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Funded 2 year olds... under pressure from L.A


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Are we the only setting under massive pressure to take on more and more funded 2 year olds?

We offer these places as and when we can but (and please don't lynch me) the paperwork is crazy and the parents don't get that they are entitiled to it IN THE AUTHORITY, not AT OUR SETTING!! I agree with the theory but once again the funding comes far too short so how do I say no without seeming to be 'inflexible' I tried the 'we are full' way but was told I should be prioritising funded 2 year olds over paying families, grrrrrr!! xx

 

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Hi caffeinefreak, you're not alone in feeling pressured. I'd stick to your guns, tel the LA why you'll continue to monitor your vacancies against the local needs of ALL children and leave ir at that. LAs are under pressure from central govt I think. We've been asked by our local childrens centre but our answer was no too. Our council run community day nurseries were all closed about 4 years ago, looks like now they're regreting it. This is the thread from earlier in the year. http://eyfs.info/forums/topic/39137-requirement-to-have-2-year-olds-in-playgroup/?fromsearch=1

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i too say stick to your current provision.. have policies and procedures in place to say how you work your admissions and use them... as to La.. they do not run your business... and if they kept pushing I would possibly say actually it is the fee paying that are keeping you open and subsidising the funded children so you cannot afford to take them.. along with discrimination against other children who are wanting to attend...

Have a good solid admission policy and follow it..

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Take it as a compliment , you just be good or outstanding ,personally the paperwork is no more than for a 3 yr old and the children centre are more than happy to fill out forms with parents , gets them involved straight away which is beneficial to families. The funding in our area is £ 5 per hour but if you feel you cannot provide for this group then stand by your policies

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I totally agree with pressure. We are a playgroup and am finding it difficult to give 2 yr old a minimum of 2.5 hrs never alone 15 hrs with out tipping the apple cart in the way are sessions work for 3 and 4 yr old. I am not being inflexible but don't want to compromise the good work we already do.

Buttercup

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I have to say that 2yr olds have saved our bacon, local schools scoop up rising 3s which were our bread and butter. We still have them because some parents like our set up or we collect the ones later in the year when school is full. It is harder and you need more staff our authority rolled out some free training to help settings understand working with funded 2yrolds , parents, issues etc

We are a pre-school our prices are in line if not a little cheaper than the funding so finance wise it is not a great deal different though extra staff have added a little to our costs.

The thing I find most annoying is gov are willing to give maintained nurseries £10,000 to ugrade / prepare for 2yr olds if they wish to take them pvi settings a big fat 0.

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Well I challenged this when I was told to prioritise funded 2 year old. Even though we were told that they had consulted their equality department. In my head and according to my policy it is not ok. I feel that every child has a right to play whatever a parents income. There could be a parent with a high income who is too shy to attend mother and toddler groups and know no other neighbours with young children. Fortunately we have a large hall, registered originally to 39 but often take more due to more available space funded by capital fund 4 years ago. I do not have to exclude fee paying children because I only give funded 2year olds 1 to 2 sessions. Early years are happy with this now and have said that they are now happy for the spaces to be increased by the time the child is 3. They even told me that in general parents do not necessarily want the full 15 hours anyway. Stick to your guns and only do what suits you. I was also told the other day from the early years dept that all 2 year olds will be funded by next year. I hope that they are correct.

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So Mundia am i to believe that the funding criteria for this will widen to accommodate the rise to 40% too.

Have been so frustrated this year to find families that clearly should be included are not currently.:(

Edited by Fredbear
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Thank you Mundia for the link. It would also appear that the very families I indicated, will still not be included within this new roll out which is ridiculous.

I thought early intervention was the key to this whole initiative, not waiting until children are a "looked after child".:(

Sorry rant over just makes me so sad.

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Take it as a compliment , you just be good or outstanding ,personally the paperwork is no more than for a 3 yr old and the children centre are more than happy to fill out forms with parents , gets them involved straight away which is beneficial to families. The funding in our area is £ 5 per hour but if you feel you cannot provide for this group then stand by your policies

I think this is one of the main difficulties Lashes, the parents are not coming through children's centres, they are coming direct to us, usually after being advised by health visitors that they will get free childcare (in some cases they do not want the children's centre involved at all, I'm yet to work out why), we always refer to the CC, in fact we have been asked by the LA to inform the local CC if we are approached by a family but can not offer a place, it seems once again that we are doing a lot of the LA's work for them!!!

I agree 100% with the theory behind 2 year old funding and have seen at first hand the benefits to the children, but it does seem that it has been rolled out without a comprehensive 'how to' guide for LA's and there is just as much confusion and differences between the local authorities with the 2 year old funding as there is about just about every other aspect of our jobs!!

In our authority it is called Grow2gether but I've stared to see it called 2 4 3 in other posts, does anyone know what that means exactly? xx

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Parents can approach setting direct, there don't have to go via a Children Centre, although it may be built into some LAs naturally. However, CCs do have to collect data about the take up of 2 year funding in their locality and also the progress they are making. This is being asked as part of CC inspections. This is why you might be being asked to link with CCs, or provide certain info to them, or to the LA. The tracking of funded two year olds progress is an emerging trend, that I think many LAs are still working on how to do effectively, and how to share that information (especially if parents do not want that info shared)

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The tracking of funded two year olds progress is an emerging trend, that I think many LAs are still working on how to do effectively, and how to share that information (especially if parents do not want that info shared)

That's all good news - I wonder how/or if the info gleaned from this tracking will be shared - I would be really interested in reading that......

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It's all so different depending on the LA!

I had a letter yesterday explaining that the 40p per hour 'extra premium' that we get for 2 year olds has been ruled by the Department for Education as 'against the code of practice'??

I think what they are trying to say is 'we'd rather gives schools £10,000 each' or am I just cynical? ;)

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I run a one-roomed preschool. We tried taking 2 yr-olds but it disrupted the other children, as they do not have the attention skills of the others. It also took a member of staff out of the room most of the time, changing nappies etc. We have settled on accepting the 2-year funding, but only taking them at 2.5 years, along with everyone else. Parents seem prepared to wait, and this works so much better. 6 months at that age makes a lot of difference!

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We have settled on accepting the 2-year funding, but only taking them at 2.5 years, along with everyone else. Parents seem prepared to wait, and this works so much better. 6 months at that age makes a lot of difference!

Really interesting statement - I have missed a 'trick' here then - so you can still access the funding but not accept at two???

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Really interesting statement - I have missed a 'trick' here then - so you can still access the funding but not accept at two???

I 'think' they mean they take up the free place at 2.5 xDxD ..... that's what we do now- we say a place will be available at such-and-such time- and it's up to the parents if they wait or go elsewhere.

Although ... I do like the idea of claiming the money straight away!! xDxD :lol:

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I 'think' they mean they take up the free place at 2.5 xDxD ..... that's what we do now- we say a place will be available at such-and-such time- and it's up to the parents if they wait or go elsewhere.

Although ... I do like the idea of claiming the money straight away!! xDxD :lol:

Hi louby - yes I realised you couldn't claim the money before they start - but I was under the impression you would have to give a place at two.......all academic really - I haven't any spare places! :1b

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Hi louby - yes I realised you couldn't claim the money before they start - but I was under the impression you would have to give a place at two.......all academic really - I haven't any spare places! :1b

We can take ours at any age once they have been accepted - this suits us better as we take them over the year to fill any spaces if/when they come up.

We have quite a few children that go onto private schools (not funded 2yr olds!!) and they usually have a staggered intake, so spaces come up throughout the year. This also works well as the rest of the group are well settled into routines and the 2yr olds seem to settle easier too. That said we do not offer the full 15 hours - that is explained to parents before they start, is does mean that once they are 3 they are emotionally settled and ready for the full 15 hours with us.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Really interesting statement - I have missed a 'trick' here then - so you can still access the funding but not accept at two???

Hi, sorry for the long wait for a reply! Yes, you can accept the 2-year old funding. However, I tell the children's centre and the parents that I won't take them until they are 2 and a half. It is up to them to decide whether to wait, which all of them have so far, or go somewhere else that will take them at 2!

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