Highland Council Early Learning and Childcare Delivery Plan

September 2017

CONTENTS PAGE

Section One: Introduction and Executive Summary 3 Section Two: Philosophy for ELC in Highland 4 Section Three: Current Provision of ELC 6 Overview 6 Local Authority Provision 7 Partner Provision 9 Quality 10 Early Years Structure 12 Workforce 14 Processes and ICT Systems 15 Funding of ELC 16 Consultation and Engagement 18 Section Four: The Rationale for Expansion 20 Supporting New Arrangements 20 Impact of Flexibility and expansion 22 Rural Poverty and Phasing 24 Section Five: Future Provision and Priorities 25 Service Delivery Model 25 Expanding Provision with Partners and New Providers 26 Quality 27 Phasing 28 Workforce 30 Infrastructure 33 Section Six: Implementation Plan 35 Quality Plan 39 Workforce Plan 43 Phasing Plan 45 Community Engagement Plan 47 Infrastructure Plan 48 Risk Management Plan 58

Section One: Introduction and Executive Summary

Our vision in Highland is that all of Highland’s children have the best possible start in life, enjoy being young and are supported to develop as confident, capable and resilient young people in order to fully maximise their potential. This vision forms the guiding principle within Highland Council where services to children and young people are delivered through the integrated Care and Learning Service, working in partnership with NHS Highland and the Third Sector. This vision is shared in our communities through community planning structures and partnerships, and is fundamental in planning services across the four areas that make up our unique Geography.

We share the Scottish Government commitment to ensure that the expansion of early learning and childcare (ELC) is delivered to all our children in order to enrich their lives and provide them with the skills to develop into confident and capable young adults and set the trajectory for the rest of their lives. We want to be able to demonstrate to their parents and carers that services we provide in Highland are of the highest quality to ensure their confidence in the provision. We need those services to be flexible in order to best meet the needs of children and parents, and accessible so that all children are able to take up their entitlement.

This plan for Highland will help to shape the evolving journey of early years social policy that will develop over the next 15 – 20 years in Scotland. We have detailed the steps we have taken to expand provision so far and our vision to take this expansion forward into 2020. This plan will offer the Scottish Government assurance that we are fully committed to expanding the current 600 hours of funded early learning and childcare for all three and four year olds and eligible two year olds, to 1140 hours by 2020. We will work with parents, partners, communities and other key stakeholders to ensure that this happens and we are committed to delivering high quality ELC that is child centred and meets their needs, the needs of their parents and the needs of communities.

Section Two: Philosophy for ELC in Highland

Our philosophy is built on the knowledge that the foundation for future health and wellbeing of our children is established at the earliest stages of life. We know that the care, stimulation and nurture a child receives from pre-birth onwards sets that trajectory and our services are built around the Highland Practice Model that has a focus on early support, early assessment and early intervention to ensure all our children get the best possible start in life. We will do this by ensuring that we focus on:

 Childrens rights to experience unconditional love and secure attachments in their daily lives to equip them with the building blocks they require to enable them to grow and flourish in life  Supporting the role of parents and carers as the primary and most important adults in a child’s life  Building on family nurture models of engagement, particularly with those who may struggle due to health and social inequalities  Providing an environment where children are enabled to actively construct their own learning, supported by sensitive and rich interactions with adults  Working in partnership with parents to ensure that all Highland’s children have the best possible start in life and are ready to succeed

The principles for early learning and childcare must be focused on high quality provision, which is flexible, accessible and affordable. It must also be needs led.

The needs of children

 Children will be safe, healthy, achieving, nurtured, active, respected and responsible, and included  Children will be recognised as capable and competent individuals  Childrens learning will be dynamic and holistic  Children will be supported to utilise their capacity and right to initiate and lead their learning, and be active participants and decision makers in matters that affect them

The needs of parents

 Parents will be enabled to choose accessible ELC settings that are of the highest quality for their children  Parents will expect flexibility in the provision that meets the needs of their family life and enable them to work, train or study  Parents will have access to affordable ELC, particularly those parents who find it difficult to make ends meet

The needs of communities

 Communities should expect that the expansion of ELC will impact positively on the health, social and economic circumstances of families living in Highland by enabling employability through providing parents with greater flexibility and affordability  Communities will recognise opportunities within ELC as a route to employment and gaining qualifications  Communities will support partnerships between local authority, health and third sector to ensure that the uniqueness of Highlands urban, remote, rural and island localities enable them to work together to seek solutions to support the expansion of ELC

In Highland we acknowledge the increasing evidence that supports the view that the highest rate of social and economic return is through investment in the earliest years of life. We have already committed to that philosophy through our integrated childrens service model, working with our partners in the private and third sector to deliver ELC and through our partnership with the Care and Learning Alliance (CALA) who deliver many services on our behalf. Our diversity of settings is a strength that offers parents real choice however the expansion of ELC will take us all much further as we work more closely with children, parents and communities to ensure all Highland’s children grow up in best place in Scotland.

Section Three: Current Provision of ELC

Overview

There are approximately 2200 babies born annually in Highland Council with 17.4% of our population aged 0-15 years. Our geography consists of a mix of urban rural, remote and island communities spread across an area that measures 26,484 square km. Some communities are only accessible by single track road, crossing bridges or by ferry and Highland accounts for a third of the land mass of Scotland.

The delivery of funded ELC for 3 and 4 year olds in Highland is distributed across 130 settings and 54 partner providers. The partner providers are a mix of private businesses and third sector run groups (voluntary and committee). This equates to an approximate 70/30 ratio which we aim to retain where provision is of a high quality and meets the other principles of flexibility, accessibility and affordability. This will be dependent on parental consultation and an ability to offer the expansion and flexibility required.

Parents in Highland can choose which provider they want to use for the funded hours and there is no restriction placed on this by the local authority, it is purely down to provider capacity. Parents can also choose to split their child’s placement across two providers and have the option of 15 local authority settings that provide Gaelic medium, some on the same site as English, with 2 Gaelic partner providers.

The majority of provision for eligible 2 year olds is within partner centres or with childminders. The exception to this is the Family Centre in Merkinch, Inverness which is situated in an area of deprivation and provides places for up to forty 2 year olds. There are a small number of eligible 2’s in local authority nurseries where local provision in very remote and rural areas has meant that the school is the only provider.

The number of families who take up the funded hours for 3 and 4 year olds is high, but uptake of eligible 2 year old entitlement is still low and we continue to focus on ensuring clear messages are being delivered to parents. We work closely with our health visitor leads and the revised health visitor universal pathway contact at 13 – 15 months includes a conversation with parents about the entitlement. Messages around eligibility continue to be shared with our integrated family team staff and third sector partners who provide services to families including the Citizens Advice Bureau and CALA.

It is however worthy of note that within small rural communities there is often reluctance from parents to take up entitlements related to benefits due to a notion of stigma and everyone knowing, and we see the same reticence in take up of free school meals in our schools. We offer discretionary funded places to 2 year olds whose needs are detailed in a Child’s Plan to ensure their health and wellbeing outcomes are met. We know that a child’s needs are not only based on family

6 income but they may be impacted on by parental illness, family breakdown or other factors.

Registrations in Highland for 2017

Table 1 details the registrations for this year which shows 73% of children across all age groups have taken up their place in local authority provision.

Table 1

May 2017 2 year 3 year 4 year 5 year Total olds olds olds olds (ante- (pre- (Deferred) pre) school) Local authority 25 1529 1886 245 3682 settings Partner provider 88 656 536 62 1342 settings Childminding 8 8 services Total 118 2185 2422 307 5032

We can currently accommodate all 3 and 4 year olds across all settings where parents request it and we ensure there is no restriction on the number of places our partners can offer. We know that some parents chose not to send their children for the full 600 hours provision, particularly the parents of 3 year olds. Most parents whose 4 year olds attend take up their full entitlement.

Local Authority Provision

Since 2007 Highland Council has offered a limited childcare service that operates from 8am – 6pm term time only, in any new school being built. When the plans to expand to 600 hours of ELC were instigated in 2014, a decision was made to pilot increased flexibility in two of our local authority settings and also to move away from the traditional nursery session plus wraparound care. We have taken the learning from those initial pilots to influence and improve our delivery as we move forward.

In 2017/18, 53 of our local authority nurseries offer more than 600 hours of ELC to children and any additional hours over entitlement can be purchased by parents. In this respect we are phasing in the capacity to deliver additional hours but we charge to subsidise the additional revenue that is incurred. The exception to this is when a

Childs Plan is in place and the Family Team who supports the child will fund the additional hours and not the parents.

We continue to ensure that those settings who have not yet done so, promote the offer of flexibility to parents, and from 2018/19 this will mean at least 4 hours will be delivered over 5 days to every child. This is currently being discussed with our head teachers and unions as are the plans for phasing.

Early Level Classes - development by the Early Years Education Support Officers

As Highland has such a diverse geography with a mixture of densely populated towns and very sparsely populated small communities, innovative approaches have been required in order to deliver services. 58% of our schools have less than 70 pupils. Because of this and to ensure ELC is delivered to children in our remote and rural communities, early level classes have been developed. Last session this was provided in seven local authority schools in rural areas which saw nursery children and P1s together in an early level class, and this year we are providing early level classes in the schools listed in Table 2.

Whilst it is our aim to keep class sizes as small as possible, due to the collective number of children across nursery and P1 the stated number may exceed 25. However, to put this into context, some three year olds may not have taken up places until January or April and these numbers do not reflect this. The reality is also that young children rarely have 100% attendance either due to parental choice or childhood illness.

Table 2

Early Level Classes – session 17/18 School N3 N4 P1 Total P2 - 7

Strathdearn 2 9 9 20 40 Teanassie 5 6 7 18 34 Kingussie 5 6 11 22 70 Kyleakin 4 4 1 9 18 Ullapool Gaelic 6 15 9 30 34 Milton 2 12 10 24 63 Scourie 4 3 4 11 9

In some cases forming an early level class has provided an additional teacher for the children and has stabilised staffing. Early level classes are an attractive option for head teachers in rural schools where composite class arrangements can be difficult due to a spike in numbers at a particular stage, especially if it is in P1 or P2, with a smaller intake of P1s coming in behind. Also, if the school roll drops the traditional approach to class arrangements would mean a potential loss of teacher entitlement

8 for the next session. Furthermore, due to accommodation pressures the use of any nursery space for an early level class makes better use of the available resources.

The most important benefit of early level classes is to the children. The educational value for P1’s being in a less formal structured environment than they would necessarily be in a composite class with older children in a two or three teacher school is acknowledged. Staff report that spending time with the younger children with a focus on free, unstructured play and greater access to the outdoor learning environment means that the P1’s are more able to settle and focus on numeracy and literacy with the teacher when the younger children move into sessions with the EYP, or go home.

The nursery children also benefit from taking part in more school activities and are being mentored by the older children which impacts positively on their confidence and desire to learn. Transition is not an issue as children share resources, staff and the same environment. We therefore continue to support this model for areas of Highland.

The EYESOs have developed guidance to assist schools to meet the standards within an early level class and also to support those who would want to consider this option to meet the needs of children and the school for the following year.

Partner Provision

Partner Centres

ELC for eligible children in Highland is also provided through third sector and private partners. There are currently 54 partner providers across Highland and 28 of these provide a full day care service from 8am – 6pm. Parents can pay the provider for additional hours on top of their 600 hours entitlement and this is popular as many of the providers operate throughout the year.

When ELC was initially established in Highland the priority at that time was to get services up and running quickly to meet parental eligibility requirements. This now means that there is some duplication, with both local authority and partner providers doubling on provision in a locality, where 3 and 4 year olds from the same family can attend different providers. Over the years we have continued to rationalise provision of services whilst taking account of local needs and this has meant that as local authority flexible provision has grown, the number of partners that we fund has reduced.

Having met the target to deliver 600 hours in August 2014 the planning and implementation of expansion to an entitlement of 1140 hours by 2020 has resulted in us focusing even further on rationalising services. There has been a reduction in this year’s core budget, whilst the additional funding from the Scottish Government to

9 increase flexibility and implement 1140 hours gives us a clear steer to continue to map local provision, ensure the delivery of a quality service, consider long term requirements, promote flexibility and reduce duplication, whilst achieving best value and affordability.

Childminders

There are currently 265 childminders registered in Highland. To date, we have two commissioned to deliver the 3 and 4 year old provision and other childminders are used by parents for any additional non funded hours. Consultation with parents in the past has demonstrated that they have a preference for settings rather than childminders for the 3 and 4 year old provision. Parents have said they prefer the group experience for their children and also to mitigate the impact if a childminder is ill and cannot work.

However, we continue to consult with parents and promote the use of childminders for their ELC, particularly in rural areas. We want more childminders to be part of the service delivery and will continue to work with them and the Scottish Childminding Association to find ways to ensure more are commissioned to meet expansion requirements.

There are a small number of childminders who we fund to provide a service to eligible 2 year olds and all childminders who obtain a grade 3 mean score or over with the Care Inspectorate can apply to take 2 year olds. Despite a continued focus on supporting childminders there are very few who take up the option to deliver to eligible 2’s. We continue to address the provision required for eligible 2 year olds including the option of working with new partners and the use of other community based assets.

Quality

High quality ELC for all children is at the heart of our expansion plans. Our early year’s workforce provide a service that meets the standard we expect of qualified practitioners and we offer continuous professional development (CPD) to all providers including childminders. Training is delivered around a core suite of competencies and additional areas of knowledge and skills that we expect staff to be proficient in. We work with our partners in CALA, NHS Highland and HIMATS to deliver CPD to staff.

We continue to review and map current learning and development opportunities, highlighting areas of good practice and any gaps which we need to provide further training on. For example we need to focus on the requirements of eligible 2 year olds and ensure practitioners understand their development pathway.

Abundant international evidence confirms the value of high quality early learning and childcare in improving outcomes for children across a range of indicators. This is especially so for children facing greater adversity or developmental challenge. Highland partnerships are committed to maintain and improve the quality of ELC, and we have a structure for ensuring this. The team of EYESOs work with Area Managers, Quality Improvement Officers and third sector partners to promote self- evaluation and quality improvement. The relative compactness of this team allows for the rapid sharing of good practice and reduction in postcode differences in provision of quality.

Priorities and values are based on the Highland Practice Model to ensure that all children get the best start in life and are ready to succeed. The foundations for ensuring the curriculum is delivered are built on How Good Is Our Early Learning and Childcare (HGIOELC), Building the Ambition and the Care Inspectorate standards.

All partner providers complete an annual improvement plan which the EYESO team evaluate to ensure the principles required for quality ELC are clearly demonstrated and evidenced. This past year the EYESOs have focused on providing more support to our partner providers to ensure the teacher input is delivered and relationships developed. This has helped to develop an area wide perspective on all of the ELC providision as we move towards 2020.

We expect our settings will gain grade 3 or above in all areas from the Care Inspectorate and equivalent from Education Scotland and if this does not occur the EYESOs use the feedback from Inspectors to assist providers to put in place action plans to address any areas of concern however, the responsibility for this is with the provider. Quality support visits to all providers are a key part of the EYESO role as is the content and delivery of CPD that takes account of evidence based best practice.

Highland Inspection Mean Scores

Inspections Local Authority Partner Provider

Care Inspectorate Mean 4.5 4.6 Score Education Scotland Mean 4.0 4.0 Score

ELC providers must have the necessary skills to effectively engage with parents and the ability to assist them with any support they may require to promote secure attachments. Enabling parents to be the best that they can be is a priority in early years particularly where vulnerable or disadvantaged families may feel disempowered. We have a core suite of parenting support and interventions that has been developed through the Supporting Parents Improvement Group and facilitated

11 by the Family Resource Co-ordinators (FRCs) that will ensure families are able to access a range of differing approaches to parenting so that they can select those that best meets their needs.

Early Years Structure

The strategic direction for early years is centrally led but operationally managed within the four areas in Highland. The structure has been in place for just over a year with the Project Manager for the ELC expansion being a recent addition.

The structure has enabled us to strengthen relationships amongst all our staff that have a role in supporting early years. It is reducing silo thinking, challenging historical processes and helping shape the future provision of early years.

The Early Years Officers (EYOs) are the first point of contact for nursery enrolment, clearing and allocation of early years staffing including Early Years Practitioner (EYP) hours, school building requirements, roll pressures and placing requests. Their role has become ever more important as flexibility and expansion grow.

The FRCs ensure the development, enhancement and sustainability of family services across all sectors continues. They work with schools, partners and childminders and facilitate the childcare and family resource partnerships, to ensure that flexibility and expansion is on everyone’s agenda. They are also responsible for mapping provision of early years and family support services and manage the parental consultations around expansion out with the schools.

The Area Care and Learning managers have a full understanding of all early years provision within their locality and actively engage with not only the developments and challenges within local authority nurseries but also with partners. Peer support within groupings of staff is encouraged and enables practitioners to come together on a regular basis as knowledge experts to support and develop services. This is essential in Highland due to our vast geography and the ever changing landscape of early years.

As we increase our services to manage the expansion of ELC our structure will need to expand and change. We will monitor the impact that the continuous growth and development of the service will have on our ever increasing workforce in terms of provision, training, CPD, quality and maintenance of standards. We do acknowledge that this level of change in ELC will require a strong strategic direction.

Early Years Structure

Director of Care and Learning

Area C&L Managers Heads of Service Senior Manager Early Years

Early Years Midwifery Project Quality Area Education Improvement Educational Development Manager ELC Quality Psychologist Officer expansion Team Improvement

Manager

Schools

Early Years Early Years Family Education Officer x 4 Resource Co- Support ordinator x 5

Officer x 10

Childcare Managers 13 x 13

Workforce

In August 2014 we increased our early year’s workforce staffing within the local authority nurseries from 350 to 500 EYPs whilst standardising most contracts to 23 hours a week. This included 16 hours contact time and 7 hours planning and preparation. This allowed us the potential to increase contracts for staff who wanted to increase their hours up to a maximum of 35 hours a week. In August 2016, approximately 50 staff increased their contractual hours so that more flexible provision could be offered.

In September 2017, the total number of EYPs has steadily increased and this continues to grow as we increase flexibility. As many children are now in a setting for more than 4 hours the ratio of staff to children means that the workforce is continuously expanding. Approximately 80% of the EYP workforce is qualified to meet the SSSC requirements. We support those that are not qualified to undertake the required qualifications.

In April 2016 we recruited 10 new posts of childcare managers in schools that were leading on the expansion of ELC. This has recently increased to 13. A childcare manager is recruited to a school where there is, or there is the potential to have, an 8am – 6pm service for 3 – 12 year olds. The childcare manager is managed by the head teacher within the school and is a member of the school senior management team. They are responsible for the day to day management of the ELC provision, including out of school care.

The childcare manager works closely with the head teacher to ensure that high quality learning, teaching and childcare is delivered in the nursery and out of school care settings. They also provide support to the clerical staff who manage the new billing systems when additional hours are purchased by parents in those schools which do not have their own childcare manager. Schools are allocated additional clerical hours to support the expansion due to the accompanying workload this incurs. Schools offering flexibility are also allocated additional management time, to ensure the quality of learning and teaching is maintained in the nursery.

Without the childcare manager posts, it would not have been possible to prepare for expansion as it would be too burdensome for the head teacher to manage. In preparation for further expansion in August 2018 more posts will be established in the larger nurseries where an increase in flexible delivery and the offer of out of school care for all primary age children is anticipated.

Processes and ICT Systems

The introduction of a flexible provision with the ability to offer additional chargeable hours to children and families has provided us with many challenges. Not least of these has been the billing process required to ensure that parents who wish to purchase additional ELC are accurately charged. Providing an extended day for nursery children has also enabled the growth of out of school care offered to all primary children within the school and generated an additional income for the authority.

To enable this flexible provision we have invested in resources to accurately capture the fully flexible service we offer, together with the option for parents to buy more hours as there was no national system that could facilitate this. We explored the use of SEEMIs and NAMs but this did not allow us to capture the fully flexible hours that we offer. We also consulted with IT companies in England but they were looking to charge substantial amounts to procure their services.

We have procured an ICT consultant to develop the software we require for our flexible system database which will allow us to continue with flexibility. There has also been a commitment from our own Care and Learning IT team, focused continued support from the Corporate Improvement team and the Revenues and Benefits teams to ensure our systems are workable and in place. We also have an agreement from Highland Council to move to Direct Debit and voucher payments rather than invoicing parents which previously caused so much additional work and inaccurate charges being made.

It would have been unsustainable to continue the previous processes we had in place which was not equipped to deal with flexible charging. The process for the development of the database is as follows:

Phase 1 developing the database through numerous discussions with the childcare managers, clericals, support staff and many others. Gathering all of the relevant information required, rigorous and continued testing

Phase 2 further development of the software as process rolls out from August 2017– current position

Phase 3 will include partner centre details to capture any split placements and enable us to accurately follow the child

Phase 4 will be to consider the ability to enable a handheld device to enter daily register which can be uploaded into the database for busy, fully flexible 8am – 6pm provisions.

Funding of ELC

Highland Councils spend on early years’ services in 16/17 was approximately 16 million gross. In 16/17 we spent more than £ 2.8 million on partner centre provision and £9.2 million on devolved nursery provision. Provision of ELC in Highland is more expensive because of the diverse geography and the distances between settlements. We have to provide care in many remote and rural areas for very small numbers of children. In more urban settings, there would be no justification for providing separate care settings for these very small rolls. In this respect there will be greater costs incurred in Highland compared to an urban authority with a similar size population.

Partner providers

Highland Council allocates funding to partners for 3 and 4 year olds based on either a per capita or block grant payment. We have reviewed payments to partners and have increased these by 5% for 2017/18 on the basis that this is the increase agreed within the local authority for the cost to parents of in-house services. The future per capita payments are captured below and the block grants will also increase by 5% each year to 2021/22

The per capita payment is paid to all private providers regardless of how many funded children they have. Partner centres with 21 or more funded children also receive per capita payments.

Year Payment per child per hour (3 and 4 year olds)

2016/17 £3.80 2017/18 £4.00 2018/19 £4.20 2019/20 £4.41 2020/21 £4.63 2021/22 £4.86

Block grant payments are paid to third sector partners where there are 20 or fewer funded children attending. This is in order to provide sustainability in some of our remote and rural communities. There are 4 bands of block grants which include funding for 1-10 children or 11-20 and a rent element is included for those who do not have access to a free school let.

2017/18

Roll Without With school CALA without CALA with school let school let school let let 0-10 £28,280 £24,797 £25,895 £22,411 11-20 £31,834 £28,348 £29,447 £25,963

All partners receive additional benefits from the local authority within the payment which includes access to CPD and ongoing EYESO support. The current partner rates take account of staff salaries required to run the provision and include rent, insurance, resources, consumables, snack and manager costs. Some receive support with management of their settings from CALA through a Service Level Agreement (SLA) with Highland Council.

Partners receive £5.00 per hour for eligible 2 year olds and this payment has been judged as fair through discussions with providers. Where 2 year olds have ASN the funding to provide support for them is at the rate of £8.50 additional to the £5.00 which equates to £13.50 per child per hour.

These payments are in line with our colleagues in the Northern Alliance who are looking at similar increases.

We will continue to work with partners in order that we can support them to pass the living wage to staff and welcome the Scottish Governments guidance around fair work packages to assist with this. We recognise the current difference in pay that third sector partners can afford to offer their managers is much lower than Highland Council pay.

The report of the Barclay Review of Non Domestic Rates published on 22nd August 2017 and the subsequent Scottish Government response has confirmed that a new day nursery relief will be set at 100%, introduced from 1st April 2018. This will significantly remove the burden of rates from some of our day nursery providers.

Local Authority

Funding is paid directly to nurseries through the devolved nursery budget and parents can purchase additional hours on top of their free allocation, where space allows. The charge to parents for additional hours in 2017/18 is £4.00 per hour.

Where we provide out of school care from 3 – 6 pm, we charge £10.60 per session. However, after consulting with head teachers and parents we are currently testing the feasibility of hourly payments for out of school care in six settings across Highland. If this proves successful and popular we will roll this out to all settings into next year.

We welcome the awaited National Standards for Funded Provider Status to enable us to ensure a provider neutral framework and we will continue to ensure that we support the settings that are best placed to deliver the high quality outcomes required to help close the attainment gap.

Consultation and Engagement

We continue to consult with parents about the provision they require and in local authority and partner providers the beginning of this consultation process often takes place following enrolment when parents are asked about the hours they require to meet their needs.

FRCs are responsible for mapping service provision across the operational areas and also undertake parental and community consultations. A recent Survey Monkey provided the following results, March 2017:

 Parents were asked what was important to them in choosing the ELC provision. Ranked in order were: reputation, affordability, flexibility, social and emotional opportunities for children  Parents were asked why they use the funded hours. Ranked in order were: it allows me to work, my child is entitled to 600 hours, it is good for my child’s development  When parents were asked if they would use the 1140 hours, 60% said they would use the full 1140 hours  50% of parents said they would use a school nursery for the 1140 hours  25% of parents favoured a split placement between 2 settings for the 1140 hours  50% of parents would like full year provision  40% asked for term time only  10% of parents asked for holiday cover only.

Consultation has also been undertaken by the childcare managers in settings where flexible provision is offered and that feedback has enabled us have a fuller picture of what parents want. Where parents are already used to accessing flexible and additional hours they are able to visualise what the expansion means to them in an informed way. Key messages from the consultations with parents already using flexible hours are:

 Parents say they would use all of the additional hours  Flexibility rather than number of hours offered has enabled parents to return to work much quicker  The move from 3 hours 10 minutes to at least 4 hours is seen as a more workable option for parents which better fit in with their employment

 Many parents state that they are happy with school hours with others saying they would appreciate holiday cover  Earlier start times for the funded hours are popular

CALA have also undertaken surveys and consultations and have shared this with Highland Council. The majority of parents that responded said:

 They would benefit from additional hours to able them to work  Their children would benefit from additional hours to ensure social skills  Sessions that would best suit their needs include: Mon to Thurs - long sessions, Mon to Friday, 9 – 3pm,

In order to ensure head teachers and partner centre managers are kept abreast of current expansion plans from a national and local perspective, workshops have been delivered twice a year in each operational area. This has also enabled managers to come together to share best practice. The focus has been to gain views on how people see the expansion delivered in their setting and to discuss the impact this may have on staff and services. The information shared with managers allows them to have discussions and consultations with parents around flexibility and expansion.

The team of EYESOs have developed a newsletter and blog to share best practice and developments which is increasing knowledge across the Authority. We work closely with our maternity services and have discussed how best we capture the views of new parents whose children will be entitled to 1140 hours in 2020.

We have established an ELC Strategic Group chaired by the Director of Care and Learning. This group has multiagency membership which allows proper consultation amongst partners to shape the plan for delivery into 2020. ELC expansion is also a standing item on our Early Years Improvement Group where an improvement methodologies approach can deliver the tests of change to inform expansion.

Impact of consultation

We continue to assess the level of uptake of additional hours that parents ask us to deliver in order that we can make more accurate assumptions on what parents may require in 2020. We currently know that in 2016/2017 parents have purchased over 75,000 hours in the 53 local authority settings offering flexibility. The assumption is that demand will be greater when the hours become fully funded.

Continuously consulting with parents will ensure that we respond to their needs in order to shape the provision and address any staffing requirement on a school by school basis. This enables us to increase our workforce incrementally as our provision and flexibility increases and grows.

Section Four: The Rationale for Expansion

Since August 2014 when the entitlement was increased to 600 hours the early learning and childcare service in Highland has undergone constant review and further expansion in order to incrementally expand the workforce, grow the service, plan the structure and face the challenges.

Supporting New Arrangements

A change in systems, culture and practice can have an impact on the quality of provision. Nursery staff and head teachers reported a reduction in quality during the initial expansion of flexibility in the pilot nurseries. As the understanding and impact of change at such a pace has developed, so too has the realisation that to ensure the efficient running of the school and the quality of teaching, learning and childcare, we must support head teachers to manage this. The biggest impact was largely based around head teacher management input into nursery and also clerical administration.

In order to address this impact on quality a decision was made to allocate management time to schools with double session nurseries, and the larger single session nurseries were allocated additional time from August 2016. It was agreed that a degree of flexibility in determining this allocation was required. If it was purely based on the number of nursery children enrolled, it would not reflect the workload associated with the provision of greater flexibility of delivery nor for a teaching head as opposed to a cluster head teacher or of a school with an Early Level Class.

The allocations have been revised over the past two years and for August 2018 a new formula has been arrived at which should address and acknowledge the workload issues of the new delivery models and quality issues. It is as follows: -

Table 3 ELC Management Time Allocation 18/19

Nursery Basic Term Time Term Time Term Time Maximum Roll* Mgmt Time Flex ELC Flex ELC Flex ELC Allocation Allocation 9am – 3pm 8am – 6pm 8am – 6pm (before + 4 wks in Childcare summer Manager) or add GM session Up to 32 0.1 0.1 0.2 children 33 -56 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.4 children

57 – 72 0.3 0.2 0.1 CHILDCAR 0.6 children E MANAGER + 0.1 73 - 88 0.4 0.2 0.2 CHILDCAR 0.8 children E MANAGER + 0.1 89 children CHILDCARE MANAGER + 0.1FTE and above

We will ensure that this management time is being utilised effectively and within the nursery as we move forward and systems become embedded.

We have invested in additional clerical hours for schools to support flexibility however the development of the database will significantly reduce the clerical time required to produce bills and invoices. We are keeping the current arrangements in place for this year to allow bedding in of the database and change in systems. Guidance has been developed to support school clericals through the processes and training has been delivered to them prior to the roll out of the database.

To enable easier processes for parents accessing nursery provision for 2017/18 we have moved to the option of on-line enrolment through the Highland Council website for parents wishing a place in a local authority school or nursery. Parents can still choose to attend the school in person during enrolment week if preferred, however in the larger nurseries it is a busy time for school clerical staff and parents can spend a long time waiting for their turn which is difficult for working parents.

All parents are invited to the open day held before the end of term and it creates a much more relaxed time spent with the nursery staff and head teacher to have a conversation to discuss their requirements for flexibility and any non-funded hours.

As we work in an integrated service in Highland where assessments and developmental overviews are shared between health staff and schools to aid transition, any areas of concern for a child’s health and wellbeing are already known to the nursery. On-line enrolment has proved popular with parents and has eased pressure for the schools and we anticipate that this new system will grow into the future.

From August 2017 we now offer payment by Direct Debit or childcare voucher only for parents who choose local authority provision. This will also include a choice of tax free childcare once the scheme is functioning. The decision to move to Direct Debit payment for parents accessing local authority nurseries has meant that they will now be able to spread their payments over the year which will allow them the ability to manage their finances more effectively. This will also significantly reduce the errors in manual billing processes.

Impact of Flexibility and expansion

The route to flexibility in Highland began several years ago and we are now in a position to offer parents a flexible service in 53 of our local authority settings. Our private partners and a few voluntary ones offer full day care which has meant that parents have been able to choose the provider that best meets their needs.

Parents who use the local authority nurseries that are open 8 am – 6 pm can choose the hours that suit them best whether that be full day or part day, with no set times which they must select from. This flexible approach has seen us move away from sessions or blocks of hours.

As we progress over the next 3 years we will ensure a continued dialogue with our partner providers to support them to deliver the hours that are required by 2020. The learning we have taken from growing the expansion incrementally enables us to identify processes that we have had to change or develop to access flexibility.

We will continue to listen to the views of parents and where there is more than one provider in a community we will ascertain which service they value and will not assume that this will be a local authority provider. Where there is only one provider in a community and it is offering a quality service then we will continue to use that partner. We will continue to have a mixed economy of provision but where partners cannot deliver the requirements and principles of expansion we will have to make a decision on future funding.

The main issue around increasing flexibility has been around changes to existing contracts and working practices, accurate tracking of the flexible patterns of children coming and going at different times, provision and additional funding for children with additional support needs (ASN), expanding English and Gaelic Medium ELC where there is only one nursery room that was able to be shared in the past, billing for additional hours and provision over lunchtime.

ASN

The offer of full flexibility in the 53 local authority settings and the flexibility that partners can provide means that we see parents of children with ASN taking up the offer of non-funded flexible provision. Whilst this is encouraged it does mean that the additional costs for this have to be absorbed by the service. To charge parents extra to cover any additional needs would be in breach of Equalities Legislation. Therefore, the provision for ASN will be fully costed now to ensure that all of our children are offered the best start in life no matter who their provider of ELC is.

With approximately 20% of our children having higher levels of ASN that require additional resources, the assumption is that as we continue to offer flexibility and expand provision more children will take up their allocation.

Gaelic Medium

In Highland we have 15 settings that offer Gaelic medium provision and it will often be the same classroom that is used for the English session at another time in the day. As we expand and phase in more hours this will increase the pressure on available space. In terms of immersion in Gaelic language up until P4, it is not possible to provide a mixed ELC nursery which will mean that both groups of children will require a separate room for their ELC hours and additional costs will be incurred to provide this.

Database

The billing and invoicing issues that we have had will be resolved as we move to our new database and payment arrangements which should reduce administration of this part of the service. This will allow the resources currently provided to support billing to be managed more effectively to undertake other ELC related tasks.

Lunchtime provision

It has been suggested that as we move forward with flexibility we may see a slump over lunchtime where children move in and out of nursery from one block to another depending on hours offered. However, due to our offer of full flexibility we have not encountered this. In fact our larger busy nurseries are even busier over lunchtime and we have to look at additional staffing at this time.

Feedback from our childcare managers indicates that as flexibility grows, parents request that children stay for lunch which would indicate that as we move to longer day provision this demand will increase.

Free school meals for eligible nursery children have been met by the early years funding. However, we do see an ongoing challenge and find it difficult to equate the health and social inequalities of having our younger children who do not qualify for a free school meal being charged for lunch when older siblings in P1-3s continue to be funded. We have raised this with the Government as one of the challenges that we have to manage at a local authority level.

The revenue costs for expanding the provision of nursery meals that takes account of any capital programmes involved is provided within the Financial Template

Rural Poverty and Phasing

Addressing the hidden depths of rural poverty and the impact that this can have on children and families in Highland is behind our intention to phase in additional hours incrementally across the whole of Highland. Due to our vast geographical area we endeavour to take a universal, preventative and early intervention approach to ensure the needs of all of our families are considered, and that equity is ensured across all integrated childrens services.

Rural poverty impacts on every area of life and the level of income required to sustain a standard of living that will ensure the health and wellbeing of our children is a challenge. We know too well that the average earnings are lower in rural areas and where parents do manage to gain employment, it often means having more than one job to ensure their family’s basic needs are met.

We know that families in rural areas often have to travel great distances to access services and fuel poverty is a very real issue in some of our communities. The adverse effects of low income, reduced access to employment, the uncertainty of seasonal work, part time contracts, lack of transport and poor housing all impact negatively on families.

Many of our families have to spend an average of 10-20% more on everyday requirements as basic as food and shelter, and living in rural poverty means that child poverty is a real concern for us in Highland.

Therefore the importance of providing access to increased ELC across all of our communities is at the heart of our plans to phase to ensure no family misses out. This is important in an area such as Highland as rural poverty and the impact it has on children cannot be overstated. By providing a level playing field through our expansion plan we will ensure we do not increase the poverty gap between those living in more affluent urban communities and those that experience rural poverty.

The plans for phasing will also ensure that building the workforce incrementally will be more manageable particularly in rural areas where access to staff is limited. To move from 600 hours to 1140 without any element of phasing would put service provision at risk.

SECTION FIVE: Future Provision and Priorities

The key guiding principles of quality, flexibility, accessibility and affordability are at the forefront of the rationalisation of services as we move forward with expansion of early learning and childcare.

Service Delivery Model

ELC service delivery will be based on the already expanding, flexible model that we have in place and will be further enhanced by our plans for phasing. This will take account of our unique geography and we will base this on continuous local consultation, which will focus on individual settings within an ASG and an operational area. We will ensure that families continue to be able to choose the provider of their choice, that they can split placements if they want to and that a flexible model of provision will continue to expand and develop.

Settings will continue to choose their hours of provision but will ensure that the phasing plans are fully implemented each year and that all are able to offer the minimal hours stated until full 1140 hours by 2020.

We are aware that the model on which we base our provision will need to change from term time only to 4 weeks summer provision in some of our settings. In the future we will see a small number of local authority nurseries offering full year provision but this will be needs led, based on parental requirements. For Highland it is neither practical nor affordable for all settings to be open from 8am - 6pm, or all year. Many of our local authority nurseries will offer a 9am-3pm provision.

Within our phasing plan we will offer expanded weeks of provision in each ASG and this will be considered within the context of the mapping of provision will continue to be undertaken, through discussion with head teachers and where we have full day care partner providers who operate a service which we would not want to put at risk. We will continue to work with our partners to ensure the capacity they have to deliver extended provision is made available to parents. We acknowledge that the use of high quality partner providers is more cost effective than building new provision.

ELC is not compulsory and we will ensure that although we plan to provide for all children that we are careful to not over provide or we will have settings that remain empty, even after the demand lag has passed.

Demand and supply in Highland as indicated by the National Record of Scotland Population Projections indicates that the overall population for the next 5 – 10 years will remain largely unchanged however, for Inverness the expansion in the population will continue to grow where other areas may reduce or largely stay the same.

Expanding Provision with Partners and New Providers

We will continue to work alongside our partners to deliver a high quality flexible accessible and affordable ELC provision. We will ensure that we include partners in any discussions and developments around expansion to ensure we have listened to them and considered their views.

We will continue to review our commissioning rates; we will look to increase payments but will be asking for reassurance from partners that the funding we provide will cover the costs of the living wage. This will be considered in future agreements.

We will formalise the arrangements for eligible 2 year olds and continue to make headway with destigmatising the take up of this provision by families. We want families to see it as an option to enable them to take up study, training or employment and we want to develop more stay and play and family nurture based learning.

Low uptake of 2 year old provision remains a challenge for us but so is the availability of provision in some Areas and we will examine the use of other assets in local communities. We have begun discussions with partners in High Life Highland around our use of assets outside of school buildings to help with expansion requirements. We will work with them to explore how we can use these for local authority expansion particularly for eligible 2 year olds and also consider where they could offer to deliver the service.

We will continue to work closely with CALA to support progression of further work around provision for eligible 2’s in areas across Highland and we are discussing CPD training needs of staff working with 2 year olds. Another element of the work with CALA is developing a test of change using a vacant janitor’s house on school grounds in an area of need where no provision is available. A second test is looking at a similar service for eligible 2’s by sharing premises with the primary school.

CALA are also being supported and part funded by Highland Council to deliver a programme around developing the young workforce, with an emphasis on working in the childcare sector which we will continue to monitor.

We are aware of the significance of intergenerational work and the current notion of developing nursery type provision within care home settings. In one rural area the care home is experiencing recruitment issues which appear to be linked to lack of local childcare provision. We are currently in discussion with our NHS Highland partners around possible localised solutions.

Quality

We have learned that a rapid expansion of both opening times and flexibility in ELC settings can raise risks to the quality of learning and teaching. We have therefore considered ways in which we can reduce this impact with the main risks and mitigating actions set out in the following table. Much of this is already in place but it is important that the focus on quality of teaching, learning and childcare is maintained during the expansion process.

Risk Mitigation “Dilution” or perceived dilution of Rigorous self-evaluation materials and quality learning as children spend more time assurance processes in settings Continued rollout of understanding of Building the Ambition Rapid expansion of workforce leading Refreshed induction processes and materials to reduced average skills and for EYPs knowledge Clear CPD structure and progression Flexible provision making it harder to Revised planning, observation and tracking plan with and for individual children processes designed to work in flexible contexts and monitor learning Testing and introduction of continuous profiling EYP shifts, longer days and flexibility Review of key worker functions to ensure all make it harder for children to have children have points of contact with transitions single point of contact for attachment built in and emotional regulation Longer days for children reducing Freedom for settings to plan flexibly for their learning through fatigue populations Revised planning processes to support balanced approaches when children have long sessions Difficulties in common approaches Introduction of continuous profiling and planning between settings where Local quality indicators agreed to support children have split provision communication between settings Flexible and busier drop-offs reduce Wide sharing of good practice solutions to opportunities for parental family engagement engagement Support websites and other materials for families to use General quality declines as EYESO team maintain focus on quality of managers and officers concentrate provision on managing expansion Early years meetings held regularly to support good practice New CPD for setting managers on “running a setting” Decoupling of ELC from “Education” Education managers supported to keep focus within Care & Learning as on early learning within wider planning processes/contexts diverge Over rapid expansion of outdoor Establish clear quality indicators and learning learning as capital solution might run rationales for outdoor learning ahead of quality of provision

Phasing

The rationale to focus on expansion to full provision in areas of deprivation only would not target rural poverty in Highland but would focus purely on Inverness and we would be unable to deliver the 1140 hours due to an inability to expand the infrastructure and workforce that would be required in the short time frame, which would include a new school build. As our main concern around phasing is about any potential impact on the quality of learning, teaching and childcare, we know from experience that moving to a flexible approach had this effect. Therefore by increasing incrementally we will minimise the impact on quality and manage this more effectively.

To deliver the full 1140 hours in only a fraction of our provision for next session would not enable the expansion to occur at a pace that would be justifiable in terms of equity. It would also be difficult to provide the same commitment to fund our partner providers without it raising discussions around fairness. We argue that an incremental increase in hours across the whole of Highland means that all families would benefit, the workforce could be expanded incrementally and the outcomes for flexibility and expansion would be more realistic and achievable.

Phasing in the hours as we plan across all providers will ensure that no family in Highland is excluded or marginalised from the offer. Through this approach we will make the most difference to more children and their families who will all benefit from an increase in hours offered. This will be more acceptable to our families, communities and partnerships. Politically, an offer of fully funded provision in one area as opposed to another would be challenged.

However, we do recognise that it would be beneficial to test a fully funded model in an area of deprivation to ensure our most vulnerable children benefit from the expanded hours. This will also ensure a fully tested model of full implementation that we can learn from.

Therefore we will include two settings in Highland where children will have access to the full 1140 hours. The first is in Merkinch Family Centre in Inverness which is in an area of high deprivation. This will provide up to 30 eligible 2 year olds, with 1140 funded hours if parents choose this and it will allow additional family nurture work to take place. The Family Centre is an all year provision and it is also where we intend to place one of our ELC graduates next year. The anticipated improved outcomes for our younger children will be a true measure of how the expansion and additionally will impact on their attainment, health and wellbeing.

The second site where we plan to offer the fully funded hours will be in a partner centre in Dingwall that offers provision in an area of deprivation and this will reflect our desire to ensure a provider neutral approach.

We will ensure that the messages around phasing are clear and consistent across Highland, and that it is manageable, affordable and accessible. For that reason and following discussion and consultation the approach will be is as follows:

Phase 1 17/18 Last year of 3 hours, 10 minutes.

600Funded hours

Phase 2 18/19 All settings move to a minimum of 4 hours a day for 5 days term time. Within an ASG – in LA settings with Childcare 760 Funded hours Manager move to at least one school offering 4 weeks provision over the summer.

Phase 2 18/19 2 settings in areas of deprivation offer the full funding

1140 Funded hours

Phase 3 19/20 The 4 weeks offered in the summer would become standard therefore offering 80 more hours at 20 hours per 840Funded hours week. Schools not opening in the summer, move to a more flexible approach e.g. 9am -3pm or 8am –6pm

Phase 4 20/21 All local authority centres offering minimum 9am – 3pm with ASG options for 4 weeks in summer. 1140Funded hours

As we already offer non funded hours to parents in the nurseries currently offering 8am – 6pm provision, we know that the uptake of these hours is increasing year on year. We therefore assume that parents will take up the offer of 20 hours funded provision – or 760 hours a year in 2018/19.

Incrementally phasing in the hours as described will allow us to offer more hours to our existing workforce of EYPs so that they can increase up to 35 hours if they wish, before we need to look for new staff. As we move to an offer of 4 weeks of summer provision in an ASG, contracts will be negotiated with the trade unions to allow the increase in weeks being offered to staff to cover this. Initial information has already been shared with trade unions.

In terms of capital spend we will need to ensure that consideration and priority is given to settings where expansion to 760 funded hours would require a level of infrastructure input so that they are ready for 2018/19. We are also obtaining more detailed information from our partner providers as part of the local area mapping, on their ability to deliver the 1140 hours. The focus is on the basis that provision is of the highest quality for children, and flexible enough to meet family needs.

Workforce

As we move forward with the expansion of ELC and more nurseries are offering an extended day, our need to increase the workforce grows incrementally. Initially current EYPs will be offered more hours, but not all staff will want this. In this situation we will continue to advertise more hours. We estimate that we will need to provide an additional 250,000 hours to deliver 1140 hours in 2020.

We recognise that in larger nurseries that do not have a childcare manager there is a need to have a senior post that can support the head teacher with the responsibility of managing a growing early years workforce before 1140 hours becomes available for all nursery children. We will introduce a senior EYP who will provide leadership and management to a growing workforce and they will be employed in settings that are unlikely to be delivering a full day care service for all ages in the future, and therefore will not become entitled to a childcare manager.

The senior EYP will be developed from the current establishment and will be full time (35 hours) to enable them to fulfil the leadership and management role required, and will also be a key member of the nursery team. They will still have 16 hours of contact time and key worker duties however, they will also have a lead role in terms of planning, staff rotas and day to day supervision.

The criterion for having a post of Senior EYP will not be based on the number of staff, many who may be working only 23 hours, but on the fulltime equivalent required to meet the flexible delivery. Therefore, if there is the equivalent of 4 x 35 hours (140 hours) per week EYPs in a centre or more, then a senior post would be appropriate. A centre that has a childcare manager would not at this stage qualify for a Senior EYP however this may evolve in the future depending on service provision. The post will also create career opportunities for existing EYPs to apply for a senior role and further progression into a childcare manager position into the future if desired.

Many of the nurseries in Highland are small and rural with less than 10 children, so although two members of staff are required to maintain the ratio of staff to children, it is not a second EYP that is needed. It is often general assistance with lunch, snack and toileting that is required. In the larger settings currently offering flexibility, and in all nurseries in 2020 when children will be in attendance for more hours in the day then assistance with lunches, nappy changing and general welfare needs will increase, not necessarily duties that would require an EYP.

Therefore an ELC support worker will be introduced in settings where there are at least 12 children accessing school lunches on a daily basis as part of their flexible day. They will attend to the duties that are not necessarily those of an EYP and will therefore be cost effective. We do not see a slump in uptake of hours over lunchtime in settings that offer flexibility in fact the opposite is the case as we move away from

sessions. The role will form part of the workforce in small rural settings where 2 EYPs are not required to meet the ratio.

The support worker will require Social Services (children and young people) SCQF level 6 (previous SVQ 2) qualification for SSSC registration and this is important for them to be seen as a valued member of the early years workforce. Having a post at this level will also enable those staff who are anxious about studying at SCQF level 7 (SVQ3) but who work well with children, an opportunity to gain experience and a qualification, which may then lead them onto further study and an EYP role.

LA ELC Staffing Structure from 2017/18

Title Basic HC Pay Grade Contract Required SSSC Hours/w ed Qualification registration eek Weeks/y ear Childcare 35 9 52 BA Childhood Manager Manager Practice Senior Early 35 7 40 + Social Service Practitioner Years holidays (C&YP) SCQF Practitioner 7(previous SVQ 3) Leadership training Early Years 23 5 - qualified 40 + Social Service Practitioner Practitioner 4 – unqualified holidays (C&YP) SCQF 7 Out of School 20 5 - qualified 40 + Social Service Practitioner Care 4 – unqualified holidays (C&YP) SCQF 7 Practitioner Early Learning Various 3 39 + Social Services Support and Childcare holidays (C&YP) SCQF 6 Worker Support Worker Modern 23 Scottish Living 40 + Social Services Practitioner Apprentice Wage holidays (C&YP) SCQF 7 in post training and mentoring

In terms of the ELC support worker role it is not the intention to immediately change the existing arrangements in any settings where there are currently two EYPs for less than 10 children. However, in the event of any future change in staffing, a review will be undertaken to ascertain if the current nursery rolls are to remain below 10 in the longer term, and if so this new structure will be implemented when recruiting new staff. There are currently 55 local authority nurseries with less than

10 children enrolled for the next session, which equates to more than a third of all the local authority provision.

Looking to the future and the required workforce expansion, we will have early year’s modern apprentices (MA) in Highland. We have not until now had any early year’s MAs in Highland Council and this role will help create greater opportunities for employment in the early year’s sector and support the development of the required workforce for the future. This is particularly important in rural areas where we will have the ability to ‘grow our own staff’.

In order to support the expansion of ELC in an area the size of Highland where there are so many providers and a widely dispersed workforce we have introduced a project manager role to develop the resources and infrastructure that is required now and into the future.

The continuous process of ongoing engagement and consultation with the ELC national project and delivery steering groups requires a project manager to coordinate activity. This role is responsible for the development of local delivery programmes, monitoring and feedback around progress both to national partners and local teams to ensure the expansion plans stay on track time and budget wise. Furthermore, it will ensure that there is a consistent approach to development and expansion across all four Areas of the vast geography of Highland.

We will make appointments to deal with the additional demands for senior management and leadership capacity during the implementation phase. There will therefore be 4 change posts developed, one for each area, to ensure that the business of expansion is effectively led, and the capacity to deliver on this huge process of change in systems, culture and practice is managed.

We have a bank of non-teaching staff to ensure that we are able to supply staff to cover unexpected absences. We also work with CALA to support a staff bank through a Service Level Agreement and will continue to explore how this may be more effective across ASGs to ensure we are able to offer reassurance of availability and some continuity.

The Scottish Government allocation of additional graduates to work directly with children in areas of deprivation means that there are 6 posts allocated to Highland. We are submitting our Graduate Template alongside the Delivery Plan that describes the local decisions we have made around where they should be placed.

Our future position is to continue to promote high quality and flexible ELC, through a motivated and skilled workforce who have the best interests of children and their welfare and development at heart.

Infrastructure

We are mindful of making best use of assets and the sequential decision making process advised by the Scottish Government whether that be capital spend on refurbishments, extensions or new builds.

We will therefore:

 Use what we have within the local authority including workforce, natural environment, infrastructure and buildings  Use what we purchase enhancing the use of partner assets, developing existing partnership models to provide a mixed economy, strengthening provision including blended models and childminders  Create what we need where full use of existing local authority services and assets plus enhanced commissioned services still leaves a gap, create or build new capacity including outdoor nurseries

As we move nearer to 2020 we will consider what the demand versus capacity is and we will continue to consult with parents to help shape this. However, in the meantime in order to plan for 2020, we have to make assumptions about future demand. However, if not all parents take up the places offered, we have to be prepared for a potential lag in demand.

Mapping and consultation across areas, Associated School Groups (ASGs) and individual settings has helped us to build the profile of all available provision and we know in terms of infrastructure that we will need to look at some form of modification (refurbishment, extension or new build) in approximately 80 of our local authority settings.

Many are Victorian buildings which can provide challenges around expansion. We have looked at each ASG carefully to gather a list of priorities for 17/18 and beyond, and also to consider what the requirements will be to enable full use of existing assets. This will mean using the current space more effectively, extending, refurbishing, using demountables or (lastly) new builds.

We will look at the use of other public assets outside school buildings that may be available in the local area and whether it would be more feasible, affordable and accessible to expand partner provision. Guidance from the Scottish Government suggests that there can be no capital allocation from the Council to partners, which presents challenges regarding an equitable approach across the sectors. In Highland we are dependent on many of our partners particularly in rural locations to ensure we are 1140 ready and with this in mind we work in partnership around the use of vacant space within our rural schools to ensure we have capacity to provide 1140 hours by August 2020 and this is incorporated into our capital plan. However we

intend to continue to pursue the issue of capital support with Government, in order to sustain a ‘provider neutral’ approach.

The use of the natural environment and opportunities for outdoor learning are increasingly valued for children. Where this is a solution for provision, it will be supported, provided the overall quality of children’s experiences can be maintained or improved.

We continue to consult with families and communities as we plan the requirements to deliver into 2020, not just for the here and now. Any new primary school plans need to include provision of 1140 hours ELC as do local discussions around new housing plans and new employment opportunities emerge. The phasing of any capital investment will have to be carefully considered, in particular with regard to the availability of internal Highland Council resources, the capacity within the construction industry and prevailing market conditions.

The investment will comprise a range of solutions, including being part of new build school projects, stand-alone new build nursery projects, modular units, extensions and refurbishments. Some projects will also be combined with works to address other issues in schools, where it would be best value to address these at the same time as the nursery works where possible.

SECTION SIX: Implementation Plan

Elements Actions and context Quality  Continue to improve data collection to monitor the Quality provision must quality of provision be maintained during  QA, Improvement Planning and Support Visit process the period of change to be reviewed by the EYESO team this session  Rollout refreshed training on Building the Ambition HGIOELC and Self-evaluation, based on the Highland Early Years Rationale  HGIOELC/self-evaluation training will be offered in- house by the local EYESO to settings where self- evaluation has been identified as an area for improvement  Rollout and review of “Running a setting” training for managers and link with partner universities to create Masters level in Early Years pedagogy  Review and test induction processes for EYPs  Review CPD structure and establish clear progression  Testing and rollout of revised approaches to planning, observation and tracking  Testing and introduction of continuous profiling  ELC website developed to include good practice on split placements  Development of “good practice” quality standards for split placements  continue to improve quality of interactions between staff and children  Review of keyworker functions and guidance  ELC website developed to include good practice on family engagement  Development of guidance and quality indicators for outdoor learning and outdoor settings  Ensure continued engagement with Quality Improvement Team and links to Early Level through additional resource allocation

Phasing  53 LA sites now offering flexibility – learning from and 1140 implementation sharing best practice in individual settings  Ensuring all LA providers move away from 3 hours 10 can begin as capacity minutes in all settings, to complete hours (e.g. 4 becomes available and hours over 5 days) be phased through to  All settings offer 20 hours from August 2018 to 2020 ensure rural deprivation captured  2 settings in areas of deprivation offer the full funding  Purchasing of additional hours made easier for parents by introducing and developing the Database  Direct Debit, voucher or tax free childcare payments only. Stopping invoicing and therefore supporting settings to offer flexibility  Support large scale expansion by ensuring information is shared and explained – Head teacher workshops, CPD, Blog, newsletters  All local authority nurseries supported by FRCs to increase flexibility (this includes breakfast club and OSC)  Encouraging a model that offers parental choice  Working with childminders and SCMA to support commissioning and split placements  Supporting partners with expansion planning and blended models Community  FRCs, childcare managers, schools and partners Engagement continue to consult and engage with parents/carers Families and and consider new models communities do not  Ensure parents have an informed choice around how change in a uniform they use their hours and future provision way, especially in a  Ensure messages to external stakeholders are clear time of change over a and robust comparatively short  Schools and PC managers being equipped to offer period. It can be advice around expansion to parents and staff expected that there will Childcare partnerships understand expansion be an element of  Use opportunities within CPPs to inform and discuss ‘demand lag’ for the expansion of ELC new offering that can be understood and managed via community engagement Workforce  Working closely with all relevant stakeholders and Areas to address to providers of further education to ensure we are include: leadership, prepared and able to deliver the requirements consultation, industrial  Career development opportunities continue – relations, recruitment including introduction of new structure plans  Ensure alignment is with the Developing the Young Workforce agenda  Develop training for operational managers in settings

including ‘How to manage a setting’ through the CPD calendar  Keeping unions informed and working closely with HR  Working in partnership with the Care Inspectorate  Continually reviewing the workforce requirements, employing new staff to meet flexibility and expansion of hours, addressing training needs and ensuring staff are supported to undertake qualifications that are required.  Strategic leadership capacity during the implementation required in each of the 4 areas  Development of EY modern apprentices for next session and subsequent years  Develop the role of new graduates funded by SG and ensure knowledge skills and expertise are fully utilised  Continue to support peripatetic manager role with CALA to support voluntary organisations where one manager can support up to five small provisions Funded Providers  ELC partner agreements reviewed to consider Considerations of the provider neutral, rates reviewed and clarity around implications of Living expectations of delivery Wage and note of  Improved partnerships and more transparency future development of  Include partners in mapping of services, workshops, national funded consultations, meetings and any developments to provider and quality help shape expansion standards Infrastructure  Phase 1 plans in place for August 2017. These are (Physical Estate based on capital discussions in all 4 areas and plan) knowledge of Estates team Extent of  Consider use of partner and community assets for refurbishment expansion not just schools  Detailed Infrastructure Plan (below) Financial Projections Capital costs: 5 year projections to 17/18 £1.800 million 2021/22 18/19 £4.950 million Including 19/20 £10.120 million incremental capital 20/21 £16.775 million and revenue costs 21/22 £6.655 million Total £40.30 million Revenue costs: 17/18 £21.33 million 18/19 £29.54 million 19/20 £31.64 million 20/21 £44.80 million 21/22 £44.69 million Financial Template submitted alongside Delivery Plan Planning  Sufficient funding for revenue and capital available Assumptions from SG to support delivery plan including  Sufficient time for spend – planned and delivered

financial  Total capital cost of all the projects over expansion assumptions period is provided  Total revenue costs over expansion period are provided. Dependent on workforce planning decisions and mapping, phasing plan in discussion with Scottish Government Delivery Team 2017-18 expansion activity Including  Robust database management system continues to reporting on 2017/18 be developed to capture all flexible hours and billing funding allocation Consultant fees to deliver the IT process required in schools. Costs £25,000 17/18 £1 million revenue  Workforce - early years practitioners, childcare 17/18 managers, clerical hours, management time, project manager, FRCs, SEYP, EY support worker, MAs, EYOs, EYESOs  ASN support for additional childcare  Costs of phasing – training, resources, qualifications  Increased fees to partners  North Area  Bonar Bridge Primary – internal alterations  Dornoch Primary – conversion of former store  Noss Primary – internal alterations  South Area £1.6 million capital  Cauldeen Primary – internal alterations, part of 17/18 project major project  Lochardil Primary – move to new modular unit and convert  Stratherrick Primary – internal alterations  West Area  Portree Gaelic Primary – part of new school Project management,  Project manager early years expansion role stakeholder developed and now in place management and  Estates team involvement will increase change support  Full support from partners in finance What project  Corporate improvement team input will continue management support  Continued work with benefits team will be made available  Learning and development team undertaking joint to the change effort, working around workforce expansion include risks and  Keeping all key stakeholders - practitioners, partners, dependencies in communities, unions, HR, members, planning change partnerships included and involved requires ongoing commitment and change support  Strategic change support required in each of the 4 operational units due to increased provision in the areas  Risk Management plan in place

Quality Plan

Key: Early Years Team

SMEY: Senior Manager Early Years. PM: Project Manager. EYESO: Early Years Education Support Officer. FRC: Family Resource Co- ordinator. CCM: Childcare Managers. EYO: Early Years Officers. HT: Headteachers. PCM: Partner Centre Managers

Improvement Activity Measures Who/When Evidence of Impact

Continue to improve  Integrated approach within Care SMEY Improvement in data that reflects data collection to &Learning to establish and understand March 2018 child development outcomes and monitor the quality of what quality looks like for children, parent satisfaction provision parents and communities Maintenance or improvement in  Agree core data set to monitor quality quality grades from:  Establish monitoring arrangements and EYOs and  Care Inspectorate agree role and remit PM  Education Scotland  Establish alignment with other quality  QA reports from teams (QIOs) to examine trends or gaps December EYESO/QIO 2018 QA, Improvement  Visit records and evidence from settings EYESOs Self-evaluation grades from Planning and Support June 2018 settings and visits show ongoing Visit process to be improvement and clear strategy for reviewed by the next steps at authority level for EYESO team this CPD session. Rollout refreshed  Numbers of attendees EYESOs Improvement in data that reflects training on Building  Evidence of follow-up improvements in 2017 child development outcomes and the Ambition setting plans etc onwards parent satisfaction. HGIOELC and Self-  Course evaluations Maintenance or improvement in evaluation, based on quality grades from: the Highland Early Care Inspectorate Years Rationale Education Scotland

QA reports from EYESO/QIO Improved P1 attainment data HGIOELC/self-  EYESOs will continue to monitor self- EYESO Robust improvement planning with evaluation training evaluation on Support Visits and Quality ongoing clear evidence and key data. will be offered in- Assurance Visits house by the local EYESO to settings where self-evaluation has been identified as an area for improvement. Rollout and review of  Attendance numbers EYESO Managers of settings require fewer “Running a setting”  Course evaluations From support visits. training for managers September More visits show impact of training and link with partner 2017 sessions where leadership, universities to create confidence and boldness to trial Masters level in Early QIT new improvement projects focus Years pedagogy on learning through play and management structures communicated effectively with staff, children and families. Review and test  EYESO judgement on fitness of HT/PCM New staff are familiar with learning, induction processes induction process for expanded and teaching and assessment tools for EYPs flexible ELC and remain positive about their roles in the setting. Recruitment is straightforward and posts are filled. Review CPD structure  Early Years Meetings feedback and EYP Evaluation forms are specific for and establish clear participation EYESOs action plan and staff implement progression  Self-evaluation will be embedded in all June 2018 these plans back in the setting. other CPD delivered by EYESOs. Reflected in self-evaluation  EYESOs will support managers to statements

monitor the impact of CPD Testing and rollout of  Numbers of settings adopting and EYESO Emerging literacy data improved. revised approaches to maintaining 2017 Individual profiling and young planning, observation  Self-evaluation data from settings onwards person’s understanding of self- and tracking  Visit records of EYESOs evaluation improved. Improved quality of interactions and observations to support effective planning and profiling. Testing and  EYP and manager assessments of Continuous Learning conversations enable introduction of practicability and effectiveness, profiling next steps, more clearly. continuous profiling including parental feedback group More evidence of parental 2016 onward feedback. ELC website  Blog posts and usage statistics EYESO team Wide variety of examples to upload developed to include and share good practice identified good practice on split by EYESO. placements Development of “good  Staff comment in PRDs of growing EYPs Examples of split placements practice” quality confidence, sharing of practice impacts shared with EYESO team and standards for split in other settings shared on setting visits. placements Continue to improve  EYPs to attend and implement Words EYPs Improved language outcomes as quality of interactions Up training measured by development between staff and  Self-evaluation shows management overviews. children monitor the quality of interactions Review of keyworker  Reduced behaviour incidents EYESOs Staff self-evaluations are positive functions and  ELC improvement plans reflect careful about their key role. guidance planning for keyworker role Planning for learning and teaching is reflected in the setting with the children. ELC website  Staff comment in PRDs of growing EYESOs Wide variety of examples to upload developed to include confidence around family engagement, and share good practice identified good practice on  Family comments in questionnaires, by EYESO.

family engagement audits describe impact at home on play and interaction with their children  Visit records show evidence of staff using Bumps2Bairns to engage families Development of  Staff have a clearer idea of the EYESO Planning reflects outdoor learning guidance and quality elements of quality outdoor learning and experiences as opposed to activity. indicators for outdoor what this looks like in practice Staff can notice, observe, plan and learning and outdoor assess using creativity particularly settings with the outdoor learning environment. Ensure continued  Greater consistency and easier QIT QIT will be able to support further engagement with transitions between ELC and P1 development of ELC and Quality Improvement transitions into P1 Team and links to P1 transition

Workforce Plan

Improvement Activity Measures By Evidence of Impact who/when Working closely with all  Explore more work based learning with ELC project Incremental increase in the ELC relevant stakeholders all providers and remove barriers to part board workforce and providers of further time and accessible learning ongoing education to ensure we are prepared and able to deliver the requirements Career development  Introduce new roles to ensure a career SMEY Increased workforce at all levels opportunities continue – pathway – ELC support workers, Senior Workforce including introduction of EYPs Manager new structure Ensure alignment is  Discussions within school settings QIT More young people decide on a with the Developing the include the ELC PM career in ELC and a career in ELC Young Workforce as a positive destination agenda Develop training for  Include in the CPD calendar EYESOs Headteachers are more confident operational managers in September in this role settings including ‘How 2017 to manage a setting’ through the CPD calendar Keeping unions  Ensure regular liaison and information PM Unions and HR understand impact informed and working sharing SMEY of expansion closely with HR Workforce manager Working in partnership  Regular discussion and information SMEY Working relationships develop and with the Care sharing EYESOs mature Inspectorate Ongoing

Continually reviewing  Clear workforce planning undertaken in PM Increase in high quality, the workforce each Area year on year to ensure needs Workforce appropriately trained workforce requirements, are explored and monitored Manager continues to evidence best practice employing new staff to  New staff training needs addressed and EYOs Workforce will continue to grow meet flexibility and supported EYESOs and develop as we move forward expansion of hours, with flexibility. addressing training Ongoing to needs and ensuring 2021/22 staff are supported to undertake qualifications that are required. Strategic leadership  Strategic development of ELC SMEY Area decisions around expansion capacity during the expansion is supported in each of the Strategic and flexibility meet local needs implementation required operational areas Group in each of the 4 areas Development of EY  Job description developed and work PM More young people move into EY Modern Apprentices for with training providers to ensure support FRCs modern apprentice roles next session and and mentoring is provided HR subsequent years October 2017 Develop the role of new  Develop job description; decide which PM New graduates in post for August graduates and ensure areas will benefit from graduates in September 18/19 knowledge skills and discussion with Area and Education 2017 expertise are fully QIT. Discussion with education utilised providers Continue to support  Role is promoted to ensure CALA Accessibility and flexibility offered peripatetic manager sustainability of settings in remote and FRCs to parents role with CALA to rural communities support voluntary organisations where one manager can support up to five small provisions

Phasing Plan

Session Funded Maximum Approach Action Hours hours per week 17/18 600 16 Last year of 5 “sessions” of 3 hours 10 Notify all HTs and Partners September 2017. Phase 1 mins

Decisions for 18/19 agreed by December Work through the staffing implications of the 2017 in order that enrolment info and changes and set plan in place for August 2018 guidance for 18/19 clearly outlines the implementation. arrangements for August 2018. Financial cost of funding the additional 4 hours per week included in SG financial template Within an ASG one setting where there is Project Manager with Childcare Managers and a Childcare Manager (13) will open for 4 Unions to work out contract implications and weeks of provision in summer 18. Parents negotiate changes to contracts of those who wish to can pay for additional hours, or they could change to full year (52 weeks) change their 17/18 funding arrangements Childcare Manager focus group to consider possible once they know about it in the new year locations and feedback to group. to be spread over the available weeks. Senior Management Teams in Areas should base Where there are more than 1 Childcare decisions on parental consultation around flexibility Managers in an ASG, decide which and additional hours required, Family Resource Co- provision that should be or if more than coordinators key role. one setting should be open. Management Capital priorities must include provision for 20 hours support provided by all other CCMs in the for 17/18 ASG to joint plan/support/provide cover. 18/19 760 20 All LA centres to move to minimum of 4 Recruitment of staff if existing staff not prepared to Phase 2 hours per day for 5 days - Term Time increase from 23 hours to 27 hour costings in Centres can offer more if they want (eg delivery plan to SG. Work with HT to understand

9am – 3pm) how 20 hrs can be delivered particularly where there are challenging environmental situations (capital/distances) that may not be resolved by Aug 18. Work with HT to submit CI variations to increase capacity by utilising outdoor space where needed. Consider further development s and staffing required by 2020 to ensure continuity of service and smooth transitions Within an ASG - in LA centres with New staffing model – decisions around whether Childcare Managers move to 4 weeks summer provision is across an ASG not an summer provision with possible max individual school. Through ongoing consultation, funding of 20 hours per week across the where there is parental demand and uptake summer as well. Parents can spread secured, consider if any centres would offer full year hours out across the available weeks. provision for the ASG. 1140 30 2 settings in areas of deprivation will offer Work with settings to ensure all elements for full the fully funded 1140 hours expansion are in place: space, resources, workforce, family nurture

19/20 840 20 The 4 weeks in the summer would Need to work with those centres with Phase 3 become standard and therefore there accommodation issues – working through increase could be 80 more hours @20 hours per or development of new ASG outdoor facilities week of entitlement. Schools not opening in the summer could move to the more flexible term time approach 9am – 3pm or 8am – 6pm 20/21 1140 30 All LA centres offering minimum 9am – Consider impact on costs if a LA nursery open all Phase 4 3pm with ASG options for 4 weeks in the year (PPP schools ) summer too. May have one of two open all year if parental demand is there (working parents)

Community Engagement Plan

Ensure staff in Highland understand the vision for expansion of ELC and are aware of progress through differing means of communication including: workshops, meetings, blogs, newsletters, through Improvement Groups and childcare partnerships, Committees, Directorate meetings.

Improvement Activity Measures Who Evidence

FRCs, childcare managers,  Parental consultation is included in all ELC staff Parents will choose flexible hours schools and partners continue expansion plans FRCs that meet their needs at the setting to consult and engage with  Parents understand they can split CCMs of their choice parents/carers and consider their placements PCM offer of extended hours Ensure parents have an  Ensure clear messages are delivered FRCs Parents will say that they informed choice around how through any meetings, posters, CCMs understand the offer to them they use their hours and any newsfeed PCM Parents will say that they are able future provision  Social media opportunities explored to choose the setting accordingly Ensure messages to external  Include key stakeholders in ELC PM Key messages around expansion stakeholders are clear and project board to inform discussion ELC project are evident in discussions robust and sharing of information board Schools and PC managers  Regular information to head teachers PM Parents and staff understand being equipped to offer advice and PC managers to ensure CCMs developments and key messages around expansion to parents understanding as new information is and staff received from SG Child care partnerships  ELC expansion is a standing item on FRCs Fully understanding is evident in understand the plans for agendas discussions and agenda expansion Use opportunities within CPPs  Area officers ensure ELC expansion ELC staff ELC features in CPP plans and Improvement Groups to is on the CPP agenda and key FRCs inform and discuss Improvement groups SMEY PM

Infrastructure Plan

HIGHLAND COUNCIL - EARLY LEARNING AND CHILDCARE EXPANSION PROGRAMME SUMMARY (27/09/17) Overall 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 Capital Capital Capital Capital Capital Capital Item No. of No. of No. of No. of No. of No. of Cost Cost Cost Cost Cost Cost Projects Projects Projects Projects Projects Projects (£M) (£M) (£M) (£M) (£M) (£M) 1 Mid Area 8.850 17 0.000 0 1.300 6 2.750 7 4.800 4 N/A N/A

2 North Area 5.550 14 0.850 3 1.000 5 0.950 4 2.750 2 N/A N/A

3 South Area 16.850 33 0.650 3 2.100 7 5.750 9 8.350 14 N/A N/A

4 West Area 5.050 17 0.300 1 1.950 5 1.600 7 1.200 4 N/A N/A Catering Equipment 5 (Where No Capital 0.300 N/A N/A N/A 0.100 N/A 0.100 N/A 0.100 N/A 0.000 N/A Project) Client Capital 6 Programme 0.200 N/A N/A N/A 0.050 N/A 0.050 N/A 0.050 N/A 0.050 N/A Management Potential Programme 7 N/A N/A N/A N/A -2.000 -3 -2.000 -3 -2.000 -3 6.000 9 Delivery Issues 8 Sub-Totals 36.800 81 1.800 7 4.500 20 9.200 24 15.250 21 6.050 9 Programme Contingency 9 3.500 N/A 0.000 N/A 0.450 N/A 0.920 N/A 1.525 N/A 0.605 N/A (10% of Years 2-5) 10 Overall Totals 40.300 81 1.800 7 4.950 20 10.120 24 16.775 21 6.655 9 Confirmed Capital 11 1.694 1.694 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 Allocation Additional Capital 12 38.606 Required 48

ELC EXPANSION - MID AREA (27/09/17) Project Value Addit. £100K Project Kitchen £500K £1M to Type Year Comments <£100K to Dining to £1M £3M £500K

1 Avoch Primary Yes 1 Refurbishment Part of larger project

2 Craighill Primary - EM Yes 1 Extension Additional accommodation required

3 Ferintosh Primary 1 Outdoor New outdoor centre for Dingwall ASG 2018/19 4 Hill of Fearn Primary 1 Refurbishment New early level class

5 Hilton of Cadboll Primary 1 Refurbishment Alterations to existing

6 Mulbuie Primary 1 Extension Currently shares space with canteen

7 Ben Wyvis Primary Yes 1 Extension Part of larger project

8 Kiltearn Primary 1 Extension Part of larger project

9 Milton Primary Yes 1 Extension Minor extension for kitchen/dining

10 North Kessock Primary 1 Extension 2019/20 Part of larger project

11 Strathconon Primary 1 Extension Part of larger project

12 Strathpeffer Primary Yes 1 Extension Additional accommodation required

13 Tarradale Primary 1 Extension Part of larger project

14 Alness - Bridgend Primary

15 Alness - Coulhill Primary New 1 New Build Potential New ELC Centre

16 Alness - Obsdale Primary

17 Dingwall Primary 1 Extension 2020/21 Part of larger project

18 Invergordon - Park New 1 New Build Potential New ELC Centre 19 Invergordon - South Lodge

Possible conversion of former school 20 Strathgarve Primary 1 Refurbishment house

Total No. of Projects 4 8 3 2

Total Cost (£M) 8.850

ELC EXPANSION - NORTH AREA (27/09/17) Project Value Addit. £100K £500K £1M Project Kitchen Type Year Comments <£100K to to to Dining £500K £1M £3M

1 Bonar Bridge Primary 1 Refurbishment October holidays

2 Dornoch Primary 1 Refurbishment 2017/18 Conversion of former external store - on site

Alterations to toilets to allow third room to be 3 Noss Primary 1 Refurbishment used

4 Crossroads Primary 1 Refurbishment Possible acquisition of current Scallywags building

5 Farr Primary (Bettyhill) 1 Refurbishment Part of larger project

6 Keiss Primary 1 Extension 2018/19 Additional accommodation required

7 Melvich Primary 1 Refurbishment Internal alterations

8 Tongue Primary 1 Extension Nursery extension only

9 Brora Primary 1 Extension Additional accommodation required

10 Golspie Primary 1 Refurbishment Refurbishment of vacant space 2019/20 11 Halkirk Primary 1 Refurbishment Partner centre in school building

12 Reay Primary 1 Extension Possible move of partner centre to school building

13 Newton Park Primary Yes 1 Extension Additional accommodation required

Thurso - Miller Academy 14 Primary 2020/21 Thurso - Mount Pleasant 15 New 1 New Build Potential New ELC Centre Primary

16 Thurso - Pennyland Primary

Total No. of Projects 5 6 2 1

Total Cost (£M) 5.550

ELC EXPANSION - SOUTH AREA (27/09/17) Project Value Addit. £100K Project Kitchen £500K £1M to Type Year Comments <£100K to Dining to £1M £3M £500K

1 Cauldeen Primary 1 Refurbishment Part of major extension/refurbishment project

2 Lochardil Primary 1 Extension 2017/18 Part of larger project

3 Stratherrick Primary 1 Refurbishment Internal alterations

4 Ardersier Primary 1 Refurbishment Additional accommodation required

5 Auldearn Primary Yes 1 Extension Additional accommodation required

6 Cannich Primary 1 Extension Additional accommodation required

7 Dalneigh Primary Yes 1 Extension 2018/19 Additional accommodation required

8 Duncan Forbes Primary Yes 1 Extension Additional accommodation required

9 Holm Primary 1 Extension Additional accommodation required

10 Raigmore Primary Yes 1 Extension Additional accommodation required

11 Central Primary 1 Extension Additional accommodation required

12 Cradlehall Primary 1 Extension Additional accommodation required

13 Crown Primary Yes 1 Extension Additional accommodation required

14 Hilton Primary Yes 1 Extension Additional accommodation required

15 Kirkhill Primary 1 Extension 2019/20 Additional accommodation required

16 Milton Of Leys Primary Yes 1 New Build New nursery annexe

17 Smithton Primary Yes 1 Extension Part of major extension/refurbishment project

Possible use of church building for GP to allow 18 St Joseph's Primary 1 Refurbishment room to be converted

19 Tomnacross Primary 1 Refurbishment Conversion of former school house

20 Aviemore Primary Yes 1 Extension Additional accommodation required

21 Balloch Primary 1 Extension Additional accommodation required

22 Beauly Primary 1 New Build Part of new school

2020/21 Options for expansion of Gaelic school being 23 BSGI/Slackbuie Yes 1 Extension considered; modular unit probably required before 2020

24 Deshar Primary 1 Refurbishment Minor refurbishment

25 Drakies Primary 1 Extension Additional accommodation required

26 Grantown Primary Yes 1 Refurbishment Refurbishment of vacated kitchen/dining

27 Kinmylies Primary Yes 1 Extension Additional accommodation required

28 Muirtown Primary 1 Extension Additional accommodation required

29 Merkinch Primary Yes 1 New Build Part of major extension/refurbishment project

30 Nairn - Millbank 2020/21 New 1 New Build Potential New ELC Centre 31 Nairn - Rosebank

32 Ness Castle Primary 1 New Build Part of new school

Newtonmore Primary - 33 1 Extension Additional accommodation required EM/GM Part of new school - likely to be beyond 34 Stratton Primary 1 New Build 2020/21

Total No. of Projects 2 20 9 2

Total Cost (£M) 16.850

ELC EXPANSION - WEST AREA (27/09/17) Project Value Addit. £100K Project Kitchen £500K £1M to Type Year Comments <£100K to Dining to £1M £3M £500K

1 Portree Gaelic Primary 1 New Build 2017/18 Part of new school

2 Ardgour Primary 1 Extension Additional accommodation required

3 Auchtertyre Primary 1 Extension Part of larger extension - relocate to school building

Move partner to refurbished rooms vacated by Gaelic 4 Portree Primary 1 Refurbishment 2018/19 Primary

5 Scoraig Primary 1 New Build Part of larger project

6 Ullapool Primary 1 Extension Part of larger project

7 Arisaig Primary 1 Extension Additional accommodation required

8 Caol Primary Yes 1 Extension Minor extension for kitchen/dining

9 Gairloch Primary 1 Refurbishment Includes relocation of Toybox

10 Inverlochy Primary 1 Refurbishment 2019/20 Alterations to nursery building

11 Kilchoan Primary 1 Refurbishment Minor refurbishment

12 Mallaig Primary 1 Refurbishment Alterations to school building

13 Sleat Primary 1 Refurbishment Alterations to school building

14 Broadford Primary 1 Refurbishment Part of larger project

15 Dunvegan Primary 1 New Build Part of new school 2020/21 16 Invergarry Primary 1 Refurbishment Part of larger project

17 Spean Bridge Primary 1 Extension Part of larger project

Total No. of Projects 2 14 1 0

Total Cost (£M) 5.050

Risk Management Plan

Ref Risk Category Risk Description/Underlying Mitigation Actions (controls) Level of Concern (time/cost/quality Risk (Likelihood X Impact) 1 Quality of ELC Quality Quality becomes compromised as Regularly Communicate & share Highland Council 4X4=16 service declines Workforce current workforce structure changes ELC Delivery Plan (included updated versions) during the period and new structure becomes Develop and utilise childcare managers within Quality of expansion embedded & Improvement Focus group Existing workforce feel unsettled & Ensure current staff feel valued and actively involved not communicated with around the in future expansion plans expansion plans Unable to recruit to new posts 2 Focus becomes Service Focus is predominately on Quality & Improvement Focus group explore way we 3x3=9 specifically about redesign expansion impacting on allowing can ensure we increase flexibility and choice without expansion of flexibility and choice an impact on current quality hours to 1140 Flexibility of LA schools to offer Childcare managers own the future plans around hours additional summer holiday does not expanded provision and promote this with staff and increase in line with planned HT’s timescales Use of language means we continue Encourage discussion of phasing and 1140 hours in to focus on current provision all ELC expansion discussions and promotionally

3 Partner provision Quality Staff move from partners to LA Provider Neutral approach, makes work in private 4x4=16 declines Workforce workforce sector more viable (financially & through professional Partners are unable to recruit new development) staff Provider Neutral/Funding Follows the Child Sub Group Partner provider provision is no focuses on risks & identifies ways to manage the risk longer sustainable in some areas Processes are not Operational Administratively unable to manage Billing Focus Group support the further development 3x3=9 4 put in place to additional demand of new data system for billing manage the Current IT system to manage expansion plan changes develops

Resources not in place to cope with Phasing gradually undertaken over next three years to increase in hours ensure accommodation is fit for expansion and workforce is available 5 Lack of Governance There is a lack of buy in from other Regular reports to People’s committee 4x4=16 commitment to Operational parts of the organisation regarding Feedback to Care & Learning Directorate and senior buy into national the Blueprint and local ELC management team provided on a regular basis and strategy and expansion plans an understanding of the implications of the expansion deliver at a local plans level Director of Care & Learning actively involved in ELC work at a national level and feeding back to the directorate on this work at a national level

6 Lack of Governance Parents, families and communities Parental Engagement Focus Group established to 3x3=9 communication Operational have a poor understanding around ensure effective communication within large nursery and engagement the plans for expansion and settings with parents, therefore uptake of 1140 hours is Family Resource Co-ordinators have key role in families and local poor. engagement with childminders, partner centres, communities families and wider communities around 1140 Mapping exercise and questionnaires sent out and expansion reviewed on a regular basis Regular updates to People’s Committee that includes information on engagement Communication plan is developed Communication with ELC workforce including Head Teachers Newsletter and social media utilised to communicate expansion plans

7 Focus becomes Governance Risk that we focus only on new Regular meetings with Estates team to explore 3x3=9 about Finance builds which has large cost creative solution to expansion plans that include using infrastructure and implication to the authority what we have, developing outdoor space and working not utilising what more collaboratively with our partners. we have and what we currently purchase

8 There is an Quality Lack of understanding around Workforce Development Group meets regularly and 3x3=9 insufficient Workforce expansion implications on the identifies risks workforce to workforce mean that there are Introduction of Early Years Modern Apprenticeships provide the insufficient qualified/experienced from August 2017 expansion plans staff available to provide 1140 hours Introduction of Senior EYP post from Autumn 2017 Identify additional settings offering full flexibility and Out of school care provision that may warrant introduction of childcare manager posts

Ongoing review of current work force in each location

9 Lack of financial Finance Highland Council under estimate Clear and concise completion of Financial Template to 5x5=25 understanding of Governance capital and revenue plans for the support SG report costs of next five years Regular reviews of capital plans for each area and expansion Financial projections provided to actions to plans, including ‘quick fix’ solutions are impacts on funds Scottish Government under estimate followed up within designated timescales provided by actual cost Scottish Actual cost of expansion plans rise Government in the intervening years

ELC Strategic Group Members Designation Aileen Mackay EQIO Amanda Graham Head teacher Anthony Standing SDS Beth Brown EQIM Bill Alexander Director of Care & Learning Claire Pardoe UHI Dawn Meston Family Resource Co-ordinator (North) Derek Martin Area Care & Learning Manager (Mid) Eairdsidh MacGilleathain UHI Fiona Bremner Accountant Fiona Skinner UHI Hayley Brown Family Resource Co-ordinator (South) Heather Keyes UHI Jaci Douglas Chief Executive CALA Jackie Ross Family Resource Co-ordinator (Mid) Jacquelyn Jennett Area Care & Learning Manager (North) Jennifer Campbell Project Manager ELC expansion Jim Steven Head of Education Karen Ralston Area Care & Learning Manager (South) Liz Scott Family Resource Co-ordinator (South) Mona Wilson Bòrd na Gàidhlig Norma Young Area Care & Learning Manager (West) Robert Campbell Estates Manager Sandra Harrington Senior Manager Early Years Seonag Campbell SDS Sophie Dunnett UHI Tracy McIlvar Family Resource Co-ordinator (West)

Other contributors Sue Nield Catering Services Manager Jennifer Godsman Project Co-ordinator Evelyn Miller Cleaning and FM Manager Sandra Breach Early Years Officer Margaret MacDonald Secretary Care & Learning David Walker Project Co-ordinator

Early Learning & Childcare Delivery Plan

Alternative Formats Contents If you need information from the Moray Council in a Alternative Formats 3 different language or format, such as Braille, audio Introduction 5 tape or large print, please contact: Moray Council Area 6

Strategic Framework 8 National Context 8 Local Context 9 Our Current Provision 10 Jei pageidaujate tarnybos Moray tarybos teikiamą Workforce 11 informaciją gauti kitokiu formatu, pvz., Brailio raštu, Quality 12 garso įrašu ar stambiu šriftu, kreipkitės: Funded Providers 13 Infrastructure 14 Jeśli potrzebują Państwo informacji od Rady Okręgu Leadership and Quality Assurance 14 Moray w innym formacie, takim jak alfabet Braille’a, Parent and Carer Consultation 15 kasety audio lub druk dużą czcionką, prosimy o Proposed Future Service Model 16 kontakt: Vision 16 Moray’s Offer 16 Se necessitar de receber informações por parte do Service Model 17 Concelho de Moray num formato diferente, como Implementation Plan 20 Braille, cassete áudio ou letras grandes, contacte: Quality Plan 20 Phasing 22 Ja Jums vajadzīga informācija no Marejas domes Communications and Engagement Strategy 24 (Moray Council) citā valodā vai formātā, piemēram, Workforce Plan 25

Funded Providers 26 Infrastructure (Physical Estate) Plan 27 ˝ : Financial Plan 28 Braila rakstā, audio lentā vai lielā drukā, sazinieties Project Management 30 ar:

Education & Social Care Moray Council High Street Elgin IV30 9BX

Phone: 01343 543451 Early Learning & Childcare Delevery Plan

3 Moray Council Moray 4 Introduction

All Scottish local authorities have a statutory obligation to make available 600 hours of Early Key Principles: Learning & Childcare (ELC) to three and four year olds whose parents request this provision. Funded Quality: enhancing the quality of our ELC provision, places must also be provided for vulnerable two which complements other early years and year olds. In Moray this provision is delivered via educational activity to close the attainment gap, and a combination of school nurseries, independent recognises the value of those we entrust to give our (private and third sector) providers and childminders. children the best start in life.

The Government has committed to increasing Flexibility: providing services that are more flexible funded ELC hours from 600 to 1140 hours by August and responsive to parent/carer needs (i.e. ELC 2020. ‘The Blueprint for 2020: The Expansion of settings open for longer and during the school Early Learning & Childcare in Scotland’ sets out the holidays). Scottish Government’s vision for the expansion of ELC provision across Scotland, underpinned by the Accessibility: ensuring flexible provision is available principles of quality, flexibility, accessibility and for all children and their parents/carers, including affordability. The blueprint prioritises the delivery of children with additional support needs and those high quality experiences for every child, recognising living in remote and rural locations. the significant contribution that universally accessible ELC can make to a child’s development. Affordability: reducing the costs of accessing flexible ELC for parents/carers, whilst ensuring we provide a Local authorities will remain the primary guarantor financially sustainable service that makes the most of quality in the ELC sector, and will become the key effective use of public funds. enabler of flexibility and choice. Local authorities have been given responsibility for delivering the expansion in their local communities and are being asked to consider the development of enhanced service models that reflect, and are responsive to local needs. Planning for the expansion will necessarily evolve over the coming years, however this Delivery Plan details Moray Council’s initial plans for the redesign and expansion of our ELC service. Early Learning & Childcare Delevery Plan

5 Moray Council Area

Moray is situated in the north-east of Scotland, with the coastline of the Moray Firth along its northern edge, and borders the council areas of Highland and Aberdeenshire. It covers an area of 2,238 km2 and has a population in the region of 95,000. Moray Council Moray 6 The main centres of population are in Elgin, Forres, The number of Moray children requiring some kind Buckie, Keith and Lossiemouth, and there are a of additional support from nursery onwards has number of smaller settlements along the northern increased dramatically over the past 5 years (the coast. The south of Moray includes the rural area number of schoolchildren with Additional Support of Speyside, with widespread remote populations. Needs (ASN) has risen by 132.5% since 2009, and 42.2% of the Moray population live in a rural area, the number of pre-school children with ASN has and a further 4.1 % live in settlements with fewer risen by 250% in the last 3 years), with a significant than 500 people. The area includes two large proportion of the annual ASN budget of £7.6 million Ministry of Defence bases (Kinloss and Lossiemouth) going to help children with social, emotional and with highly mobile populations. behavioural needs. In order to reverse the upward trend of demand on our ASN and Health and In 2015 16.2 per cent of the population in Moray Social Care Services budgets, we need to invest in were aged 16 to 29 years. This is lower than Scotland prevention and intervention measures at the earliest as a whole where 18.2 per cent are aged 16 to 29 stages in our children’s lives. years. Persons aged 60 and over made up 26.5 per cent of the Moray population. This is higher than Scotland wide where 24.2 are aged 60 and over.

There are approximately 1,000 births in Moray each year; however there has been a drop in the birth rate in recent years. The primary school rolls have increased slightly since 2011, which would suggest an increase in the number of families moving into Moray. The population of Moray is projected to decline overall by 2.2% by 2037, with the under 16 population projected to decline by 13.3% over the 25

year period. Elgin, Forres and Lossiemouth are the Early Learning & Childcare Delevery Plan three settlements where demand for ELC is expected to increase due to large scale housing development and an increase in the number of service people and their families moving to the Lossiemouth base.

The percentage of Moray’s population who are income deprived is lower than the Scottish average; however 18% of children aged pre-birth to 8 years live in income deprived households.

7 Strategic Framework National Context

The Scottish Government’s aim is to make Scotland the best place in the world to grow up and to give all of our children the best possible start in life.

Scottish Government (2008) Early Years Framework

Building on work already in progress through the 2007 Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) approach the Early Years Framework provided a new vision Increase of funded ELC entitlement from 412.5 hours for Early Years in Scotland, and included a number to 475 hours per year. of elements that would underpin transformational change including: 2014

• a coherent approach – creating a service around The Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 our children which is less fragmented; • Increase of funded entitlement to 600 hours per • putting quality at the heart of service delivery – year for all three and four year olds and eligible the skills, knowledge, attitudes and qualifications two year olds. of the workforce are a key focus in improving quality; • Introduced the new term of ‘Early Learning & Childcare’ to capture the learning journey that • services that meet the needs of children and takes place from birth. families – developing integrated education & childcare services and developing a progressive • Introduced the legal requirement for local scheme for helping parents with the costs of authorities to increase flexibility and choice childcare; in how funded hours are offered, informed by ongoing consultation with parents and carers. • prevention and early intervention – identifying and responding to needs and risks at the earliest • Introduced the legal requirement for local possible opportunity. authorities to consult with parents and carers on Out of School Care (OOSC) provision which will A Blueprint for 2020: The Expansion of Early best meet their local needs. Learning & Childcare in Scotland • Enshrined in law key elements of the GIRFEC It is widely acknowledged that the provision of approach. universally accessible and high quality ELC enriches children with the skills and confidence to carry into, 2020 and multiply, throughout their schooling, and is a cornerstone for closing attainment and inequality All three and four year olds and eligible two year gaps. olds entitled to up to 1140 hours of high quality ELC per year, with greater flexibility as to how that Expanding entitlement to ELC is also one of the entitlement can be accessed.

Moray Council Moray most important tools to support long-term inclusive 8 growth in Scotland’s economy. Parents and carers will benefit from a high quality, flexible system as it helps to support people into work, training or further study which may not have been previously accessible. Local Context

Moray Community Planning Partnership has a vision that Moray is the best place in Scotland to grow up.

Moray Community Planning Partnership Early Years Strategy (2016-26)

The Moray Early Years Strategy looks to deliver the aims of the Scottish Government’s Early Years Framework and Collaborative by prioritising four main outcomes:

• Moray is a place where children have a home, feel secure, healthy and nurtured.

• Moray is a place where children and young people thrive.

• Moray is a place where children are able to reach their full potential.

• Moray is a place where children have a voice, have opportunities, learn, and can get around.

Moray Children’s Services Plan (2017-2020)

The Moray Children’s Services Plan is the result of close working and cooperation between partner agencies involved in delivering Children’s Services across Moray, and places the GIRFEC approach at the heart of our service delivery. The plan identified three priorities for the period of the plan:

• Ambitious and confident children – to improve Early Learning & Childcare Delevery Plan the life chances of children, especially the most vulnerable, by supporting them and their families at the earliest stages.

• Healthier children – children get the healthiest start in life and are supported to achieve the best possible mental health and wellbeing and there is equity for vulnerable groups.

• Safer children – to protect children from the risk of harm, abuse and neglect and promote and 9 support safer environments and communities.

Current Service Delivery Our Current Provision

Moray Council delivers approximately one million Uptake of ELC amongst three and four year olds hours of funded ELC per year through 22 school is very high with up to 100% of children taking up based nurseries, 36 funded providers (private the majority or all of their entitlement across both and third sector) and 2 childminders. Two funded school and funded provider settings. In contrast providers offer specialist provision for children with uptake of eligible two year olds is low, with 7% of the complex additional support needs and two funded current population taking up the entitlement. This providers are fully outdoor nurseries. Between is lower than the national average of 9% and well 60% and 70% of actual funded hours are delivered below the Scotland wide figure of 25% of two year through our funded providers per year, which differs olds being eligible for funded ELC. Moray Council from the national profile of 75% of Scotland wide has been working with our partners to promote ELC provision delivered via school nurseries. the two year old entitlement, and these promotion efforts will continue as we expand and develop our Moray contracted ELC provision (2-5 year olds) ELC service. All two year old provision is currently (2017-18) provided via our funded partners. Provision Total FTE places % Funded ELC is evenly distributed across the authority School Nurseries 525 29.5 area, and is largely accessible for our families and Independent School 28 1.6 carers, however half of our settings currently offer Workplace Nursery (Moray 48 2.7 a traditional inflexible service delivery model (term- College) time only, sessions of 3 hours 10 minutes, 5 days Private Sector Providers 713 40 per week, parental choice limited to morning or Social Enterprise 114 6.4 afternoon sessions, no wraparound hours available). Third Sector Playgroups 350 19.7 A fully flexible all year model is currently available Childminder 2 0.1 in three settlements only (Elgin, Lossiemouth and Total 1780 100 Kinloss). (Note: There are currently 78 registered places for the care of 0-2 year olds across Moray) Moray Council ELC Delivery Models (2017-18) There are 121 childminders registered in Moray, 16 Provision Number of Number of % childminders are currently contracted with Moray Settings places Council to provide funded hours for eligible two year Fully Flexible – All Year 10 542 30 olds, of which two are currently delivering funded Model hours. Term-time only 11 363 20 sessional days with The current ELC offer to parents/carers for children wraparound attending nurseries/playgroups is a minimum of Traditional local 37 875 50 2 and a maximum of 5 ELC sessions per week for government delivery a minimum of 38 to a maximum of 39 weeks per model academic year, in line with local school holiday Total 58 1780 100 agreements. No child can receive more than 3 hours 10 minutes of continuous ELC without a rest period of at least one hour, or more than 6 hours 20 minutes in any day, or more than 5 ELC sessions

Moray Council Moray in any week. (A ‘session’ is a period of 3 hours 10 10 minutes). There is no restriction on the number of funded hours that can be taken with a childminder each day. Workforce

Moray Council operates a notional ‘funding follows Moray Council employs a total of 45.92 FTE the child’ model for Early Learning & Childcare, with equivalent ELC staff across all school nursery parents and carers able to choose the provision that settings. The FTE figures include management time best meets their needs. However all school and funded for teachers and senior nursery nurses. ELC settings are currently asked to prioritise the allocation of places based on the following criteria: Current ELC workforce by post Job Title Unit Cost (£) Total FTE Total Cost £ 1. existing attendance at the setting; (17/18) Teacher 45,723 7 320,061 2. those resident in the secondary catchment area Senior 31,326 17.68 553,730 and with a sibling at the setting; Nursery Nurse 3. those resident in the secondary catchment area; Nursery 27,762 15.45 428,875 Nurse 4. children with a Coordinated Support Plan (CSP) and/ Classroom 17, 845 5.79 103,378 or subject to assessment by the Education Authority; Assistant Total 45.92 1,406,044 5. those residing outwith the catchment area, and with a sibling at the centre; The school nurseries are managed by the Head Teachers, with Deputy Head Teachers often taking 6. those residing outwith the catchment area. management responsibility for the Early Years stages of the school. The Head Teacher and Deputy Head Priority within any of the six categories will be given Teacher costs are not included in our Early Years to older children first, and then to those resident budgets. All Moray Council ELC staff working within closest to the requested provision. Moray Council our school nurseries are currently employed on 35 will place a temporary cap on funded places with hour per week term-time contracts. any new provider that establishes itself in the area to ensure there is minimal impact on the business and sustainability of existing funded providers.

For the academic year 2016/17 Moray Council paid funded providers the following rates (per child) for

the provision of early learning & childcare: Early Learning & Childcare Delevery Plan

• Three and four year olds: £3.42 per hour

• Two year olds: £5.46 per hour

The rate for three and four year olds is well below the average paid for commissioned ELC places across Scotland (£4.58 per hour (2015/16 rates) as per the Scottish Government’s Financial Review of Early Learning & Childcare in Scotland – September 2016). The rate for two year olds is closer to the national 11 average of £5.72 per hour (2015/16 rates) but is still at the lower end of the scale. Current Moray Council policy is to increase the funded provider rates in line with the Local Government pay award (currently a 1% increase per annum). Quality Quality Scores

Both our local authority and funded partner These are mean scores based on Care Inspectorate portfolios demonstrate a spread of quality (in both and Education Scotland quality gradings. Care Inspectorate and Education Scotland terms) with the funded partners currently demonstrating (A ‘n/a’ or 0 score indicates that the relevant agency higher scores overall for educational quality. In a has not completed a recent inspection of the number of settings the quality of ELC provided is setting). below the standard we need to achieve for our children and families. A mean score of below ‘4’ is highlighted as red to indicate quality concerns).

Moray Council School Nurseries Setting Name CI Mean Ed Quality Scotland Score Mean Quality Score Aberlour Primary School 4.5 4.0 Burghead Primary School n/a 3.4 Cullen Primary School 5.0 n/a East End Primary School 4.3 2.4 Findochty Primary School 4.3 3.4 Hopeman Primary School n/a 4.2 Hythehill Primary School n/a n/a Keith Primary School 5.0 3.6 Kinloss Primary School 5.0 n/a Lhanbryde Primary School 5.0 4.0 Millbank Primary School 5.0 n/a Milne’s Primary School 3.5 n/a Mortlach Primary School 2.8 3.4 New Elgin Primary School 4.8 4.2 Pilmuir Primary School 3.8 3.6 Portgordon Primary School 4.0 n/a Rothes Primary School n/a 4.4 St Gerardine Primary School 5.0 3.8 St Peter’s RC Primary School 4.8 n/a St Thomas Primary School 4.5 n/a Seafield Primary School 4.5 4.0 Tomintoul Primary School 5.5 n/a Moray Council Moray 12 Funded Providers Funded Providers Setting Name CI Ed Mean Scotland Initial high level engagement with funded providers Quality Mean has indicated that they are responding to the Score Quality challenges of the expansion in different ways. At Score this stage a minority of providers are considering Aberlour & Craigellachie Pre n/a 4.6 increasing their registered places, or introducing School Nursery more flexibility into their service delivery models. Ark Childcare Ltd 4.3 3.6 Funded provider engagement will continue and it is Bishopmill Pre School Centre 4.8 4 anticipated that the picture of independent provision Building Blocks Nursery 4.3 n/a across Moray will change over time. Cullen Play Centre 4.5 4.2 Curious Minds Education Centre n/a 0 All funded providers have expressed concerns about the impact of the expansion on their business Drumduan Kindergarten 4.8 3.6 models. The commissioning rate for Moray’s funded Dyke Pre School Centre 4.0 3.8 providers (17/18 rates set prior to expansion Earthtime’s Outdoor Nursery – 3.5 n/a planning at £3.45 for three to four year olds and Without Walls £5.46 for two years olds) is low and in many cases East Beach Nursery 4.8 n/a does not meet all the costs of providing the service. Fochabers Nursery & Out of School 5.0 n/a The majority of our providers are dependent on Garmouth & Kingston Playgroup 4.8 4.2 the sale of private hours to maintain their settings. Hop, Skip & Jump Nursery n/a 3.8 Private rates in Moray range from £2.52 to £6 per Jack n Jill Pre School Centre 4.5 4.4 hour. The average private rate charged by fully Keith Play Centre 5.0 4.2 provisioned full year nurseries is £4.60. Increasing Kinloss Day Care Centre 5.0 4.6 the number of funded hours commissioned from Knockando Playgroup n/a 4 independent providers (replacing private hours) to meet the needs of the expansion is not sustainable Ladybird Developmental Playgroup 0.0 5.2 at the current commissioning rate. Liberty Kids 4.0 n/a Magic Roundabout n/a 4.4 47% of our funded providers are able to pay the Miltonduff Playgroup n/a 3.6 Living Wage to all members of staff. 53% of our Moray College Nursery 4.8 n/a funded providers are not able to pay the Living Mosstodloch ELC 0.0 5 Wage to the full staff cohort, however in many cases

Newmill & District Playgroup 4.5 0 the Manager and Senior Practitioners will receive a Early Learning & Childcare Delevery Plan Noah’s Ark Developmental Playgroup 4.8 5 Living Wage. Portessie 4.3 3.8 Portknockie Nursery 4.8 4.2 RAF Lossiemouth Childcare Centre 5.0 5 Rainbow Castle Childcare n/a 3.2 Rainbow Childcare & Education 5.3 5 Rothiemay Playgroup 5.0 n/a St Sylvester’s Nursery n/a n/a Stramash Outdoor Nursery 3.8 n/a The Cabin n/a n/a 13 Torridon Little Learners n/a 5 VIP Childcare n/a 4.6 Infrastructure Leadership and Quality Assurance

By 2020 we will need to provide up to 2.5 million Responsibility for the delivery of an Early Learning & hours (100% uptake and utilisation) of funded ELC Childcare Service is currently divided between three to 3, 4 and eligible two year olds. If we were to offer Heads of Service. the expanded entitlement without changing our service delivery model we would have 2.6 million • Head of Lifelong Learning, Culture and Sport hours available but the service offer would not (responsibility for school nursery infrastructure). meet the terms of the Blueprint for 2020 in terms of flexibility for parents and carers and accessibility • Head of Schools (responsibility for the delivery of for all children and families. The majority of the the early years curriculum, quality improvement available capacity would be located in Elgin and and contracting of funded providers). Lossiemouth, or within remote, rural or under- utilised schools, and would be session based. • Head of Integrated Services (responsibility for broader children’s services input, including The capacity of both Moray Council and partner support for children with additional support assets if all operating a fully flexible, all year model is needs). well beyond anticipated demand (approximately 3.7 million hours per annum), indicating we can achieve School nurseries and our funded providers are the expansion and meet the terms of the Blueprint supported by two Early Years Fieldworkers with for 2020 by making better use of what we have, by a focus on teaching and learning support, staff continuing to work in partnership with our funded development, dissemination of good practice, and providers, and by transforming how we deliver ELC in working with parents, and four Early Years Speech our own local authority settings. & Language Development fieldworkers who support Associated Number Number Number settings with strategies for dealing with challenging Schools Group of hours of hours of hours social, emotional and behavioural needs. All early (ASG) required – available available years fieldworkers are qualified teachers and have 2020 – current – flexible remits that extend into Primary 1 and Primary model model, max. 2. The Educational Psychology team will receive number of referrals as required, and the Additional Support delivery hours Needs Education Support Officers (with remits from ages 2 – 18) will assess and respond to requests for Buckie 380,760 233,472 471,380 assistance (equipment, additional staffing, support Elgin Academy 548,340 674,465 729,335 and advice) for children with exceptional support Elgin High 416,100 491,384 549,075 needs. Forres 404,700 366,167 506,235 Keith 174,420 137,589 267,920 Quality assurance of our school nurseries falls within Milne’s 156,180 124,260 255,500 the remit of our Quality Improvement Officers Lossiemouth 297,540 502,420 685,000 (QIOs), with QIOs allocated to cover schools and Speyside 139,080 113,715 222,500 nurseries within an Associated School Group (ASG). One QIO (0.5 FTE) has lead responsibility for Early Totals 2,517,120 2,643,472 3,686,945 Years with a focus on quality assurance, training and contracting arrangements with our funded providers.

Analysis has shown that existing arrangements for managing our Early Years’ Service lack the coherence to lead and drive forward change

Moray Council Moray within a transformed and expanded service. The 14 arrangements for developing and assuring a quality service could also be improved. The expansion is an opportunity to redesign our Early Years structures with a clear focus on leadership and quality improvement. Parent and Carer Consultation

An online parental consultation was undertaken in May 2017 and 409 responses were received. The following outcomes were noted:

• 80% of parents would use the additional funded hours if offered

• 52% of parents would prefer to use the additional hours during term-time

• 31 % of parents would prefer to use the hours across the full calendar year

• 3% of parents would like to use their funded hours outside of normal working hours i.e. evenings and weekends

• There is not a strong preference for a particular type of provision, although the preferred provision (by a small margin) is a school nursery setting

• 61% of parents would be happy to use a blended approach (e.g. nursery and childminder, school nursery and outdoor nursery etc.)

• 71% of parents would not be willing to travel outside of their local area to access the ELC services they need or prefer

Intended uptake of the additional hours was highest in the Elgin (87%), Lossiemouth (75%) and Forres (73%) ASGs, with the lowest planned uptake in the Keith ASG (57%). It is recognised that an online consultation is a high level snapshot, and that

parents and carers views and intentions will change Early Learning & Childcare Delevery Plan as they become more aware of the new service offer and the different options that will become available to them. Further in depth consultation is planned during the transition phase, in the lead up to full roll out of the entitlement in August 2020.

15 Proposed Future Service Model Vision Moray’s Offer

Taking account of the Scottish Government’s strategic To support the new vision a revised ELC offer for and policy intentions, and Moray’s own strategic Moray’s parents and carers has been agreed: priorities, Moray Council has agreed a vision for Early Learning & Childcare in Moray as follows: • Parents/carers of three and four year olds and eligible two year olds are entitled to up to 1140 “Our Early Learning & Childcare settings support hours of funded high quality ELC per academic and nurture our children and their families, at a time year. Any hours not used cannot be rolled over to and in a place that best meets their needs, giving the next year. all children the best possible opportunity to achieve their potential”. • Parents/carers can take up as much or as little of their entitlement as they wish.

• Where reasonably practicable children can receive their funded entitlement at times and locations that best support their learning and development, and fit with the needs of their parents/carers.

• Providing there is space available parents/carers can choose their preferred (Moray Council approved) provider(s) and agree when they will use their funded entitlement within the following set limits:

• No session longer than 10 hours • No session shorter than 3 hours • Not before 7am or after 7pm within nursery settings (childminder sessions can be evening sessions) • Maximum of two different providers

• Children accessing their funded entitlement over lunchtime are entitled to a free school lunch.

• Parents/carers can pay for additional hours beyond their funded entitlement if those hours are available. Moray Council Moray 16 Service Model

Moray’s Council’s proposed future service model is associated with targeted provision in areas where designed to deliver our vision and ELC offer and is there is currently insufficient universal provision, and built on the following principles: help to support eligible families to engage with ELC.

• Prioritising the quality of our service provision Nursery managers will be responsible for managing 2-3 ELC settings within a close geographical area and • Providing true flexibility and choice for parents/ for engaging with their communities and nursery carers manager colleagues across Moray to ensure the hours and staffing levels within each setting are • Make best use of the assets we already have responsive to parent/carer needs. Nursery managers (workforce, buildings, infrastructure) will also be responsible for working with funded providers, and with the central Early Years team to • Developing a valued and properly resourced Early manage capacity within their areas to guard against Years’ service, with a clear management structure an over-supply, which could impact negatively on the and career path. independent ELC sector and threaten the financial sustainability of the ELC service in Moray. • Ensuring local authority supply is planned to meet anticipated need, and not to impact on Moray Council ELC settings will operate a flexible independent ELC provision service delivery model, with settings open from 8am to 6pm, 50 weeks per academic year (closed for We will continue to work closely with the local holidays and 5 in-service days) where there is a independent sector to deliver a quality ELC capacity requirement. In reality this will mean that a service, with a focus on flexibility, accessibility proportion of our settings will operate a fully flexible and affordability. The partnership arrangements year round model, with the remaining settings will be strengthened by a revised commissioning operating a variation of the model, for example agreement, and a fair commissioning rate that shorter opening hours, or open term-time only. We ensures partners are supported to meet the terms of will look to accommodate parent/carer choice as far the Blueprint for 2020, the needs of families in their possible, and parents/carers will be able to use their area, and the Living Wage and fair working practices funded entitlement at times that are most suitable requirements. for them. Parents/carers will also be given the opportunity to purchase top up hours where those Moray Council’s strategy encompasses choice for hours are available at a rate of £3.50 per hour. The

parents/carers across different provider types. rate has been set at this level to ensure affordability Early Learning & Childcare Delevery Plan We will therefore transform our own model of for families, without impacting negatively on our ELC service delivery, with existing school nurseries independent ELC sector. located on primary school sites becoming Moray Council nurseries, managed by nursery managers The delivery plan costings have been developed reporting into a robust Early Years management based on our current understanding of capacity and quality assurance structure within the central and flexibility offered by the independent sector, Education & Social Care team. and therefore the capacity required within our own settings. The plans for Moray Council settings may Where feasible and appropriate the local authority change over the course of the expansion as the nursery provision will be extended to include two ability of our funded providers to respond to the year old provision, incorporating funded two year requirements of the Blueprint for 2020 becomes 17 old provision, and provision for two year olds who do clearer. not meet the eligibility criteria (with parents paying an affordable rate for the service). The inclusion of A design and infrastructure standard for Moray universal two year old provision within our local Council’s settings based on the ‘Space to authority service model should remove any stigma Grow’ design guidance has been agreed and a refurbishment programme is being developed to Some funded providers have identified ensure all Moray Council’s ELC settings meet the refurbishment requirements, or have clear plans standard as far as possible. Refurbishment efforts for increasing their own capacity. Where the action will focus initially on settings that are likely to adopt is cost effective, and will enhance the ability of the the fully flexible model (all day, all year) and will provider to offer an improved service, it will be be phased in line with the phased roll out of the considered for funding. 1140 hour entitlement. The refurbishment priorities include:

• Meeting the needs of two year olds (changing areas, sleep/rest areas)

• Improving access to outdoor spaces

• Improving the quality of outdoor provision

• Ensuring there is space/equipment for serving lunches

• Creating relaxed, homely and comfortable environments

• Creating spaces for meeting with and working with families

Where feasible requirements for Out of School Care Provision will be incorporated into the refurbishment plans to provide flexibility in terms of the use of the spaces into the future.

There is minimal requirement in Moray to build new ELC centres, however we will be developing the ground floor of an underused sports and community centre into a standalone ELC setting in Buckie where there is limited ELC capacity currently, and investigating opportunities in Keith, where there is no scope for bringing the existing infrastructure up to a suitable standard. We are currently reviewing options in Keith and have held early discussions with private Care Home Managers in Keith regarding the potential for sharing their site, with a view to incorporating interaction between the children and

Moray Council Moray elderly care home residents into the daily timetable 18 within each provision. In Forres the large nursery building at Pilmuir primary school will be refurbished into an Early Years Hub that will include family nurture spaces and early stages (P1-2) classrooms. Early Learning & Childcare Delevery Plan

19 Implementation Plan Quality Plan

The policy vision for the expansion of ELC prioritises and safeguards quality provision of ELC, while offering parents’ choice and flexibility. Moray Council will implement a number of changes designed to deliver high quality outcomes for our children and their families.

We will redesign our central Early Years team to ensure there is a single point of accountability for the service, and appropriate teacher, officer and administrative support for an expanding service. Recruitment into the new roles will commence in late 2017 and will be phased in line with the roll out of the entitlement to 1140 hours.

The new structure includes:

• A senior manager with overall responsibility for • An Early Years Senior Social Worker with Early Years (0-5). responsibility for developing and implementing family support strategies across all local authority • An Early Years Officer with responsibility for and funded provider settings. commissioning, contract management, process improvement, user engagement and training. • Eight Family Support Workers with responsibility for designing, implementing and supporting • Ten Nursery Managers with responsibility for family nurture activities across up to three Moray managing up to three Moray Council ELC settings, Council nurseries and supporting funded partners and for managing supply and demand within their in the development and implementation of their local areas. own family nurture programmes.

• Two Early Years Quality Improvement Officers • One Education Support Officer responsible for with responsibility for quality improvement Early Years ASN support across Moray Council and across all Moray Council and funded partner funded provider ELC settings. settings.

• Twelve peripatetic teachers with responsibility for supporting our own nurseries, and funded provider nurseries to deliver high quality learning for all of our children.

We will monitor and evaluate the impact of the new

Moray Council Moray structure and adapt and amend if required. 20 We will review and refresh our quality improvement commissioning rate, to ensure a stronger focus on framework for Early Years, and will develop guidance positive outcomes for our children and families. We for all settings on how to deliver a coherent will agree a common threshold with regard to quality curriculum and provide a quality experience for all across all our ELC settings and work closely alongside children in a flexible ELC setting. We will also develop our funded providers to ensure the threshold is a clear set of improvement priorities for all our ELC consistently reached and exceeded. settings, ensuring consistent and clear messages regarding those priorities are regularly delivered. We will review our ELC policies, processes and systems to ensure the service is managed as We will review our approach to supporting eligible efficiently as possible, taking a digital first approach two year olds and children with additional support to registration, admissions, booking and payment of needs within funded provider and local authority top-up hours, and recording of attendance. We will settings, ensuring all staff are appropriately trained work closely with our Northern Alliance and other and supported to meet the developmental needs of local authority partners to share best practice and all our children. We will also review the impact of develop joined up approaches as far as possible. our full Early Years training programme, considering how best to align our training with quality

improvement activity, and exploring how technology Early Learning & Childcare Delevery Plan could be used to make our training more accessible to the full ELC workforce.

We will develop a strategy for family support and nurture for Early Years, working with families within all our ELC settings to address inequalities and health and wellbeing concerns through prevention and early intervention. We will research high impact family nurture models and develop a coherent programme of family support, delivered in a way, and at times that work best for the most vulnerable 21 individuals and families in Moray.

We will review our commissioning strategy, in line with the publication of the new Quality Standards, and prior to any further increases in our Phasing

There will be a phased rollout of the entitlement The 200 children accessing the expanded in Moray based on the Scottish Index of Multiple entitlement from August 2018 are located in Deprivation (SIMD) scores. Forres, Elgin, Buckie and Lhanbryde, therefore refurbishment efforts, workforce planning and Parents/carers of up 200 children (including children parental and community consultation will focus on with additional support needs) will be offered the these areas initially, with up to four Moray Council expanded entitlement from August 2018 based on ELC settings moving to a flexible service delivery their home postcodes (postcodes linked to SIMD model from August 2018. The remaining settings datazones), with up to 900 additional children will change to the new model from August 2019 becoming entitled in August 2019, and all three and onwards, with phasing dependent on the provision four year olds and eligible two year olds in Moray available in the independent sector and capacity being offered the full entitlement from August 2020. requirements across the Moray area. The decision to roll out to a small cohort initially will enable Moray Council to build capacity, grow the Three school based settings will continue to operate workforce and understand ‘what good looks like’ in a a traditional model of service delivery beyond 2020. fully flexible setting. Two settings (Portgordon and Findochty) are in schools under consideration as part of a ‘Schools for The intention is to refurbish Moray Council owned the Future’ Review. The third nursery (St Thomas) ELC settings and move them to the new service could be consolidated within a future new setting delivery model in line with the phased rollout within Keith. Further investigation and consultation of the 1140 hour entitlement, however this will within the Keith ASG is required to determine depend on the practicalities of delivering a capital the best approach to take to the provision of ELC refurbishment programme within school settings services within Keith and the surrounding areas. within a tight timescale. Independent providers will also be encouraged to adapt their service delivery models where required in line with the rollout. Parents/carers accessing the transformed settings from August 2018 onwards will be offered flexible hours and the opportunity to purchase additional hours if they are available, regardless of whether they are entitled to 600 or 1140 funded hours. The intention is to offer free nursery lunches to all children attending these settings over lunchtime, in advance of the universal entitlement to free nursery lunches from August 2020, however this is also dependent on our ability to grow our catering provision within a short period of time. Moray Council Moray 22 Proposed Moray Council Nurseries Service Delivery Model Phasing Plan 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 and ongoing ELC Setting Model Hours Model Hours Model Hours Model Hours East End Primary School Term-time 6.83 Term-time 6.83 Term-time 6.83 Term-time 7 inflexible inflexible inflexible flexible

Elgin Seafield Primary School Term-time 7.17 All year 10 All year 10 All year 10 Academy inflexible flexible flexible flexible New Elgin Primary School Term-time 6.92 Term-time 6.92 Term-time 7 Term-time 7 High Elgin inflexible inflexible flexible flexible Portgordon Primary School Term-time 3.17 Term-time 3.17 Term-time 3.17 Term-time 3.17 inflexible inflexible inflexible inflexible Cullen Primary School Term-time 3.17 Term-time 3.17 All year 10 All year 10 inflexible inflexible flexible flexible Findochty Primary School Term-time 3.17 Term-time 3.17 Term-time 3.17 Term-time 3.17 inflexible inflexible inflexible inflexible

Buckie Millbank Primary School Term-time 6.83 Term-time 7 All year 10 All year 10 inflexible flexible flexible flexible St Peter’s RC School Term-time 6.92 Term-time 6.92 Term-time 6.92 Term-time 7 inflexible inflexible inflexible flexible Lady Cathcart Standalone Not open 0 All Year 10 All year 10 All Year 10 flexible flexible Flexible Kinloss Primary School Term-time 3.17 Term-time 3.17 Term-time 7 Term-time 7 inflexible inflexible flexible flexible

Forres Pilmuir Primary School Term-time 3.17 Term-time 3.17 All year 10 All year 10 inflexible inflexible flexible (50) flexible (50) Keith Primary School Term-time 7.17 Term-time 7.17 All year 10 All year 10 inflexible inflexible flexible flexible St Thomas’ Primary School Term-time 3.17 Term-time 3.17 Term time 3.17 Term time 3.17

Keith inflexible inflexible inflexible inflexible New Keith Standalone Not open 0 Not open 0 Not open 0 All year 10 flexible Lhanbryde Primary School Term-time 6.83 All year 10 All year 10 All year 10 inflexible flexible flexible flexible Milne’s Primary School Term-time 3.17 Term-time 3.17 All year 10 All year 10 Milnes inflexible inflexible flexible flexible Aberlour Primary School Term-time 7.08 Term-time 7.08 Term-time 7.08 All year 10 inflexible inflexible inflexible flexible Mortlach Primary School Term-time 7.17 Term-time 7.17 All year 10 All year 10 Early Learning & Childcare Delevery Plan inflexible inflexible flexible flexible Rothes Primary School Term-time 7 Term-time 7 Term-time 7 Term-time 7 Speyside inflexible inflexible flexible flexible Tomintoul Primary School Term-time 3.17 Term-time 3.17 Term-time 3.17 Term-time 7 inflexible inflexible inflexible flexible Burghead Primary School Term-time 6.83 Term-time 6.83 Term-time 7 Term-time 7 inflexible inflexible flexible flexible Hopeman Primary School Term-time 7.17 Term-time 7.17 Term-time 7.17 Term-time 7 inflexible inflexible inflexible flexible Hythehill Primary School Term-time 7 Term-time 7 Term-time 7 Term-time 7 inflexible inflexible inflexible flexible Lossiemouth 23 St Gerardine Primary Term-time 7 Term-time 7 Term-time 7 Term-time 7 School inflexible inflexible flexible flexible Communications and Engagement Strategy Communications and engagement activity

Moray Council has developed a communications • Press communications (in line with Scottish and engagement strategy for the ELC expansion Government communications) programme, which aims to build awareness of the project among a defined group of audiences and • local newspapers user groups. These include parents/carers, funded • radio providers, local authority staff and community • press features planning partners. • Online Key messages and outcomes of the strategy • social media campaigns For external audiences: • information pages on Moray Council and partner websites • increased awareness of the new ELC offer across • multi-media information e.g. videos a wide demographic • regular newsletter inserts for partner organisations and groups • easy access to information • Print • increased awareness of the opportunity for parents/carers to seek employment or undertake • posters training for improved employment opportunities • information leaflets and greater economic activity • Community and parental engagement • increased awareness of career opportunities within the ELC sector • open public meetings for each Associated School Group (ASG) • a high number of registrations for ELC places and • promotion and discussion opportunities/ full take up of the ELC offer meetings with a wide range of community based groups in a variety of settings, particularly early • recognition of the funding source (Scottish year’s users and providers, along with others Government) who can play a key role in promoting uptake • specific targeting of potential beneficiaries for internal/partner audiences: who traditionally are not visible and rarely engage with local agencies • increased awareness of the initiative, and Moray • direct consultation and engagement with Council’s delivery programme eligible parents/carers and groups as part of the phased roll out of the 1140 hour • collaborative working to achieve target entitlement registrations The communications and engagement plan will be • recognition of the funding source (Scottish initiated from October 2017 with the publication of Government) dedicated ELC expansion Web pages, a local media

Moray Council Moray and social media campaign, and the publication of a 24 schedule of open public meetings. Parents/carers will be able to access information regarding when they will receive their entitlement (phasing by postcode) by the end of December 2017 at the earliest, or once we have received confirmation of funding from the Scottish Government at the latest. Workforce Plan

By August 2020 we will need to employ 120 additional The intention is that qualified teachers will no longer ELC staff (FTE) within our local authority settings. This be employed directly within our ELC settings as part FTE requirement includes the new nursery manager of the staffing ratio; however there will be more posts and additional staffing required within settings teachers employed within our central peripatetic to cover the extended opening hours, holiday periods team to ensure all of our pre-school children receive and staff sickness. It also includes 5 hours per week good quality contact time with a qualified teacher for ELC Senior Practitioners and ELC Practitioners, during school term-time. and two hours per week for Classroom Assistants, of non-contact time for set up/tidy up, Continuous We will also look to employ modern apprentices Professional Development (CPD), service planning, and into our own settings to ensure we are growing our family support activities. own workforce. The modern apprentices cannot be included in the staffing ratios. The workforce plan is based on the Care Inspectorate staffing ratios for three to four year olds, two year olds We will need to recruit 21 Early Years staff into our and children with additional support needs. For planning central team, and two additional graduates allocated purposes we have assumed that 3% of children attending to Moray by the Scottish Government. The graduates all our nurseries will be two year olds, and 25% will have will be supernumerary with one graduate recrioted an additional support need and will therefore require the to work in our new stand alone setting in Buckie 1:5 staffing ratio. In reality there will be some nurseries (Lady Cathcart Nursery), and a second to work across where we do not provide a two year old provision, two settings in Elgin (East End and New Elgin). We and some nurseries where there are fewer children are planing to recruit trained teachers to these roles. with additional support needs. However in many of our nurseries there are also children with exceptional The recruitment of staff will be phased alongside the support needs who require at least 1:2 support. rollout of the 1140 hour entitlement.

Planned phased growth in Early Years staffing FTE equivalent (Financial years 2017-22) Job role 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 Nursery Manager 0 4 10 10 10 Teacher 7 4.4 1.95 0.5 0 Additional Graduate 0 1.25 2 2 2 Senior Practitioner 17.7 24 38.7 46 49.8 Early Learning & Childcare Delevery Plan Practitioner 15.5 22.7 41 52 53.6

In ELC Settings In ELC Support Staff (classroom assistants) 5.8 12 28.6 38.5 Modern Apprentices 0 5 10 10 10 Total (In ELC settings) 45.9 73.4 132.3 159 166 Senior Manager – Early Years 0.3 1 1 1 1 Quality Improvement Officer 0.5 1.5 2 2 2 Early Years Fieldworker (Teacher) 6 8 10 12 12 Early Years Officer (commissioning) 0.3 1 1 1 1 Senior Early Years Social Worker 0 1 1 1 1 Family Support Workers 0 2 5 8 8 25 Central Team Central Education Support Officer (ASN) – Early Years 0 1 1 1 1 Administrative Officer 0.5 2 2 2 2 Clerical Officer 0.5 0.5 1 1 1 Total (Central Team) 8.1 18 24 29 29 Total Early Years Staffing 54.1 91.4 156.3 188 195 Funded Providers

In order to accommodate the extended opening Moray Council currently delivers between 60% and hours new terms and conditions will be incorporated 70% of its ELC provision through funded providers. into contracts of employment and future recruitment Moray Council is committed to the current mixed campaigns for ELC staff. For existing staff there will economy of provision and the expectation is that we be a full consultation on the proposals contained will continue to commission between 55% and 60% within this Delivery Plan with all affected staff and of our required provision through the independent trade unions, as per Moray Council policy and staff sector, providing the sector can supply models of conditions of service. Consultation will commence in service delivery that enable Moray Council to deliver October 2017. its ELC Offer. There is a small predicted growth in the Moray Council share of provision due to the need to The intention is that administrative activities to provide an expanded local authority service in areas support the 10 Nursery Managers and Central where there is currently little or no independent team will be undertaken centrally, with additional sector provision. Moray Council will work closely administrative staff included within the expanded with all funded providers during the transition central team; however business process period to ensure capacity is developed and managed improvement and automation is key to ensuring the to meet demand, without creating an over-supply in success of this approach. any settlement or area.

Moray Council will develop a skills development Some of our funded providers are small playgroups pathway for existing Early Years staff to ensure all operating a limited number of hours per week. staff are able to reach their full potential. We will In many cases the playgroups will be unable to also look at retraining opportunities for other Moray expand their hours due to limitations presented Council staff who are on the redeployment register by their accommodation and staffing structures. or are looking for new career opportunities. Moray Council recognises that in some areas these playgroups will continue to meet a need and will Early Learning & Childcare is one of 8 growth sectors continue to fund the provision if there is sufficient on the Moray Skills Pathway, which seeks to provide demand from parents/carers. a structured pathway for young people (aged 3-18) into employment, and provides a framework for There are 121 childminders working across the schools, the further education college and employers Moray area. Two childminders are currently (including Moray Council) to work together to meet delivering funded hours to two year olds. Efforts future workforce needs. have been made to engage with childminders and discuss the potential of partnership working with Moray Council will also support funded providers the Council. These efforts will continue as the to train and develop their own staff over the course expansion programme progresses. Communications of the expansion period, assisting with training and to parents/carers will also highlight the different back fill costs when staff are required to attend choices available to them, including childminder ELC training or undertake personal study during normal provision. working hours. Moray Council Moray 26 Infrastructure (Physical Estate) Plan

Moray Council has agreed a high level scope of There are no capital works requirements at eight works for our existing school nurseries and any of our existing school nurseries, either because the additional provision that may be required. The works nurseries have been recently refurbished and meet are required to either: the required standard, or because the schools are part of a ‘Schools for the Future’ review. At this stage • create new capacity we will also not be refurbishing any school classroom space leased to funded providers if the schools • extend existing capacity concerned are included in a ‘Schools for the Future’ review. • ensure the settings are of a suitable standard to accommodate staff and children for up to 7-10 The intention is that capital projects can be phased hours per day in line with the rollout out of the entitlement to 1140 hours, however this is dependent on how Where feasible any creation of new ELC settings, or quickly capital funding for the programme can be refurbishment of existing settings, will incorporate confirmed by the Scottish Government, and on the office space, multi-purpose rooms, family nurture feasibility of programming a number of building spaces and requirements for Out of School Care e.g. projects on school sites within a very tight timescale. larger unisex toilets.

High level Capital Plan Scoping Works Required Number of settings New standalone ELC setting (potential new 1 build) Extension/major refurbishment (school 2 nursery) Major refurbishment (standalone ELC setting) 1 Major refurbishment (school nurseries) 3 Minor refurbishment (school nurseries) 8 Extension/major refurbishment to LA 1

building currently leased to funded provider Early Learning & Childcare Delevery Plan Extension/minor refurbishment to LA 1 building currently leased to funded provider

27 Financial Plan

The anticipated budget requirements for the delivery of ELC in Moray are detailed below. The objectives and desired outcomes of the Moray Council Delivery Plan can only be achieved if full and recurring funding is received from the Scottish Government.

Revenue Budget Growth Current 2017/18 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 & budget £m (with growth) £m £m £m recurring £m £m 4.5 4.9 6.68 9.98 12.07 11.94

The growth in revenue budget requirement incorporates the following:

• A capacity requirement of projected demand • An increase in running costs for our ELC settings, +20% of ELC spaces to allow flexibility for parental including any new provision. The running costs choice. This is above the suggested national for our nurseries are currently integrated within average of 15% to allow for the rural nature of our primary school budgets and cannot be broken parts of Moray so that families are not required down into detailed headings within our current to travel long distances to access the ELC they systems. We have assumed a percentage of the require. running costs for the nursery spaces based on the FTE (staff) working in the nursery compared • The increased workforce requirement within our to the rest of the school, and added in a 25% own ELC settings to cover expanded hours and uplift for settings that we are proposing to open year round provision in some settings. All staffing year round. For PPP schools the uplift is higher costs are based on Moray Council pay scales. due to the need to comply with the terms of the Facilities Management contract. • The increase in staffing within the Moray Council central early years team. • Maintenance and lifecycle replacement costs for new and refurbished ELC settings (£15/m2 per • The provision of free nursery lunches for all annum). children receiving the full 1140 entitlement – with a phased implementation from August 2018 • An increase in business rates liability for new to August 2020. builds and where buildings have been extended.

• An increase in funded partner rates – up to £4.75 • Workforce development and training costs per hour for three to four year olds and £6.20 for (Moray Council and funded provider staff). two year olds by August 2020. • Short-term financial support (2017-19) for funded

Moray Council Moray providers looking to increase their capacity, or 28 improve their own settings in order to deliver a more flexible ELC service.

• Short-term project costs (2017-2022) to cover project staff and other costs. The Head Teacher costs are not included in our Early 2017/18 Expansion Activities (including use of Years budgets and have not been included within revenue and capital funding allocations) these budget projections. There will be a small reduction in Head Teacher salaries as a result of the Moray Council funding allocation for 17/18 is as follows: change in line management arrangements for Moray Revenue Allocation (£) Capital Council nursery staff, but the reduction is likely to Allocation be minimal and will not take effect until 2021 at the (£) earliest due to salary protection. In some schools 405,000 643,000 there may also be a reduction in the number of Depute Head Teachers employed within the school, but again any cost reductions will not take effect Revenue Spend: until 2021 at the earliest. Increasing the funded provider rate for 3 100,000 and 4 year olds to £3.62 per hour Capital Budgets Grant funding for funded provider 80,000 infrastructure improvement projects The projected capital budget requirement for the Grant funding for funded provider training 20,000 life of the programme is as follows (excluding 17/18 and development costs capital allocation): Early Years Staffing – phased recruitment 37,000 Capital Works Cost (£m) Project Staff costs 148,000 New build and refurbishment 7.21 Moray Council Workforce training and 20,000 requirements – Moray Council ELC development buildings Total 405,000 Provision for the expansion of our catering 0.4

service infrastructure Early Learning & Childcare Delevery Plan Provision for ICT system procurement/ 0.15 Capital Spend: development Redevelopment of Lady Cathcart Sports and 598,000 Total 7.76 Community Centre New nursery extension at Milnes primary 45,000 school Total 643,000

29 Project Management

Moray Council has employed a Programme Manager Moray Council does not have capacity within its to work full-time on the ELC expansion. The Head operational teams to take on the additional work of Service (Lifelong Learning, Leisure and Learning) associated with the ELC expansion. We will therefore is the Senior Responsible Officer for the expansion be looking to recruit additional members of staff and a project governance structure has been (temporary contracts) to the project team over the established. life of the project and their costs are including in our revenue projections from 2017 to 2022.

Early Learning and Childcare Expansion – Project Staff Role FTE Annual cost (incl. Children & Young People's on costs) (£) Services Committee Programme Manager 1 77,028 HR Advisor 1 42,030 ICT ( Business) Analyst 1 48,149 Communications/ 1 40,171 Consultation Officer Project Catering Officer 1 40,171 ELC Expansion Programme Board Total 5 247,549 Chair: Director of Education & Social Care Any requirement for additional Housing and Property Membership: Heads of Service staffing will be kept under review.

ELC Expansion Early Years Stakeholder Programme Manager Group

Project Delivery

• Service quality • Communication & consultation

• Infrastructure (physical estate) • Catering & janitorial Moray Council Moray • Workforce planning & development • ICT systems, processes and 30 management information Risk Register (as at September 2017) Risk Category RISK Scope/potential consequences Assessment of Risk (likelihood x Threat to achievement of of risk (If, then, results in) impact) Assume No Controls in business objective Place Likelihood Impact Score

Financial Capital funding High risk due to lead in time for 3 3 9 Unable to spend the 2017/18 major capital projects capital funding within the timescales People T&Cs Unable to staff settings during 3 3 9 Staff unwilling to change to the school holidays. new work patterns Unable to meet the flexibility principle of the Blueprint for 2020. Need to recruit large numbers of staff therefore risk is high People Recruitment Unable to meet the quality 4 4 16 Unable to recruit suitable principle of the Blueprint for staff 2020. Unable to create sufficient capacity Operational Service quality Impact on ELC for children in 3 4 12 continuity and Quality of service impacted ELC settings. performance during transition period Reputation User expectations Unable to meet the flexibility 2 3 6 Unable to provide services and accessibility principles to meet user expectations. of the Blueprint for 2020. Funded providers unwilling to Unknown at this stage. change their service models Assumption is that staff want to be off during the holidays with their own holidays Operational Funded providers Partner providers are unable 4 4 16 continuity and Staff from funded providers to sustain their businesses and performance apply for new posts within provide ELC hours to support the Council, leaving funded the expansion providers short staffed. Reputation School buildings Perceived lack of equality for 3 3 9 We do not have the budget children of different age groups. to bring the schools up to Brings the poor state of some the same standard as the schools into focus. nurseries that are on the same site/adjoining. Operational School buildings Delays to the refurbishment 2 3 6 continuity and To achieve the refurbishment programme if all works have performance programme within the to be carried out during school required timescales we will holidays. need to complete some works when the schools are open. Nursery classes will need to be decanted. Unable to find suitable decant accommodation. D-02419 Produced by Moray Council