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 2 February 2022
Early Years Representative for the Schools Forum - deadline 4 February 2022
Following the article on 19 January, regarding a PVI representative (and substitute) to serve on the Schools Forum from 1 March 2022, there is still time for nominations to be received. If you are passionate about the value of early years provision, this is a great way to ensure the voice of the sector is heard within the local authority. For more details and information on how to express your interest, please see Setting Update #198 which also contains an explanatory letter. Don't delay as the deadline for nominations is this Friday 4 February.
New literacy videos on the 'Help for Early Years Providers' online service
New videos on the three literacy resources on the Department for Education's 'Help for Early Years Providers' online service have now been made available to view. The videos, focusing on reading comprehension, exploring words and writing, complete a suite of videos made available for all areas of learning. The service aims to support childminders and staff in Private, Voluntary and Independent settings to understand and implement the revised Early Years Foundation Stage reforms.
A new vodcast was recently published about the online service. In this vodcast, Gill from the National Children’s Bureau (NCB) speaks to Sarah, Director of Daycare at St Martin’s Nursery in Solihull and Octavia (NCB) speaks to Caroline, an experienced childminder, about the service and how it can help providers as they get used to the EYFS reforms.
A set of slides have also been developed to accompany the vodcast, which you can use yourself or with staff in your setting. You can watch the vodcast and download the slides here.
Are you working with children learning English as an additional language (EAL)? Do you want to hear about the latest research and evidence?
The number of children learning EAL has more than doubled in English schools since 2006. Being multilingual is the norm across the world and multilingualism can potentially significantly benefit children’s ways of thinking and learning.
Yet many practitioners, understandably, find it a challenge to support children who speak little or no English. Without the right support from adults, many children learning EAL may not get off to the best start.
The East London Research School is sharing a free webinar recording, which is suitable for all early years practitioners in schools, PVI settings, and for childminders working with children learning EAL.
Child Development Training
These webinars are suitable for those new or returning to early years, or those who wish to enhance their child development knowledge. They will provide practitioners with the basic underpinning knowledge of child development for each of the three key phases, to ensure you respond to the children in their care. The cost is £15 per place.
- What it means to be me – Infant (0 -2 Years) – Tuesday 8 February - 7.00pm to 8:30pm – Course Code: EYT22/160
- What it means to be me – Toddler (2 - 3 Years) – Tuesday 15 February - 7.00pm to 8:30pm – Course Code: EYT22/161
- What it means to be me – Pre-schooler (3 - 4 Years) – Thursday 3 March- 7.00pm to 8:30pm – Course Code: EYT22/162
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.
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 whole 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
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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#199 (COVID-19 guidance update, Census and FE actuals deadline this Friday, FE funding for Afghan families, childcare sufficiency report, transition events 2022, early years annual conference - SEND and inclusion, spring term training courses)
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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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