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Broadcast for Early Years and childcare providers in West Sussex from West Sussex County Council
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Wednesday 15 February 2023
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.
Additional bank holiday 2023
As you will be aware, an additional bank holiday will take place on the 8 May 2023 to celebrate the coronation of King Charles III. As with other bank holidays, it is at the discretion of individual settings whether they close or stay open. There would be no government expectation for early years and childcare settings to remain open on the bank holiday. Settings will not be penalised for closing as a result of the additional bank holiday, as is currently the case with other bank holidays. However, providers should be mindful of the impact on parents if they choose to close, and should be confident they can still provide the total number of hours parents agreed with the provider in their parental declaration. We recommend that you start to think through your plans and share this information with parents as soon as possible.
Ofsted Update
Ofsted have updated their guidance on applying to Ofsted when taking up a governance position in a day care organisation, or if someone starts living or working in a home where day care takes place. The update includes new information about caring for children whilst awaiting a suitability letter. You can read the guidance here.
Department for Education launches early years child development training
The Department for Education has launched a free online child development training course aimed at childminders, nursery practitioners and nursery managers.
The flexible online course:
- has been developed in consultation with early years experts
- has been tested with early years practitioners and experts, and refined based on feedback
- gives practical advice for supporting children in early years settings
- reinforces understanding through videos, learning check questions and end of module tests
- allows users to pause and restart the training at any time
- offers the chance to download certificates of achievement for each module
The training is free and the first 4 modules are available now. These modules cover child and brain development, PSED as well as communication and language. Further modules will be added throughout 2023. To find out more about the training and enrol, please use this link.
Government Education Committee - discussing the early years and childcare sector
A group of Members of Parliament (MPs) called the Education Committee are looking into support for childcare and the early years.
The Education Committee is a cross-party group of MPs that look into the work of the Department for Education, covering children's social care, schools, colleges, the early years and higher education. You can find out more about the committee on their website and follow them on Twitter for updates on its work.
The issues the Committee is currently considering include:
- How affordable and easy to understand the provision of childcare in England is currently
- Whether current entitlements are providing parents and carers with sufficient childcare
- The workforce challenges faced by early years providers
- Whether the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) system is meeting the needs of pupils with Special Educational Needs or Disabilities (SEND)
The Committee is going to conduct 'evidence sessions' where they will hear from experts in the sector and representatives from the Government.
An 'evidence session' is a hearing where MPs ask key experts, such as Ministers or campaigners, questions on a particular topic. These experts are called 'witnesses' and they help MPs to gain a deeper understanding of the topic.
Following the evidence sessions, the Committee will then consider all the evidence it has gathered and publish a report of its findings with recommendations to the Government on any changes that might be needed.
For more information about the inquiry, visit the Committee's inquiry page. You may find it interesting to watch a previous meeting held on 31 January 2023.
Portage Home Visiting Service
Portage is a home visiting educational service for very young children with significant support needs from birth. Other children are referred later as their needs are identified. They provide support for families by working alongside parents offering practical help and ideas to encourage a child’s emerging skills.
Details of how to contact Portage, and make a referral, can be found on the Local Offer. Or you can find out more about the day in the life of a Portage Home Visitor in this article.
Enhance your music provision
The development of children’s artistic and cultural awareness and supporting children’s imagination and creativity, including through music development, is an important part of the early years curriculum. This type of learning naturally resonates with the EYFS Framework area Expressive Arts and Design and other areas including communication skills, mathematics, and cultural awareness.
Enable Children have developed Playful Percussion, a fun and accessible course to support your practitioners to feel confident to lead percussion sessions. Your children will benefit by building an awareness of rhythm, developing listening and communication skills and having a great time. Places are £26 and instruments will be provided for use during the session.
- Wednesday 22 February – 9.30am to 12.30pm - Aldingbourne Country Centre, near Chichester - EYT 22/1897
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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#252 (Advanced notice of planned downtime; financial planning for 2023/24; updated Ofsted web pages; DfE COVID-19 recovery childminder mentor programme; DfE funded webinars from NASEN; guidelines for management of Scarlet Fever outbreaks; SEND and inclusion newsletter)
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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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