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
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Wednesday 26 January 2022
COVID-19 Guidance Update
On 20 January, Actions for early years and childcare providers during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak was updated to align with the Plan B announcement on Wednesday 19 January 2022. This includes the removal of the recommendation to wear face coverings in communal areas from 27 January. Additional guidance has also been added on staff deployment and staff shortages, Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) flexibilities, prioritising early years places and reporting COVID-19 cases to Ofsted. The guidance also includes further updates in response to questions raised by the sector, including:
- Clarification on EYFS flexibilities – as already communicated.
- Prioritisation of early years places if needed.
- Changes to advice to settings to report ‘positive’ cases to Ofsted instead of ‘confirmed’ cases to reflect the change in confirmatory PCR testing advice.
- Self-isolation – a link to the main stay at home guidance, with an additional line to be clear that the early release does apply to under 5s and that its use is based on parental discretion.
Protective measures for holiday or after-school clubs and other out-of-school settings for children during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has also been updated to reflect the removal of Plan B requirements for working from home, face coverings in classrooms, face coverings in communal areas and mandatory NHS COVID-19 Pass certification requirements for events.
Updates were also made to Managing coronavirus (COVID-19) in education and childcare settings, What parents and carers need to know about early years providers, schools and colleges during COVID-19 and Guidance for parents and carers of children attending out-of-school settings during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
Important: Mandatory Early Years Census 2022 and Free Entitlement Spring term Actuals - deadline approaching (FE providers only)
A reminder to login to the Online Provider Portal (OPP) and complete the below tasks by this Friday 28 January 2022.
- Your annual Early Years Census form
- Submit your Spring Term FE actuals claim
Help and Guidance:
For further information overall please refer to setting update 198.
Free Entitlement funding for Afghan families arriving in England under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Programme (ARAP) and the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS)
Under new Department for Education (DfE) guidance, Local Authorities are supporting Afghan families arriving in England under the ARAP and ACRS who could be eligible to access the Free Entitlement funding for 2,3 and 4 year olds. We are currently working with the Communities Team, within West Sussex County Council, to broker childcare for eligible children and agree processes for claiming funding. We will share further information via these broadcasts but in the meantime if you are contacted by any of these families please email free.entitlement@westsussex.gov.uk to seek further guidance. These children must not be added to the annual DfE Early Years Census as funding will come from a different source.
Securing Sufficient Childcare Places in West Sussex
The latest version of this document has now been signed off by the Schools Forum and Cabinet Member for Children and Young People. You can read the full report here.
The purpose of this document is to:
- Set out the policies and principles of West Sussex County Council to ensure that there is a sufficient supply of childcare places for 0-14 year olds (or up to 18 for children with a disability) to meet statutory requirements for working parents.
- Provide information on the current childcare market, identifying potential gaps including steps taken to address these.
- Identify opportunities that may exist for further expansion where required to meet the demands from changes to legislation, new housing and/or population increases.
Transition Events 2022 - Save the Dates
We are planning to hold face to face Transition Events again this year. Transition Events are a forum for information sharing and key to the success of these events is the attendance of all schools and early years providers. These events are not a replacement for the vitally important transition visits planned between providers and schools. The dates of the events are currently being shared with schools to book onto and are listed on the Learning and Development Gateway. Booking information will be shared with early years providers shortly and the information about the schools booked on will be added to the website.
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Date
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Time
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Venue
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Area
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Thursday 19 May
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2.00pm-5.00pm
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Billingshurst Primary School
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Billingshurst
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Wednesday 25 May
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9.30am-3.30pm
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The Regis Centre
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Bognor Regis
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Thursday 19 May
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1.00pm-3.00pm
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St Lawrence Primary School, Hurstpierpoint
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Burgess Hill
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Tuesday 17 May
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9.00am-12.00pm
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Chichester Free School
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Chichester
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Monday 16 May
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9.30am-12.30pm
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Broadfield Primary Academy
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Crawley
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Thursday 19 May
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2.00pm-5.00pm
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Seymour Primary School
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Crawley
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Monday 23 May
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2.00pm-5.00pm
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Our Lady Queen of Heaven Catholic Primary School
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Crawley
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Wednesday 25 May
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3.30pm-6.30pm
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Blackwell Primary School
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East Grinstead
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Wednesday 18 May
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2.00pm-5.00pm
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Warden Park Primary Academy
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Haywards Heath
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Tuesday 17 May
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2.00pm-5.00pm
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Castlewood Primary School
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Horsham
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Wednesday 18 May
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11.00am-1.00pm
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The Wickbourne Centre
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Littlehampton
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Wednesday 25 May
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1.30pm-4.30pm
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Seal Primary School
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Manhood
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Monday 23 May
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4.00pm-7.00pm
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Midhurst Primary School
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Midhurst
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Monday 23 May
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2.00pm-5.00pm
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St Marys Primary School
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Pulborough
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Monday 16 May
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10.00am-1.00pm
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The Needles CFC
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Roffey
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Tuesday 17 May
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9.00am-1.001am
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The Glebe Primary School
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Adur
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Thursday 26 May
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4.00pm-6.00pm
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Southbourne Village Hall
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Southbourne
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Wednesday 18 May
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3.30pm-6.30pm
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Springfield Infant School
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Worthing
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Wednesday 25 May
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2.00pm-5.00pm
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Vale School
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Worthing
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Early Years Annual Conference: SEND and Inclusion in the Early Years
Date: 11 March 2022
Venue: Online Event
Cost: £35 for Early Years Settings
We are delighted to announce Ann Van Dyke MBE as our Keynote speaker this year. She will be delivering the following presentation:
'Do our current inclusion funding streams and policies actually serve to exclude our children with SEND?'
Nationally, families of children with SEND frequently report that they are turned away from settings and schools on the basis of there not being enough funding to support a child with additional needs. Ann Van Dyke MBE will explore a range of drivers behind this response, and the potential impact on children, families, our settings and communities as a whole. Ann will also begin to flag what we can and should all be doing to ensure a whole setting approach to inclusion.
Further details on all other workshops to follow.
Please book your space on this virtual conference here: EVENTBRITE
It’s not fair! (taster webinar)
This engaging and motivating 1.5 hour taster course is suitable for all levels of practitioner. The aim is to support you to understand factors which contribute to unwanted behaviour and learn techniques to lessen occurrences and promote positive behaviour.
Attending this webinar will help you to understand why young children might behave the way they do and offer you an overview of strategies to support you. The cost is £15 per place.
- Tuesday 1 February 2022 – 7:30pm to 9.00pm – EYT22/173
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.
Developing High Quality Learning Environments for 2 year olds (half-day webinar)
This webinar is suitable for all levels of practitioner The aim is to support you to understand the key features of an effective, high quality learning environment for 2 year olds. You will explore the characteristics of effective learning and how to enable children to develop positive attitudes.
The aim of this webinar is to understand the key features of an effective, high quality learning environment specifically catered for 2 year olds. The cost is £25 per place.
- Thursday 10 February 2022 – 1.00pm to 4.00pm – EYT21/1947
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.
A Look at Dynamic Displays (taster webinar)
This 90 minute webinar is for all practitioners working with children aged 3+. This informative taster webinar contains some fascinating and thought-provoking insights and case studies which highlight best practice regarding the potential values and function of displays in the learning environment.
The aim of this course is to embed approaches to child-centred displays, informed by principles and practices which nurture children’s autonomy and ownership of their own ideas, experiences and learning. The cost of this course is £15 per place.
- Thursday 10 February 2022 – 7:00pm to 8:30pm – EYT22/288
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.
Spaces on Spring Term Early Years Courses
There are still spaces on 53 Spring Term Early Years Training Courses.
Don’t miss out. Have a look and see if there are any training courses that would benefit yourself or your team.
Click on the blue hyperlinks contained in this document to find out more about the courses and to book your space.
- NOW - Spring term Actuals submissions open (FE providers)
- NOW - Annual Early Years Census submissions open (FE providers)
- 20 Jan - Free Entitlement headcount day for Spring Term
- 28 Jan - Spring term Actuals submissions close (FE providers)
- 28 Jan - Annual Early Years Census submissions close (FE providers)
- 31 Mar - Spring term Sufficiency deadline (all providers)
Planned maintenance of Online Provider Portal (OPP) and websites:
Network meetings in Spring 2022 are running as online webinars. Follow a link to book a place via the Learning and Development Gateway:
Early Years Learning and Development Network
- Tuesday 25 January 2022 - 1.00pm to 3.00pm - EYT 22/224
- Wednesday 2 February 2022 - 1.00pm to 3.00pm - EYT 22/227
- Thursday 3 February 2022 - 1.00pm to 3.00pm - EYT 22/550
INCO SENCO Network
- Tuesday 8 March 2022 - 1.00pm to 3.00pm - EYT 22/221
- Wednesday 9 March 2022 - 1.00pm to 3.00pm - EYT 22/222
- Thursday 10 March 2022 - 1.00pm to 3.00pm - EYT 22/556
Childminder Event
To allow our Early Years and Childcare Advisors to focus their support to where it is most needed, we ask that you check for information online before you contact us.
COVID-19 guidance
Other information and guidance (WSCC)
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Practice support (EYFS, Diversity and Inclusion, health and wellbeing, transitions, legislation, regulation and safeguarding)
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Supporting families in your childcare setting (includes CLaWBA, integrated reviews)
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Tools for schools and settings (supporting the inclusion of all children in early years)
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Business support (Free Entitlement, marketing, finance, recruitment, advertising)
- Training and qualifications
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Network meetings/events (Learning and development, INCO SENCO, business and welfare)
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Online Provider Portal (submission dates, help guides)
For help to access information
To request additional support for your setting
All early years providers must follow a new reformed EYFS framework from September 2021. View the new framework to see how the changes affect you, and access updated Learning Journal materials online.
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, and inform Ofsted.
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.
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#198 (Reduction in self-isolation period, COVID-19 guidance for childminders, information on good ventilation, temporary suspension of confirmatory PCR tests, EY PVI Rep for the Schools Forum, EYFS flexibilities, reminder - mandatory EY census and spring term FE actuals, new government resource - Stop Abuse Together, a look at springtime crafts)
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Special Broadcast (14 Jan): New guidance for the Early Years Census 2022 (Information for Free Entitlement providers)
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#197 (Update from DfE - EYFS flexibility, update to COVID-19 guidance, temporary suspension of confirmatory PCR tests, UKHSA change in opening hours, additional relief grants, DfE pulse survey, school admissions deadline this weekend, half-term activities extended deadline, meeting the needs of every child - free webinar)
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#196 (Updated guidance, mandatory early years census 2022 and FE spring term actuals, starting school applications - 10 days to go, welcome to Grace Fairbourn)
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#195 (2021 re-cap, Updated guidance for childminders, Fire Safety for Early Years providers)
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