On 19 April, the council’s Children and Learning Committee approved Report No 128/18 and the appended Blueprint for Expansion, giving the programme the go-ahead to get on with planning all of the activities required to meet the national commitment to expand the provision of early learning and childcare from 600 hours per year to 1,140 hours per year by August 2020.
Workstream 1 is well underway, focusing on the need to create a lot more physical space in which children can learn and play. In order to fulfill this aim there are two exciting ‘new build’ projects, and various developments within existing primary school nursery settings will also be undertaken. The new build facilities in Carnoustie and Forfar will cater for up to 360 young children.
Workstream 2 is focused on workforce expansion and development, which includes increasing the number of staff available for the expanding ELC provision in Angus. Our initial efforts were focussed on a retraining programme for existing council staff who were interested in a career change into early years. Interest in the retraining programme was very high, with 75 applications received.
Successful applicants commenced a college course which will finish in April 2020, giving us a group of around 75 qualified and experienced applicants who will have the chance to participate in a restricted recruitment exercise for ELC posts all over Angus. Any shortfall between the number of applicants and the number of posts we need to fill will be addressed through normal, external recruitment.
Another key element of Workstream 2 is the implementation of new delivery models at a number of the existing council ELC settings. At present the vast majority of nurseries operate during term-time only, closing during school holidays, but this will have to change if we are to deliver our expanded obligations from August 2020.
Outcomes
- Two brand new, purpose-built early learning and childcare centres by August 2020
- Extension/redevelopment/refurbishment work at more than half of our existing primary school nurseries by August 2020
- 75 qualified and experienced workforce expansion applicants by April 2020