Be a part of the Early Years Funding Review Group!

Many of you will recall the previous review that we held a few years ago to consider the early years funding.

It has been decided that, in the light of the pandemic and concerns around school readiness, increasing numbers of children with SEND and changes to the Index of Multiple Deprivation, now is a good time to review how the funding Devon County Council (DCC) receives is distributed to providers.

We would like to virtually gather a group of interested people who want to actively participate in discussions about different aspects of funding for 2,3- and 4-year olds. Ideally, we are aiming for a cross section of people who represent the different types of providers we have in Devon:

  • Childminders
  • Preschools
  • Nursery Classes (academy and maintained)
  • Governor and trustee run preschools (academy and maintained)
  • Day Nurseries
  • Nursery Schools
  • Independent schools

Within this group we hope for a mix of rural and urban, large and small, full time and part time providers.

The group will meet virtually at least twice between now and September. If changes are suggested by the Early Years Funding Review Group, they must be brought to the Schools Funding Group, which is part of the Devon Education Forum (DEF).

There may be some people who will be on the group that you already know:

Lydia Wright (Early Years Representative on the DEF from Horizon Childcare, Exeter)
Dianne Roberts (Substitute Early Years Representative on the DEF from the Early Years Alliance)
Anne Hudson (Early Years Team Lead for the Learning and Development Partnership)
Marie Stone (Early Years Accountant DCC) and me
Fran Butler (Early Years and Childcare Sufficiency Lead DCC).

If you are interested in being involved and think that you can represent the views of others from similar provisions, please email: fran.butler@devon.gov.uk by Monday 5th July 2021.

Please include in your response:

Your Name:
Provision Name:
Provision Address:
Telephone Number:
Reason why you want to be a part of the group:
Specific interest/s that you have in relation to early years funding e.g. 2-year-old funding, SEND, 3 and 4-year-old funding, deprivation, EYPP etc:
Anything else that you feel is relevant

I look forward to hearing from you soon!