With you, with the
child. Every step of the way.
Weekly broadcast for Early Years and Childcare settings from the Integrated Prevention and Earliest Help Service.
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Wednesday 31 October 2018
1. Conflicting Free Entitlement Actuals Claims
This term has seen a substantial rise in the number of clashes in Free Entitlement claims where a child attends multiple settings and splits their Free Entitlement hours between them.
In total, 180 conflicts have been found which we are working through to resolve. This in turn has caused a significant increase in the number of emails the Family Information Service is dealing with. Please be reassured that your query has been received and we are responding to them as quickly as we can. As soon as any conflicts in funding claims have been resolved, we will be able to release payments to all settings involved.
Please bear in mind the following points which may help prevent future clashes and reduce risk of delayed funding:
- Ensure the Parent Declaration form you hold for the child is the latest version found on westsussex.gov.uk/ecsfreeentitlement (additional scheme documents), and that the form is kept up to date and is fully completed. We strongly advise taking the Parent Declaration form directly from our website rather than storing a local copy which may quickly become out of date.
- Where a child attends more than one setting, email a copy of the Parent Declaration to entitlement@westsussex.gov.uk, making it clear in the email that this is the reason you are forwarding this to us. These must be sent in before Headcount.
- Where a child is eligible for 30 Hours and uses multiple settings, make sure the parent has specified where they are accessing their Universal and/or Extended FE hours. Bear in mind that the Universal and Extended hours are two separate allocations of funded hours, and each must not exceed more than 15 hours per week, or 570 hours per year. For example, where a parent has completed the Parent Declaration and specified your setting claims 15 Universal hours, you should check with the parent to make sure they have instructed the other setting that any additional hours used with them are taken from the Extended hours, and that this has been recorded on the other settings’ Parent Declaration form.
- You can only claim for Free Entitlement funded hours if the child attended during Headcount week.
- If there are any changes in the child’s funding arrangements, ensure the parent updates the Parent Declaration form to reflect this new agreement.
Thank you for submitting your Autumn term Free Entitlement funding claims. If there are no outstanding queries, you should have received your Free Entitlement for 2, 3 and 4 year payments for Autumn term, as well as any agreed Inclusion funding payments.
Disability Access Fund (DAF) payments have also been made for all approved applications where evidence was provided (please note that in order to approve and process DAF claims we require a copy of the Disability Living Allowance award letter and signed Parent Declaration form).
Don’t forget, even though the Online Provider Portal is now closed for Autumn term submissions, you can still log back on to view your payment summary.
If you have e-mailed us at free.entitlement@westsussex.gov.uk please be reassured that your e-mail has been received and we will respond as quickly as we can.
3. Deadline for the return of Starting School Questionnaires
The Starting School Questionnaires were due to be returned to the Healthy Child Progamme by Friday 26 October. You can still return your completed questionnaires to a member of the IPEH team or via your local Children and Family Centre for the attention of the Healthy Child Programme.
When families return the questionnaire to you, it would be a good opportunity to remind them that now is the time to apply for their child’s school place. There are now just 11 weeks until the deadline for school applications to be made.
If any families return the questionnaire to you after the deadline, please continue to add any new information to your CLaWBA and return the questionnaires to the Healthy Child Programme.
4. SEND Benefits Advice
Are you supporting children and families with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)? Are they accessing all of the Government benefits they’re entitled to?
As you know, accessing Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is a condition of settings applying for the Disability Access Fund for 3 and 4 year olds in receipt of Free Entitlement. However, many families don’t know they are eligible for DLA. West Sussex County Council has a SEND Benefits Adviser who may be able to help families understand what benefits they’re entitled to, and how to apply for them.
For more information, or to access the parent/carer self-referral form, please visit the webpage here.
5. Basic Awareness of Safer Sleeping Messages for Babies
This two hour workshop is being run by the Lullaby Trust with the West Sussex Safeguarding Board and is aimed at professionals who have NOT previously undertaken Safer Sleeping training and focuses on babies of 6 months and under. The workshop includes up-to-date research to evidence Safer Sleeping messages and includes where to find additional information and resources.
The aim of this workshop is to support you in being able to identify procedures that promote Safer Sleeping methods for babies who are under 6 months of age as well as imparting to you an awareness of how to identify babies who are at a greater risk of Sudden Infant Death.
Information about these workshops is available on the West Sussex Learning and Development Gateway or please see the links below. Each session is the same so you only need to choose one.
- Thursday 8 November 10.00am - 12.00pm - BOOK HERE
- Thursday 8 November 1.00pm – 3.00pm - BOOK HERE
- Wednesday 28 November 10.00am -12.00pm - BOOK HERE
- Wednesday 28 November 1.00pm – 3.00pm - BOOK HERE
Latest newsletters
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Children, Young People and Families (IPEH)
Stakeholder Newsletter |
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SEND Newsletter |
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West Sussex Safeguarding Children Board Newsletter |
Upcoming Key Dates
Date What's happening?
14/11/18 Online Provider Portal opens for Spring Term estimates.
Previously on the weekly broadcast
Below is a list of headlines from recent broadcasts. Click on the date to view a copy:
Wednesday 24 October 2018
- Reminder: Starting School Questionnaire
- November is West Sussex Safeguarding Month
- Calling all Childminders! We need your advice and opinions about what training you require
- FREE Online Safety Workshop Business Breakfast
- West Sussex County Council Cybercrime/Online Safety Survey
- FREE lunch-hour workshops for parents at work from the NSPCC
- Get ready for winter - Fuel Poverty Partnership newsletter
Wednesday 17 October 2018
- Makaton Foundation Workshop for Professionals
- Paediatric First Aid Training - Crawley
- Update: Extended Free Entitlement (30 hours) Awards 2018
Wednesday 10 October 2018
- Autumn term actuals - Online Provider Portal re-open for checks (10-12 October) - FE only
- Supporting potentially vulnerable families using the Family Service Directory
- SENDIAS Project - Information, Advice and Support Programme
Wednesday 3 October 2018
- Children Starting School in September 2019
- LAST CHANCE TO APPLY: Extended Free Entitlement Awards 2018
- Makaton Foundation Workshop for Professionals (Stage 1-4 and additional vocabulary)
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