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 28 September 2022
To help draw your attention to key information about safeguarding, we are introducing a new monthly focus to bring together useful information, whether that be training, guidance, or themes from Ofsted inspections. Initially we are including this in our regular setting update in an effort to keep the number communications as low as possible.
Safer Recruitment - guidance on doing online searches of shortlisted candidates
Have you attended Safer Recruitment training recently or was it some years ago? With the ever evolving digital age and use of social media in our lives, you may want to consider whether searching for shortlisted candidates online would be a useful part of your recruitment process. Or maybe didn't think this was something you were allowed to do. Here is some useful guidance to help answer some of these questions.
Childcare survey deadline approaching
Thank you all so much for your support in sharing this survey with the families who attend your settings. In the last week another 200 parents have completed the survey which is fantastic.
If you haven't already, there is still time to share this 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). We want to hear from as many people as possible so feel free to share with family and friends too!
Here is some wording you are welcome to use. There is also information on the Family Information Service Facebook page which you could share on your pages. Survey closes 30 September 2022.
Many thanks for your continued support. The responses will be shared via this broadcast later this term.
Committee run provision
At this time of year many committee run providers will be looking at recruiting new parents to the management committee. Just a reminder of things to do to ensure you remain compliant.
To ensure your committee-run early years provision is correctly registered you should complete the following:
- Ensure the correct details for all committee members are held by the Charity Commission. You can check the details of your organisation at The Charity Commission (GOV.UK).
- All committee members must complete an EY2 form to establish their suitability to become a committee member. You do not need a DBS to complete the EY2 form, however a DBS check will be required in addition before you will be issued with a letter of suitability. Therefore it is advisable to apply for both at the same time so as not to cause additional delay.
- All committee members must have an up to date DBS check. The DBS should be completed via Ofsted. Other routes may not be accepted and will further delay your application to become a committee member. Please check the information in relation to DBS checks.
- Ofsted will not confirm your suitability if your details are not recorded with the Charity Commission.
- You cannot be a confirmed committee member until all checks have been completed and you have been issued with a letter of suitability. This means that the person who previously held the role within the committee still remains responsible and liable for the early years provision until you have been confirmed, even if they have resigned.
- You must update the Charity Commission and Ofsted within 14 days of there being any change to the committee members, their name, or contact details. An additional 14 days will then be given to complete the EY2 form for new members.
- An EY3 form must be completed to remove any former committee members, or make changes to the name or contact details of any committee members listed with Ofsted.
Introduction to Specialist Advisory Teachers (SATs) – Early Years SEND Transition
These new roles are part of the County Council’s SEND and Inclusion Strategy, (2019-2024). They support schools, early years settings and other agencies to plan and enable a positive experience for children with additional needs as they transition from home and/or pre-school to Reception. They work closely with both the SEND and Inclusion Advisers, Early Years and Childcare Advisors and the Standards and Effectiveness team.
SATs attend locality ‘SEND Under 5’s’ meetings with the Early Years and Childcare Team to discuss support for pre-schools, children and their families, to help them plan a successful transition to school. Other teams (such as Portage, the Fair Access Team and SENAT) can also refer children to this service, in consultation with parents/carers.
You can view more information and contact details in this flyer.
Ofsted: education recovery series
Ofsted have produced a set of briefings on education recovery and how schools, early years providers and further education and skills providers are responding to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Public Health Updates - Respiratory Outbreaks and Prevention and Control Webinar
As we move towards the winter season, the UK Health Security Agency has recently updated the Respiratory Outbreak Action Card for education and childcare settings. This is for all respiratory outbreaks and includes both COVID-19 and flu.
The main addition is, if there are laboratory confirmed flu cases in a setting with children who have health conditions, please contact the Surrey and Sussex Health Protection Team for further advice. This is because there may be vulnerable children who they would recommend to have antivirals but will only action this if there are laboratory confirmed cases.
The Surrey and Sussex Health Protection Team can be contacted by email ICC.SurreySussex@phe.gov.uk or by phone 0344 225 3861.
The Public Health team are now pleased to be able to provide access to a pre-recorded webinar focused on “Infection Prevention and Control Beyond COVID-19”, targeted towards primary school, early years and childcare staff, with the ambition to build upon existing knowledge, skills and practices developed over the course of the pandemic. This pre-recorded webinar looks beyond COVID-19 with a greater focus on other common childhood infections and will explore how best to break the chain of infection by supporting the practical application of precautionary measures and actions.
Pre-school Immunisations
With many children having recently returned or joined your setting, now is a good time to remind parents and carers to check their children are up to date with their routine vaccinations and if not, encourage them to book their appointments. The Public Health team within West Sussex County Council has produced a pack of useful information for you to use and tailor, as appropriate, within your setting.
HAF Summer Feedback
This summer, the West Sussex Holiday Activity and Food (HAF) programme has had its biggest uptake yet. Eligible children from across West Sussex have been offered the opportunity to experience a range of different activities including sports, forest school, table tennis, skateboarding, drama, performing arts and music production amongst others. All these clubs have also offered a nutritious meal and a focus on promoting a healthy lifestyle.
They were also able to support families on the Refugee Resettlement programme with access to HAF places. Overall, there were:
- 41 different providers,
- 74 locations across West Sussex, and
- 30,000 HAF places available.
Expression of Interest is now open for new and existing providers to bid for the Winter Funding, see broadcast #232. HAF will be available to eligible children for four days during the Christmas holidays. They will then be contacting schools during the week beginning 07/11/22 with a list of eligible children and their HAF codes so they can promote the programme to eligible families.
- 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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#233 (Childcare needs survey update; autumn FE actuals - deadline this Friday; tax-free childcare search route now live; early years stronger practice hubs advisory group; updated FAQs and webinar recording; updated quality improvement criteria; virtual reality demonstrations)
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#232 (Increase in Scarlet Fever; autumn term FE actuals claim; setting review meetings; early years inclusion support plan; HAF Christmas 2022 expressions of interest now open; government consultations final reminder; childcare needs survey; Flu immunisation for early years; food poverty a growing concern)
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#231 (Government consultations - time is running out; autumn term FE actuals claims; DAF and EYPP autumn claims; starting school questionnaire and school applications; BookTrust update; childcare survey; EY stronger practice hubs webinar; EYFS reforms: one year on, lessons learned and future direction)
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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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