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Wednesday 26 April 2017
1. Free Entitlement summer term actuals now open
The Online Provider Portal is now open for Summer Term Free
Entitlement (FE) actuals claims.
It
is important to read the “Free Entitlement – additional information for
providers” on www.westsussex.gov.uk/ecsfreeentitlement and follow the updated guidance
entitled “How to claim child-level funding” available on www.westsussex.gov.uk/ecsportal before submitting any information.
The updated guidance now includes how to claim Disability Access Fund (DAF)
for eligible 3 and 4 year olds.
Headcount
day: Thursday 11 May 2017.
The
deadline for return of your FE actuals data is Friday 26 May 2017.
Please
note that all children on your headcount record will be listed with 0 hours.
This will enable you to check and update all child records and will
reduce the risk of overclaiming.
You
can decrease the number of weeks attended in the term for each child via the
Online Provider Portal. However, if you wish to increase the number of weeks
as you are claiming FE as per the stretched funding option, please contact the
Family Information Service. Once we have enabled this, you will need to log
back into the Online Provider Portal and increase the number of weeks for each
child.
If you
have any queries please contact the Family Information Service on 01243 777807
or email free.entitlement@westsussex.gov.uk
Attachments:
2. Disability Access Fund – Early Years
The
Government have launched the new Disability Access Fund available from this
summer term 2017. Settings could receive a one-off payment for three and four
year olds accessing Free Entitlement if the child is also in receipt of
Disability Living Allowance.
Information
and guidance on who is eligible, what the funding can be used for and how to
claim can be found in the attached briefing
note.
Please
ensure you use the updated version of the Parent
Declaration which is also attached.
If you have any
queries please contact the Family Information Service on 01243 777807 or email
free.entitlement@westsussex.gov.uk
Attachments:
3. Childcare providers working with WSCC to design the right tools for the job
A number of
West Sussex childcare providers have been incredibly helpful in supporting the
design for the countywide communications for parents about 30 hours free childcare.
Designing the right communications tools for settings and parents is not an
easy job. They need to be clear and helpful, whilst communicating the central Government
messages that we are here to implement.
It’s fair
to say that some of the discussions around this have been lively, in particular
the ‘free childcare’ versus ‘funded childcare’ debate. Recognising that whilst
it is free at the point of delivery to parents, the funding may not, in some
cases, match the hourly rate of the providers. We are held to the name of ’30 hours
free childcare’ in legislation and this
is not a decision made by West Sussex County Council. When checking
eligibility, parents will be told they are eligible for 30 hours free childcare
on the national online checker, as well as on the Childcare Choices website. It
was agreed by the group that to call it by another name could be confusing.
This
group have been absolutely crucial in designing a set of attractive and
recognisable promotional materials, which will be coming your way soon. A big
thank you to all the settings involved, and for giving up your time, for free, to
work with us, for the benefit of the wider West Sussex community.
4. Highest number of childcare providers accessing
business training and tools!
During the
Easter break we reviewed how many West Sussex childcare providers accessed the
specially commissioned business training for 30 hours Free Entitlement and we
were delighted at the appetite out there for this training. Not only did we
have the highest ever number of attendees at the annual Business Conference at
156, but we also had 137 practitioners in one term attend the specialist 30
hours training.
Now is the
prime time to access these FREE courses. The summer term is the last term that
they will be available for free, with no subscription requirement. So continue
to use them before you lose them! Look out for the 30 hours logo in the Summer
Term training schedule.
In addition
an outstanding 177 practitioners attended the Business and Welfare Events in
the spring term. Plus the 30 hours Business Toolkit, developed for you by
childcare practitioners, has had 651 unique pageviews since its launch in
February 2017!
It’s safe
to say that business support and training is high on the agenda for many of you
out there. So it will remain to be for us here too. As always, we value your
feedback so please keep us posted on how we can support you.
5. Ofsted Myth Busting Document
Ofsted has produced a handy myth-busting document to
dispel misconceptions about its early years inspections. It has also launched
new and updated logos for Good and Outstanding settings.
Upcoming Key Dates
Date What's Happening?
11/05/17 Headcount Day
W/C 08/05/17 NM003N Early Years Learning and Development Networks begin.
Previously on the Weekly Broadcast
Forgotten to action a broadcast item? You can’t remember which Broadcast the information was in? Below is a list of headlines from the previous 4 weeks' Weekly Broadcasts. If you would like a copy of a previous broadcast please click on the hyperlinks below.
Wednesday 19 April 2017
- Summer term Estimate payments and Provider Declaration 2016-17
extension
- Summer Term Free
Entitlement actuals claims - advance notice
- Childcare Choices
- Reminder: Online Provider Portal Account Usage Survey
- ICAN’S Chatterbox Challenge
Wednesday 11 April 2017
- Summer term Estimate payments and Provider declaration 2016-17 extension
- 30 Hours Childcare Business Toolkit: live and available now!
- Department for Education (DfE) offers childminder start-up grants for 30 hours
- New Rates for National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage
- Nurseries share 'Awards for All' funding
- School partnerships with Childminders and Childminder agencies – forming effective partnership models
Wednesday 5 April 2017
- Ofsted Inspections
- Course cancellation confirmation emails starting April
- (FE providers only) Free Entitlement Leaflet – latest version now available in different languages
Wednesday 22 March 2017
- Indicative Budgets 2017/2018 are in the post - exisiting FE providers only
- Extension to existing Provider Declaration 2016/2017 - Action required by all exisitng FE Providers, otherwise Summer term payments will be affected
- Tax Free Childcare - charity run childcare providers
- We want your views on the Online Provider Portal (OPP)
- Makaton Foundation Workshop for Professionals
- Citizens Advice services in Central and South Sussex
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