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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 December 2022
Rise in Scarlet Fever
In a weekly broadcast back in September, #232, we alerted you to the rise in cases of Scarlet Fever. However, as you may well have seen in the national news this rise is above the national average. To provide up to date information, there is a letter for settings from West Sussex County Council, containing links to useful resources, and a letter to be provided to parents/carers. Your support in sharing this information and advice with families is much appreciated.
Met Office Cold Weather Warning Level 3 from 06.00pm 7 December to 09.00am 12 December 2022
There is a 90% probability of severe cold weather and icy conditions between 06.00pm on Wednesday 7 December and 09.00am on Monday 12 December in parts of England. This weather could increase the health risks to vulnerable groups and disrupt the delivery of services. Please refer to your setting's Cold Weather/Emergency Plan. You can view the full warning at the Met Office Cold Weather Alert website.
Spring term Extended Free Entitlement (FE) claims - 30 hour code deadline reminder
In order for children to access an Extended FE place in the Spring term, please advise eligible parents to:
- apply in good time to ensure they have their 30 hours code by 31 December 2022: www.westsussex.gov.uk/freechildcare;
- log in to their childcare account to check their details are up to date, and reconfirm their eligibility by 31 December 2022: gov.uk/sign-in-childcare-account;
- contact the HMRC helpline if they are experiencing issues applying or reconfirming on 0300 1234 097.
Checking 30 hour codes are valid for Spring term:
- To check a code is valid for Spring term use the online eligibility checker and view our helpful video guide for step by step guidance.
- The code ‘start date’ must be before 1 January 2023 and the ‘Grace period end date’ covers the Spring term 2023.
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Codes which are applied for, or reconfirmed after 31 December 2022 will not be valid for Spring term.
Please note, where a parent no longer meets the eligibility criteria for 30 hours, and their child is already in a 30 hours place at your setting, they can continue to access their funded place for the duration of the code’s grace period. If you have any queries, please email free.entitlement@westsussex.gov.uk or phone the Family Information Service on 01243 777807.
Sufficiency updates - deadline approaching
This is a reminder to submit sufficiency information for your setting. The final deadline for submission for the summer term is 31 December 2022.
Sufficiency information is required from all day nurseries, pre-schools, childminders, out of school care provision, breakfast clubs and holiday playschemes once per term. Step by step guidance on submitting your Sufficiency information on the Online Provider Portal can be found here. We have also created a guidance video which you can view if you require further guidance on how to submit.
Please note that the termly submission of Sufficiency information is a requirement for all providers and is needed to allow us to display your setting’s information on the Family Information Service website. Failure to submit can lead to your setting’s removal from the publicly available list. In addition, termly submission is a condition of offering Free Entitlement as per the Provider Declaration 1 April 2022 – 31 March 2023, item 4.2 and therefore mandatory.
Consultation on criteria for the Level 3 Early Years Educator qualification
The Department for Education (DfE) has launched a public consultation on the revised criteria for the Level 3 Early Years Educator qualification criteria, part of the Early Years Education Recovery Package programme. The consultation is now live. The DfE commissioned NCFE to review the current criteria and make recommendations for updates. You can read their report, setting out their methodology and recommendations, via the consultation site.
The DfE would very much welcome the views of yourselves/your organisations as part of this consultation – and for membership organisations, those of your members too. The consultation will run until 23 January 2023, and the final criteria will be published in Spring. If you have any views or questions on the consultation please write to EYELevel3Criteria.ConsultationResponses@education.gov.uk.
Flu vaccination information for Early years providers
Nationally, there is a drive to get more young children vaccinated against Flu. To help understand the benefits and inform parents, here are some useful resources to help promote the flu vaccination to families. There is an information guide for parents, information for practitioners and a poster to display in your setting.
Have your say on proposed changes to Worthing primary school places
Data shows there are currently over 1,500 surplus places amongst primary schools in Worthing and Durrington, so around 17% of all available places are currently unfilled. Schools have to plan their resources and staffing levels on the number of pupils they have, and because schools are mostly funded by the government per pupil, fluctuating and lower numbers of pupils creates significant difficulties for school leaders.
To address this issue, West Sussex County Council have been working with all schools in the area since last year. Collectively they have produced some draft proposals and are now in a position to share these proposals with Worthing and the wider community so people can help shape education locally. You can read the consultation and give your views here. The consultation runs from 28 November 2022 until 20 January 2023.
- W/C 5 DEC - FE Estimate payments due
- 31 DEC - Sufficiency for Autumn term deadline
- 3 JAN 23 - Portal opens for Early Years Census
- 4 JAN 23 - Portal opens for Spring headcount claims
- 19 JAN 23 - Spring Headcount day
- 27 JAN 23 - Portal closes for Spring headcount claims
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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#243 (Safeguarding focus: safe arrivals and departures; safer sleep in winter; safeguarding training; spring term courses; support for families with English as an additional language; starting school questionnaire; invest4 grant fund; national professional qualification in early years leadership; casting long shadows - new report from the first 1001 days movement; foundation years vodcast on improving the home learning environment; opportunity to help develop support for children with SEND; SEND and inclusion newsletter)
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#242 (Final reminder - FE spring term estimates; post headcount/exceptional payment requests; local offer information; supporting parents with childcare costs; HAF programme; EYPDP - phase three; first early years stronger practice hubs announced; best start in life review; measuring wellbeing in early years settings; five to thrive essentials; a look at dynamic displays)
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#241 (Childcare survey results; termly childcare provider update form; drones and education settings; DfE childminder mentor programme; DfE EY SENCO training; new foundation years blog; intermediate child development)
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#240 (Get involved in our early years strategy; FE spring term estimates open; starting school applications reminder; deadline for spring term pandemic recovery support; level 3 inclusive practice course; winter HAF; home learning environment resources and campaign; specialist advisory teachers referrals; assessment in the revised EYFS; West Sussex libraries)
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#239 (Early years education recovery programme; contacting your EYCA team; online provider portal feedback form; new flyer to replace CFC registration form in welcome packs; network meetings; West Sussex disability register; the SrHEC approach; new vodcast on online safety; safety resources for autumn; anti-bullying week; early years training)
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