The West Sussex approach puts the child first. We work with children, families, communities, our partners and schools in a restorative, strength based way. Strong relationships are at the heart of what we do.
Broadcast for Early Years and childcare providers in West Sussex from West Sussex County Council - Early Help Service
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Thursday 17 June 2021
Advance notice - DfE data capture required next week
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.
Transition Day
Following on from the information shared in Tuesday's broadcast, 15 June, we would like to confirm that schools have been asked to postpone their Transition Day until the last week of term. Many of the transition arrangements will be carried out virtually this year but it may be possible to organise some face to face activities if they are planned using the current guidance and risk assessed to minimise risk.
EYFS Reforms - online Resources from the Department for Education (DFE)
From September 2021, all early years providers must follow the new early years foundation stage (EYFS) framework.
The key aims of the reforms are to:
- improve child outcomes at age 5, particularly in early language and literacy, especially for disadvantaged children; and
- reduce workload, such as unnecessary paperwork, so that practitioners can spend more time interacting with the children in their care.
To support the implementation of the revised EYFS, the DfE has developed a new online service for private, voluntary and independent early years settings and childminders. This service provides resources, advice and support to help practitioners to understand the requirements for each area of learning and development and what these requirements mean in practice. The new service is now live on gov.uk and can be accessed here – Prepare for changes to the early years foundation stage framework.
INCO SENCO Training courses
Diversity, Identity and Culture (half day webinar) will enable you to develop a greater awareness of the Equality Act 2010 and the Early Years Foundation Stage requirements that relate to this area, with specific reference to gender identity and culture. You will learn ways to become more inclusive and develop a greater awareness of unconscious bias and discrimination and their impact on the setting. Cost is £25 per place.
- Monday 28 June - 9.30am to 12.30pm - EYT 21/1801
- Monday 18 October - 9.30am to 12.30pm - EYT 21/1892
- Tuesday 01 March - 1.00pm to 4.00pm - EYT 22/175
The Role of the Inclusion Coordinator (half day x 2 webinar) will develop your understanding of the role and explore the Code of Practice, government guidance and current and effective practice. Practical activities and group discussions are used to promote and share ideas. Cost is£50 per place. All course times are 10.00am to 1.00pm.
- Tuesday/Wednesday - 29 and 30 June - EYT 21/1757
- Wednesday/Thursday - 13 and 14 October - EYT 21/1893
- Wednesday/Thursday - 9 and 10 February - EYT 22/176
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.
Meeting the Needs of Every Child training
The National Association for Special Educational Needs (nasen) are offering three Department for Education funded webinars on ‘Meeting the Needs of Every Child’. These webinars will provide basic SEND training for Early Years practitioners, new SENCOs and childminders. The webinars cover legislation for SEND, the graduated approach, the role of the SENCO and the Key Person, identification of SEN and relationships with parents including sensitive conversations. It is a two hour live online webinar and two of the three times are evenings 6.00pm to 8.00pm to make it easier for childminders to attend. To book onto one of these sessions, please use the information below:
All early years providers must follow a new reformed EYFS framework from September 2021. View the new framework and how the changes affect you.
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.
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:
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#162 (Changes to the planned ending of COVID-19 restrictions and transition days in schools, reminder - EY funding to support health and physical development, changes to the EYFS and Development Matters)
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#161 (Reminder - HAF programme, early years transition webinars, newly published courses suitable for all staff)
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#160 (DfE data capture, early years funding to support health and physical development, infant mental health awareness week, ERIC's potty training package, fostering wellbeing in the early years - two new courses)
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#159 (DfE data capture, changes to childminder testing process, survey of childcare and early years providers, new suite of child development courses)
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#158 (New course - ready, willing and able)
- 21 Jun - Autumn term Estimate submissions open (FE providers)
- w/c 21 Jun - Summer term Actuals payments expected (FE providers)
- 23 Jun - EY Funding to Support Health and Physical Development - deadline for expressions of interest
- 2 Jul - Autumn term Estimate submissions close (FE providers)
- w/c 12 Jul - Autumn term Estimate payments expected (FE providers)
- 1 Sep - Autumn term Actuals submissions open (FE providers)
- 1 Sep - New EYFS framework effective
- 16 Sep - Autumn term headcount day (FE providers)
- 24 Sep - Autumn term Actuals submissions close (FE providers)
- w/c 18 Oct - Autumn term Actuals payments expected (FE providers)
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