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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Thursday 22 October 2020
Advance notice - next week's DfE data capture
Next week's DfE data capture for the numbers of children currently accessing early years provision will be open from Monday, and will close at the end of Wednesday (midnight). Please use this link to complete your return.
Updated Outbreak Action Cards and guidance
Please note that the Outbreak Action Cards for education were updated on 13/10/20. You can find the card relevant to Early Years and Childcare settings here. Also updated is the guidance Actions for early years and childcare providers during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. The changes include:
- amended information on local COVID-19 alert levels and tiers of restriction (section 3),
- staff who are clinically extremely vulnerable (section 3),
- children who are shielding (section 4), and
- informal childcare (section 5).
Advance notice of changes to how we collect sufficiency data
Sections 6 and 11 of the Childcare Act 2006 place a duty on the Local Authority (LA) to secure sufficient childcare, so far as is reasonably practicable, for working parents, or parents who are studying or training for employment, for children aged 0-14 (or up to 18 for disabled children).
To support us with this, we currently ask you to provide us with information on the number of places and vacancies you have at least termly via the Termly Provider Update form. This is a condition of funding as per the Provider Declaration (4.2 supply any additional information requested by the LA or partner organisations, including WSCC annual Census return on behalf of the Department for Education, in order to support monitoring the use of public funds and childcare sufficiency planning).
Due to some improvements to functionality of the database we use, we are updating how we do this so we can get a clearer picture and make it easier for you to complete. The new form will go live on the Online Provider Portal after half-term, and we will send out information on exactly how to complete this.
We expect all providers to complete this by 31 December 2020. This will continue to be a termly task to allow us to build a picture of sufficiency across the county and identify any areas we are concerned about. Please ensure you look out for further information on this via the broadcast email week commencing 2 November 2020.
Note: this is our normal sufficiency monitoring process and will not replace the information we currently ask you for as part of the COVID-19 response on behalf of the Department for Education, which requires weekly detailed information on the breakdown of the children currently attending. The DfE submission will be reviewed by the government by 30 November to determine if it is still required to continue. We thank you for your continued support in sharing this information.
Updated Early Help Offer
Here is updated information about the current Early Help Offer for your information. The offer is being continuously reviewed in line with government guidance.
Track and Trace
Many of you will have downloaded the Track and Trace app to their phones. Please be aware that, when storing phones during the working day, the app will register close contact with nearby phones which may lead to practitioners being identified as needing to self-isolate even if the owners of the phone have not been in close contact. You may wish to ask staff to turn off the Bluetooth while their phones are being stored to minimise this risk.
Understanding Positive, Proactive and Effective Leadership (PPE for Leaders!) Webinar - Only £15
This webinar is for leaders, deputies and managers. The aim is to increase your professional confidence and self-awareness of leadership skills, attributes and competencies, identifying strengths and ways forward for your development.
You will reflect on and evaluate the effectiveness of your leadership identity and what is needed in your leadership position to be positive, pro-active and effective. Please log onto the Learning and Development Gateway and search for the course code to find out more, book and pay.
Tuesday 24 November. 10.00am to 12.30pm EYT 20/247
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.
In the event of your setting having a confirmed COVID-19 case, if Public Health have stated you must close for any period of time you must inform the Family Information Service. However, if Public Heath have not explicitly stated in correspondence to you that the setting must close, we would expect you to make contact with your Early Years and Childcare Adviser (EYCA) to talk through your circumstances, where possible, before making the decision to close the setting. If you are not able to make immediate contact with your EYCA then please email your nearest Early Help Hub using the following email addresses:
Where there are not clearly evidenced reasons why the setting had no option to close, there could be implications for funding received as per the government guidance.
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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#97 (DfE data capture - key questions, FE autumn term payments, Flu immunisation, Foundation Years newsletter, writing readiness and pencil grip webinar)
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#96 (SEND consultation final reminder, closures following positive COVID-19 cases, local COVID-19 alert level posters, autism awareness, early years teacher status qualification, West Sussex affordable warmth partnership)
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#95 (New COVID alert levels, DfE data capture, WSSCP escalation process, treasure baskets, counting webinar)
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#94 (SEND consultation reminder, QR codes, self-isolation rules in a household, new EYFS webinar, WSSCP neglect training)
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#93 (School readiness integrated review, EYC reps, WSSCP website, helping children play to learn, speech and language monitoring tool, development matters vodcast plus Q and A session, COVID-19 resources, foundation stage forum)
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:
- w/c 19 Oct - FE Actuals payment released
- 11 Nov - Spring Term FE Estimates submissions open
- 27 Nov - Spring Term FE Estimates submissions close
- 07 Dec - Spring Term FE Estimates submissions payment expected
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