Early Years and Childcare Broadcast

West Sussex County Council sent this bulletin at 15-01-2020 04:00 PM GMT

Early Years and Childcare Broadcast header

With you, with the child. Every step of the way.

Weekly broadcast for Early Years and childcare providers in West Sussex from West Sussex County Council - Early Help Service

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Wednesday 15 January 2020

Early Years Census 2020 - reminder

A reminder that the Early Years Census return is mandatory for all Free Entitlement (FE) providers claiming funding for at least one child this Spring Term. Providers must log on to the Online Provider Portal and do the following:

Complete your annual Early Years Census form by 24 January 2020
Submit your Spring Term FE actuals claim by 29 January 2020

For further information and guidance please refer to the broadcast sent on Wednesday 1 January 2020.

If you have any questions or require assistance, please contact the Family Information Service on 01243 777807 and ask for the Specialist Team, or e-mail free.entitlement@westsussex.gov.uk

Sharing Information with Other Professionals

We have been asked to remind providers about the protocols for sharing information relating to children and families with other professionals.

Information about consent and sharing information can be found on page 4 of the Threshold Guidance available at https://www.westsussexscp.org.uk/professionals/working-together/west-sussex-continuum-of-need-threshold-guidance/

Sharing information is an intrinsic part of your role when working with children. You must apply the seven golden principles of information sharing: Necessary, proportionate, relevant, adequate, accurate, timely and secure.

Ensure that the information you share is:

necessary for the purpose for which you are sharing it,
shared only with those individuals who need to have it,
accurate and up-to-date,
shared in a timely fashion, and
shared securely.

Developing a strong partnership with parents is crucial to enable children’s needs to be met effectively. Part of this is to have open, honest dialogue with parents and to raise any concerns with parents directly with them. If you feel there is a need to engage with and share information with other professionals, this should be discussed and agreed with parents. This would include seeking parental views and knowledge to gain a complete picture before sharing information with other professionals. The only exception to this is where you feel that sharing information would put a child’s safety at risk or where there is an immediate risk for the child and you have to act quickly.

If you have concerns about a child or family and are not sure what to do next, please speak to someone in your local Early Help Hub. Contact details can be found here.

Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) Spring term claims

A reminder that Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) claims must be submitted at the same time as your Free Entitlement actuals data via the Online Provider Portal (OPP).

In order for a child’s EYPP eligibility to be checked, the OPP requires you to…

Enter Parent/Carer details,
And tick the consent box under the ‘Parent/Carer details’ section of the funding claim.

Please refer to the ‘Provider portal help and guidance’ document and view the Actuals help guide, step 10 for guidance: www.westsussex.gov.uk/ecsportal

For further information regarding EYPP and identifying eligible children go to www.westsussex.gov.uk/ecsfreeentitlement and refer to the document entitled ‘Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) pdf’.

Deadline for return: 29 January 2020.

If you have any queries please email free.entitlement@westsussex.gov.uk

Disability Access Fund – Spring term claims

Remember, you can claim the Disability Access Fund (DAF) for 3 and 4 year old children who are in receipt of Disability Living Allowance (DLA), if they are receiving Free Entitlement funding. For each eligible child you can receive a DAF payment of £615 once per financial year.

For further information please go to www.westsussex.gov.uk/ecsfreeentitlement and refer to the document entitled ‘Disability Access Fund’.

You must e-mail a copy of the DLA award letter and signed Parent Declaration form to free.entitlement@westsussex.gov.uk and follow the FE actuals guidance which covers how to submit a DAF claim www.westsussex.gov.uk/ecsportal

If you have any queries please email free.entitlement@westsussex.gov.uk