The management of Lincolnshire's Birth to Five Service was contractedout to the Centre for British Teachers (CfBT) in 2006. This led togreater continuity within the support services across the Early YearsFoundation Stage as CfBT was already providing the School ImprovementService in Lincolnshire.
In September 2008, the Birth to Five Service launched its own website,www.birthtofive.org.uk, for practitioners working in early yearssettings in Lincolnshire.
It has also focused on the important issue of smooth transition and hasdeveloped local authority guidance for all teachers to ensure continuityfor children going from reception to Year One.
Teachers in the county can take advantage of a comprehensive resourcepackage based on the outcomes of a number of pilot projects run by theBirth to Five Service. This includes a puppet called Louis, which isused to support children's social and emotional development duringtransitions.
Another current project is its 'Beginning with Babies', showing managersand practitioners how they can work more within a framework ofreflection and evaluation.
The service's ICT project has had a huge impact. Every private,voluntary and independent provider has been given a laptop to help withadministration and record keeping, a camera for staff to use whenobserving children, a desktop computer for the children, programmabletoys, plus a stills camera, video camera and a metal detector for thechildren to use.
The Birth to Five Service also recently won an award for a joint projectit ran with Lincolnshire's Speech and Language Therapy Service, givingmore support and resources to practitioners so that they can provideearly and appropriate intervention for children with speech, languageand communication difficulties.
Zoe Cox, lead adviser for the service, says, 'Training and leadershipdevelopment have been priorities, especially for our settings.
'We have embraced the changes and initiatives that have been introducedto promote children's access to high quality provision and found ways toovercome some of the challenges faced by children, families and theearly years workforce in such a large and rural authority.'
FINALISTS
- Pan-Berkshire Workforce Development Team, Maidenhead, Berkshire
- Stoke Speaks Out, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire
CRITERION
Open to any local authority team working to provide or support earlyyears and childcare services.
