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 27 April 2022
Summer term Free Entitlement (FE) actuals claims – now open
To ensure you submit your FE claims for 2, 3 and 4 year olds correctly please refer to the Actuals help guide and YouTube video. The Actuals help guide also covers how to claim Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) and Disability Access Fund (DAF).
Please refer to the PDF titled ‘Claims Process’ on our webpage for further information about the actuals claiming process, including the maximum number of funded weeks available for Summer term.
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Headcount day: Thursday 12 May 2022.
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Deadline for submission: Friday 20 May 2022.
Extended FE claims:
In order for a 30 hours code to be valid for Summer term:
- Parents must have applied for, or reconfirmed their 30 hour code before 31 March 2022.
- The code ‘start date’ must be before 1 April 2022 and the ‘Grace period end date’ covers the Summer term 2022.
To check a code is valid for Summer term use the online eligibility checker and view our helpful video guide for step by step guidance (Note: you may need to click a prompt to continue to video, or may need to update your browser, or use an alternative). Please note, WSCC cannot fund without a valid code.
If you have any questions or require assistance, please e-mail free.entitlement@westsussex.gov.uk or call the Family Information Service on 01243 777807 and ask for the Specialist Team.
Claiming FE for Afghan families arriving in England under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Programme (ARAP) and the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS)
A reminder that Afghan families arriving under the ARAP and ACRS scheme could be eligible to access FE for 2, 3 and 4 year olds. Please refer to setting update 206 for further information.
To claim funding for ARAP and ACRS families you must submit a Post Headcount/Exceptional payment request form (PHEP).
IMPORTANT: Please complete a new PHEP form each term you wish to claim funding. Afghan children must not be added to your Headcount claim, even if they started with you before Headcount.
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.
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.
Settings signing up to Tax-Free Childcare
It is estimated that there are 1.3 million working families who are eligible for Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) in the UK however only a small percentage are making use of the scheme. Around 75% of families are losing out on this support, 5% of which said they do not use TFC as their current provider is not signed up to offer it.
With the costs of living continuously rising, we want to help families utilise TFC and we need your help to do this. If you have not already signed up to the scheme, then please see the information sheet with step-by-step guidance on how you can join for free.
TFC is a government scheme that helps support families with childcare costs. It is for working parents/carers (including single parent families) who work at least 16 hours per week at the national minimum wage. It can be used for children aged 0-11 or up to the age of 17 if disabled, for those families who are not already receiving tax credits, universal credit or childcare vouchers.
For every £8 that a parent pays into an online account, the government will add an extra £2 – equating to up to £2,000 per child per year. It takes approximately 20 minutes for a parent to make an online application and create an account. More information on how parents apply can be found on the government website.
Joining the scheme will enable families to save money, support families to return to work or increase their hours, with the potential to increase occupancy levels and generate income for your setting. Parents need to know that you offer TFC so be sure to advertise and raise awareness where you can.
If you have any queries regarding TFC, please contact the Family Information Service (FIS) by emailing family.info.service@westsussex.gov.uk or calling 01243 777807. The FIS are planning a campaign to raise parental awareness via their Facebook Page so be sure to follow and share posts with your followers - @Family Information Service – West Sussex.
Children and Young People's Plan Consultation
Working with children, young people, families, and partners we have developed a draft Children and Young People plan for 2022 – 2025. The plan sets out key priorities focused on making life better for children and young people. To help inform and develop the plan please take a few minutes to complete this short survey. We really want the voice of the Early Years and Childcare sector is included in the plan so please take part before the consultation closes on Sunday 26 June 2022.
Business Planning Tools
With continuing challenges for the Early Years and Childcare sector, we would like to remind you of the tools and resources available to help you plan to ensure the long term sustainability of your business.
During the pandemic the Department for Education commissioned Childcare Works to develop tools to help with business planning for the Early Years and Childcare sector. It was developed to meet the needs of the most experienced and effective business managers, those who want to check and benchmark themselves against others’ thinking, and those new to the role. This Business Map is intended to:
- support a timely analysis of the current business position,
- provide ideas, suggestions, tools and links to other resources and information, and
- support action planning for now and future months.
Although the documents refer to COVID-19, the principles of business planning can still be applied to your business now and in the future. Should you have concerns about the sustainability of your business, you can make a Targeted Setting Support Request. In Section 2, question 1, choose 'Business Support' from the drop down menu. You will not need to complete Section 3 for this type of request.
HAF Summer and Christmas 2022 - Expression of Interests Open
Expression of Interests (EOI) to provide Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) for children during the Summer and Christmas Holidays in West Sussex are now being accepted. You can bid to deliver activities with or without food for any or all of the holiday periods.
To submit an Expression of Interest please complete the online questionnaire.
Key dates to submit an EOI form are:
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Holiday Period
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Opening Date
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Closing Date
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Summer / Christmas 2022
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9.00am 25 April 2022
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12.00 midnight 5 June 2022
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Christmas 2022
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9.00am 5 September 2022
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12.00 midnight 16 September 2022
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Please Note: The EOI submission window will be closed between the 5 June and 5 September 2022.
HAF funding requirements from the Department for Education are:
- The provision of Face to Face Holiday Activity clubs with food.
- Funding is available for the Summer and Christmas Holidays.
- School aged children (4-16 years) in receipt of benefit related Free School Meals (the HAF funding does not cover nursery aged children).
- The priority in West Sussex is to offer hot meals to children, cold food will only be considered in exceptional circumstances.
- Eligible children should be able to access at least 96 hours of provision across the three main school holidays:
- Summer: at least four hours of provision a day, for four days over four weeks.
- Christmas: at least four hours of provision a day, for four days.
Further guidance on the programme is available on the DfE Holiday Activity and Food Programme webpage. Thank you for your interest and support of HAF in West Sussex, if you have any questions please contact HAF@westsussex.gov.uk.
Update from the Healthy Child Programme
The Healthy Child Programme (HCP) has asked us to share with you the following information to provide you with an update about the service they are providing whilst we are coming out of the pandemic. The communication includes an update on the services currently being provided, information about how to contact HCP, and a referral form.
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- 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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#211 ((New training dates for paediatric first aid and child protection and safeguarding training, new benefits advice service for parents of children with SEND)
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#210 (DfE incident support line, post headcount/exceptional payment requests, SEND review, families from Ukraine, childminders and Ukraine family scheme, consultation FE2YO NRPF, education recovery in EY providers)
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#209 (Updated COVID-19 guidance and UKHSA letter, distributing stocks of self-test kits, FE estimates, FE funding rates explained 22/23, attracting and retaining talent, opportunity for all: strong schools with great teachers for your child, SEND review - right support, right place, right time, Ofsted's enforcement policy, childminder agencies new policy paper, ministerial letter to EY sector, parental feedback on 'what to expect in the EYFS')
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#208 (Changes re COVID-19 guidance, changes to self-isolation rules, closure of UKHSA advice service, education and skills consultation reminder, SEND and inclusion newsletter, reducing parental conflict)
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#207 (Updated guidance for childminders, Final reminder for Provider Declaration forms and summer estimates, change to SSP and ESA, EY transition events 2022, EY conference 2022, business West Sussex website, inspiring environments - resource for home-based childcare providers, WSSCP safeguarding under 1's podcast)
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