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Broadcast for Early Years and childcare providers in West Sussex from West Sussex County Council
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Wednesday 7 September 2022
Welcome back to those settings who have been closed over the rather warm summer holidays. Being the first setting update for the new term there is lots to share but please remember that broadcasts continued to be sent over the holiday period, containing lots of useful information, for all types of setting.
Government consultations - time is running out to have your views included
Back in July there were two government consultations launched relating to changing the adult to child ratios and the early years funding formula. Full details can be found in Setting Update #222. These consultations are still open but close on 16/09/22 and we would encourage you to participate to ensure your views are included. We understand that PACEY is drafting its own response to the funding formulae consultation and have also produced a briefing for members to explain the details of the two consultations.
Autumn term Free Entitlement (FE) actuals claims
A reminder that the Online Provider Portal (OPP) is open for you to submit your FE claims for 2, 3 and 4 year olds. Please refer to Setting Update #230 for further information regarding help guides, 30 hour codes and claiming for Afghan families.
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Headcount day: Thursday 15 September 2022
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Deadline for submission: Friday 23 September 2022
Disability Access Fund and Early Years Pupil Premium – Autumn term claims
Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) and Disability Access Fund (DAF) claims must be submitted at the same time as your Free Entitlement actuals data via the Online Provider Portal (OPP). Please follow the FE actuals help guide which covers how to submit DAF and EYPP claims via the OPP: www.westsussex.gov.uk/ecsportal
You can claim the DAF for 3 and 4 year old children who are in receipt of Disability Living Allowance (DLA), if they are receiving Free Entitlement funding. The DAF is a one off payment of £800 per year for each eligible child. Please note, providers can claim for a second DAF payment three terms after the initial DAF payment was received. For further information please visit www.westsussex.gov.uk/ecsfreeentitlement and refer to the document entitled ‘Disability Access Fund (DAF)’.
EYPP pays an additional 60p per hour per eligible child (+ £0.47p per hour Deprivation Supplement automatically applied to all children in receipt of EYPP) and is paid in proportion to a child’s actual universal FE hours. For further information regarding identifying eligible children please visit www.westsussex.gov.uk/ecsfreeentitlement and refer to the document entitled ‘Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) .pdf’. If you have any queries please email free.entitlement@westsussex.gov.uk
Starting School Questionnaire and School Applications
All children born between 1 September 2018 and 31 August 2019 are due to start school in September 2023 and families will be starting to consider the school that they would like their child to attend. The Starting school Questionnaire will be available online for parents to complete. Before the questionnaire opens, we will send you a template email which you can share with the families who have children in your setting in this age group. The email template will include a copy of the starting school leaflet and a link to the online questionnaire. If you are using the email template, you will need to add your setting contact details so that families provide the correct information about the setting that they attend. A copy of the completed questionnaire will then be sent to your setting email address. Please read the completed questionnaires and respond to any issues identified, including contacting other services if appropriate. The aim of the review is to ensure that children and families have the support they need so that each child can make a successful start to school life.
At the beginning of October, settings will receive a pack of starting school leaflets and a poster from School Admissions. The poster should be displayed within your setting for parents to read and the leaflets should be distributed to the families of children with birth dates between 1 September 2018 and 31 August 2019 who will be applying for a school place this year. Parents will be able to apply for a school place from Monday 3 October 2022 until Sunday 15 January 2023. Please talk to the parents of children in your setting due to start school in September 2023 to make sure that they understand the process and complete their applications on time.
If there are any questions you have asked about the school admissions process that you cannot answer, please refer to the information on the website or contact the Pupil Admissions Team - admissions.north@westsussex.gov.uk, admissions.south@westsussex.gov.uk or call 033 301 42903.
BookTrust update
“BookTrust have a new strategy which focuses on bringing the benefits of reading to children in the greatest need, prioritising support for disadvantaged children and families and children from vulnerable family backgrounds. As we all know, millions of children face disadvantage and inequalities in their lives, and the pandemic has seen the disadvantage gap grow. BookTrust’s new strategy sets out a series of ambitious plans to ensure its work best meets the needs of these families.
As a result, BookTrust has just begun a project to deliver a new targeted offer for children aged 1-4, which will replace current BookTrust offers for this age range: Treasure and Corner.”
In West Sussex this means BookTrust are changing their Early Years offer and moving towards a targeted offer to support low-income families. Every family will continue to receive a Baby bag at birth, gifted by the Registrars, but they will be targeting their Early Years book gifting to families who face the greatest barriers. The Treasure Pack has been phased out and the last packs were sent to settings in June and July 2022.
Instead, BookTrust have established a pilot with targeted resources for 1-2 year olds and 3-4 year olds. As part of this pilot, we will have a limited number of the 3-4 year old pre-school packs that we can gift to Early Years settings in West Sussex, and therefore we will only be able to work with a small number of settings over the coming year to gift these packs. Those settings will generally be in areas or pockets of higher deprivation, those with high levels of Early Years Pupil Premium and those that are working with low-income families who are already accessing other services. Within these settings we will gift to all 3-4 year olds, regardless of whether individual children fall within the target group.
At the moment the library service are expecting delivery of the packs in November/December time, but there have already been some delays to the project, so anticipate gifting the packs during the Spring term 2023. Settings will be contacted in the next two months to discuss whether packs can be offered to your setting and if so, possible options for delivery, such as a visit from the Bookbus to share stories with the group, an invitation to a storytime at your local library, or a visit from one of the Families and Wellbeing Team Librarians to share some stories.
Please look out for more information about this new BookTrust Targeted Offer over the coming months. For more information you can contact Kim Tucker, Library Service, Team Manager – Families & Wellbeing by emailing Kim.tucker@westsussex.gov.uk.
Childcare Needs Survey - please share with families
Following on from last week’s article about the Childcare Needs Survey (Setting Update #230), we wanted to remind you that the online survey is running throughout September. We have received a good response rate so far but are keen to hear from as many families as possible about their childcare needs.
We would like to request your help in sharing the survey with families who attend your provision. We would also welcome the views of any of you or your team who have children aged 0-14 years (and up to 18 for children with SEND). The survey will close 30/09/22.
Here is some wording you are welcome to use. There are also posts on the Family Information Service Facebook page which you could share on your pages.
Early Years Stronger Practice Hubs webinar for early years settings - Friday 9 September
On 09/08/22, the National Children’s Bureau (NCB) invited colleagues from early years settings to attend a webinar about the Early Years Stronger Practice Hubs programme on either 17/08/22 or 09/09/22.
NCB recognise that many of you will have been on your summer holidays when this was announced and, to enable as many interested settings as possible to attend, they have now released more spaces. You can book your place on the webinar here.
The webinars are designed to support settings with their applications and are aimed at those involved in the application at senior level, including setting owners, setting managers, early years teachers, EYFS leads, heads of early years as well as headteachers and governors. Along with NCB, the webinars will also be attended by the Department of Education (DfE) and the Education Endowment Foundation, and there will be an opportunity to ask questions.
Please note, the content of the two webinars are the same, therefore if you attended previously (or have since watched the recording) you don't need to book onto this one. You can watch the recordings of the previous webinars, and find out further information on the programme, on the NCB website.
For any other queries about Stronger Practice Hubs, please continue to email NCB’s Stronger Practice Hubs team.
EYFS Reform: One year on, lessons learned and future directions
Further to the article in Setting Update #229, sent on 24/08/22, this is a reminder for those settings who may have closed, about this free Hempsall's webinar on Thursday 6 October 2022 9.30am to 12.30pm. You can read more about the conference overview, speakers who will be presenting and target audience by referring back to the previous broadcast. You can book your free place now here.
- 15 SEP - Autumn term Headcount day
- 23 SEP - Portal closes for Autumn actuals
- W/C 17 OCT - Autumn actuals payment expected
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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#230 (Autumn term FE actuals now open; claiming FE for Afghan families; childcare needs survey to share with families; stronger practice hubs webinar recordings)
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#229 (Autumn term FE actuals advance notice; FE stretched claims - termly limits; checks before offering an extended FE place; sufficiency updates deadline reminder; DfE changes press release around relaxing ratios; EYFS reform: one year on, lessons learned and future direction conference; story stuff - impromptu story making)
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#228 (Ofsted updates, Polio Booster Vaccine, Early Years Stronger Practice Hubs)
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#227 (Autumn term 30 hour code deadline reminder; living with COVID-19; inspire children and parents to get active together; new vodcast on mental health and wellbeing)
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#226 (Updated Ofsted guidance; consultation reminder on early years ratios and funding formulae; early years stronger practice hubs update; new blogs from Foundation Years and DfE; free training - EYSEND partnership)
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