Message from Vicky Ford, Minister for Children and Families – featured in the September 2020 edition of the Foundation Years newsletter.
I am delighted to be opening this month’s edition of the Foundation Years newsletter.I would like to sincerely thank you all for the essential work you have done over the summer providing childcare and for all you are still doing to welcome more children back this term. I appreciate your work has never stopped, in spite of the current exceptional circumstances, and I am most grateful to you for this.
In implementing the measures set out in the guidance published by the Department for Education, nurseries and childminders are minimising the risk of transmission of coronavirus (COVID-19) and creating safe settings for children to learn and play where parents can feel confident their children are getting the best start in life.
Throughout the Autumn term we are continuing to provide extra security to nurseries and childminders that are open by ‘block-buying’ childcare places for the rest of this year at the level we would have funded before coronavirus – regardless of how many children are attending.
To support early years providers during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, the government temporarily disapplied and modified certain elements of the EYFS statutory framework. The current disapplications will be lifted on 25 September and we will enter a 2-month transitional period for disapplications around staffing levels and Paediatric First Aid in recognition that some providers may need time to get back to full staffing levels once the disapplications are lifted.
In planning for the possibility of local interventions, I can reassure you that where restrictions are implemented in local areas for other sectors, we anticipate that education and childcare will usually remain fully open to all. The Department of Health and Social Care has published an overview of the tiers of restriction for education and childcare, to be implemented only where absolutely necessary.
If there are further restrictions or requirements related to coronavirus (COVID-19) due to a local or national lockdown, these may affect a provider’s ability to comply with the EYFS. Therefore, we have recently made new regulations which will come into force on 26 September 2020 and would apply where a provider is prevented from complying with the EYFS due to coronavirus related restrictions or requirements.
The start of September also marks an important milestone for the implementation of the reforms to the early years foundation stage – the start of the early adopter year. These are targeted at improving outcomes for all children and reducing practitioner and teacher workload, which is ever more important in the context of responding to COVID-19 and ensuring the youngest children do not miss out. We will be providing more information and support during this academic year, as all early years providers start to prepare to implement the reforms from September 2021.
I thank you again for all you have done to care for our country’s children as we continue to respond to and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
In implementing the measures set out in the guidance published by the Department for Education, nurseries and childminders are minimising the risk of transmission of coronavirus (COVID-19) and creating safe settings for children to learn and play where parents can feel confident their children are getting the best start in life.
Throughout the Autumn term we are continuing to provide extra security to nurseries and childminders that are open by ‘block-buying’ childcare places for the rest of this year at the level we would have funded before coronavirus – regardless of how many children are attending.
To support early years providers during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, the government temporarily disapplied and modified certain elements of the EYFS statutory framework. The current disapplications will be lifted on 25 September and we will enter a 2-month transitional period for disapplications around staffing levels and Paediatric First Aid in recognition that some providers may need time to get back to full staffing levels once the disapplications are lifted.
In planning for the possibility of local interventions, I can reassure you that where restrictions are implemented in local areas for other sectors, we anticipate that education and childcare will usually remain fully open to all. The Department of Health and Social Care has published an overview of the tiers of restriction for education and childcare, to be implemented only where absolutely necessary.
If there are further restrictions or requirements related to coronavirus (COVID-19) due to a local or national lockdown, these may affect a provider’s ability to comply with the EYFS. Therefore, we have recently made new regulations which will come into force on 26 September 2020 and would apply where a provider is prevented from complying with the EYFS due to coronavirus related restrictions or requirements.
The start of September also marks an important milestone for the implementation of the reforms to the early years foundation stage – the start of the early adopter year. These are targeted at improving outcomes for all children and reducing practitioner and teacher workload, which is ever more important in the context of responding to COVID-19 and ensuring the youngest children do not miss out. We will be providing more information and support during this academic year, as all early years providers start to prepare to implement the reforms from September 2021.
I thank you again for all you have done to care for our country’s children as we continue to respond to and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Vicky Ford MP
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families