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 16 March 2021
Reminder - this week's DfE data capture
This week's Department for Education 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.
Guidance and delivery schedule for rapid asymptomatic testing kits to Private, Voluntary and Independent (PVI) nurseries
Following on from the information shared by the Department for Education (DfE) to PVI settings, shared in our broadcast on 11 March (#135), the DfE has sent a further email with more information about the scheme. Please make sure you read and follow the guidance included in this email.
Although you may have already received your test kits, you should not use them until the week beginning 22 March and should only be used by staff who work in the setting. Prior to 22 March, staff can book asymptomatic tests through the community testing scheme.
To ensure that the tests are as accurate as possible, all staff who are engaging with the home testing, should make sure they have accessed the guidance on asymptomatic home testing which is now available on the DfE document sharing platform here. This guidance includes:
- Guidance to support set-up of testing for staff, including a ‘How to Guide’.
- In-depth information and videos on how to self-test from home.
- Clinical standard operating procedure for the tests. This provides comprehensive step by step information for settings delivering the testing programme.
- Frequently asked questions.
The number of testing kits that you will receive for workforce testing is based on a workforce estimation using the number of childcare places on record with Ofsted. If this data is no longer up to date and thus you do not think you have received the correct number of test kits, please use the online form available from 15 March to report this to the DfE.
If you have any questions, concerns or issues that are not addressed through the document sharing platform, please call the DfE coronavirus helpline on 0800 046 8687. Opening hours are Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm, Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 6pm. Please note, this scheme is not being delivered by West Sussex, so we are unable to answer your queries related to home testing kits.
If you have not received your initial delivery or have missing or damaged items, you can now report this to the DfE. Before submitting a report on missing deliveries, please check the delivery schedule published on the primary schools and nurseries document sharing platform for your expected delivery date. Please check whether you have received a “sorry we missed you” card, which will allow you to re-arrange your delivery. Please check with your colleagues whether the delivery has arrived as another member of staff may have accepted the delivery on behalf of your setting.
To report any missing or damaged items, please complete the nursery rapid testing delivery supply form. You will need your nursery’s unique identification number to complete this.
Face coverings are being sent to early years and primary schools
In line with Public Health England (PHE) advice, the Department for Education (DfE) has temporarily extended its policy on the use of face coverings in education and childcare settings, as an additional precautionary measure during this period of high COVID-19 prevalence in the community.
In primary schools and early years settings, the DfE are now recommending that face coverings should be worn by staff and adult visitors where social distancing between adults is not possible (for example, when moving around in corridors and communal areas). Children in these settings should not be asked to wear face coverings.
It is expected that most adults will already have access to face coverings from their wider use in society. However, it is recommended that all settings have a small contingency stock of face coverings available, should an individual have forgotten, lost or damaged their own.
To support this approach, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is completing a one-off delivery of approximately 450 ‘Type IIR’ masks to early years providers (maintained nursery schools, school-based nurseries, and private, voluntary and independent nurseries) and primary schools where there are multiple members of adult staff and visitors on the premises. This supply is to be used as a contingency stock and you should expect to receive your delivery by Wednesday 17 March.
Childminders will not receive a direct delivery of contingency face covering stock. However they can request a small number (approximately 2 to 5 per childminder) of face coverings from their local nursery or primary school to use only as contingency stock. Nurseries and primary schools should consider how much stock they have available and should use their discretion when deciding if they can support childminders.
These face coverings are being provided by the DHSC at no cost to your setting. They cannot accept any returns for these items. Please note, this scheme is not being delivered by West Sussex, so we are unable to answer your queries related to face coverings. If providers have any queries or complaints on delivery or missing items, please contact the DHSC personal protective equipment support service (provided by UNIPART) identifying themselves as an education setting and emailing dfeppequeries@unipart.com.
For further information on the use of face coverings, please see the Actions for early years and childcare providers during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak guidance.
30 hour codes - deadline is fast approaching for Summer term eligibility
In order for children to access Extended FE in the Summer term their 30 hour code must be issued by HMRC by 31 March 2021. Please note, any existing codes with a grace period ending 31 March 2021 or earlier must also be reconfirmed by this deadline.
Please advise parents to:
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apply now to ensure they have their 30 hours code by 31 March 2021;
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log in to their childcare account to check their details are up to date, and reconfirm their eligibility to ensure they continue to be eligible for Extended FE: gov.uk/sign-in-childcare-account;
- contact the HMRC helpline on 0300 1234 097 if they experience issues applying for, or reconfirming their code.
How to check 30 hour codes are valid for the upcoming term:
The Online Provider Portal (OPP) has an instant eligibility checker for 30 hour codes which you can use at any time by logging into the OPP.
You can view our helpful video guide which covers:
- how to use the online eligibility checker,
- when to use the online eligibility checker, and
- how to instantly check a code is valid.
Should you have any further queries please email free.entitlement@westsussex.gov.uk
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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#135 (Lateral flow device/home testing kits, childminder networks)
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#134 (DfE Data capture, Asymptomatic testing, guidance to contain the spread of COVID-19, Contain Outbreak Management Fund, Free Entitlement Provider Declaration 2021/2022, FE summer term estimate, Online Provider Portal account changes, new workshop added to virtual conference)
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#133 (Updated guidance for out of school settings, early years virtual conference, save the date - childminder conference)
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#132 (Vaccine prioritisation, Ofsted inspections, summer term extended FE, mapping the wellbeing landscape, getting to grips with EYFS changes webinar for childminders)
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#131 (Final chance to apply for funding, COVID Public Health webinar, planning for positive transitions, healthy eating and safe food preparation)
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:
- 26 Mar - Summer term Estimate submissions close (FE providers)
- 26 Mar - FE Provider Declaration 2021/2 closes (Mandatory for all FE providers)
- 31 Mar - deadline for completing termly Sufficiency data (all providers)
- w/c 5 Apr - Summer term Estimate payments expected (FE providers)
- 15 May - Childminder Virtual Conference (save the date, event details to follow)
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