With you, with the child. Every step of the way.
Broadcast for Early Years and childcare providers in West Sussex from West Sussex County Council - Early Help Service
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Tuesday 12 May 2020 (PM)
We do not yet have all the details from government on exactly how the sector will need to respond as we move into the next phases of the COVID-19 response. In the coming days, the Department for Education will continue to work closely with a range of local authorities, early years providers and sector bodies to finalise more detailed operational guidance to support your planning.
However, we can start planning now based on the information that is currently available to us. This will support you and your business to be in a strong position to respond to the situation based on your planning, rather than having to react to the information as it is released. We know that many of you are already doing brilliant work around this.
Things you might like to start considering now, if you are not already, include:
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Be compliant: Read all the current government guidance (see COVID-19 setting update 37 for the links), and use this as a basis for your planning.
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Parental Need and Demand: Some providers have carried out a simple survey with their parents to determine what their childcare needs might be following the restrictions being lifted. Example questions they have used can be viewed here. Please note: these are example questions for you to amend as necessary. You may choose to use some or all of these questions, or you may like to add some of your own. You could email or post your questions to your families. Alternatively you could set up a free online survey through Survey Monkey or similar. When reviewing the responses, consider if you would be able to accommodate their requests, or will you need to prioritise children using the government guidance? Always be open and transparent with parents in order to help manage their expectations.
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Staffing: review and risk assess which staff you have available to work, and when, based on their individual circumstances including potential vulnerability and their current employment status. What impact will this have on the numbers of children you can take and when? Could any staff support the setting whist working from home? If you have part-time staff, consider how will you manage this to limit the number of adults working with the different groups of children?
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Premises: if you do not own your property, will you need to seek approval from your landlord to re-open? You may also need to contact your insurance company, utilities and suppliers such as meal or food deliveries. The 'new back to work' guidelines (see 3.1 within the GovUK FAQs) includes cleaners so you may need to discuss and agree the best way to keep these workers safe, using the information provided by the government.
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Keeping safe: read all the government guidance on how staff can keep themselves, the children, and their families safe. Consider how you will implement this in your setting and how you will share this with staff and parents to give them confidence. Involve staff, and parents where appropriate, in your planning and risk assessments to help ease any anxiety. For settings who have remained open, you may need to review or adapt your current strategies to cover increased numbers of children. Consider how these children can be grouped. Will you use key worker groups, or would it be more effective based on patterns of attendance or friendship groups
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Reviewing your environment: when reading the guidance, you will need to think about how you adapt your environment and how your space and resources are used to ensure government advice is followed. It is important to think about how you keep children and staff safe while also giving them access to a varied, high quality environment for play and learning. Using your outside space will help reduce the risk of infection and is good for everyone’s health and wellbeing.
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Keep communication open: although you may not yet have all the answers, try and keep regular contact with staff and families, even if it is just to say you are working on a plan, and will share more as soon as you can. Be careful of raising expectations of parents, and staff, and make sure all decisions you make are evidence-based and have been risk assessed.
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Transitions back into settings: as we start to move out of lockdown, some children will have had a long time away from their setting, and others will have been in settings with much lower numbers than usual. Staff will need to consider the impact of this experience on children's social and emotional development and take a flexible approach to transitions, whether that be back in to the setting or as numbers increase. Children are unlikely to be able pick up where they left off and will need time to settle and readjust. It is likely that you will need to review your routines to manage social distancing within your setting. If you are having to change certain parts of the daily routine, think about how you can share this with parents ahead of time so they can help prepare the children, where appropriate, with what to expect.
There is much we do not yet know, but what we do know is that no two settings are the same. They have different numbers of children, staff, age ranges and facilities. These are all important contributing factors for you to consider around how a phased return can be safely managed in your unique setting.
There may be several different options for you to work through, so make sure you have looked at the risks and benefits of all of these and refer back to the guidance before making your final decision and sharing your plans with families.
Please continue to keep the Family Information Service updated on your current operating status by emailing family.info.service@westsussex.gov.uk. Please include your setting name, Ofsted number, the date you intend to re-open, and if you are planning to make any changes to your operating hours including what these will be. Once you have informed us of your re-opening, you will be reinstated on the public list and appear on our website www.westsussex.gov.uk/fis.
All providers please complete a short online survey, twice a week, every Wednesday and Friday. The link to the survey is different each time. A link will be provided in the morning broadcast on each of the days it is required. Each survey will only be open on the day it is required, and will close at midnight.
If a family you know are struggling to ensure they have food for their family, collect medication, or are in need of any additional support, contact West Sussex County Council Community hub.
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#37 12 May AM (new government guidance and COVID-19 recovery strategy)
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#36 11 May (eligibility for childcare offers, government financial support)
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#35 6 May (Cyber security; EHCP form; testing; furloughing links; VE Day)
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#34 4 May (FE Actuals reminder; amended regulations for EHCP timescales)
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#33 1 May (Celebrating your work pt3; Libraries; Bookstart)
- 22 May - Summer Term FE Actuals submissions close
- 25 May - Bank Holiday
- 15 Jun - Summer Term FE Actuals payments released (week commencing)
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