News - Archive

Gift gets Tynedale motoring to play

A gift from colleagues at SureStart Berwick Children's Centre will enable children and young people in Tynedale to gear up for a fun creative future. The specially-designed van  will get motoring to take play resources out to rural areas and will be used by skilled and qualified playworkers. 

Toys make bid for freedom!

Almost two years after the doors of the Toy Library in Hexham closed for the last time, the toys have been freed!  Northumberland County Council, Northumberland Early Years and Childcare Service and Northumberland Toy Library have all teamed up to release the toys and the Toy Library has re-opened.   

Playwork training comes to Haydon Bridge High School.

A Cache Level 2 qualification in Playwork will be delivered from Haydon Bridge High School later this year. Anybody interested in finding out more details, please contact Janet Orrock, Play Development Co-ordinator Tel: 01661 834943.

Free Marketing Workshops

Are you a Childcare Provider registered in Northumberland? You will have recently received a free copy of The Step by Step Guide to Marketing Toolkit. The free workshops are designed to complement this toolkit by helping you put the theory of marketing contained in the handbook into practice in an informal workshop environment.  For more details click on the main heading above.  

Northumberland Childminder Professional Development Toolkit Launch

Are you a Childminder registered in Northumberland? Would you like to find out more about this exciting new Toolkit which brings together all the information, documents and paperwork that Childminders need to run a professional Childminding service and demonstrate high quality pracitice?

If so come along to our free Professional Develpment session and Toolkit launch on Saturday 24 March at Woodhorn Museum.  Childminders attending this event will be the first to receive their copy of the Toolkit.  Places are limited and must be booked in advance so book early to avoid disappointment.  You will shortly receive a letter and application form in the post.  If you need further information please contact 01670 534447.

Free Marketing Workshops: Step by Step Guide to Marketing Toolkit

Are you a Childcare Provider registered in Northumberland? You will have recently received a free copy of The Step by Step Guide to Marketing Toolkit. The free workshops are designed to complement this toolkit by helping you put the theory of marketing contained in the handbook into practice in an informal workshop environment.  Places must be booked in advance.For more details click on the main heading above.  

Playwork training comes to Haydon Bridge High School

A Cache Level 2 qualification in Playwork will be delivered from Haydon Bridge High School later this year. It is expected to take place each Monday evening between 6pm-9pm. Anybody interested in finding out more details, please contact Janet Orrock, Play Development Co-ordinator Tel: 01661 834943

A new childminding support group, Kells 'Super Tots' Childminding Support Group, has been set up by their local Children's Centre at Whitehaven, Cumbria.  It meets at Kells Library on the first Wednesday of every month from 9.30am to 11.30am.  It is the latest of a number of Childminding Support Groups in Cumbria, which provide local childminders and the children they look after with a regular place to meet, interact, exchange ideas and borrow resources. Click on the heading above to find out more about Childminding Support Groups throughout Cumbria.

Research published earlier in February by the National Childminding Association (NCMA) showed that nationally 87% of Sure Start Children’s Centres are working with childminders in their area, one third are currently working with childminder networks and over 80% provide training opportunities for childminders. 

The Government wants every Sure Start Children’s Centre to link with their local childminders as part of the ten year childcare strategy and asked the NCMA to undertake this survey to assess progress towards this aim.  The aim of improving partnership working is to give parents greater choice and confidence in their childcare.

Transformation and Inclusion

Northumberland Early Years and Childcare service, Workforce Development Team, are thrilled to announce their first conference fully-funded by the Transformation Fund. 

One strand of the Transformation Fund is to promote the training and qualification to work with disabled children and those with additional needs.  The conference is a partnership of professionals who work across Children's Services.  Practitioners attending the conference will have the opportunity to access seminars which will then allow them to book onto additional training delivered by specialists.

The Transformation Fund is a government initiative to upskill the training and qualifications for early years practiotioners working in the Private, Voluntary and Independent sector.

Northumberland Childcare is the Business

Northumberland Early Years & Childcare Service is working in partnership with Business Link for Northumberland to provide FREE workshops for Northumberland childcare businesses during the coming year.

The workshops start in April 2007 and will be held in various locations across the County.

Just call 01670 813322 and request a place at your chosen venue(s).