Council approves steps to deliver 600 hours funded early learning and childcare
19th February 2014
Highland parents and families are to benefit from the introduction of 600 hours funded early learning and childcare from August this year.
The Highland Council’s Adult and Children’s Services Committee have approved a suite of measures to enable the Council’s delivery of 600 hours on early learning and childcare by August 2014.
Councillor Alasdair Christie, Chairman of the Council’s and Children’s Services Committee said: “This is great news for parents and carers whose children will benefit from more structured education and preparation in pre-school before going on to primary school. Staff will also benefit from the changes as many of them will be upgraded with additional support and training.
“We will look at how the changes will impact on each of our 200+ school communities between now and June and establish how the introduction of double time sessions can work within the existing school accommodation.”
Local Authorities are required under the Children and Young People Bill to increase the current provision of 475 hours of funded pre-school education to 600 hours of free early learning and childcare.
To meet this requirement by August 2014, members have approved proposed changes to the council’s staffing model in pre-school nurseries, including:
a move from the current staffing structure of Nursery Assistants and Nursery Auxiliaries to an Early Years Practitioner model where both staff are on the same grade;
an extension of nursery sessions to 3 hours 10 minutes in term time, involving staff on 23 hour contracts, and maintaining the current contracts of nursery assistants with additional hours; and
an additional staffing allowance of 0.1 Full Time Equivalent to provide more management time for head teachers for all double session nurseries from August 2014.
Related Businesses
Related Articles
At the Highland Council Economy and Infrastructure Committee. (Thursday 2 May 2024) Members had the opportunity to review the work the Council is doing to progress active travel and improve road safety before approving the next steps.
At the meeting of the Economy and Infrastructure Committee members had the opportunity to review the last two years of the Community Regeneration Funding Programme before agreeing changes to how the 2024/25 programme will be delivered. Committee Chair, Cllr Ken Gowans said: "Following a successful two years, it is a good time to review what has gone well and what can be done better so we can continue to build on success, and seamlessly move the focus onto how best to support the delivery of projects." "With 279 live projects and over £6million of committed funds still to be claimed, there is no doubt as to the value and impact of the programme's potential.
The Highland Council's In-House bus service pilot project was launched in January 2023. The success of its first year of operation in delivering savings and creating a valued and reliable service was highlighted at today’s Economy and Infrastructure Committee.
Members of Highland Council's Economy and Infrastructure Committee today (2 May 2024) approved the local authority's draft Ecology Strategy and Action Plan which will now move forward to an 12-week public consultation. The Ecology Strategy sets out an ambitious set of actions to tackle biodiversity loss and address the ecological emergency.
Economy and Infrastructure Committee members today (2 May 2024) agreed to direct £100K from the Council's share of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) to fund a new staff training programme at the Inverness Castle Experience. The funding will enable the project team to provide specialist visitor attraction training to young people identified through partners at Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) and the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI).
The Housing and Property Committee met on Wednesday 1 May 2024 and noted the Housing Service performance report 2023/24 that met the agreed priorities and associated initiatives in the Local Housing Strategy 2023-2028. The report highlighted a number of achievements in 2023/24 in increasing housing supply.
Kate Lackie, Malcolm MacLeod and Allan Gunn have been appointed as Assistant Chief Executives with The Highland Council. Convener of the Council, Cllr Bill Lobban said: "I am delighted to say that Kate Lackie, Malcolm MacLeod and Allan Gunn have been appointed as Assistant Chief Executives with The Highland Council.
As intimated in Highland Council's budget plan, a new senior management structure is to be implemented following approval by Council 14th March. It reconfigures the senior management team into two layers, rather than three and brings Highland Council into line with other benchmarked authorities.
Today, Morrison Construction introduced some of their local apprentices who are working on the UK Governments' Levelling Up Funded refurbishment project at the Northern Meeting Park in Inverness. All these apprentices have been recruited from the Highland area.
The by-election to elect a councillor to represent Ward 19 - Inverness South on The Highland Council has been won by Duncan Cameron McDonald - Independent who was one of the eight candidates who contested the vacancy. Voters in the ward went to the poll yesterday (Thursday 11 April) and the by-election count was held this morning in The Highland Council Headquarters in Inverness.
