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Broadcast for Early Years and childcare providers in West Sussex from West Sussex County Council
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Wednesday 25 January 2023
Martyn's Law
In December 2022 the Government announced details of 'Martyn's Law' in tribute of Martyn Hett, who was killed alongside 21 others in the 2017 Manchester Arena terrorist attack. Martyn's Law will keep people safe, enhancing our national security and reducing the risk to the public from terrorism by the protection of public venues including education and early years settings. The legislation will ensure those responsible for certain locations are prepared, ready to respond and know what to do in the event of a terrorist attack.
Proportionality is a fundamental consideration for Martyn’s Law. Therefore, a tiered model will be established consisting of a ‘standard’ tier and an ‘enhanced’ tier. The Department for Education (DfE) and the Home Office agree that the existing safety and safeguarding policies in place at most educational settings are sufficient to warrant special consideration. In recognition of these existing measures such sites, including early years settings, will be placed into the standard tier regardless of their occupancy.
The DfE is working with the Home Office on the development of legislation to clarify what this will mean for the early years sector. The Home Office factsheet on Martyn’s law gives more information. Expert advice, training and guidance is already available on the online protective security hub, ProtectUK.
If you have any questions of queries relating to the Protect Duty, or would like to be involved in a stakeholder engagement event as the legislation develops, please contact: dfe.protectandprepare@education.gov.uk.
Learning from Safeguarding Reviews
Following serious safeguarding incidents, including cases which sadly result in child deaths, West Sussex engages with a range of professionals to identify learning and potential changes needed to avoid similar situations occurring in the future. A recent review identified a number of themes that early years providers need to be aware of to ensure they are carrying out their role in safeguarding children as effectively as possible.
Please read this information sheet and reflect on your practice in settings to ensure you are giving the most effective support to children and families.
Deadline Approaching - Submit your Free Entitlement Spring Term Headcount and Early Years Census now!
A reminder that the Online Provider Portal (OPP) is open for you to submit your FE claims for 2, 3 and 4 year olds. If you are claiming for at least one child this term, you must also complete the Early Years Census form as well.
Please refer to Setting Update #247 for further guidance.
- Headcount day: Thursday 19 January 2023
- Deadline for submission: 11.59pm Friday 27 January 2023
If you have any queries please email freeentitlement@westsussex.gov.uk
Free Entitlement Funding Rates 2023/24
During the summer of 2022 the Department for Education (DfE) undertook a consultation on reforms to the Early Years National Funding Formulae (EYNFF). The consultation sought views on proposals to update the underlying data which distributes funding for 3 and 4 year olds, and the parallel 2 year old formula.
The government response to the consultation was published in December 2022 alongside the new DSG funding rates for next year. Following subsequent financial modelling, the following rates for 2023/24 were approved by the Schools Forum on 19 January 2023:
- 3 and 4 year old base rate - £4.97 per hour (an increase of £0.25).
- 2 year old base rate - £6.04 per hour (an increase of £0.57).
- Early Years Pupil Premium - £0.62 per universal hour for eligible children (an increase of £0.02).
- Deprivation Supplement - £0.47 per universal hour for eligible children (unchanged). This will give a combined EYPP/deprivation rate increase to £1.09 per universal hour.
- Disability Access Fund - £828 per year for eligible children (an increase of £28).
The Indicative Budgets for your setting will be shared with you mid-March. These revised rates will commence from the start of the summer term 2023.
Current High Call Volumes
The Family Information Service and Early Years Funding Teams make use of West Sussex County Council's (WSCC) Customer Service Centre to handle around 75% of our calls from parents and practitioners, transferring the more tricky or in-depth questions to the specialist teams to deal with.
Currently the Customer Service Centre is experiencing a very high volume of calls across all service areas, which means that there may be a long wait to be connected to support. To avoid a long time on hold, you may wish to do the following:
Check our webpages. We have a lot of our standard information available on our website:
If your query can not be answered through the information online, please email the team at:
In order to answer your query as quickly and fully as possible, please include as much detail in your email. For example if you have a query about a particular child, please ensure that you include the child's initials and date of birth. Your help with this will enable us to respond to your queries in a more timely and effective manner.
Support for Early Years Providers
The help for early years providers page of the government website contains a wealth of information. For example, there is useful advice on reducing paperwork so you have more time to focus on areas such as sensory food education.
The Foundation Years team are starting to plan online and face-to-face events for 2023 and would like to hear from you. Please email any ideas to Kate Haythornthwaite at kate@hempsalls.com. For inspiration and bite-sized continuing professional development, you could read recent articles on the Early Education website:
The Early Education website also hosts lots of information and guidance, including on using play to help with learning mathematics. Early Education is running a free event on 2 February on Early years leadership development in the context of the workforce crisis to hear from Dr Mona Sakr about the findings of her recent research for leadership development training in the early years sector.
Ofsted release new research and guide
Following on from the release of their five year strategy, including the Best Start in Life, Ofsted have published:
Their ‘curriculum roadshows’ will continue in 2023, focusing on communication and language. Event details will be shared in a future broadcast. Ofsted also launched their early years blog last year. You can subscribe here to read regular blogs throughout 2023.
Early Years Professional Development Programme
The information about eligible settings in West Sussex has now been shared with the Education Development Trust. If you are interested in taking part in the programme, please look for the email, which may go into your setting's junk mail folder. Alternatively, you can register your interest here. For more information about the programme please see the website. To take part in the programme this term, please register your interest by Friday 3 February 2023.
Early Years Training for INCO/SENCOs
Are you new to the INCO/SENCO role or simply wish to enhance your skill set? If so, the courses below represent cost effective and interesting training options. If you have questions about these or other courses related to the role, please email early.years.training@westsussex.gov.uk. To book, please visit the Learning and Development Gateway and search for the course by typing the EYT code.
Exploring inclusive practice (Webinar) considers models of inclusion and gaining an overview of vulnerable groups with a focus on factors that can affect their progress. You will be given audit tools to discover how your setting is doing regarding inclusive practice and provision. You will also have an opportunity to discuss practice with colleagues to generate ideas to implement within your setting. The cost is £52 per place.
- Wednesday 1 February – 9.30am to 3.00pm - EYT 23/278
Working with Vulnerable Families in Early Years (Webinar) is a two-part course which seeks to raise awareness and understanding around working with vulnerable families with children aged 0-14 years. It focuses on identifying needs, achieving reach and working with other professionals and agencies for better outcomes for children. The course offers strategies and explores the impact that high quality provision can have on achievement and the home learning environment. The cost is £52 per place.
- Wednesday 1 and 8 March - 9.30am to 12.30pm - EYT 23/293
The Role of the Inclusion Coordinator (Webinar) is a two-part course suitable for those new to the role or seeking a refresher. The course clarifies the expectations of the role and how this looks within the setting. You will explore current and effective practice and consider skills that might be needed. You will learn techniques to plan and execute successful parent/carer meetings. There will be opportunities for group discussions and idea sharing. The cost is £52 per place.
- Wednesday 15 and Thursday 16 March - 10.00am to 1.30pm - EYT 23/329
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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#249 (Important changes to the inclusion funding process; business planning; DfE free leadership training; EYPDP places for February '23; training to support children with hearing impairments; EYFS leaders networks)
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#248 (Final reminder - starting school applications; checking eligibility for 2 year old FE; transition events; early years training)
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#247 (Mandatory Census 2023 and Free Entitlement actuals; FE funding rates 23/24; last chance to apply for HAF funding; school applications deadline 15/01/23; DfE childminder mentor programme; learning and development gateway replacement; level 3 qualification consultation; new training courses this term)
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#246 (Safeguarding focus: staff supervision and LADO e-learning module. Early years census 2023 - advance notice; early years training update - January courses)
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