caffinefreak Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 Hi All So we will soon (after all the checks we have to do) be getting an extra 51p per child per hour enhancement to 'close the gap' for eligible children. Ofsted will be judging us on how we spend this money to improve outcomes for these children (not that Ofsted have a single clue what to check) so how are you planning to spend this money? I genuinely want what is best for my children, but I'm more concerned with how Ofsted value what I provide as, at the end of the day it's one box ticking moron who visits every 4 or 7 years or so that tells me if I am doing a good job, not 100s of happy parents xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlettangel Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 I am hoping to provide an extra staff member for the summer term! Our levels are generally low on entry into nursery, lots of speech and communication issues but the intake in January has tipped the scales dramatically and I really do need an extra pair of hands to provide the level of care/ education I want to offer. We have also started offering "extra time" so we can give some free extra nursery sessions to children who will be due for school in September a little extra help. We are using two full time places to offer this, so ten sessions that have been offered to four children. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mundia Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 I think this will be about demonstrating that what you have done with the money is making a difference for our poorest children. There may already be things you are doing which you know do close the gap, which you have previously done out of existing funds. It may be additional training for example that you know is making a difference. It could be funding home visits to build that relationship with parents; it could be resourcing materials to support the home learning environment. The gov says it will produce a good practice guide and you can already use the Education Endowment Foundation (link below) to look at the evidence base for some activities, this will grow for early years over time. Also has your LA got the means for settings to get together, or if not, do you have yourself, as discussions with others in the same boat are always useful in terms of sharing good practice. I am sure the forum will be discussing this lots over the coming months! http://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/toolkit/toolkit-a-z/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fredbear Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 I thought the Government allocation to each LA was 53 pence per hour for a maximum of 570 hours, Why is yours only 51 pence?. May have misread the document but I thought it all had to go to the provider, so why the 2 pence difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fredbear Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Good points Mundia. We already provide home visits as part of our induction process, as well as induction visits for children and parent/carers. Having a higher adult/child ratio also enables us to have some time to focus on children that could benefit from 1/1 support or early intervention. Have to say that recently this isn't just children that would be eligible for Pupil Premium though. Until now we have funded this ourselves through our central budget, although money is a real issue for us now. Waiting to hear our funding allocations for 2015/2016, I am not feeling particularly optimistic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rafa Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 (edited) I know 'every little helps' and like Scarletangel, would like another pair or hands - with a voice! but heres a scenario.... One child next term attends 15 hours and will be eligable for EYPP = £7.95pw additional funding. I already operate 'close to the edge' soooo what to do with £7.95? Enough money to employ someone for 1 hour a week to support language development? Who will jump at that opportunity? In my experience all the fantastic resources in the world do not take the place of an adults individual teaching, modelling, adding commentary, small communication groups, listening and attention etc etc! Sadly, I feel for small groups, this money - which is meant to bridge the gap will possibly end up being a resource in the cupboard - I need people power! If the Government really wanted to help they'd move that decimal point!!! £1.59p a day? barely enough to buy toilet rolls for all the snotty noses we have to wipe.....before we can get around to 'teaching'! Wonders and miracles eh.......wonders and miracles...... Edited February 3, 2015 by Rafa 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnyday Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Just received an email from LA inviting me to a briefing on this...... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rafa Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 If you get any bright ideas Sunnyday.....please send them my way..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnyday Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 If you get any bright ideas Sunnyday.....please send them my way..... Ah......didn't say I was going to it my petrol costs + cover for the day would probably come to more than anything I could expect to get 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mundia Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Hi Rafa. I am not sure how helpful it is to break it down to pence per day as realistically it isnt likely to be spent in that way. So for example if you use the money to release staff to do home visits, you aren't going to do them very day. If you use it for specific training, you're not going to do that every day. But you might give a member of staff (eg the key person) an extra hour a week for a specific role around for example the home learning environment. I think it is going to be a challenge for settings that have just one child, as I think you will have to be quite creative with how you use it. But many settings might have 10. 15 or even more children eligible and so it adds up to quite a lot of money. Plus the school pupil premium started off quite small and increased to a fair chunk over a few years. We dont know what will happen with the election coming up. but the EYPP could similarly increase over time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finleysmaid Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 I think we will also be low on numbers that will benefit from this but I have already thought i might use it for additional free sessions (if required) things like paying for additional days (forest school visits/trip to theatre etc) so enhancements that they may not be able to access otherwise and also to possibly support them in small group sessions......we could all do more with more...but lets not grumble Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finleysmaid Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 I think we will also be low on numbers that will benefit from this but I have already thought i might use it for additional free sessions (if required) things like paying for additional days (forest school visits/trip to theatre etc) so enhancements that they may not be able to access otherwise and also to possibly support them in small group sessions......we could all do more with more...but lets not grumble Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hali Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 we have had cluster meetings for our providers around this - so that if some settings only have 1 or 2 eligible children they can club their money together to buy in training or resources that can be shared. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mouseketeer Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 can I ask if anyone has thought about how you're going to find out if any children are eligible ? a letter maybe directing them to the criteria ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hali Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 we will have an eligibility checker like we do for the 2 yr funded children I think s just need parents NI numbers to check Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rafa Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 I know its not helpful to break it down to pence per day ( that just makes it more irritating ). I was just being realistic! Sure if you have 10 - 15 children receiving PP then you can 'make a difference' - big style! But as Caffeinefreak suggested at the start of this thread - this will be more hoop jumping to satisfy Ofsted, that I have managed this sum, in an oh so very creative way, as to have BRIDGED THAT GAP!! Lets hope we spend it wisely..... It is a great step forward that early years have been granted the PP and I'm sure many children - including our little one -will benefit from it, so not really grumbling, just a little frustrated that so much is expected, on so little...... for my setting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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