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Broadcast for Early Years and childcare providers in West Sussex from West Sussex County Council
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Wednesday 8 February 2023
Advance notice of planned downtime
Please be advised that the Online Provider Portal (OPP) will be unavailable between Monday 20 February and Tuesday 21 February 2023 whilst we upgrade our technology. Please note that parents and carers will not be able to submit 2 year old Free Entitlement applications on Tuesday 21 February, and our Family Information Service website will also be unavailable to the public on that day.
Financial Planning for 2023/24
As we head towards the new financial year, this can be a good time to reflect and review on the last 12 months. One important aspect of this should be to look back at your predicted cashflow for 2022/23 and compare to your actual cashflow.
- Were your predictions for income and expenditure similar to the actual income and expenditure?
- If not, which aspects were higher and lower and how will you use this information to support more accurate predictions moving forward?
- What, if any, unexpected costs did your business face? And do you have a contingency for these sorts of costs?
- Were the occupancy levels as expected? If they were lower/higher than planned, why was that?
- Can you identify any particular trends around where cash flow was lower/higher and how will you use this information for future planning?
- Are there any expenditures that you could review? For example, are there any subscriptions you aren't using? Do you have any auto renew annual policies that could be re-looked at for best value such as insurance?
- Can you confidently evidence how funding such as EYPP, DAF and Inclusion Funding were spent effectively and for the purpose they were intended?
- How will you use these reflections to support your planning for the next financial year?
- Who is aware of the financial information, and do all the necessary people have a clear financial picture such as Managers/Owners/Committee members/Trustees/Governors?
Please note, these are just some of the aspects you might like to reflect on, but this list in not exhaustive and each provider will be different.
The Free Entitlement rates for 2023/24 were announced in setting update #250 which should feed into your business planning and support you with future fee setting and calculating your break even figures.
Should you have any sustainability concerns, you can request Targeted Setting Support here, and more information around business planning and cash flow forecasting can be found here. As per the Provider Declaration, you must inform West Sussex County Council urgently as soon as you are aware that your provision has any current or anticipated sustainability issues, especially if there is the possibility of permanent closure.
Updated Ofsted web pages
Ofsted have recently updated some of their web pages that will be helpful for you to be aware of:
DfE Early Years Covid-19 Recovery Childminder Mentor Programme
The childminder mentor programme offers bespoke support to childminders across England. Experienced early years professionals will support childminders to help children recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes narrowing the gap between disadvantaged children and others.
Trained early years professionals will provide support to childminders in the roles of area lead and mentor. Area leads and mentors may support childminders to:
- identify strengths and areas for development,
- improve your confidence in or knowledge of child development,
- implement the early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework,
- plan an effective curriculum,
- support children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND),
- support children with English as an additional language (EAL), or
- build strong relationships with parents and carers.
Any childminders that would like to take part in this programme between May and July 2023, can self-refer to the programme by completing the Request for support application form by Friday 17 February 2023.
DfE funded webinars delivered by NASEN
The National Association For Special Educational Needs (NASEN) has been awarded funding to deliver two additional evening webinars.
Meeting the Needs of Every Child is a two hour webinar covering the following:
- Responsibilities of a PVI setting towards children with SEND.
- The role of the SENCO and the Key Person.
- The importance of the early identification of SEND.
- What effective inclusive practice looks like in a PVI setting.
- How to develop positive relationships with parents of children with SEND.
- NASEN's DfE-funded Early Years resources to support you in meeting the needs of all children in your setting.
Those who would benefit from this training include:
- Early Years practitioners in PVI settings,
- Childminders,
- new SENCOs,
- NQTs in mainstream Reception/ Nursery classes, or
- Teaching Assistants working in the Early Years Foundation Stage.
The webinars will be held on:
Guidelines for management of Scarlet Fever outbreaks
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) have now published guidelines for the Management of scarlet fever outbreaks. The guidelines are relevant for schools, nurseries and childcare settings.
SEND and Inclusion Newsletter February 2023
The latest SEND and Inclusion newsletter can be found here.
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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#251 (Information from DfE regarding school strikes; business opportunity in East Grinstead; helping young children to think about race; employment allowance; open letter from the Princess of Wales; improve your learning environments)
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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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