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
Difficulty viewing this bulletin? Click here to view in your browser.
Thursday 26 November 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.
Save the date - Public Health seminars
To support early years providers to manage cases of COVID-19 within their settings and to reduce the risk of outbreaks within their setting, our local public health team are hosting a number of small group seminars for up to fifteen leaders and managers of early years settings. These webinars will provide the chance to raise issues and ask questions as well as to share good practice between providers.
These webinars will be available to book via the Learning and Development Gateway and we will share booking details once they are available to book. If you are interested in attending, you may wish to save the dates of:
- 7 December 12.30pm to 1.30pm
- 8 December 4.00pm to 5.00pm
- 15 December 1.00pm to 2.00pm
More information will follow shortly.
Free Entitlement Spring term Estimates – deadline tomorrow!
A reminder that the deadline to submit your Spring term estimates via the Online Provider Portal is this Friday 27 November 2020.
View our quick and easy Estimate video guide, alternatively, you can refer to the Estimate help guide PDF version. Please refer to broadcast update 96 for information regarding closures due to COVID-19 and the potential impact on funding. If you have any questions, please email free.entitlement@westsussex.gov.uk or phone the Family Information Service on 01243 777807.
Autumn term 2020 additional payments
As previously communicated in broadcast update 103, West Sussex County Council has released additional payments in line with Government guidance for Autumn term. The additional payments are intended to support sustainability and to take account of the potential impact on take up of places due to COVID-19, during Autumn term 2020. You can read further information here.
Eligible settings will receive this additional payment at any point this week (week commencing 23 November 2020), and will appear as a ‘COVID-19 support’ adjustment to the Autumn term funding. Login to the Online Provider Portal to view your payment summary. For step by step guidance please refer to the Actuals guidance available at www.westsussex.gov.uk/ecsportal.
Spring term Extended Free Entitlement (FE) and 30 hour code deadline reminder
In order for children to access an Extended FE place in the Spring term their 30 hour code must be issued by HMRC by 31 December 2020. Any existing codes with a grace period ending 31 December 2020, or earlier must also be reconfirmed by this date.
Please advise eligible parents to:
-
apply now to ensure they have their 30 hours code by 31 December 2020,
-
log in to their childcare account to check their details are up to date, and reconfirm their eligibility by 31 December 2020 to ensure they continue to be eligible for Extended FE: gov.uk/sign-in-childcare-account,
- contact the HMRC helpline if they are experiencing issues applying or reconfirming on 0300 1234 097.
If you offer Extended FE places it is recommended that you use the online eligibility checker to check a child’s 30 hour code is valid for the upcoming term. Our helpful video guide covers:
- how to use the online eligibility checker via the Online Provider Portal,
- when to use the online eligibility checker, and
- how to instantly check a code is valid.
Please note, where a parent no longer meets the eligibility criteria for 30 hours, and their child is already in a 30 hours place at your setting, they can continue to access their funded place for the duration of the code’s grace period.
For further information regarding Extended FE please see our webpage: www.westsussex.gov.uk/freechildcare or for any queries please email free.entitlement@westsussex.gov.uk.
Need safeguarding training?
The Safeguarding and Child Protection for Early Years and Childcare Practitioners Webinar is suitable for staff without any safeguarding training or those who would like an in depth refresher. Cost is £25 per place. You can log onto the Learning and Development Gateway and search for the course code to book and pay by card.
- Friday 4 December - 09.30am to 2.30pm - EYT 20/1936
- Wednesday 9 December - 09.30am to 2.30pm - EYT 20/1937
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.
-
#107 (IT maintenance, Foundation Years FAQs, Attachment and Trauma webinar)
-
#106 (Advance notice of IT maintenance, FE spring term estimates, reminder to submit sufficiency data)
-
#105 (Clarifying guidance, Ofsted inspections, heating and ventilation, aerosol generated procedures guidance, world nursery rhyme week)
-
#104 (IT maintenance, informing Ofsted of cases, updated action cards, use of COVID-19 app, Ofsted briefing, using MS teams, attachment and trauma webinar, Compass Card)
-
#103 (Updated guidance, support for vulnerable children, professionals visiting EY settings, foundation years COVID-19 FAQs, FE spring term estimates, FE autumn additional payments, starting school questionnaire, safeguarding training, research project)
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:
- NOW - Spring Term FE Estimates submissions (opened 11 Nov)
- 27 Nov - Spring Term FE Estimates submissions close
- 07 Dec - Spring Term FE Estimates submissions payment expected
- 04 Jan - Annual Census submissions open (mandatory for FE providers)
- 04 Jan - Spring Term FE Actuals submissions open
- 21 Jan - Spring FE headcount day
- 29 Jan - Annual Census submissions close
- 29 Jan - Spring Term FE Actuals submissions close
| 
