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Broadcast for Early Years and childcare providers in West Sussex from West Sussex County Council
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Wednesday 6 October 2021
DfE data capture required next week
The next monthly Department for Education data capture for the numbers of children currently accessing early years provision will open on Monday 11 October, and will close tonight at midnight on the Wednesday. Please use this link to complete your return.
Important changes to reporting COVID-19 cases in your setting
Following discussion with colleagues in Public Health, we have taken the decision that we no longer need early years and childcare settings to report all cases of COVID-19 within your setting to West Sussex County Council. We will continue to monitor rates of infection across the county using Public Health data and offer support where needed, but we want to try and reduce work for providers where possible.
Where you have a positive case within your setting, you must still notify Ofsted and read the Settings Outbreak Pack to identify the steps you need to take. If, having read the guidance, you need additional support, please contact the Department for Education (0800 046 8687), the local Health Protection Team (ICC.SurreySussex@phe.gov.uk) or email the setting support inbox in your area to request support from an Early Years and Childcare Adviser. Please choose the appropriate email address from the following list:
If you have a number of cases within your setting, you may be contacted by Public Health to offer you support and guidance.
Please continue to inform the Family Information Service (FIS) via email (family.info.service@westsussex.gov.uk) if you are considering limiting the number of places you can offer children or if you may need to close your provision for a short period of time. As is usual for emergency closures, any Free Entitlement hours that families are unable to access for their child during a period of closure, settings are expected to offer these hours at another time wherever possible. You must contact the FIS to discuss the circumstances and anticipated length of closure.
Self-Isolation Hub
Previously, settings had been asked to call the Self-Isolation Service Hub to report staff who have tested positive for COVID-19, in the same way other businesses do. Please note that education and childcare settings do not need to contact the Self Isolation Service Hub to provide details of any contacts.
Public Health England name change
Please be aware that Public Health England (PHE) has undergone a restructure and is now part of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA). You will notice emails from the former PHE will now be from UKHSA. Contact details for your local Health Protection Team remain unchanged.
IMPORTANT - Do you have any children starting FE at your setting between 20 September – 8 October 2021?
As the numbers of children submitted through the Early Years Census in January 2021 were lower than normal, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department for Education has provided the opportunity for local authorities to submit further Census information in the Autumn term. It is important that West Sussex County Council (WSCC) is able to secure the maximum amount of Early Years Dedicated Schools Grant for the financial year 2021-22. Therefore, funding claims for children who are starting at your setting between 20 September, up to and including 8 October 2021, must be submitted to us via a Post Headcount Exceptional Payment (PHEP) form by Wednesday 13 October 2021.
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 13 October 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’. If you have any queries please email freeentitlement@westsussex.gov.uk.
Starting School Applications
The school applications process is now open for families with children due to start school in September 2022.
You should have received a pack of Starting School leaflets and a Starting School poster for your setting. The poster should be displayed within your setting for parents to read and the leaflets should be distributed to the families of children with birth dates between 1 September 2017 and 31 August 2018 who will be applying for a school place this year.
If you need additional copies of the poster or leaflet, please print them:
LoCASE grants for business growth and efficiency
Low Carbon Across the South and East (LoCASE) is a Business Growth and Innovation Grants scheme for businesses. The scheme offers grants of up to £10,000 to environmentally-focused organisations for business growth projects.
LoCASE also offer grants of up to £10,000 to any other type of business for energy/resource efficiency projects such as LED lighting, insulation, heating or machinery upgrades, or renewable energy systems. LoCASE also provides workshops to help businesses innovate and grow. To attend, you must be a member, but membership is free.
WEBINAR - Step away from the star chart: strategies for responding to children’s behaviour
In this webinar you will evaluate traditional approaches to behaviour management in light of current research in child development and neuroscience, assessing the effectiveness and appropriate use of a variety of behaviour management strategies. This webinar will teach you to apply a range of strategies to support children who are expressing unwanted behaviour.
The cost of the webinar is £25 per person. The webinars are running on the following dates and times:
- Saturday 27 November – 9:30am to 12:30pm – EYT 21/1873
- Monday 31 January – 9:30am to 12:30pm – EYT 22/163
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 ' What happens if there is a confirmed case of COVID-19 in an educational setting' 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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#183 (COVID-19 guidance updates, HAF for Christmas, Nasen awards final reminder, EYPDP phase 2, area inclusion and improvement workshops, new DfE publications, oral health and the EYFS, Ofsted early years inspection handbook, choking hazards in settings)
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#182 (Final reminder - FE Autumn actuals, CLaWBA folders, pan Sussex safeguarding under 5's conference, a look at Christmas crafts)
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#181 (DfE data capture, COVID-19 updated flowchart, updated setting outbreak pack, FE actuals for autumn claims, FE leaflet stocks, nasen SEND training, nasen EY awards, updated OAIP and inclusion framework, foundation stage forum subscription ending, fire safety for early years, using social media)
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#180 (COVID-19 updates, last chance to complete setting survey, DfE data capture next week, SEND Under 5s, update on changes to EYPEPs, school readiness integrated review and school applications for 2022, new courses)
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#179 (Updated PHE outbreak pack, CO2 monitors, update on changes to support for EYC settings, provider survey, FE autumn actuals claims, changes to EYPEP, LADO workshops, safeguarding training)
- Now - New EYFS framework effective
- 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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