How one LA is delivering funded places for twos

Take-up in Staffordshire of funded places for twos is one of the highest in the country, with 84 per cent of eligible families now registered.

The number of two-year-olds in the county who are eligible for a funded place from 1 September is 3,230, according to figures from the Department for Work and Pensions.

A contributory factor to the take-up, according to the council, is that Staffordshire is one of only 14 local authorities that has developed an online self-checking tool for parents to make applications easier.

The online service allows parents to fill in information about the benefits they receive according to the eligibility criteria. The tool then links this data up with the national Eligibility Checking Service.

Parents can find out straightaway if they are entitled to the funding and can download and print off a voucher for the twos places, or choose to receive one in the post.

A link on the website directs them through to good and outstanding provision offering the twos' places listed in the Family Services Directory.

While the majority of two-year-old places are in good or outstanding settings, there are inevitably a few that are in provision that 'requires improvement' that has only recently been downgraded.

The funding rate is £4.85 and 100 per cent of it is passed by the LA to providers.

Matt Biggs, manager of Staffordshire 's Think2 project said, 'We ran a really good pilot and did a lot of ground work in deprived areas. Eighty-six per cent of places in these areas is good or outstanding provision.'

He said that the name 'Think2' for the Staffordshire programme was chosen because it was about, 'Where is a child at this age? It's really about encouraging people to think about two and what a critical age it is.'

He estimated that 70 per cent of the two-year-olds who became eligible last month will have taken up places by November.

'Our biggest concern was which providers should take children in the most disadvantaged areas. We were concerned about children's delayed development and where children would be,' he said.

Last year the council formed a joint venture, Entrust, with commercial company Capita to support education in the county, including the early years. Entrust has developed training for settings offering the scheme.

The council has continued to offer Every Child A Talker (ECAT) and bespoke training for providers for twos through Entrust. It offers the training to all providers, not just 'requires improvement' settings.

The council has used development funding for twos from the DfE to create capacity, to make sure settings offer quality provision and encourage high take-up.

'From very early on funding has gone into that. We need to make sure there is a quality experience and looked extensively at take-up,' Mr Biggs said.

To build capacity in advance of the expansion to 40 per cent of twos the council funded 41 capital projects using £1m development funding for providers to expand their existing provision.

Freepost application forms have also been placed with family support teams, children's centres, foster carers and Jobcentre Plus to encourage parents to apply.

Now that the scheme has expanded to 40 per cent of twos, many parents that are eligible are in work so the council is also targeting information at local businesses to make sure parents are aware of the offer.

Stephanie Jackson, head of early years at Entrust, said that a training programme is being offered to all private, voluntary, and independent settings, childminders and schools delivering Think2 funded places. All early years providers are encouraged to attend, especially those that 'require improvement', to ensure they comply with their funding conditions. To support settings attending these events, Staffordshire County Council provides funding for supply cover.

There is a wide range of universal training available on topics including child development, schemas, speech and language. Ms Jackson said there was also a targeted approach for settings with 'requires improvement' Ofsted judgements with a range of 'getting to good' courses on topics including leadership and management and special educational needs.

She said the aim was to aspire towards all settings being judged good and outstanding. 'We want to make sure that there are enough childcare places and parents have a choice in their preferred childcare provision.'

Councillor Mike Lawrence, cabinet member for children at Staffordshire County Council said, 'We know that good quality childcare can have a real positive impact and we are keen to see as many parents signing up for the free places as possible. We are pleased with the success of our scheme so far with more than 1,000 parents benefiting from the free childcare, so gaining time to retrain or find a job. We also have more "good and outstanding" providers than ever before.'

CASE STUDY

Childminder Wendy Douglas took part in the pilot for two-year-olds and has been offering funded places for twos ever since.

Wendy and her husband Martin, who works as her assistant in the childminding business, provide places for eight children and three of them are currently on the Think2 scheme.

'It helps parents get out to work and children to interact with each other. I pick children up from home and drop them back. It's about supporting the family as well.'

Julie Evans' son Finley, now three, was one of the first wave of recipients of the Think2 funding. Finley continues to go to Wendy's setting, as well as a school nursery. Julie, who has a disability that makes it difficult to get out much, says of the funding, 'It's meant such a lot. I was finding it hard to cope and struggling, because I found it hard to do physical things with Finley. Wendy's been a really big support. If I hadn't had the funding I wouldn't have been able to cope. It's been a real help. Wendy is such a special childminder, it's like sending him to his Nan or Grandma.'

Another parent, Amy Gudger, whose son Kian has just started the Think2 programme with Wendy, said, 'It's been a godsend.' Kian is waiting for tests for autism. Already Amy says it has made a real difference. 'He never used to like playing with other children, but he's starting to.

He was really struggling to put sentences together but he has come on in leaps and bounds. He's a changed child.'