Dear Colleagues,
Updates from the Team
Autumn Term 2026 Key Dates
Please find Autumn Key dates attached. Keep these handy to prevent missing submission deadlines.
Child Safety Week 1st-7th June Shared on behalf of Northumberland Children and Young People Safey Reference group
Child Accident Prevention Trust have a load of free downloadable resources to promote child safety week and this year’s theme which is ‘Making Prevention Possible’. Attached is a parents pack full of top tips and session plans as well as a resource display pack to create a display to promote Child Safety Week.
There are more useful links below to the CAPT website for activity sheets to run interactive sessions with parents/carers and children, group session plans and additional resources:
Activity Sheets - Free Child Safety Activity Sheets for Children | Download Now
Group Session Plans - Child Safety Session Plans | Child Accident Prevention Trust
Additional Resources – Free educational resources | Child Accident Prevention Trust
Child Accident Prevention Trust will be releasing more content and email awareness throughout the week.
You can also click the link here to sign up to the Child Accident Prevention Trust network
If you participate in any activities please email jack.barber@northumberland.gov.uk
Safeguarding
The North and South of Tyne Safeguarding Children Partnership (multi-agency) Procedures Manual is now updated and online: https://nesubregion.trixonline.co.uk/ - See attached for a summary
Survey: Speech, Language and Communication in the Early Years
We are inviting Early Years practitioners to complete a short questionnaire exploring current practice around speech, language and communication (SLC). The survey looks at how SLC is prioritised, approaches to screening, and the use of targeted interventions.
Your responses will help us build a clearer picture of practice across the sector and identify opportunities to strengthen early support for children’s communication development.
The survey is open to all Early Years settings and should only take a few minutes to complete.
Thank you for your support.
Identifying and supporting speech, language and communication needs in the Early Years.
Sharing What Works: Best Start in Life Case Study 2
Using the School Readiness Passport – 2 Year Old Progress Check (Northumberland School Focus)
This second Best Start in Life (BSiL) case study highlights how a Northumberland school is effectively using the School Readiness Passport – 2 Year Old Progress Check to strengthen early identification, partnership working and inclusive practice. By embedding the progress check within everyday practice, practitioners are able to build a clearer, shared understanding of each child’s development at an earlier stage, particularly in communication and language, personal, social and emotional development.
Please find the case study attached here.
Early Years Top Up Qualification
This is welcome news to many settings, especially those trying to recruit.
DfE are currently working with awarding organisations and key stakeholders to design an assessment-only route for educators who have demonstrated they have the skills and experience to operate at level 3 to gain a full and relevant qualification.
Ultimately, DfE intend to phase out the Experience-Based Route (EBR) as educators gain their approved qualification via this new route.
Assessment-based qualifications recognise that staff members who have not held full and relevant qualifications in the past, but who have the right level of experience and knowledge, can offer a great deal to the care and education of young children, similar to the Assessment Only route to QTS that is already in place.
The route will include independent assessment by an Awarding Body and will be required to meet the Early Years Educator (Level 3) criteria, as with other full and relevant qualifications. This is to ensure that those going through this route are suitable to work in the staff: child ratios at Level 3 and deliver high-quality education to the children in their care.
We will share more details in due course.
Early Years Inclusion Fund
Please refer to the letter you received confirming the total amount Inclusion Fund your setting will receive. This guidance will support you to spend the fund in the most effective and efficient way alongside other funding to support inclusive practice and best outcomes. For further support, please contact your Early Years Inclusion Consultant.
Updates from Partners
Free School Meals Webinars
Free School Meals eligibility is being expanded in September to all children from households receiving Universal Credit. Transitional protections for FSM are ending.
The Department has published updated FSM guidance which is available here. This sets out what these changes mean for schools and local authorities. We are holding two information sessions in the first week of June to discuss this guidance and answer any questions attendees may have.
Headteachers, school business managers, and any other staff involved in the delivery of FSM can sign-up to our second session, taking place between 15:00-16:00 on Friday 5 June:
Free School Meals guidance – Session Two Tickets, Friday, June 5 • 3 PM – 4 PM GMT+1 | Eventbrite
These sessions will be recorded and uploaded to DfE’s YouTube channel.
Early Years Alliance Virtual Conference
The Early Years Alliance has announced the line-up for its 2026 virtual annual conference, which will be taking place via Zoom on Thursday 25 June from 6.15pm – 8.45pm.
The event, entitled Starting strong: empowering children and families through high-quality care, will entail an in-depth look at what we mean when we talk about quality provision, how we as educators can continue to deliver the best possible early years practice despite ongoing challenges, and what is needed to ensure that the voice of the child is centred in everything we do.
This year’s conference will include keynote speeches from president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists Dr Lade Smith, education and skills director of the OECD Andreas Schleicher and Alliance CEO Neil Leitch. Attendees will also get the opportunity to attend one of three practical seminars (and will receive recordings of the other two sessions).
- Kayla Halls, research fellow at Middlesex University, on delivering high-quality baby room practice
- Alex Dave, safeguarding lead at the LGfL, on digital literacy and online safety
- Lucy Wood, early years dietitian, on supporting children with SEND at mealtimes
In light of the ongoing financial pressures facing the early years sector, the Alliance is once again offering tickets to free to all Alliance members and their teams, and for just £15 for non-members.
Book your place at bit.ly/Allianceconference2026.
Health Improvement Partner- Request
Last year Harrogate and District Foundation Trust
(HDFT) conducted a family survey for Northumberland County Council about the nasal flu vaccine for 2-3 year olds.
One recommendation in the report was to carry out some additional focus group work to unpick some of the issues they highlighted in more detail. Unfortunately, capacity was limited at the time, but they can move this forward now.
How Settings Can Help
If you are working with any family/children’s groups that that fit the 2-3yr target criteria and would be open to some focus group work
please email jack.barber@northumberland.gov.uk
Focus group
Parents/carers will be expected to answer some questions to help the team better understand the publics views on the nasal flu vaccine.
If you have any questions about the focus group work or if you would like to chat through this further. Please contact Jack on the email address above.
Escape
Escape offers a range of activities and family support services to address the impact of substance misuse upon carers and families.
They also sell a range of resources for a minimal fee, including jigsaws, dressing up clothes and character outfits, which may be suitable for early years settings and Out of School Clubs.
For more information about Escape, please visit https://escapefamilysupport.org.uk/
Parent and Child Reading
We all know the importance of why practitioners read to the children every day but do your parents.
Have you explained the benefits to your families. Reading accelerates brain development, expands vocabulary, and strengthens the emotional bond between parent and child.
The Book Trust published a report on the trends, drivers and inequalities in UK childhood reading. The findings from their latest survey of families with early years children, shows children and families value reading, but rising pressures means early shared reading is declining. https://files.booktrust.org.uk/docs/documents/BookTrust-National-Family-Survey-2026-Full-Report.pdf…
Upcoming Events
12th June Pyjamarama is back!
Pop on your PJs and help get every child reading! Register here for Pyjamarama 2026.
