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 8 March 2023
Free Entitlement Summer Term Estimates Now Open
The Online Provider Portal (OPP) is open for you to submit your Summer Term estimates for Free Entitlement (FE) 2, 3 and 4 Year Olds: www.westsussex.gov.uk/ecsportal.
- Headcount Day for Summer Term is 4 May 2023.
- The deadline for estimate submissions is 24 March 2023.
- Payments are scheduled to be received by providers week commencing 3 April 2023.
If, after viewing the guidance available on our website you require further support, in the first instance please email free.entitlement@westsussex.gov.uk, or phone the Family Information Service on 01243 777807.
30 hour codes - Summer Term Deadline
In order for children to access an Extended FE place in the Summer Term, please advise eligible parents to:
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apply now to ensure they have their 30 hours code by 31 March 2023 - 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 March 2023 - gov.uk/sign-in-childcare-account,
- contact the HMRC helpline if they are experiencing issues applying or reconfirming on 0300 1234 097.
The online eligibility checker is always available to check a child’s 30 hours code is valid for the upcoming term. If, after viewing the guidance available on our website you have any questions, please email free.entitlement@westsussex.gov.uk. In order for us to deal with your query effectively, please ensure that you include the following details in your email:
- Child's Name
- Child's Date of Birth
- 30 hours code
- Parent's Name
- Parent's National Insurance number
Please remember, parents must apply/reconfirm their eligibility by the above deadline in order for their code to be valid for Summer Term.
Holiday Activity and Food programme - Bookings now open
The Holiday Activity and Food (HAF) Programme is fully funded by the Department for Education and offers children who are entitled to benefits-related free school meals the opportunity to attend a participating holiday activity club and have a free meal. We have a wide variety of clubs spread across the county.
Eligible children can attend their chosen HAF provision for a maximum of four days per week for one week at Easter, four weeks during the summer and one week at Christmas. More information can be found on our website. Booking is currently open for the Easter holidays and parents can search for a provider using the Family Information Service website.
Holiday Activity and Food programme (HAF) funding and providers
Providers interested in offering HAF places for eligible children can place a ‘bid’, known as an expression of interest, for HAF funding. This can be done each holiday during the allocated time, or one bid can be made for all three holidays.
Expression of interest is open for one month in December, March and September. Exact dates will be shared via these broadcasts. Providers will be required to share details of their activity plans, meal plans, insurance and policies and procedures. Following checks of all necessary paperwork, expressions of interest are then considered by a panel at WSCC and then all interested parties are contacted with details.
Funding is paid directly to providers, sometimes in two parts 75% in advance followed by 25% on delivery, who can then offer the allocated amount of HAF spaces to eligible children. Every child who is eligible for HAF will have a unique HAF code which they will need to make a booking.
Expression of Interest for 2023 are open from 1 March 2023 until 2nd of April 2023 and then again from 1 September 2023 until 1 October 2023. For more information and to place an expression of interest please click here. If you would like to discuss your bid before you submit, or if you have any general enquiries, you can contact us on haf@westsussex.gov.uk.
Updated Ofsted web pages
Ofsted has recently updated some of their web pages which may be of use, particularly for childminders, committee members or those in a governance position:
Early Years Professional Development Programme - Phase three
Building on the success of phases one and two, phase three of the Professional Development Programme was launched on 6 February. Cohort one sees around 2000 early years practitioners from across England now benefiting from a high quality CPD programme delivered through online self-study and regular facilitated webinars. Areas covered include:
- early communication and language,
- early mathematics, and
- personal, social and emotional development.
Expressions of interest are now open for cohort two which starts in September 2023. If you are a qualified Level 3 practitioner or childminder working with disadvantaged children aged 2-4 you can find more information on the programme. To express interest please discuss with your setting manager and apply through the website.
Home learning environment: new online resources and communications campaign
In October, new online resources were published to encourage parents to chat, play and read more with their children, since evidence shows that the home learning environment is crucial in boosting children’s language and social and emotional development in the early years.
These resources expand the NHS’s Better Health Start for Life website with evidence-based, detailed, yet accessible, materials for parents on fun learning activities they can do with children at every stage between birth and 5 years old.
A month-long family-facing communications campaign gave families ideas to try during February half-term, focusing on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest, as well as collaboration with Instagram influencers.
This work is supported by materials for early years professionals and other stakeholders to use in their everyday interactions with families that might benefit from support. If you would like to get involved in the campaign, please contact HLE.COALITION@education.gov.uk.
The Daily Mile
The Department for Education are working with our partners over at The Daily Mile Foundation to encourage as many early years providers as possible to take part in The Daily Mile. The concept is simple - children run, jog, walk, wheel or ‘toddle’ in the fresh air for 15 minutes a day, improving physical development and personal, social and emotional development which are two of the prime areas of learning in the Early Years Foundation Stage. You can find out more, access free resources (including set-up guidance), and watch a video from an early years setting doing The Daily Mile. You can also sign-up to The Daily Mile (for free) and receive a free welcome pack in the post.
New evidence-based resources to support the early years sector from Education Endowment Foundation
The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) has launched a suite of evidence-based resources dedicated to the early years sector. These resources are designed to support early years professionals by providing insights about which approaches are likely to improve learning and development outcomes, as well as support to implement approaches in your settings.
The re-launched Early Years Toolkit summarises findings from the best available international evidence and is designed to support early years professionals to use their resources to improve learning outcomes for their children. The Toolkit includes evidence on ten topics, including parental engagement and language and communication. For each topic, it presents an average impact in a months progress, alongside information on cost and the strength of the evidence base. The brand-new Early Years Evidence Store, developed to support the Department for Education’s Stronger Practice Hubs, explains and illustrates how different evidence-informed approaches can be put into practice with children in early years settings.
Department for Education launches new online Early Years Child Development Training
Further to information included in our broadcast #253 this is just a reminder about the newly launched Early Years Child Development Training. The government would love as many early years practitioners, childminders, and school-based nursery teachers as possible to be aware of the training.
- 6-20 Mar - Portal open for Summer Estimates
- 31 Mar - Spring term Sufficiency deadline (all providers)
- 4 May - Summer Term Headcount Day
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 EYCA team 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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#254 (Meeting the needs of international new arrivals; green business newsletter; early years training)
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#253 (Notice of planned downtime, Additional Bank Holiday, Ofsted update, Early years child development training, Government Education Committee review, Portage home visiting service, music training course)
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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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