Newsletter for Early Years and Childcare providers in West Sussex
#293 - Wednesday 22 November 2023
This week's newsletter includes:
- Online Provider Portal downtime
- Final reminder - submit Spring Term Estimates
- Your view on renaming Free Entitlement for 2,3 and 4 year olds
- Invitation to join the Childcare Expansion Forum
- Early Years Capital Funding
- Reminder - consultation on the mandatory reporting on child sexual abuse
- Oral health promotion
- Kent Early Years Stronger Practice Hub newsletter
- Early Years Professional Development Programme
- Support from Early Years and Childcare Advisors when working with parents/carers
- Early Years Training - new payment system coming soon
- Early Years Training - booking and cancellation reminder
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Please be advised that the Online Provider Portal will be unavailable Thursday 23 November 2023 between 6.00pm and 10.00pm, whilst essential maintenance takes place. Please note, parents and carers will not be able to submit 2 year old Free Entitlement applications and our Family Information Service website will also be unavailable to the public during this time.
Final reminder - submit your Free Entitlement Spring Term Estimates
The Online Provider Portal is open for you to submit your Spring Term estimates for Free Entitlement 2, 3 and 4 Year Olds: www.westsussex.gov.uk/eycportal
- Headcount Day for Spring term is 18 January 2024.
- The deadline for estimate submissions is Friday 24 November 2023.
- Payments are scheduled to be received by providers week commencing 4 December 2023.
If you require further support, after viewing the guidance available on our website, please email free.entitlement@westsussex.gov.uk, or phone the Family Information Service on 01243 777807.
Your views on renaming Free Entitlement for 2, 3 and 4 Year Olds
The Department for Education (DfE) are expected to release new statutory guidance in January 2024 to expand the existing childcare offer known in West Sussex as ‘Free Entitlement (FE) for 2, 3 and 4 Year Olds’. Starting from April 2024, the existing childcare offer will be expanded in phases as follows:
- From April 2024, eligible working parents of 2 year olds will be able to access 15 hours FE.
- From September 2024, 15 hours will be extended to eligible working parents of children from the age of 9 months* to 3 year olds
- From September 2025, working parents of children under the age of 5 will be entitled to 30 hours of childcare a week.
Although the DfE have advised us that the fundamental rules around the FE offer will remain the same, in readiness to update our literature/branding to encompass the new offers, we really value your views on how the scheme can be referred to going forwards. Please vote by visiting the Early Years and Childcare project page.
The survey closes at 11.55pm on Friday 1 December 2023. We appreciate your time and feedback.
*Early indications show eligibility for this age group will be from the start of term following 9 months, however we must wait until the statutory guidance is published before confirming.
Invitation to join the Childcare Expansion Forum - We Need Your Voice!
Are you creative and passionate about Early Years? Would you like to work with the Local Authority to develop information, advice and support for providers and families around the childcare expansion in West Sussex?
If the answer is "yes", we invite you to apply to be part of our new Childcare Expansion Provider Forum. Please see the attached invitation for more details on how to apply. Deadline for applications is 6 December 2023.
Early Years Capital Funding
The Department for Education announced £100m of new national capital funding to support early years and wraparound care providers to increase their physical space (27 October 2023).
Details of how the £100m will be allocated have not yet been published. Once we know what has been allocated to West Sussex we will share more information via this newsletter, including the funding criteria and application processes in the Spring term.
Reminder - consultation on mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse
In newsletter #292 we let you know about the consultation launched by the Home Office to set out proposals for creating a mandatory reporting duty for child sexual abuse, and to test opinion on a small but significant number of undecided policy questions. The consultation is open until 30 November 2023. Please visit the consultation webpage to have your say.
Oral health promotion
The Oral Health Promotion (OHP) Team in West Sussex would like to deliver some oral health support to early years providers. For more information, including contact details, please see the OHP Team introduction flyer.
Kent Early Years Stronger Practice Hub (KEYSPH) newsletter
KEYSPH have shared a letter to provide you with more information about the programme and an opportunity for you to sign up to their mailing list.
Early Years Professional Development Programme (EYPDP)
In newsletter #287 we let you know that the Education Development Trust were recruiting practitioners to join cohort three of the EYPDP. There is still time to sign up to receive this fully funded training and there are still a few places left on cohort three, which starts in January 2024.
Once all of the places on cohort three have been filled, places for the fourth and final cohort will open. We anticipate the sign up for cohort four to open in December 2023. If you are unsure about taking part in the programme, you may wish to attend one of the free 45 minute Discovery Webinars, which are detailed in this leaflet.
Support from Early Years and Childcare Advisors (EYCAs) when working with parents/carers
Early years providers have a responsibility to work in partnership with parents/carers to support each child. Part of this role involves sharing their professional knowledge and having open and honest discussions in order to ensure that every child has access to the support they need. On occasions, these conversations can be challenging so it is important that practitioners are prepared and that they receive professional and emotional support within the setting.
Speech and Language UK have a professional development video and checklist which could support practitioners in preparing for meetings with parents. Although the video focuses on discussing a child's speech, language and communication development, the principles can be applied to other conversations. There is also a template for reflections and questions to support further professional development for individuals or it can be used for setting training.
The EYCA role is to support settings, rather than individual children and families. EYCAs are able to offer advice and guidance to support you in having conversations with parents. Where you need support, you can contact the setting support phone line. Please do not share EYCAs personal contact details with families unless that EYCA has given you specific permission to do so.
Early Years Training - new payment system coming soon
The Learning and Development team have been working hard to build a payment system for Early Years Training and Events. This system will enable settings to pay by card at the point of booking a course or event. We are hoping that this will be active and running by the beginning of the Spring term, at the latest. More information regarding the system, including the launch date and additional support that will be available to navigate the new scheme, will be shared with you prior to its launch.
The Learning and Development team will soon be contacting settings who attended courses from 1 April 2023 to 12 October 2023 that require payment. They will be requesting payment for these courses, if you have not already settled your invoice. For courses attended after the 12 October 2023 up until the date the payment system goes live, settings will be contacted for payments during the Spring term. If you would like more information about your setting and the courses you have attended during the above periods, please email early.years.training@westsussex.gov.uk, to discuss this with the Early Years Training team.
Early Years Training - booking and cancellation reminder
A polite reminder of the importance of attending the courses that you are booking on. We understand that there are unavoidable situations such as staff sickness or ratio difficulties, but we ask that you notify us as soon as possible. If you are unable to attend within five working days of the course or event, please notify us directly so we can support you to book on a future date.
We have noticed a number of attendees not showing up on the day. Please note, when you book and do not attend without notifying us, this impacts:
- the training session experience for other learners,
- the trainer and their ability to deliver the content they had carefully planned for, and
- the financial viability of the course itself.
If the need arises to cancel within five working days of the course, please email early.years.training@westsussex.gov.uk. You can also email us if you are experiencing any issues when booking your course or if you wish to discuss anything else related to Early Years Training.
Useful information
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:
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#292 (Free Entitlement Spring Term estimates now open; 30 hour codes - Spring Term deadlines; Consultation reporting of child sexual abuse; Holiday Activity and Food winter bookings; Schools Forum Representative - a message from Claire Kenyon; Upcoming Changes to Early Years Childcare Funding - survey now closed; Right from the Start: Early Years and Childcare Strategy event; Practitioner Wellbeing Support resource; New projects launched evidence-informed programmes; Top three tips for preventing tooth decay - translated infographics; Early Years Training)
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#291 (Final reminder - Upcoming Changes to Early Years and Childcare Funding survey; Schools Forum Representative results; Updated Ofsted poster for parents; Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) exemptions guidance; Reminder Early Years Professional Development Programme (EYPDP) - free professional development; Childminder Mentor Programme; Early Years Experts and Mentors programme; New Early Maths module added to Department for Education (DfE) Online Training; Best start in life - a research review for early years; Early Years Training)
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#290 (Weather warning; Warning - Online Provider Portal downtime; Reminder - Your Voice Matters - Upcoming Changes to Early Years Childcare Funding; Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) consultation response; Stronger Practice Hub - webinar; Ofsted webinars; Early Years Training)
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#289 (Safeguarding Focus - reducing parental conflict; Free Entitlement for 2, 3 and 4 year olds – Autumn Term payments; advanced notice - online provider portal downtime; reminder - Early Years Representative for Schools Forum ballot now open; Early Years Change of Age Range Consultation - West Sussex Schools; Childminder Network Meetings; Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Leader Networks; Early Years (EY) Education Recovery Programme – finding the support that is right for you; early years training)
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#288 (Safeguarding Focus - reducing parental conflict; Free Entitlement for 2, 3 and 4 year olds – Autumn Term payments; advanced notice - online provider portal downtime; reminder - Early Years Representative for Schools Forum ballot now open; Early Years Change of Age Range Consultation - West Sussex Schools; Childminder Network Meetings; Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Leader Networks; Early Years (EY) Education Recovery Programme – finding the support that is right for you; early years training)
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