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 23 March 2022
COVID-19 Updated Guidance for Childminders
From Thursday 17 March, if someone in a childminder’s household has tested positive or has COVID-19 symptoms, childminders can continue to operate at home. Childminders are advised to follow the steps below to reduce the risk of onward transmission:
- The person who has tested positive or has COVID-19 symptoms should avoid contact with the children being cared for in the setting.
- Where possible, use separate toilet and handwashing facilities. If this is not possible, maintain extra cleaning and hygiene routines, particularly after the person has used the facilities.
- Notify parents, carers, and any assistants that someone has tested positive or has COVID-19 symptoms, as soon as reasonably possible and maintain open communication with them throughout.
- Consider the need to reduce the spread of COVID-19 with mitigations, such as ventilation and extra cleaning and hygiene routines. They should be applied where practical and safe to do so. Additional information on how to stay safe and help prevent the spread of COVID-19 is available in the guidance published by the Cabinet Office.
- Comply with health and safety law by reviewing your risk assessment. The risk assessment must demonstrate that the provision of childcare in your setting is safe, and how you will put into place any additional but proportionate measures.
Childminders can also consider using alternative places to childmind such as other childminders’ houses, where possible.
Reminder for Existing FE Providers - Deadline This Week
Following on from the previous item in Setting Update 205, please be reminded that all existing FE providers must return their signed Provider Declaration form via the Online Provider Portal (OPP) by 25 March 2022 in order to continue delivering FE from April 2022.
Please take a look at the new version of the Provider Declaration on our webpage www.westsussex.gov.uk/ecsfreeentitlement, and then complete the ‘Provider Declaration v2’ signature form electronically via the OPP. Help and access to the OPP can be found at www.westsussex.gov.uk/ecsportal
Final Reminder - FE Summer Term Estimates
The Online Provider Portal (OPP) is open until 11:59pm Friday 25 March 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.
Changes to SSP and ESA relating to COVID-19
From Thursday 24 March, the Government will remove the COVID-19 provisions within the Statutory Sick Pay and Employment and Support Allowance regulations.
Early Years Transition Events 2022 (16-27 May)
Following the positive feedback from previous events and building on locality relationships between schools and pre-school providers, we will once again facilitate Early Years Transition Events during the summer term. These will take place between 16 and 27 May 2022.
Transition Events are a forum for information sharing. These events are not a replacement for the vitally important transition visits planned between providers and schools for you to get to know children and families.
We will manage the timings and allocate approximately four minutes per child to allow discussion on key information regarding each child. Documentation and guidance for the events, including a list of suggested attendees and frequently asked questions, is available at www.westsussex.gov.uk/transitions.
View a list of feeder schools that have booked so far, then book your place on the appropriate event(s) via the Learning and Development Gateway using the links below. You will need to create an account if you do not have one already. If you need any help please email early.years.training@westsussex.gov.uk.
Dates of the Transition Events and links to book:
We look forward to welcoming practitioners from your setting to these events and working in partnership to improve the transition experiences for children in West Sussex.
Early Years Conference 2022
On Friday 11 March the West Sussex Annual Early Years Conference ran virtually with 90 delegates attending and enjoying the day.
The focus of the day was SEND and Inclusion. Ann Van Dyke MBE delivered an inspirational Key Note Speech on: ‘Do our current Inclusion funding streams and policies actually serve to exclude our children with SEND.’ Feedback was positive and included the following comments:
- "Everything today was so useful and informative - I have actions and suggestions to take back from every single session today - time really well spent with many thanks to all of the speakers and presenters for their dedication, knowledge, time and expertise. Thank you"
- "The training has been amazing. I now have access to so many more resources. I am new to the SENCO role and am learning as I go so this course has been amazing for providing new resources."
We are now planning our first face to face conference since 2020 and this is scheduled to run in October 2022 at Field Place in Worthing. Watch this space! We will announce who the guest speakers are and what the workshops are shortly.
Business West Sussex website
Business West Sussex has been migrated across to the WSCC corporate website and contains lots of useful information and resources to support local businesses. This includes information about funding opportunities, networks and groups that can support businesses, and initiatives to help recruit, retain and develop employees.
Inspiring Environments - Resource for Home-Based Childcare Providers
Pacey (Wales), has developed a toolkit of resources to support the development of quality home-based childcare. Developed in partnership with Elizabeth Jarman and childminders in Wales, this toolkit will be of interest to anyone working in childcare who is keen to develop environments that support children's well-being, learning and development. You can find the resources, including guidance top tips, blogs and downloadable tools on their website.
The West Sussex Safeguarding Children Partnership (WSSCP) Safeguarding Under 1's Podcast is now live
The first WSSCP podcast is now live and can be accessed on the Professional Log In section of the WSSCP website. If you've not yet emailed them to request a username and password for this area of the website, you can do so by emailing wsscp@westsussex.gov.uk.
The podcast can be found by clicking the "Under 1 Themed Learning Review"" tab and is 30 minutes long. It talks about a specific group of cases relating to three 3 babies, outlines the case and explores the learning from this review and how practitioners should review, and if necessary adapt, and improve their practice to ensure they are safeguarding under 1's effectively. (There is also a link to evaluate the podcast once you have listened to this resource.)
- 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 consult the guidance to check when to 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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#206 (Free Entitlement and Afghan Resettlement Programme, summer term estimates reminder, 30 hour codes deadline, transitions workshops, medical restrictions on attendance, vodcast on Ofsted inspections, support for the Ukraine, SENCO network meeting notes)
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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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