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 18 February 2021
Advance notice - next week's DfE data capture
Next week's Department for Education 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.
Clarification on vaccinations for early years and childcare practitioners
We are aware that misleading information has been shared nationally on social media which suggests that nursery staff, childminders and other early years workers are currently eligible for vaccination.
At present, only those frontline health and social care workers identified by the Joint Committee on Vaccines and Immunisation (JCVI) in priority cohort 2 are eligible.
The Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years, along with other professional associations, has issued a statement clarifying that the JCVI guidance remains unchanged and that childcare practitioners are not currently eligible.
In Sussex, we continue to vaccinate people in the priority cohorts set by the JCVI, and the county council is helping to identify eligible social care staff. People who may have booked in error are asked to wait their turn so we can prioritise those eligible for vaccination, including older residents and those who are clinically vulnerable.
People who are not eligible are urged not to book an appointment. If they do, they can expect to be declined the vaccination when they attend.
Advance Notice of Planned IT Upgrades (OPP/2 Year Old 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 FIS childcare website will be unavailable.
West Sussex Early Years Virtual Conference 2021 - ‘Putting Children First’
Save the date - Friday 12 March, 9.00am to 2.30pm - as the West Sussex Early Years Conference will go ahead via Microsoft Teams. We value the work you are doing for children and families, so have made the 2021 conference free to attend. We are offering all West Sussex settings two free places, bookable by searching for the conference name on https://www.eventbrite.co.uk from Thursday 18 February.
We are pleased to feature a Superhero Play keynote from Tasmin Grimmer, Early Years author, consultant and speaker. Followed by Rebecca Martland on the topical issue of ‘doorstep handovers.’ Choose from a variety of afternoon workshops including demystifying Cultural Capital, the impact of word choice and communication behaviours on children’s perception of their value and Social Communication strategies. More details and a brochure to follow soon.
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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#128 (Contain Outbreak Management Fund reminder, updated public health action cards, autism aware in early years)
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#127 (COVID cases during half-term, notifying Ofsted of COVID cases - updated information, planned IT upgrade, SEND and Inclusion newsletter, Tools for Schools surveys, Inclusion Framework free peer support sessions, Business Map webinars, Makaton new dates, international research project on child poverty)
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#126 (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)
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)
- 23 Feb - Online Provider Portal closed today. Reopens on 24 Feb
- 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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