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 29 June 2022
Free Early Years SEND training for professionals from ICAN
As part of the EYSEND Partnership, I CAN is offering training to early years SENCos, managers and early years practitioners to enable excellent support for Speech, Language and Communication needs in early years settings.
The training is totally free and provided at two levels – core (introductory), in-depth (advanced). You may choose to start with the core training and move to the in-depth, or if you have had previous training in Speech, Language and Communication needs, you could move straight to the in-depth training. Full details of how to access both levels is available here.
Updating information with FIS
Over recent months, the Family Information Service (FIS) has been refining its website to improve customer journeys for parents. It is possible to sort search results by distance, alphabetically by provider name, type of provision and date information last updated and functions will be promoted more widely to parents via social media.
We appreciate that vacancy information can change on a very regular basis but feedback the FIS often receive from parents is that information on the website is not up to date – particularly that there are current vacancies when in fact there are not. Therefore, as we promote these functions to parents it will be even more important that information is kept up to date as they can choose how to sort the results. When offering brokerage to parents who are struggling to find childcare the FIS will often take into account the date information was last updated, to provide the best information to parents as they are already struggling to find suitable childcare.
To help drive more enquiries to your setting, why not update your information via the Online Provider Portal more regularly. Updating once per term is really a minimum requirement so why not increase this to once a month, or more often if you need to fill vacancies, and get your information out to over 1200 parents per month for free.
NPQ Early Years Leadership course
The National Professional Qualifications (NPQ) Delivery Team are pleased to share that applications are now open for those interested in joining their NPQ Early Years Leadership (NPQEYL) course during the 2022/23 academic year.
The NPQ Early Years Leadership course is aimed at leaders who are, or are aspiring to be, managers of private, voluntary and independent nurseries, headteachers of school-based or maintained nurseries, or childminders with leadership responsibilities. Further details including the course duration, hours of study, and eligibility for Scholarship (fully-funded) places is available on the NPQs webpage and is also captured in the NPQEYL course brochure, which also includes further detail about the course structure.
The NPQEYL course is designed in partnership with the Pen Green Centre for Children and their Families, and with expert inputs from partner early years settings. If you would like to hear more about the NPQ's partnership with the Pen Green Centre, including their expertise and experience, views on the target audience for NPQEYL and recommendations to those thinking of applying, please watch this recording.
The NPQ Delivery Team will be launching two cohorts for NPQEYL – the first starting in October 2022 with the second in February 2023, and are currently accepting applications for both cohorts. The application deadline to join the cohort starting in October 2022 is Monday 10 October, and the deadline to join the February 2023 cohort is Wednesday 1 February. Applications are processed on a case-by case basis upon submission, and so the earlier an application is received, the earlier the applicant will receive their notification of their outcome. Please note that it can take up to two weeks for applications to be processed, or longer where the applicant is asked to supply further information. We have created an NPQ application guide to support applicants through their journey.
PLEASE NOTE - There will be West Sussex cohort(s) running via our delivery partner in West Sussex. This is the GLF Teaching School Hub, working in conjunction with Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Southampton and Portsmouth (HISP) Multi-Academy Trust. We can run an October cohort if there is sufficient uptake, otherwise we will plan to run in February 2023. Please register as soon as possible so we can accurately gauge numbers. It is key that you choose HISP when completing your application on the EDT portal. Any queries, please contact Caroline Carroll on caroline.carroll@millais.org.uk or on 01403 267890.
If you have any questions regarding NPQ Early Years Leadership, please contact the NPQ Delivery Team at npqs@educationdevelopmenttrust.com. If your questions are specific to the course content and structure, they will be able to arrange a time for you to speak with Dr Nicky Platt, Lead Education Advisor for the NPQs programme.
Foundation Years vodcast on Infant Mental Health Awareness Week
Foundation Years is pleased to share with you a new vodcast reflecting on Infant Mental Health Awareness Week, which took place between 13 and 19 June, 2022.
Gill Holden, Principal Officer of the Early Childhood Unit at the National Children's Bureau (NCB), speaks to Sally Hogg, who has worked on and championed the emotional wellbeing of babies and their parents for over 12 years, and is currently the Deputy Chief Executive of the Parent-Infant Foundation. Gill and Sally discuss the significance of early trauma, how early years professionals can use the latest research to best support infant mental health, where they can go to find more information, resources to support their practice and much more.
Beyond Covid-19: IPC in Primary School, Early Years and Childcare Settings
As previously shared in the broadcast on 8 June (#218), Public Health are running some training for schools and settings to reduce the spread of infection. If you would like to attend one of these online events, please book using the links provided.
Thursday 30 June - book, Tuesday 5 July - book or Wednesday 6 July: book.
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
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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#220 (Free entitlement summer term payments; free entitlement autumn term estimates; 30 hour codes deadline; LADOs; sensory food education; music in the early years blog; safeguarding courses)
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#219 (Have your say on mental health and wellbeing in the sector; recruitment on Facebook; Advance notice of planned IT upgrade; Early Childhood Hub; infant mental health awareness week; trauma awareness training)
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#218 (Advance notice of planned IT downtime, Beyond COVID-19 infection prevention and control public health webinars; safeguarding reminder; action planning to improve outcomes for children with SEND; infant mental health awareness week)
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#217 (HAF Deadline Reminder, Invitation To Take Part in Research, SEND and Inclusion Newsletter, Launch of the NPQEYL, Staff Ratios Consultation, Learning Language and Loving It, Good Practice Articles)
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#216 (Early years COVID-19 recovery experts and mentors programme; children we care for - designated lead forum; vodcast on outdoor learning; child safety week; speech and language courses this term)
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