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Broadcast for Early Years and childcare providers in West Sussex from West Sussex County Council - Early Help Service
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Thursday 13 May 2021
Final Reminder - West Sussex County Council Early Help Service Redesign Consultation
West Sussex County Council has been seeking views from stakeholders and residents as part of a formal consultation to redesign the Early Help service. The consultation will be closing at midnight on Monday 17 May 2021 so time is running out if you wish to take part.
The Early Help service provides support to children and families who are facing any number of challenging circumstances, working to ensure every child has a safe environment in which to thrive.
The series of changes being proposed are designed to:
- Maintain Early Help services from 11 of our 43 Children and Family Centre buildings; at least one centre in each district and borough of West Sussex
- Increase the support and focused response to vulnerable children
- Ensure families have access to the most appropriate support, including closer working with schools
- Protect a full-time drop-in service for young people in each district and borough by merging our 12 Find It Out (youth) Centres with our 11 Children and Family Centre’s
- Stop providing group work: For example stay and play groups where parents can engage in play sessions with their children, focusing our attention where we know we make the biggest difference; going out to support the most vulnerable children and families in the community
More information on the proposals, including video explanations and details of how people, including children and young people, can take part in the consultation can be found on the Early Help Redesign project webpage www.westsussex.gov.uk/earlyhelpredesign.
It is important that everyone can express their views on proposals which impact their lives and the lives of the people they work with. Your feedback is important so please take this opportunity to complete our consultation survey so we can make informed decisions about the future of our Early Help Service. Thank you
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Important Amendment to Broadcast #152 - extended timeframes. Do you have any children starting FE at your setting between 10–21 May 2021 (previously 10-17 May)?
As the numbers of children submitted through the Early Years Census in January 2021 were lower than normal, due to the current pandemic, the Department for Education has provided the opportunity for local authorities to submit further Census information in the summer term.
It is important that West Sussex County Council (WSCC) is able to secure the maximum amount of Dedicated Schools Grant for the financial year 2021-22. Therefore, funding claims for children who are starting at your setting week commencing 10 May, up to and including 21 May 2021, must be submitted to us via a Post Headcount Exceptional Payment (PHEP) form by Tuesday 25 May 2021 (previously 19 May).
As these children were not in attendance during headcount day (6 May 2021) you must not include them in your summer term actuals claim.
Please note, WSCC will approve PHEPs for eligible children starting FE during this period (no exceptional reason required), where a PHEP has been received by 25 May 2021. Any PHEPs submitted after this deadline will have the normal PHEP rules applied as stated in the Provider Declaration 2021-2022 section 4.14.
The PHEP request form can be found on our webpage under ‘Additional scheme documents’.
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A Look at Writing Readiness and Pencil Grip (Taster webinar)
This 90 minute webinar is for those who work with 3 and 4 year olds. Simple activities, information points and best practice examples will support you in understanding, resourcing, and nurturing the essential fine and gross motor skills which underpin effective pencil grip and early writing. The content fully aligns with the revised EYFS (2021). Places cost £15.
- Thursday 27 May 7.00pm - 8.30pm EYT 21/1695
- Tuesday 15 June 7.00pm - 8.30pm EYT 21/1696
To book, search for the course code on the Learning and Development Gateway. If you have any questions, please email early.years.training@westsussex.gov.uk.
Survey to provide feedback on three key SEND and Inclusion resources
Schools and settings across West Sussex are currently piloting three key SEND and Inclusion resources:
- The ‘Ordinarily Available Inclusive Practice’ guide (OAIP) – a practical mainstream guide to support quality first teaching and consistent practice for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities.
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Inclusion Framework - a whole setting self-evaluation tool to support the inclusion of all children and young people.
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Tools for Schools – a website for schools and settings to provide easy access to key inclusion and SEND resources.
To ensure these resources are the best they can be, please provide your feedback by completing the online survey by 6 June 2021. The survey will not take longer than 15 minutes to complete and its results will be used to update the resources.
During the pilot we have encouraged schools and settings to annotate their copies of the Inclusion Framework and OAIP to enable us to gain an understanding of how the documents are being used. We would welcome receiving your annotated documents or scanned/photocopied pages of these notes – please email through to Toolsforschools@westsussex.gov.uk.
SEND and Inclusion Newsletter
The latest SEND and Inclusion newsletter can be found here.
Do you work with pregnant people and/or families with a child under the age of 1? If yes, then Public Health would like to hear from you.
Only less than a week to go before the survey closes so please share your views and experiences. The survey aims to understand awareness and use of a service that addresses alcohol use in pregnancy and among parents/carers of young children (aged under 1).
The West Sussex Public Health and Social Research unit are conducting this survey as part of a wider evaluation of a new referral pathway and service to support people who use alcohol in pregnancy and/or during the first year of parenthood. Findings from this survey will be used to inform further work to help professionals support families with alcohol related issues.
The survey can be accessed here and is running until Monday 17 May 2021. The survey will take less than 10 minutes to complete. Your feedback is important so please take a few minutes to complete the survey. All information provided is kept confidential and no identifiable information will be used in our report. Thank you for your time.
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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#152 (DfE data capture and change in frequency, updated guidance, children starting FE between 10-17 May 2021, FE summer term Actuals reminder, new online service to support implementation of revised EYFS, safeguarding and child protection refresher, supporting bereaved children)
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#151 (DfE data capture, changes on how to order testing kits, testing of staff, new resource to support diversity and inclusion)
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#150 (support available to providers to engage with asymptomatic testing, FE summer term actuals final reminder, extended FE claims reminder)
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#149 (COMF update, reminder to report positive COVID-19 cases, get a PCR test if symptomatic, ventilation, DAF summer claims, EYPP summer claims, working with pregnant people and/or families with a child under 1, childminder conference - enabling environments workshop)
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#148 (data retention period for testing log, Makaton)
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#147 (updating your Local Offer information, EYFS update, Ofsted update, Foundation Stage Forum subscription and Tapestry discount, Tools for Schools and Settings, Paediatric First Aid)
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:
- 15 May - Childminder Virtual Conference
- 21 May - Summer term Actuals submissions close (FE providers)
- 16 Jun - Autumn term Estimate submissions open (FE providers)
- w/c 21 Jun - Summer term Actuals payments expected (FE providers)
- 2 Jul - Autumn term Estimate submissions close (FE providers)
- w/c 12 Jul - Autumn term Estimate payments expected (FE providers)
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