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 11 February 2021
Advance notice - next week's Department for Education (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.
Please note that survey will look slightly different next week, although the questions will remain the same. This is because West Sussex County Council are using new software to produce the survey. If you have any difficulties accessing the survey, you may need to use Google Chrome rather than Internet Explorer.
If you are a term-time only provider closed for the holidays, you do not need to complete the survey next week. If you would normally be open in the half-term break, please complete this as normal. Thank you for your continued support.
Positive cases of COVID-19 during half-term
It is important for us all to make sure that we continue to do all we can to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19 over the half-term break. This includes contact tracing for any confirmed cases. There may be confirmed cases of children or staff in your setting in the days where your setting is closed and it is important that their close contacts are alerted so that they self-isolate to reduce the spread. Please make sure you have made arrangements within your setting to receive and share any notifications of positive cases. This would include reminding families that they need to contact you if they or their child receives a positive test result and providing them with contact details if different to the usual setting contact number. This process should also take into consideration term-time only children and staff in all year round provision.
Whilst we understand that all staff need a break, we also need to stress how important it is that someone is available to receive the information and carry out the usual procedures where there is a positive case, including notifying affected families. We would suggest that each setting plans a system that gives all staff some rest time as well as having someone who can respond to any information about positive cases of COVID-19 to minimize the risk of the spread of infection.
Clarification of Notification of COVID-19 cases to Ofsted
We are aware that some providers have had difficulty using the online form to Ofsted to notify them of positive COVID-19 cases due to having the same URN as the school. Ofsted have clarified that, where an early years provider has a joint registration with the school, these cases should be notified to the Department for Education by the school and so do not need to be notified to Ofsted. We apologise for any confusion the previous information may have caused. Early years providers with a separate early years registration should continue to notify Ofsted of any positive cases within their setting, as well as notifying FIS.
Advance Notice of Planned IT Upgrades (Online Provider Portal/2YO FE applications/FIS website)
Please be advised that the Online Provider Portal (OPP) will be unavailable on Tuesday 23 February due to planned maintenance. This affects all functions within the OPP. Please also note that parents and carers will not be able to submit 2 year old Free Entitlement applications online, and our Family Information Service childcare website will be unavailable.
SEND and Inclusion Newsletter
The SEND and Inclusion newsletter for spring 2021 has been published. Content includes resources for supporting children's emotional wellbeing during the COVID restrictions, an update from the Ethnic Minority and Traveller Achievement Service (EMTAS) and updates on the progress of the SEND and Inclusion Strategy.
Feedback on Tools for Schools and Early Years Settings
We hope that many of you are accessing resources on the Tools For Schools website and finding them useful. The team developing this tool would really appreciate your feedback as they develop and refine the resources. If you have any comments or suggestions that you would like to make, there are currently surveys on the Ordinarily Available Inclusive Practice (OAIP), the Inclusion Framework and the Tools for Schools website which are open until 26 February. The survey links are as follows:
Please feel free to complete the survey(s) most relevant to your setting and the resources you have used so far. These surveys will be repeated later this academic year to get more feedback to inform the development ready for a formal launch of the resources in September 2021. These resources are being developed as part of the SEND and Inclusion Strategy 2019-2024.
Free peer support sessions to support use of the Inclusion Framework
To support the use of the Inclusion Framework, peer support sessions are being held to provide colleagues with an opportunity to support each other on their inclusion development journey. Peer support sessions are free to attend and groups are kept small to allow focused discussion on the area/aspect of the Inclusion Framework most relevant to each school or setting attending. During each peer support session attendees are invited to share their setting context, what is working well and to raise an aspect of inclusion that they would like support with. The Inclusion Framework is used as a reference tool to identify their strengths and areas for development.
The dates of the upcoming peer support sessions are below. Please book up early, as they are filling up fast, by emailing toolsforschools@westsussex.gov.uk with your preferred date.
- Monday 22 February - 3 .00pm to 5.00pm
- Tuesday 23 March - 9.00am to 11.00am
- Thursday 22 April - 11.00am to 1.00pm
- Monday 24 May - 10.00am to 12.00pm
- Tuesday 29 June - 12.00pm to 2.00pm
Hempsall’s DfE Business Map webinars
Hempsall's recently held a series of webinars to support the early years and childcare sector and have made the resources from these webinars available to support you. The resources are hosted on the Foundation Years website. They include the Business Map tool, the Action Plan, the slides/recording of the webinar and the first two of six vodcasts that extend the content of the webinar.
Makaton Foundation - new dates scheduled
Makaton Foundation is split into Levels 1 and 2 with each Level costing £59, including a workbook and course materials. You do not need to have completed the Makaton Taster to attend. Attendees can book on Level 1 now and attend Level 2 in the future (more dates from April) or only attend Level 1 if it is enough to support the children in your care. Log on to the Learning and Development Gateway and search for the course code to find out more book and pay by card.
- Makaton Foundation Level 1 - Saturday 6 and 13 March - 1.30pm to 4.30pm - EYT 21/1063
- Makaton Foundation Level 2 - Monday 22 and 29 March - 9.30am to 12.30pm - EYT 21/1065
University of Chichester - international research project
Sandra Lyndon is a senior lecturer in Early Childhood Studies at the University of Chichester. She is undertaking research entitled ‘Preschool practitioners’ opinions on poverty across post-COVID-19 England and the USA’ and would like to invite early years practitioners to take part in an international comparative study.
The research is being funded by The British Academy and the project team includes Teesside University and University of Northampton. Other Universities will be administering the questionnaire in locations across The USA.
The central aim of this questionnaire is to identify pre-school practitioners’ attitudes regarding child poverty. The questions are mostly completed by ticking a box and they cover a range of related issues. There are no right and wrong answers – and it is expected practitioners may hold a range of views. The questionnaire should take no longer than 10 minutes to complete. All data will be confidential and no names will be used in any publications based on it.
The survey link should open directly but if you encounter any problems then you can cut and paste the URL https://osu.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bmiGvAwaoVU2cPr into your web browser.
Should you have any questions or would like further information please contact Sandra Lyndon (s.lyndon@chi.ac.uk). Many thanks in advance for your participation.
Please inform the Family Information Service if your setting needs to close or is re-opening. 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 closing due to COVID-19 please ensure you read and follow all the steps in the PHE South East Health Protection Team ' Managing Suspected and Confirmed COVID-19 cases in Early Years and Childcare settings' flowchart.
In the event of your setting having a confirmed COVID-19 case, if Public Health or the Department for Education 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.
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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#126 (DfE data capture, updated Actions for Early Years Providers, safeguarding and child protection for the designated person, library service online offer)
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#125 (Outcome of FE consultation, vulnerable children in settings, slides from Public Health webinars, planning for positive transitions)
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#124 (DfE data capture, new Foundation Years FAQs, Readiness survey, free ICAN training, working with children who have EAL)
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#123 (Updated information for managing COVID-19 cases, letter from Public Health, final reminder - FE spring term and EY Census, informing Ofsted of significant events, new single route for families and professionals to access support, attachment and trauma in early years)
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#122 (Settings not currently open to all children, Local Offer revised link, stories and songs in libraries, Compass card, a look at treasure baskets for babies)
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 22 Feb - Spring term Actuals payments expected (FE providers)
- 28 Feb - Contain Outbreak Management Fund application deadline (FE providers)
- 10 Mar - Summer term Estimate submissions open (FE providers)
- 26 Mar - Summer term Estimate submissions close (FE providers)
- 31 Mar - deadline for completing termly Sufficiency data (all providers)
- w/c 5 Apr - Summer term Estimate payments expected (FE providers)
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