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.
Newsletter for Early Years and childcare providers in West Sussex
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Wednesday 27 September 2023
Safe sleep guidance
Ensuring that children are safe while they sleep is just as important as caring for their wellbeing while they are awake. Some settings have been deemed inadequate by Ofsted in instances where practitioners have not been following the latest safe sleep guidance. It is vital that your settings sleep policies ensure that practitioners are aware of the risks of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and of the steps that can be taken to help reduce them.
The Lullaby Trust have a Safe Sleep Awareness Guide for early years professionals that clearly details current safe sleep practices. Please read the guidance to ensure your current safe sleep procedures and practices are compliant. The Lullaby Trust also has a wide range of resources and information that you can share with families in your setting.
Section 3.60 of the Statutory Framework outlines requirements that should be met when children are sleeping. Although the guidance does not stipulate ratios when it comes to sleeping children, it is important that settings consider how all sleeping children would be cared for, and ratios met, in an emergency such as an evacuation. If your setting cares for children under 6 months it is also important to note that The Lullaby Trust advises that babies under 6 months of age should be in the same room as an adult for all sleep periods.
Additional Information:
A 10 step guide to sharing information to safeguard children
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has published new guidance to address concerns that frontline workers may be scared to share information for fear of breaching data protection laws. The guide has been developed to be a simple and practical resource aimed at people involved in safeguarding children at all levels. It has a clear central message that where individuals are worried about the safety of children they should share information to protect them. It emphasises that the ICO will not penalise anyone who shares information about a child in good faith to protect them.
The guidance:
- is a practical 10 step guide on sharing information to safeguard children (and young people under 18),
- shows you how you can share information when necessary to safeguard a child or young person,
- dispels myths and helps you to overcome challenges about data sharing and data protection,
- is complementary to the data sharing code and data sharing page, and
- includes a message from the Information Commissioner.
You can read the guidance in full and find out more by visiting the ICO website.
Autumn Term 2023 Headcount submissions close this Friday
A reminder that the Online Provider Portal (OPP) is still open for you to submit your Free Entitlement (FE) claims for 2, 3 and 4 year olds. However, we advise you submit your claims as soon as possible as the OPP closes at 11.59pm Friday 29 September. Please refer to the recent Early Years Funding Newsletter for more information on how to claim correctly.
If you have no children to claim for this term we still ask that you log in and check your headcount information. We carry forward children’s details from the previous term, so you need to log in and remove any children's details that may have been carried forward. You can find useful guidance on how to do this on the FE estimates and actuals webpage. By removing children's details it will ensure you do not receive reminders from us about missing submissions.
Final reminder - Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) assessment support survey
In newsletter #283 we let you know about the Department for Educations survey seeking the views on assessment in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). The survey is available here and closes on Tuesday 3 October 2023.
Committee run provision registration requirements
At this time of year many committee run providers will be looking at recruiting new parents to the management committee. To ensure your committee run early years provision is correctly registered we have developed a useful flyer that outlines the requirements you must follow. Ofsted have written a useful blog post which provides further details on committee run provision.
National Deaf Children's Society - Early Years Networking Groups
The National Deaf Children's Society (NDCS) are inviting early years practitioners to attend and hear from experts in the field of deaf families’ social and emotional well-being. They are establishing UK-wide groups of practitioners who work with children in the early years and aim to host these networking groups four times a year to share knowledge, experience and good practice.
This is the third networking group of 2023 and will welcome Karen Hopkins, Executive Director of the Maine Educational Center for the Deaf in the US. Karen is deaf herself, a former Teacher of the Deaf, and Director of the Maine ‘Earliest Interactions’ team. She will be supported by families of deaf children who have kindly volunteered their time to share their experiences. The event is online and free to attend.
- Tuesday 17 October - 4.00pm to 5.15pm
You can find out more and register your place for the event by visiting the NDCS website.
Early Help - Supporting Families Networking Events
The Early Help Team would like to invite you to the upcoming Supporting Families Earliest Help Partnership Information and Networking Events. Events are being held around the county and you can book the location that best suits you. The events are free to attend and open to all professionals working with children and/or families. At the events there will be updated information about:
- Domestic Abuse Services,
- the new Integrated Front Door Referral Portal, and
- working with families where there are concerns around neglect.
There will also be a marketplace with networking opportunities after the main agenda.
- Thursday 2 November - 9.00am to 1.30pm - Crawley RH11 7EL - book here
- Monday 6 November - 9.00am to 1.30pm - Horsham RH12 1XH - book here
- Thursday 16 November - 9.00am to 1.30pm - Worthing BN13 1NP - book here
- Wednesday 22 November - 9.00am to 1.30pm - Littlehampton BN17 7DZ - book here
- Tuesday 28 November - 9.00am to 1.30pm - Burgess Hill RH15 9LR - book here
- Wednesday 6 December - 9.00am to 1.30pm - Chichester PO19 6BB - book here
Free Theraplay Informed Workshops - supporting children's personal, social and emotional development
The Virtual School have released new dates for their free Theraplay Informed Workshops. The workshops are for all early years professionals and are based on Theraplay activities and principles. The goal of Theraplay is to enhance attachment, self-esteem and trust in others through joyful engagement. It can support children's behaviour and emotional well-being by strengthening the adult-child relationship and is beneficial for all children, not just those with behavioural, emotional or developmental needs.
You can find out more about the workshops and upcoming dates in this flyer. Spaces are limited so we recommend you book your place as soon as possible. If you have any questions, please email Emma.hoare@westsussex.gov.uk.
Early Years Training
The Role of the Inclusion Coordinator (Webinar) is a two part course that explores what it means to be an inclusive setting and how this can be achieved for all children. It examines the role of the inclusion coordinator (INCO) and how to use local and national guidance to support all children. The key word for this course is "inclusion" and costs £54 per person.
- Thursday 05 October - 9.30am to 12.30pm
Thursday 12 October - 9.30am to 12.30pm
- Wednesday 24 January - 9.30am to 12.30pm
Wednesday 31 January - 9.30am to 12.30pm
Exploring Inclusive Practice (Webinar) is for all early years practitioners. It explores how to develop inclusive practice and provision in order to give children the best start in life. It will support you to reflect on yours and others attitudes towards inclusion in order to review provision and practice in your setting. The key word for this course is "inclusive" and costs £54 per person.
- Wednesday 18 October – 9.30am to 3.00pm
Early Years Inclusion Support Plan (e-learning) is for early years practitioners. It explores the specialist support and planning that you may need to put in place for a child attending your setting. It is a self-led module you can undertake at any time. The key word for this course is "inclusion" and is free.
Domestic Abuse Risk Assessment and Management: DASH and MARAC (Webinar) is for West Sussex County Council staff and external professionals (including Designated Safeguarding Leads) who work with children, young people, adults, and families to identify risk and respond to victims of domestic abuse. The aim of this webinar is to increase your use of the Domestic Abuse Stalking and Harassment (DASH) Risk Indicator Checklist and learn how to refer into the Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC) process. It will also consider the Domestic Homicide Timeline and how this relates to risk assessment and risk management. This course is free to attend.
- Tuesday 24 October - 9.30am to 2.30pm
To book log on to the Learning and Development Gateway and search for the relevant course using the corresponding key word. If you have any questions, please email early.years.training@westsussex.gov.uk.
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.
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.
We have a range of online training available for you to access for your staff to ensure they have the most up to date information to support them in their role:
- 29 Sep - Portal closes for Autumn term Actuals
- W/C 23 Oct - Autumn term Actuals payments due
- 31 Dec - Autumn term Sufficiency deadline
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#284 (Right from the Start - Early Years and Childcare Strategy; children's workforce guide to qualifications and training; listening to unheard children report; early help - support available at family hubs; gypsy, traveller, roma, showmen, boater cultural awareness training; ICON week 25 to 29 September; early years training)
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#283 (Inclusive practice in early years settings; Department for Education Covid-19 Recovery Programme; starting school applications; Transition Events 2024; Early Years Foundation Stage Assessment Support survey; final reminder - changes to Ofsted’s post-inspection arrangements; new fire safety legislation; reminder - submit your Termly Provider Update form and Sufficiency information; early years training)
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#282 (Free Entitlement Autumn term actuals - now open: introducing the Setting Support Phone line; new Targeted Setting Support form; Setting Review Meetings; fully-funded level 3 early years SENCO training; EYFS leaders networks; talking clearly - webinar)
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#281 (Advanced notice of planned downtime; final reminder - submission of sufficiency information; cash flow management; Tiny Happy People Champion training; childhood immunisations campaign - back to nursery resources; new Foundation Years vodcast - EYFS changes from September; early years training)
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#280 (Warning - Online Provider Portal downtime; Early Talk Boost programme from Kent Stronger Practice Hub; Foundation Years online event; East Sussex early years conference; early years safeguarding training)
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