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 30 March 2021
Reminder - this week's DfE data capture
This week's Department for Education (DfE) 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.
As you are aware, following the announcement of the third national lockdown in January, the DfE had to delay plans to move to a fortnightly data collection. This is currently under review and they are hoping to make a decision about the frequency of this collection very soon. This will be dependent on the continued reduction in the infection and transmission rates of COVID-19 and the impact this has on education settings.
The DfE have recognised that capacity may be an issue for both providers and local authorities over the upcoming Easter period. It is for this reason that we will not be collecting data both week commencing 5 and 12 April.
Please input your data this week as usual.
Thank you for your continued engagement with the department and with the Early Years weekly data collection.
COVID-19 asymptomatic testing letter for parents
It was brought to our attention that the letter referred to in the broadcast on Thursday 25 March was not attached. We apologise for any confusion this may have caused.
This letter from Public Health has been written for early years providers to share with parents to support their understanding of how to use asymptomatic testing at home. Please share this information with parents of children in your setting to read alongside government guidance for parents.
Ofsted to restart inspections in some early years settings from 4 May
Ofsted have announced that on-site Education Inspection Framework (EIF) inspections of registered early years providers will begin from 4 May. These will prioritise providers:
- judged less than good at their last inspection (including those who received an interim visit in the autumn term)
- that registered recently but have not been inspected
- whose first inspection is overdue
- that were not inspected in the last inspection cycle due to the pause in routine inspection.
Ofsted will continue to carry out urgent inspections where there are significant concerns about a provider.
Advance Warning: Contain Outbreak Management Fund - Round 2 (Out of School provision and Childminders who do not offer Free Entitlement)
Earlier this year, West Sussex County Council secured £500,000 to support Free Entitlement (FE) Providers with the challenges of operating during the COVID-19 pandemic.
We are delighted to announce that WSCC have now secured an additional £100,000 for Breakfast Clubs, Out of School Clubs, Holiday Playschemes and Childminders who do not offer FE places.
This is a temporary package of financial support in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, taken from the West Sussex Contain Outbreak Management Fund (COMF).
Possible uses for the grant could include, but are not limited to:
- Cleaning supplies/deep cleaning of the childcare environment;
- Purchase of supplies and resources where a risk of cross-contamination exists;
- To support with any additional costs that have been incurred as a result of the pandemic.
Applicants must be a currently Ofsted-registered private, voluntary or independent early years and childcare provider, who do not offer Free Entitlement places, based in West Sussex. Applications will go live later this week - please look out for a special broadcast. The closing date will be midnight on Wednesday 21 April 2021.
Although this funding will not be able to cover every aspect of the impact of the pandemic on your business, this grant will be a contribution towards covering some of those additional costs you have faced. If you have any queries relating to this grant, please speak to your Early Years and Childcare Advisor.
Talking Heads with our LADOs
To support you in your understanding of the role of the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO), we have recorded a video conversation with them both. In the video, Miriam and Donna outline their role and how they can support you.
These documents provide further information about how to contact the LADO and what to do in the first five minutes after an allegation or incident occurring:
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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#139 (FE - Provider Declarations, Asymptomatic Testing Guidance, Qualifications Pathway, Public Health Webinar, SEND Survey, Reporting COVID-19 cases over the holidays)
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#138 (Asymptomatic Testing for Childminders and Parents of Under 5s, Shielding Update, Free Entitlement deadlines, provider declaration and indicative budgets, Cyber-attack warning)
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#137 (Reporting COVID-19 cases, COVID-19 resource packs, revised OOS guidance, household and bubbles get rapid lateral flow tests, PACEY survey)
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#136 (Asymptomatic testing guidance and delivery schedule, face coverings, 30 hours deadline)
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#135 (Lateral flow device/home testing kits, childminder networks)
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:
- 31 Mar - deadline for completing termly Sufficiency data (all providers)
- w/c 5 Apr - Summer term Estimate payments expected (FE providers)
- 21 Apr - Summer term Actuals submissions open (FE providers)
- 15 May - Childminder Virtual Conference (save the date, event details to follow)
- 21 May - Summer term Actuals submissions close (FE providers)
- w/c 21 Jun - Summer term Actuals payments expected (FE providers)
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