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 1 September 2020
Reminder - this week's DfE data capture
This week's DfE data capture for the numbers of children currently accessing early years provision is open now, and will close at the end of Wednesday (midnight). Please use this link to complete your return.
Updated Local lockdown guidance
The government updated their COVID-19 contain framework: a guide for local decision-makers on 28 August 2020.
Annex 3 specifically covers the possible actions that may be taken that would impact on education and childcare. The document states that ‘In local areas where restrictions have been implemented for certain sectors (from national direction), we anticipate that education and childcare will usually remain fully open to all’. It further explains that ‘there may be exceptional circumstances in which some level of restriction to education or childcare is required in a local area. In those situations, restrictions will be implemented in a phased manner – the key aim being to retain as much face-to-face education and access to childcare as possible. These ‘tiers of restriction’ will ensure that extensive limitations on education and childcare are a last resort, and that priority is given to vulnerable children and children of critical workers for face-to-face provision in all cases’.
The document describes the four levels or ‘tiers’ of local lockdown, from tier 1-4. Only under tier 4 would settings be asked to close for all but key worker children and vulnerable children. You can read the full document via the link above.
Free Entitlement Autumn term actuals – opening tomorrow
The Online Provider Portal (OPP) is opening tomorrow 2 September, for Autumn term Free Entitlement (FE) actuals claims.
- Headcount day: Thursday 17 September 2020
- Deadline for submissions: Friday 25 September 2020
Autumn term FE must be claimed in line with the normal guidance available at www.westsussex.gov.uk/ecsportal. To ensure you submit your claims correctly please refer to the Actuals help guide and YouTube video, which also cover how to submit Disability Access Fund (DAF) and Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) claims.
Extended FE claims:
- Parents must have applied for their 30 hour code before 31 August in order to claim Extended FE in Autumn term.
- Codes are valid for Autumn term if the code ‘start date’ is before 1 September 2020 and the ‘Grace period end date’ covers the Autumn term (31 December 2020).
- You can carry out an instant 30 hour code check using the ‘Online eligibility checker’ on the OPP. Watch our YouTube help guide which shows you how to instantly check if a 30 hour code is valid.
Please remember as soon as a child has accepted a school place, even on a part-time basis, they are not eligible to claim FE Autumn term.
For further information please read the document entitled ‘Claims process pdf’ at: www.westsussex.gov.uk/ecsfreeentitlement. If you have any queries please email free.entitlement@westsussex.gov.uk
Suspected Cases of COVID-19
From this week, Public Health England no longer need to be notified of your suspected cases of COVID-19. Please continue to notify them of confirmed cases. From now, please notify all suspected cases to suspectedcase@westsussex.gov.uk. This will enable us to monitor numbers of suspected cases and provide support where needed. The current flowchart will be updated to reflect this change.
School Readiness Integrated Review
The School Readiness Integrated Review will be carried out for all children born between 1 September 2016 and 31 August 2017 who are due to start school in September 2021.
This year the questionnaire for parents will be completed online only. Before the questionnaire opens, we will send you a template email to be shared with the families who have children in your setting in this age group. The email template will include a copy of the Starting School leaflet and a link to the online questionnaire. You will need to add your setting contact details so that families provide the correct information about the setting that they attend. A copy of the completed questionnaire will then be sent to your setting email address. We will provide guidance outlining full details in an upcoming update.
Thank you to all of you who shared their EYFS assessments for the children who were due to start school in September 2020. We are currently analysing this data and will share this with you in the spring term network meetings. As part of this review, we will continue to collect EYFS data for children starting school and your EYCA will request this data in the spring term.
Inclusion Funding for the Autumn Term
As you are aware we have had to delay the consultation and implementation of changes to inclusion funding. We have reviewed the funding awarded to children in the summer term and planned for continued funding in the autumn term. For the majority of children in receipt of inclusion funding who are still attending an early years setting, funding will continue at the same rate for the autumn term. Where a change in the funding rate has been identified, your EYCA will contact you to discuss this and arrange to complete a professional comment to review the level of funding needed. If you are unsure about funding awarded or there are any changes to circumstances that we need to be aware of, please contact your EYCA to discuss.
The Funding Panel meeting to discuss any additional funding, or funding rate changes, for the autumn term will be held on 19 October. The deadline for applications is Friday 2 October. Any incomplete applications cannot be considered by the panel.
Please inform the Family Information Service if your current operating status changes. Email family.info.service@westsussex.gov.uk and include your setting name, Ofsted URN, the date you intend to close/open, and any changes to your operating hours. If you inform us of re-opening, you will be reinstated on the public list and appear on our website www.westsussex.gov.uk/fis.
If you have not been able to open at this time, you should already have submitted a COVID-19 Recovery Plan and sent a copy by email to the FIS. This is so that we can look at the barriers you have identified and support you to re-open as soon as practicable. If we have not received your plan, you will be contacted by your EYCA to support you further.
All providers please complete a short online survey, once a week. The link to the survey is different each time. A link will be provided in each Thursday update for the following week, and the survey will be open for three full days each week from Monday to Wednesday, closing at midnight on the Wednesday. The latest link to the survey is also available on our website.
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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#82 (Next week's DfE data capture)
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#81 (FE actuals, autumn term additional payments, changes to parent guidance, changes to protective measures for OOS provision, statement from Chief Medical Officer, COVID-19 testing)
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#80 (Supervised Tooth brushing, Autumn Term Funding, Business rates)
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#79 (Self-Employment Income Support Scheme, Bookstart Treasure packs)
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#78 (termly setting updates, Ofsted interim visits, early years and childcare reps needed)
We have a range of online training available for you to access for your staff to ensure they have the most up to date information to support them in their role:
- 02 Sep - FE Actuals submissions open for Autumn term
- 17 Sep - Autumn Term headcount day (FE)
- 25 Sep - FE Actuals submissions close for Autumn term
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