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Broadcast for Early Years and childcare providers in West Sussex from West Sussex County Council
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Wednesday 16 March 2022
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. Please see below information to support you when providing FE places for Afghan children:
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ARAP and ACRS families may be eligible for 2 year old funding if they meet the normal 2 year old funding eligibility criteria found on our webpage. Applications should be made by parent/carers in the usual way via the online application form. If the family is not able to provide a National Insurance (NI) number, please contact us so that we can assess eligibility by requesting paper-based evidence.
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Afghan families can access Universal FE for 3 and 4 year olds in the same way as other households. Age eligible children can take up a Universal FE place immediately.
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Afghan families may be eligible for 30 hours free childcare (Extended FE) if they meet the normal eligibility criteria found on our webpage. Applications should be made via Childcare Choices and if eligible, a 30 hours code will be issued in line with the normal application process. Please note, a 30 hours code must have been successfully applied for the term before taking up a 30 hours place.
To claim funding for ARAP and ACRS families at any point in the term, even if started before Headcount, please submit a Post Headcount/Exceptional payment form (PHEP) found on our webpage. Subject to our usual eligibility checks, all ARAP and ACRS PHEP requests will be approved. Please add a note to the PHEP form to inform us that you are requesting funding for a child under the ARAP/ACRS.
Proof of age checks must be carried out before a child takes up an FE place. If the family cannot provide evidence of the child’s age please contact us for further advice. If you have any queries please contact the Free Entitlement team by email free.entitlement@westsussex.gov.uk or call the Family Information Service on 01243 777807 and ask for the Specialist Team.
Free Entitlement Summer Term Estimates – reminder
The Online Provider Portal (OPP) is open for you to submit your Summer term estimates for Free Entitlement (FE) 2, 3 and 4 Year Olds.
Please note, upcoming Headcount and submission deadlines can be found on our website. If, after viewing the guidance available on our website you have any questions, please email free.entitlement@westsussex.gov.uk or phone the Family Information Service on 01243 777807.
30 hour codes - Summer term deadline
In order for children to access an Extended FE place in the Summer term, please advise eligible parents to:
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apply in good time to ensure they have their 30 hours code by 31 March 2022 - www.westsussex.gov.uk/freechildcare,
- log in to their childcare account to check their details are up to date, and reconfirm their eligibility by 31 March 2022 - gov.uk/sign-in-childcare-account,
- contact the HMRC helpline if they are experiencing issues applying or reconfirming, on 0300 1234 097.
The online eligibility checker is always available to check a child’s 30 hour code is valid for the upcoming term. If, after viewing the guidance available on our website, you have any questions, please email free.entitlement@westsussex.gov.uk or phone the Family Information Service on 01243 777807. Please note, parents must apply/reconfirm their eligibility by the above deadline in order for their code to be valid for Summer term.
Transitions workshops
The SEND and Inclusion Team are planning a series of events to gather views on transitions across education, social care and health. We are very keen to share best practice and to hear from schools and early years settings about what they think are the challenges in transitions faced by children/young people with Special Educational Needs (SEN) and/or Social Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) needs. The workshops will run from 9.30am to 12.30pm at the following venues:
- 11 May - Billingshurst Community Centre
- 16 May - Field Place, Worthing
- 17 May - on-line via Microsoft Teams
This work follows on from our SEND and Inclusion strategy work on transitions last year, where we identified useful resources and strategies on Tools for Schools. It will provide an opportunity to gain an understanding of the different roles across the services and to have your say in shaping future policy and practice. Please email Kathryn.Kellagher@westsussex.gov.uk if you or a colleague are able to come to a workshop, stating clearly which event you would like to attend.
Medical restrictions on attendance
The COVID pandemic lead to much more stringent rules around children's attendance when they are unwell and as we begin to emerge from this we would like to remind you of some useful resources. The Guidance_on_infection_control_in schools_poster.pdf (hscni.net) sets out a wide range of illnesses and how long children should not attend for. Information that may be useful for parents can be found in the poster Is my child too ill for school? - NHS (www.nhs.uk). It is important that these guidelines are adhered to and that settings do not implement policies which exceed them. For example, stating that a child cannot attend for 48 hours after they have recovered from a temperature, when guidance states that children can return as soon as their temperature has returned to normal and they are feeling well enough to attend.
New vodcast on Ofsted inspections and the new EYFS
Foundation Years is pleased to share with you a new vodcast on Ofsted inspections under the new Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). Gill Holden, Principal Officer of the Early Childhood Unit at the National Children's Bureau (NCB), speaks to Phil Minns HMI and Wendy Ratcliff HMI about Ofsted's approach to inspection and what settings can expect. Gill then speaks to Katrina Rose from Little Acorns Nursery and Natalie Willcock from Corby Glen Community Primary School about their recent experiences of Ofsted inspection, from the initial notification of inspection, the inspectors' focus on the day and their top tips for other settings.
Ofsted made reference to a number of resources and materials during the vodcast, which you can find below:
Early Years Support for the Ukraine
Natural Nurture Nursery in Horsham are keen to offer support to the people of the Ukraine and would like to work with other early years providers in their area to raise money. If you would like to get involved with them, or to co-ordinate with them to carry out some fundraising events in your area, you can contact them by emailing info@naturalnurture.org. Thank you, Natural Nurture, for offering to lead on this.
INCO/SENCO Network Meetings
The spring term meetings took place last week focusing on Supported Transitions, SEND Under 5 Outcomes, Deferring or Delaying School Entry, and Action Planning. There was also a presentation from the Virtual School about the support they now offer in the early years. Thank you to everyone who was able to attend.
View the key presentation slides, presentation from the Virtual School and a frequently asked questions document following the discussion in the meeting on Starting School.
- NOW - FE Provider Declaration Form (FE providers)
- NOW - Summer term Estimate submissions open (FE providers)
- 25 Mar - Summer term Estimate submissions close (FE providers)
- 31 Mar - Spring term Sufficiency deadline (all providers)
- w/c 4 Apr - Summer term Estimate payments expected (FE providers)
- 27 Apr - Summer term Actuals submissions open (FE providers)
- 12 May - FE Headcount day (FE providers)
- 20 May - Summer term Actuals submissions close (FE providers)
Network meetings ran as online webinars:
Learning and Development Network Meetings
These took place online in January and February. The network focused on reviewing the quality of your provision and ongoing quality improvement planning. View the key presentation slides and the updates shared at the meetings.
INCO SENCO Network
These took place in March and focused on Supported Transitions, SEND Under 5 Outcomes, Deferring or Delaying School Entry, and Action Planning. View the key presentation slides, the presentation from the Virtual School and the FAQ document.
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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#205 (Share your views on draft education and skills strategy, FE provider declaration 22/23, FE indicative budgets, FE summer term estimates, message from your schools forum representative, tax free childcare webinars, choking prevention, experts and mentors programme, best for babies, physical activity and active play in early years settings)
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#204 (Updated COVID-19 guidance, testing update, Schools Forum representative, 30 hour codes, FE - summer term estimates, Provider Declaration, Supported Transitions Programme, SEND Under 5s Online Referrals, DfE Recovery Programme)
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#203 (Last chance to vote for your EY representative, confirmed COVID-19 cases, FE spring term payments, free e-learning modules, NHS healthy start, masters degree in education and early childhood, EY leaders forum for children we care for, coaching and mentoring for the early years, understanding Ofsted - are you ready, EY SEND conference)
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#202 (Final DfE pulse survey on COVID issues affecting the sector, planned IT work, OFSTED registration fees, tax free childcare webinar, MMR vaccination campaign, SEND and inclusion newsletter, foundation years blog on SEND, learning and development network meetings, supported transition programme, five to thrive, early years conference, introduction to adverse childhood experiences and trauma informed practice)
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#201 (Free Entitlement funding rates 2022/23, update re FE funding for Afghan resettlement programmes, EY representative - voting now open, planned IT work affecting online provider portal and FIS website, SEND and inclusion conference)
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