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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Wednesday 28 July 2021
Early Years and Childcare Providers Survey
In the broadcast on 13 July we shared that we are carrying out a survey with all providers (pre-schools, day nurseries, nursery classes/schools, breakfast clubs, out of school clubs and holiday playschemes).
This is to help identify the current strengths and challenges within the sector, and will allow us to identify the areas where we can focus our support, in order to make the biggest impact.
This survey can be completed online and will remain open until 31 August 2021 to allow as many settings as possible to complete this.
Your responses are really important to us so please do use this opportunity to share your views.
Request for help from the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) Programme
Do you have a venue or space that is not being used over the summer holidays that could be hired from you by a potential HAF provider? This could be a great opportunity for some additional income over the holidays, whist helping children in your community to access much needed provision.
Or did you miss the deadline but you would still like to explore offering places to eligible children in your summer schemes?
If you are interested in finding out more about HAF and how you can get involved, either offering places or venues, please email HAF@westsussex.gov.uk
Myth-busting from Ofsted on the Early Years inspections
There is a brand new page on gov.uk: ‘Ofsted EIF inspections and the EYFS’ answering the most frequently asked questions on inspection practice and the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). This is to help all registered early years providers and schools with what they need to know now and what they need to know for the start of the revised EYFS framework on 1 September 2021.
Why not try a taster?
Tasters are short, bite size courses costing £15 per place. Tasters offer an insight into a topic area, either by focusing on a particular area such as Demystifying Cultural Capital or as an introduction to a topic, such as Pedagogical Leadership.
Here are a few examples of what we have on offer:
| Loose parts play: |
| A ‘loose part’ is an everyday object which children can use and combine with other parts to create open-ended, imaginative, and creative play ideas. This play can boost social skills and problem-solving abilities. Learn how to introduce quality loose parts play into your setting. |
- Thursday 16 September - 9.30am to 11.00am - EYT 21/1946
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| Demystifying cultural capital for the early years: |
| Explore the definition of cultural capital and how it is linked to Ofsted’s Education Inspection Framework (EIF) and the Early Years Foundation Stage. Learn to identify cultural capital ‘moments.’ |
- Wednesday 06 October – 7.00pm to 8.30pm - EYT 21/1934
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| Pedagogical Leadership: |
| For managers, deputies and leaders. Reflect upon your Pedagogical Leadership practice and learn techniques to support your setting in times of change. |
- Tuesday 19 October – 7.30pm – 9.00pm - EYT 21/1670
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| Ready, willing and able: children as confident, capable thinkers and learners: |
| Consider ways to provide positive relationships and enabling environments that offer opportunities for children to be independent, make choices and develop skills to express their thoughts. |
- Wednesday 13 October – 7.00pm to 8.30pm - EYT 21/1869
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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.
Paediatric First Aid Blended dates available
This course is one day online learning and one day practical, face to face learning. COVID-19 safety measures are in place. The cost is £60 per person. All courses run 9.30am to 4.30pm.
- Thursday 09 September - Field Place, Worthing - EYT 21/1564
- Saturday 16 October - The Kings Church, Burgess Hill - EYT 21/1534
- Thursday 25 November - Arundel Museum - EYT 21/1831
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.
All early years providers must follow a new reformed EYFS framework from September 2021. View the new framework and how the changes affect you.
The West Sussex Learning Journal materials have been updated to reflect the changes to the EYFS from September 2021 and are available on our website.
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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#172 (DfE data capture, Actions guidance update, EYC survey, CHIL-led Out Olympics, EYFS courses)
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#171 (DfE data capture, changes to government COVID-19 guidance, Early Help redesign - next steps, request for HAF venues, new staff wellbeing resource, two new courses for fostering wellbeing in the early years)
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#170 (Message from Director of Public Health, provider survey, FE autumn term estimate payments, letter from Ministers, new food safety resource, enhance your practice by learning Makaton)
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#169 (Removal of bubbles in settings, help with HAF venues, 30 hour code deadline reminder, FE leaflets, new virtual webinars for 2021/22)
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#168 (DfE data capture, get ready for changes to EYFS - new DfE service, last chance to book)
- 31 Aug - West Sussex EYC provider survey closes
- 31 Aug - Deadline to complete termly Sufficiency Update
- 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)
- 8 Nov - Spring term Estimate submissions open (FE providers)
- 22 Nov - Spring term Estimate submissions close (FE providers)
- w/c 6 Dec - Spring term Estimate payments expected (FE providers)
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