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 2 November 2022
Early years education recovery programme
In 2021, the Government announced their plan for the early years education recovery programme. The Government has published the range of programmes that local authorities and early years practitioners have available to them, some of which many places will already have accessed. This includes the third phase of the Professional Development Programme, the rollout of the Expert and Mentors programme and training for Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCOs). Later in the year Early Years Practitioners will be able to access: training on communication, language, early mathematics and personal, social and emotional development training and stronger practice hubs which will support settings to adopt evidence-based practice improvements.
Contacting your local EYCA team
A reminder to please email the setting support inbox for your area as listed below rather than an individual Early Years and Childcare Adviser to make sure your queries are responded to as quickly as possible.
Should you require Targeted Setting Support for Inclusion or Business, you can make the request via the website here.
If your query relates to concerns for a child or family who may need access to support from Early Help or Children's Social Care please contact the Integrated Front Door on 01403 229900.
Online Provider Portal Feedback Form - now available
A new form is now available on the Online Provider Portal (OPP), allowing you to provide feedback on your experiences with the OPP, as well as supporting guidance documents and videos. Your feedback via this form will help us in making future improvements to the OPP and guidance, and will be available at all times going forward.
Please note that this form is not to be used for enquiries that require a response from the Family Information Service or Early Years Funding team, and should only be used to share suggestions and highlight issues you experience in relation to using the OPP. You should continue to contact us via email (family.info.service@westsussex.gov.uk or free.entitlement@westsussex.gov.uk) and by phone on 01243 777807 for more urgent enquiries, such as issues submitting Free Entitlement Actuals data or Termly Provider Update forms.
New flyer promoting the Family Information Service (FIS), Family Hubs and the Integrated Front Door (IFD) for parents/carers
Family Hubs have changed the way they hold parent/carer information, and they no longer need you to give out the previous Children and Family Centre registration forms as part of your welcome pack. However, the Family Information Service have created a handy flyer which can be printed for you to include instead and can be given to all new parents/carers.
This flyer includes information on:
- areas of support which FIS can help parents with,
- the different services available at Family Hubs, and
- how to contact the IFD.
The flyer can be found here.
Network Meetings
Thank you to those of you who attended the recent EYFS Leader Network Meetings. It was great to see so many of you again in the room for these meetings and thank you to those of you who joined online too. You can find a copy of the slides used at the meetings here.
West Sussex Disability Register
West Sussex County Council collects information about children and young people aged 0-25 with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) to help plan and deliver their services.
Who can sign up to the register? Young people between 0 and 25 years old who have a disability. By a disability we mean:
- Something that has a big effect on your day to day life.
- Every day things might take more time, effort, planning or support.
- You might need to do things differently or need more help than most other people your age.
- Something you live with for life or have had for a long time.
Parents, carers, and young people can complete the online form now to join the register. Once registered they can collect a Max Card from their local library which offers discounts on national attractions. Please share this information and encourage any families that you work with to sign up. You can get in touch with the Disability Register Team if you have any questions or queries.
The ShREC Approach
The aim of the ShREC approach is to provide early years professionals with a simple and memorable set of specific evidence informed strategies that can be embedded into everyday practice. ShREC stands for:
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Share Attention |
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Respond |
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Expand |
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Conversation |
The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) has created a blog, written by EEF Early Years Specialist Fliss James, explaining how the ShREC approach can be used by early years practitioners to engage young child in high quality interactions to support their Communication and Language development. You can find out more by reading the blog and by watching this video.
New Foundation Years vodcast on online safety
Foundation Years is pleased to share with you our latest vodcast taking a look at the topic of online safety in the early years. In our ever-increasing digital world, young children have access to devices, both at home and in early years settings. This often causes concern over the amount of screen time young children have, the negative impact of this and the risks associated with young children using devices.
Safety resources for autumn events
The Child Accident prevention trust has produced safety guidance around autumn events, highlighting risks around flammable costumes, sparklers, fireworks, road safety and button batteries. They also provide guidance on what to do in an emergency.
A PDF download is available for early years settings and you may wish to share other resources via your own newsletter for parents.
Anti-Bullying Week - 14-18 November
Anti-Bullying Week 2022 is coordinated in England and Wales by the Anti-Bullying Alliance. It will take place from 14 to 18 November 2022 and has the theme Reach Out. The week will kick off with Odd Socks Day on Monday 14 November, where adults and children wear odd socks to celebrate what makes us all unique. You can find more information and resources on the Anti-Bullying website.
Early Years Training
Working with Children who have English as an Additional Language (Webinar) Suitable for any setting that may be fortunate to have children growing up learning more than one language. You will examine the needs of children learning a new language and the emotional impact on learning and development. You will explore ways to feel confident in working in partnership with EAL families. It costs £26 per place.
- Saturday 19 November - 9:30am to 12:30pm - EYT 22/2013
- Wednesday 1 February - 9:30am to 12:30pm - EYT 23/292
Story Stuff – Impromptu Story Making (Webinar) This practical and innovative course explores approaches to connecting with a rich vein of imagination and story creation by using children’s fascinations and experiences. Everyday items and simple props will be considered as triggers to enhance play, interactions and expressive language.
- Tuesday 22 November 09.30am to 12.30pm - EYT 22/2449 - £26 per place
Best for Boys (Webinar) This 5½-hour online Zoom webinar is for anyone working in Early Years and will support you in exploring how to effectively support boys' well-being, learning and achievement, the impact of adult unconscious bias and attitudes, the right conditions needed for boys to excel and the role of the adult in making this happen.
- Wednesday 23 November 09.30am to 3.00pm - EYT 22/2453 - £52 per place
To book any of these courses, search for the course code on the Learning and Development Gateway. If you have any questions, please email early.years.training@westsussex.gov.uk.
- 9 NOV - Portal opens for FE Estimates
- 25 NOV - Portal closed for FE Estimates
- w/c 9 DEC - FE Estimate payments due
- 31 DEC - Sufficiency for Autumn term deadline
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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#238 (Safeguarding focus: disclosure and barring service; safe to play launch; road safety week; updated health protection guidance; energy bill relief scheme survey; early years funding boost; SEND newsletter; assessment course; - Ofsted blog - committee run childcare; support with the cost of living)
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#237 (Input into our Early Years strategy; autumn actuals payment expected; 2 year old funding criteria extended to include all families with no recourse to public funds; retaining and recruiting practitioners; business focus; launch of seasonal flu and COVID-19 vaccinations programmes; early years food and nutrition survey; early years professional development programme - phase 3; support for early years settings from the experts and mentors programme; EYFS reforms One Year On conference; I CAN is now Speech and Language UK)
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#236 (Government's energy support scheme; starting school questionnaire; wrap around childcare for armed forces families; network meetings; early years designated lead forum; virtual school website; inclusion courses; home learning environment campaign launched; new blog on the early years experts and mentors programme)
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#235 (Starting school applications; Ofsted roadshows; new foundation years vodcast and blog; autumn term network meetings; updated contact details for SAT EY SEND transition teachers)
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#234 (Safeguarding focus: safer recruitment - guidance on online searches of shortlisted candidates; childcare survey deadline approaching; committee run provision; introduction to specialist advisory teachers - EY SEND transitions; Ofsted education recovery series; respiratory outbreaks and prevention and control webinar; pre-school immunisations; HAF summer feedback)
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