1. Two Year Offer Trials Local Authority Knowledge Sharing Day 13 October 2011 Time 2 Start

2. Welcome John Welsby Assistant Director, Children & Family Support Wolverhampton City Council

3. Agenda 9.30Arrival & Refreshments 10.00WelcomeJohn Welsby 10.15Overview of the 2 year offer trials Andrew Wolverson 10.45Speed Sharing – Session 1 12.00The national context and policy update DfE 12.15Lunch & Networking 1.00Speed Sharing – Session 2 1.45The importance of engaging parents Cathy Hamer 2.45PlenaryCarol Boughton 3.00Close & Networking

4. Overview of the Trials Andrew Wolverson Wolverhampton City Council

5. Background DfE announced that they were looking at trialling new approaches to the 2 yr old offer early 2011. They were looking at trialling the following areas: building sustainable capacity improving overall quality increasing skills of early years workers enhancing local systems offering parents greater flexibility

6. Why work together Statistically similar authorities but different approaches Offers the opportunity to try different approaches and widen the learning Have worked together previously WalsallWolverhampton 30 th most deprived21 st most deprived 381 childcare providers407 childcare providers 3430 2 year olds3200 2 year olds 18 Children’s Centres

7. The Walsall & Wolverhampton bid We looked at all of the strands outlined by DfE This included: Stretching the offer over 50 weeks Increasing places Raising quality through robust training packages Gathering and sharing of good practice Employing Project Liaison Officers Enhancing local systems such as e - start (Walsall) and Synergy (Wolverhampton) Looking at mentoring and coaching schemes

8. How the trials are managed Joint project board established to develop the project plan and monitor progress Project manager responsible to project board for meeting milestones within the project plan and overall co-ordination of the trials Project liaison officers responsible for supporting the strategic and operational development of the trials To identify good practice across the two authorities of Walsall and Wolverhampton To trial new methods and identify a consistent approach across all children’s centres and private settings offering the 2 yr places To develop relevant training packages to support practitioners To share good practice regionally through information sharing events

9. What’s happened so far? Agreed on the priorities for development Increased the number of places available Joint sharing event between stakeholders in the two authorities Employed project liaison officers Employed play development worker (Walsall) Devised and carried out parental engagement audits Implemented new referral systems (Wolverhampton) Implemented the stretched offer as standard

10. Future work In the process of devising training packages to support the 2 year offer Improving communication with partner agencies Developing a mentoring programme across the 2 authorities Commissioning evaluation of different strands of work Developing an online referral portal Working more closely with childminders to deliver offer

11. Further information Jenny Mander – 01922 686535 email: jenny.mander@walsallcs.serco.com jenny.mander@walsallcs.serco.com Kim Stokes – 01922 686536 email: kim.stokes@walsallcs.serco.com kim.stokes@walsallcs.serco.com Lisa Hill – 01902 551984 email: lisa.hill@wolverhampton.gov.uk lisa.hill@wolverhampton.gov.uk Andrew Wolverson – 01902 551272 email: andrew.wolverson@wolverhampton.gov.uk andrew.wolverson@wolverhampton.gov.uk

12. Speed Sharing Session 1

13. The national context & policy update Department for Education

14. Lunch & Networking

15. Speed Sharing Session 2

16. The importance of engaging parents Cathy Hamer National Literacy Trust

17. Closing Remarks Carol Boughton Walsall Children’s Services, SERCO