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 1 February 2023
Information from DfE regarding school strikes
Further to our special broadcast sent last week, 26/01/23, we received the following email from the Department for Education (DfE):
"In the event of a strike, the Department for Education expects the managers, principals or headteachers of all early years settings and maintained nursery schools to take all reasonable steps to keep their setting or nursery school open for as many children as possible.
Our statutory guidance (paragraph A4.37) is clear that local authorities should ensure providers are not penalised through withdrawal of funding for short term closures of a setting for reasons beyond their control. Therefore, provided that providers have made all reasonable efforts to remain open, they should not be penalised for having to close as a result of staff absence. However, providers should be mindful of the impact on parents if they close, and should be confident they can still provide the total number of hours parents agreed with the provider in their parental declaration."
If you have any questions or require assistance, please contact the Early Years Funding Team on 01243 777807 and ask for the Specialist Team, or email free.entitlement@westsussex.gov.uk.
Possible business opportunity in East Grinstead
We are sharing a possible business opportunity to take on early years provision in the former Children and Family Centre site in East Grinstead. Please note that the premises may only be used for early years care of children up to 5 years old and cannot be used for any other purpose. Any provider wishing to explore this opportunity should ensure they seek appropriate legal advice as well as carrying out due diligence in terms of business planning and cash flow forecasting.
You can find further information here and please direct any questions about the opportunity to the marketing agent, Crickmays. Following this, should you require support from an Early Years and Childcare Advisor, you can request new business support here.
Helping young children to think about race
Racism can present itself in different ways in a young child’s life. A child may have direct or indirect experiences of racism, but the impact can be felt all the same.
For early years practitioners, it can be difficult to talk about race and racism, especially if you have never experienced it or talked about it yourself. A Helping young children to think about race in the early years resource has been written by Dr Pamela Hamilton and Dr Bisi Showunmi, two Child Psychologists who work in Hackney. The purpose of the booklet is to:
- highlight the various ways that race and racism impact children in the early years,
- introduce the idea of racial socialisation and how it supports child development,
- start to think about ways to support racial socialisation in the early years, and
- identify some ways to facilitate your journey in supporting racial socialisation in your setting.
You can view and download the booklet Helping young children to think about race in the early years to use in your setting.
Employment Allowance
Employment Allowance allows eligible employers to reduce their annual National Insurance liability by up to £5,000. Furthermore, this can be claimed for up to four previous tax years.
You can claim Employment Allowance if you are a business or charity (including community amateur sports clubs) and your employers’ Class 1 National Insurance liabilities were less than £100,000 in the previous tax year. Please use the links to check if your setting can benefit from this.
Open letter from The Princess of Wales
This week, The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood will launch a major new awareness raising campaign, highlighting the critical importance the first five years of our lives have on shaping the adults we become.
You will also find an open letter from The Princess of Wales - Centre for Early Childhood explaining why this is so crucial.
Education Endowment Foundation Resources
The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), are working to increase their focus on the early years, so that professionals working in the sector feel empowered to use evidence to their advantage.
In February, they will be releasing a new suite of resources designed to summarise and exemplify key lessons from the best-available research in an accessible and engaging format. You can register for early years updates from the EEF.
Improve your Learning Environments
The environment plays a key role in supporting and extending children’s development and learning. Enabling environments encourage children to play because they feel emotionally safe and physically secure. These two courses will support your setting to audit and improve your learning environment. They are suitable for any level of practitioner and are £26 per place.
Developing high quality learning environments for 2 year olds (Webinar) explores the key features of an effective and high quality learning environment for 2 year olds. Discover practical ways to provide stimulating and challenging experiences. Reflect on current practice to identify strengths and areas for development.
- Thursday 9 February – 9.30am to 12.30pm - EYT 23/290
Roots to Resilience - making your outdoor provision outstanding (Webinar) explores self-regulation and wellbeing outdoors. You will learn and share ideas for excellence in outdoor play. This course is linked with the EYFS Personal, Social and Emotional Development (PSED) aims and outdoor play.
- Tuesday 7 March – 1.30pm to 5pm - EYT 23/327
To book, search for the course code on the Learning and Development Gateway. If you have any questions, please email early.years.training@westsussex.gov.uk.
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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#250 (Safeguarding focus - Martyn's law and learning from safeguarding reviews. FE funding rates for 2023/24; spring term headcount and Census deadline approaching; current high call volumes; support for early years providers; Ofsted release new research and guide; early years professional development programme; training for INCO/SENCOs)
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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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