Last year, I wrote a blog about how Ofsted inspect the impact of Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) on outcomes for children.
The information in this blog is still relevant – during the pre-inspection phone call, the Early Years Inspection handbook (point 36) states that the inspector should, ‘find out whether the setting provides any funded places and/or receives early years pupil premium funding’ and point 53 states, ‘The evidence collected [during inspection] must refer to [among other things]: the impact of any early years pupil premium funding on the children’s progress’.
Point 54 of the Early Years Inspection handbook clarifies that, ‘If any of the children are eligible for the early years pupil premium, at least one of them must be included in the sample of those tracked’ and point 160 states, ‘Inspectors will explore how well providers work with parents to promote children’s good attendance, especially the attendance of children for whom the provider receives the early years pupil premium.’
To judge providers on the Effectiveness of Leadership and Management during inspection Ofsted will consider, ‘how effectively leaders use additional funding, including the early years pupil premium, and measure its impact on narrowing gaps in children’s outcomes’ (point 150).
There are 2 NEW funding options introduced from April 2017 as noted in the Operational Guidance to the 30 hours funding -
1. Disability Access Funding is provided for children who receive Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and have an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan - providers will be able to apply for Disability Access Funding which will pay £615 per year as a one-off payment.
Note that if the child attends multiple settings, parents will be asked to nominate which provider receives this funding.
2. The Local Inclusion Fund will be provided by the Local Authority for children with lower levels or emerging special educational needs ‘to support providers to secure better outcomes for children with SEN’ (Operational Guidance, page 34). It will be paid to providers who are caring for children who do not have an EHC plan but who need extra support in the provision.The Local Inclusion Fund will be administered locally and it is likely that every LA will do it differently. There will be an application process and the request for funding will be assessed by the LA before the money is allocated. How much information will be required, how long it will take and how much money will be granted remains to be seen but it is likely that applications will need to be detailed and robust and show the support in place for the child… and that the child needs significantly more support than the provider can offer using currently available resources and staff.
Further information likely to be required during the application process includes tracking and interventions, supporting documentation from parents and other professionals involved with the child, SEN action planning detailing adjustments made and evidence that the child has not made expected progress over time.
It is likely that Ofsted will focus on the impact of how this extra funding is spent in the same way they do now for providers who receive EYPP for children in their care.
The areas of practice Ofsted inspectors will examine include –
How well the provider tracks children’s progress from their starting points…
- It is recommended that providers have written records from parents about their child’s starting points. These should be followed up with observations of the child in the setting which allow the provider to make judgements about what they know and do not know when they first start in the provision.
- Ofsted expect us to identify gaps in children’s learning across all 7 areas of learning, with a focus on the 3 prime areas, literacy and mathematics, so we can plan to help the child catch up as quickly as possible.
- Starting points can be used to plan for the child’s individual learning from day 1, so time is not wasted and every moment in early years provision is used effectively to support the child’s learning and development.
How extra funding is spent…
- Records should be kept showing how much money has been received and for which child. These records should include how the money has been spent and why. For example, if a child receives Disability Access Funding, extra resources might be purchased or staff training might be undertaken to directly support the child’s disability.
- It is important to show clearly why the money has been spent in a certain way and the effectiveness of the spending. For example, if staff have accessed behaviour training to support a child who receives local inclusion funding they should reflect on changes they have made as a result of the training and how outcomes for the child have been raised.
How well providers focus on attendance…
- While attendance is not statutory in the early years, if children do not attend the provision regularly we cannot support their progress effectively. Attendance is also linked to safeguarding. Parents should be encouraged and enabled (if accessibility is an issue) to ensure their child attends regularly.
- For example, some providers have spent EYPP money on supporting parents to get their children to the provision for their session if this was identified as an effective way of raising outcomes for the child.
In group provision…
- Providers are expected to monitor how well groups of children are making progress and to note any areas of learning where progress is slower than ‘typical’. This will enable providers to put planning, resources, environmental changes, staff training etc into place to quickly raise outcomes for all the children.
- This group progress monitoring is usually known as ‘cohort tracking’ and is not used by childminders as we do not have the cohorts of similar aged children to track.
The effectiveness of the funding and its impact on children’s progress…
- As with anything spent on children, reflective providers consider whether the money has been spent wisely. This means observing children’s progress and recording whether they are catching up quickly with their peers as a result of how the funding has been used.
- For example, if a child has a speech and language delay and you undertook speech and language training and implemented a new way of supporting children’s learning then you would look back over the short and longer term to note the impact of the training on your ways of working and on children’s progress.
You will find more information from Ofsted about how they inspect EYPP in this Slide Share presentation.
If you have any questions, please ask!
Thank you, Sarah.