what happens comes Sept, my main worry is that I will have to be accredited after all and will have just wasted time.
Bottom line do we know for sure that it will be scrapped in Sept?

xx

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Daftbat

This is exactly my thought..... is there no common sense in Govt? be it local or national????

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True, but tell people you're an anarcho-syndicalist and they run a mile. :rolleyes:

Bunyip...I am in the same situation as you and have reported in other posts the message from the DfE at the ncma event which was similar to the one other cms attended...in addition there is a string of emails from the DfE asking me to knock on my LA's door (I have done that since last December)...they are not budging and saying the same as yours, until they hear directly from the DfE they will not change their position and continue to impose their conditions

It makes me wonder who runs govt policies the DfE or our LAs?? but it seems clear that the DfE will remove any conditions on cms from September as they are desperate for more spaces for 2 year olds....it would be useful if they did that a bit before so we can plan?

amazing isnt it. Lucklily although Im just a fewmiles from Daftbat my area is Nottinghamshire. Originally their 'conditions' for accreditation were level 4 !! with good or outstanding. Over the last 12 months or so they have seen sense , realised that the cms are needed for the numbers of 2yr olds expected , and relaxed the conditions. I had relatively few hoops to jump through , just a form and a couple of visits from my DO , fairly informal , and that was it. We are also invited to 'network' meetings but these are few and far between and not obligatory. Surrounding areas , Derbyshire and Nottingham City still refuse to budge I believe.

Ive filled in the initial application , waiting for my DO to get in touch (annual leave) which also makes me wonder why send out a plea for more applications then bog off on holiday !!

Anyway apparently I have to meet her , show her my learning journals and then Ill be a probationary accredited minder and can start offering funded spaces , I then have 6 months to complete whatever paperwork , jump through the hoops etc

so by then it will be November

hmmmmm think Im talking myself into sitting tight and doing nothing , and probably why my DO still hasnt contacted me as they are avoiding the extra work that will be pointless too

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Daftbat

I am so so mad!

A few weeks ago my local LEA - Derbyshire Early Years wrote to me inviting me to join their new Quality Childminder Scheme. I had to be Good or Outstanding, Disclosure within last 12 months, evidence of insurance and tax account copy of Ofsted report. No problem. I decided to join as it would mean that I would have access to 2 and 3 year old funding and thought it would be daft of me to cut off a source of income. I had a visit and undertook a FCCERS assessment. This was a new initiative in the county as the NCMA model had been used in the past. I was to be one of the first batch of childminders to be put through the new FCCERS system.

Having read through this forum I found out (with some great help from Sarah and RickySmiths) that access to this funding would be automatic from Sept so long as the proposed sections in the Truss report go through to become law.

Anyway, I emailed Early Years to be given the following reply:

Thankyou for your email, you are right that the Truss report recommends that access to early years funding is opened up to all providers judged Good and Outstanding without any other stipulations from the local authority. This recommendation is the subject of wider consultation at the moment so it is not yet policy, we will hear the outcome from government in due course. If this does become policy we will of course consider our own scheme and will communicate with all childminders at that point. I hope this helps, there is a lot of change for the sector at the moment, we do try and keep you updated via our newsletter, and there is one about to come out to everyone. Do contact me again if you feel I can help further.

I am so angry that my LEA has decided to change things so close to a possible "scrapping" of additional requirements for funding and has let me pay for mine and my husbands updated disclosure reports £50 in total.

I thought that my local Early Years dept was supposed to help and advise not lead me up the garden path.

Has anyone else had similar problems?

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They are correct in their reply apart from one point. It won't be restricted to Good and Outstanding childminders but to ALL. This is because they let Nurseries and Pre School and have always let them, with Satisfactory deliver the funding so they can no longer discriminate against childminders on this point. Unless of course they no longer let any setting that is Satisfactory deliver the funding.

I am just shocked that they won't require at least a Level 3 and I don't understand how all this is going to raise the quality of care to the children but hey ho who am I to comment!

Oh and I would love to know with whom and when they are consulting because it is jolly well about time they visited and consulted with some childminders.:angry:

I have decided that even if the new legislation doesn't come in to force am NOT going to jump through any more hoops! The FCCERS assessment thing is so stressful and I think that we childminders who are conscientious and do the best for our children work hard enough already.

So, FCCERS - (you can guess the rest), and I can just get on with doing the best I can for the kids without extra interference.

It is interesting because our County opened up funding to all cm not just Good and above though at present we do have to have a Level 3. They took away the need to go through the Counties Quality Assurance Scheme which includes FCCERS and takes about a year to complete. Not that it had ever been a requirement for any other settings so completely discriminatory to childminders.

When they did this last year there were only 35 Accredited Childminders out of approx 1500 to 1600 in the County!!! I wonder why? Of course they have lowered the 'entry' requirements because if they don't they won't have enough spaces for all the 2 yr olds!

Daftbat my message below was for you not Bunyip...apologies for the mistake
I think we are all aware that, as I have said before, the LAs are running the show here at present because they can

Rickysmiths...I know you keep saying LAs won't be allowed to stop cms from doing the funding but don't you think it is up to the DfE to send that message loud and clear to the LAs...
I know you have said they have done so at the ncma event and yes I was there as well to hear it...I think if you check they have but LAs can only be encouraged to do so at present
I have posted something similar in ncma local ...it has had little response from the powers that be

If in doubt get in touch with the consultant in charge of the rolling out of the 2 year old funding...the programme is called 'Achieving 2 year olds'

I also believe that ncma, as our representing association, should be out there campaigning for all the conditions to be dropped...they have gone very quiet on this and many other topics that are emerging every day....

if cms are really worried about this exclusion send a message to the DfE and tell them exactly what your LA is asking you to do and name them

Daftbat it is exactly the same story here in sefton. I applied in January and only received a letter last week saying i have been appointed a DO who will come out to visit me and assess me. I asked about the proposed changed and they said until it is changed they will continue with the accreditation process. I think I may just draw it out till September and then reassess what the new conditions are.

I sent off for the forms to do funded sessions back in January, I even went to visit another Childminder to see if it was worth doing - then "more great childcare" landed like a tonne of bricks and I haven't given these forms a second glance - still waiting to see if childminders will automatically be able to do funding in Sept - I do have level 3 and am graded good but I can do without any extra hoops to jump through at the moment.:panic: