ncma clarify their involvement in future projects

ncma has clarified their position on future projects funded by the DfE
This was posted on Local:

'Now the DfE has made public the projects it will be funding over the next two years, PACEY can announce it is finalising its involvement in two of them, with NCB and Action for Children. You can find out more here http://www.**************/.../pacey_...tnerships.aspx.

The focus will be on supporting existing childminders as well as recruiting new childminders, in areas where currently there is not enough childcare available, in particular to support the roll out of the free entitlement to two year olds, to support children with additional needs or to provide wraparound childcare.

We hope these programmes will go some way to demonstrating how childminders can be supported without the need for a childminder agency.

PACEY did not secure DfE funding for its own project proposal (to establish a quality improvement approach for childminders that did not require an agency to be established ). Also, initial exploration of a potential partnership with Barnardo’s has resulted in a joint agreement not to proceed together on this occasion.' (end)

They will recruit new cms to access the 2 year old funding while existing cms are still struggling to get their LAs to open it up to them
How much of this funding will actually reach cms in terms of support I am quite unclear...maybe you have some ideas

I don't think you will be able to open the link so I am posting it on the Focus Group

Here is Pacey statement

PACEY announces partnerships

PACEY is to work in partnership with NCB and Action for Children on two projects to improve training and quality of care for childminding.

The Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years (PACEY) is now finalising its plans to work with two children’s charities, following confirmation from the Department of Education that these charities are among a number of organisations who have successfully secured funds for their innovative new childcare programmes.

The two distinct programmes will support childminders to further improve their practice and reach out to disadvantaged families as well as children with additional needs. Both programmes will be developed over the next two years.

Liz Bayram, Joint Chief Executive of PACEY, commented, “The childcare sector is facing a number of changes, as benefits, government policy and family needs evolve so we are excited to be working closely with National Children’s Bureau (NCB) and Action for Children, to build on these innovative approaches to assist childminders to further improve the support they offer to families.

"These projects will set up access to training for childcare professionals which in turn will increase access to high quality childcare for parents. They will both help to demonstrate how childminders and prospective childminders can be supported without the need for a third party agency and we hope they will have a lasting impact and benefit on the lives of children, parents and childcare professionals alike.”

The National Children’s Bureau’s Early Education Programme

PACEY will work with NCB on their quality and achievement in early education programme. This project aims to improve young children’s prospects by enabling childcare professionals to engage with families and improve the early home learning environment focusing on the REAL (Raising Early Achievement in Literacy) approach. It will particularly target disadvantaged families with 2-year-olds, supporting the government roll out of the additional free early education entitlement.

Action for Children to deliver ICAN’s Early Talk training to childminders

PACEY and Action for Children will be working together to deliver ICAN’s Early Talk training to childminders and private, voluntary and independent childcare staff, to support young children’s communication skills through a range of strategies and techniques. Children and families will gain from increased access to high-quality childcare, as the project will also assist in the recruitment, training and support of childminders in an evidence-led programme. Its focus will be on increasing the availability of wraparound childcare and support for families with children who have additional needs in areas where there is currently insufficient childcare for these families. PACEY will work alongside ICAN and the Office for Public Management on the project’s steering group and act as dissemination partner.

PACEY had also submitted its own proposal to the Department for Education, setting out an alternative model to support childminders to remain up to date and to improve their practice without the need for a childminder agency. Sadly this proposal was unsuccessful and we are now exploring other funding sources to take this forward. Initial exploration of a potential partnership with Barnardo’s has resulted in a joint agreement not to proceed together on this occasion.