Network Whispers: checks for overseas staff, lack of Goodwill, and 'golden tickets' for two-year-olds

RISKY BUSINESS Checking criminal records of staff from overseas is proving a headache as any past misdemeanours will not be recorded in the UK if they took place abroad. NDNA’s experts have been getting queries on this. With regulations differing by country, the best advice is to check with the Home Office and/or gain a “certificate of good character”. For countries without relevant checks, settings have to make their own judgement based on available data.
 
MAKING ALLOWANCE The Pre-school Learning Alliance’s latest 30 hours salvo sparked headlines about additional charges and nursery closures. While the BBC Breakfast report was headed by ‘30 hours funded childcare’ instead of the traditional ‘free’, the TV ticker was not so accurate, citing the ‘Pre-school Learning Allowance’. Perhaps this change should be considered by the Alliance to depict just what the 30 hours is, with ‘-funded’ inserted after Pre-school, of course.

YORK OFF Former children and families minister Robert Goodwill declined the invitation to go on BBC York and talk about the 30 hours policy – despite being the MP for Scarborough and Whitby and the minister in charge of overseeing its introduction. Was the now-backbench MP so scarred by his stint in childcare, wonders Whispers?

TWO GOOD One council wins first prize for pro-activity with a scheme to increase take-up of two-year-old places. Suffolk County Council’s Early Years and Childcare Service has started posting ‘Golden Tickets’ to eligible families to let them know that they qualify for free childcare for their two-year-old, with a unique reference number that parents can take to their chosen childminder, day nursery or pre-school playgroup as proof that they are eligible. Time will tell if it makes the difference, but with 60,000 two-year-olds missing out nationally, this could be the way forward.