Dear Colleagues,
Updates from the Team
2nd Headcount Request AUT 2025-26
If you have any disadvantaged 2 year olds who have; started accessing funding with you, or have increased their hours since full headcount, please email sophie.downing@northumberland.gov.uk to request a 2nd headcount form by Friday 5th December 2025.
Funding Drop-in Sessions
Are you prepared for Spring Term? If you would like to chat to us about all things funding to help you prepare for Spring Term funding claims, please complete this form with your preferred time & date.
Key Dates Spring Term
To view key dates for Spring 2025-26, click here – Key-Dates-Spring-Term-26-1.pdf
Staff Recruitment
If you are looking to recruit, it is worth contacting theresa.kirkwood@northumberland.gov.uk before advertising.
Theresa attends regular Worksmart events and has regular contact with organisations helping those work ready.
Some recent candidates have:
- rejoined the EY’s workforce
- come with prior sector experience
- held a L2 EY’s qualification
- personal experience of working with children with SEND
- demonstrated transferable skills from the NHS
- undertaken a Skills Bootcamp, which includes the EYFS
Work Experience Placements
Last week we shared some information about the above via the EY’s update and Facebook. Settings within the central and south east area should have received a follow up email from Jill Prescott about this.
Thanks to those who responded.
If you are in the central and south east area of the county and have not received this email, please check your spam folder, Facebook or last weeks e-courier.
Should you wish to offer an intern placement, through Choices College please contact theresa.kirkwood@northumberand.gov.uk
They currently have 4 interns who are work placement ready and keen to enter the sector.
Quality Interactions in Play
Our Quality Interaction training is now available on the School Readiness Passport via the Learning Library.
This self led course will support practitioners working with children aged 2 to 5 to develop their skills in developing high-quality interactions with children, supporting their communication and language and all-round learning. Practitioners will have the opportunity to find out why back and forth interactions are so important and will learn some key strategies to embedding best practice in relation to evidenced based research.
This training course has been built around the ShREC approach and has been designed so managers and leaders can deliver this session with their staff team.
Free to all EY SLA members.
Join our Early Years SLA
Just a reminder that our Early Years SLA portal is now open on the School Readiness Passport. Join today to make the best use of the specialist support we can offer and to access a wealth of professional development opportunities.
For more information see the attached flyer or get in touch via e-mail at earlyyearsteam@northumberland.gov.uk
Updates from Partners
Reception Admissions – September 2026
The Admissions Portal for applications for Reception Places in Northumberland schools for September 2026 is now open
Please find attached an explanatory letter for parents of children at your setting who are currently aged 4 or turning 4 this academic year.
ACTION REQUESTED – Please can you send out the attached letter to all nursery parents of children aged 4 or turning 4 this academic year.
For your information, the portal opened on 1 November and closes on 15 January 2026. All applications received after that date will be treated as late and will be considered after all on-time applications have been allocated. Therefore, submitting a late application could result in parents not being allocated a place in one of their preferred schools. We also ask parents to include their catchment school in their list of 4 preferences even if it is not in their top choice of schools, just in case their top preferred schools are not able to be allocated. Information on applying is within the attached letter for parents.
