Early years providers are defined as:
- private, voluntary and independent nurseries
- pre-schools and childminders
- maintained schools and academies
- out of school provision
The early years service is made up of 3 teams:
- Quality and Development team
- Child Development Centre
- Early Years Business Support and Family Information Service
Quality and Development Team
The Quality and Development Team:
- offer support, advice, training and challenge to all registered early years and childcare provision within Bracknell Forest
- make sure children have access to high quality childcare and early education settings to ‘get the best start in life’ and achieve the best possible outcomes
- engage parents of children eligible for 2-year funding to access funding and secure a place - this helps us intervene early should any developmental delays be identified
- work closely with health colleagues to place vulnerable children and identify any further services to support development and learning
- provide resources for early years providers
Contact the Quality and Development Team by emailing: qd.team@bracknell-forest.gov.uk
Early Years Business Support Team
The Early Years Business Support Team:
- deliver the Early Years Funding to all registered early years providers (including private, voluntary and independent group providers, maintained and academy providers, childminders)
- support all providers with processes for accessing the free entitlements, including Early Years SEND (special educational needs and disabilities) and Inclusion fund and Disability Access Fund
- are responsible for childcare sufficiency and support settings with business planning for sustainability
Contact the Early Years Business Support Team by emailing: ehbs@bracknell-forest.gov.uk
Family Information Service
The Family Information Service:
- maintain the Family Services directory and the Local Offer - this is the publication of provision available across education, health and social care for children and young people in the area who have SEND including those who do not have Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans
- work closely with services to make sure the Local Offer is updated and meets requirements
- support families to find required childcare, brokering as necessary - this can include childcare for working parents as well as emergency childcare for various reasons and to enable parents to attend training and or appointments to improve outcomes
Contact the Family Information Service by emailing: family.information@bracknell-forest.gov.uk
Child Development Centre
The Child Development Centre:
- offer a service to children aged 0 to 5 years with SEND and their families
- work in partnership with health, Early Help and other colleagues to make sure children and families are receiving the right support at the right time to improve outcomes
- offer services that are identified dependent on the needs of the child and family and can include:
- multi-agency assessments
- home visiting to support parents to support child’s development
- observations, advice and guidance to early years settings
- tracking development
- learning groups within the centre
- transition from home to nursery, nursery to school
- workshops and training for parents
- workshops and training for professionals
Contact the Child Development Centre by emailing: child-development.centre@bracknell-forest.gov.uk