Newsletter for Out of School providers in West Sussex
#8 - Monday 27 November 2023
This newsletter includes:
- Government guidance - the wraparound childcare programme
- Capital funding for the childcare expansion
- Holiday Activity and Food Programme - Winter bookings
- Sufficiency updates - deadline approaching
- Consultation on the mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse
- Holiday Activity and Food Programme - Expression of Interest 2024
- The Big Ambition survey
- Right from the Start: West Sussex Early Years and Childcare Strategy event
- The National Playwork Conference
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The government have published guidance which explains the role of local authorities and the funding they will get to expand the availability of wraparound care in their areas from September 2024. You can read the guidance on the GOV.UK webpage. Annex D gives a useful summary of the programme, including the purpose and the timeframes.
Within this, the programme funding that will be allocated to each local authority has also been published. In West Sussex this is provisionally set at:
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2023-2024
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2024-2025
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2025-2026
(Provisional)
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Total
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£42,823.92
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£3,305,578.45
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£1,524,539.99
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£4,872,942.36
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We are reviewing the guidance and prioritising putting a plan in place for how this will work in West Sussex. We will be looking to engage with out of school providers and schools as part of the planning process and will be sharing more information over the coming weeks.
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). This is in addition to the programme funding, as outlined in the above article.
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.
Bookings for the Winter HAF programme are open from 6 November 2023. Families will need to use the online booking system to make all bookings. If they used the system during the Summer, they will be able to log in. If they have not used it before, they will need to register for an account. A detailed user guide can be found on the HAF webpage.
We would really appreciate your help to inform families about the HAF Programme and ask you to distribute the HAF Winter bookings letter to all families that are eligible for benefits-related Free School Meals.
If you have any families who may require additional support to complete the online form, or if they do not have access to the internet, please direct them to their local family hub. HAF codes can be provided by sending the child’s full name and date of birth to haf@westsussex.gov.uk.
This is a reminder to submit sufficiency information for your setting. The final submission deadline for the Autumn Term is 31 December 2023.
Sufficiency information refers to information on the number of places your setting can offer and information on current vacancies. This supports us in our planning to ensure that families in West Sussex can access the childcare that they need and to identify where there may be gaps in provision so we can work to address these as needed.
Sufficiency information is required from all types of providers including out of school care provision, breakfast clubs and holiday playschemes once per term. Step by step guidance on submitting your Sufficiency information on the Online Provider Portal can be found here. We have also created a guidance video which you can view if you require further guidance on how to submit.
Please note that the termly submission of Sufficiency information is a requirement for all providers and is needed to allow us to display your setting’s information on the Family Information Service website. Failure to submit can lead to your setting’s removal from the publicly available list.
As the Expansion of Childcare offers begin to roll out it is vital that we have up to date Sufficiency information in relation to Wraparound Care. This ensures we can plan appropriate support for the sector.
A key recommendation of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) was to introduce a legal requirement for certain people to report child sexual abuse (CSA). The Home Office has now launched a consultation to set out proposals for creating a mandatory reporting duty for CSA, and to test opinion on a small but significant number of undecided policy questions. The consultation is open until 30 November 2023. This follows the call for evidence which took place for 12 weeks earlier this year.
This consultation seeks the views of a range of professionals, including education settings and workforces, schools and early years and childcare settings. Please visit the consultation webpage to have your say.
The next EOI for HAF will be open from 1 December 2023 until 7 January 2024. This EOI is open for applications for all the holiday periods in 2024. You can find the EOI form and key dates on HAF's EOI webpage. For more information on the programme visit the HAF webpage.
If you would like to discuss your bid, have a general enquiry or a family has a query, please email haf@westsussex.gov.uk.
The Children’s Commissioner for England has launched The Big Ambition to hear directly from children, young people, and parents from across the country. They want to hear from children and young people about their schools, communities, family life, and the wider world. They will also be asked what they want for their future, their hopes, dreams, and aspirations.
The Big Ambition survey is for all children and young people aged 6, up to 18. It is critical that the voice of children from all backgrounds, all settings, and every part of the country is heard by policy makers.
You can share The Big Ambition survey with parents/carers in your setting and encourage them to share it with their children or complete it on their behalf. You could also undertake this survey with children in your setting as an activity, as it provides you with a great opportunity to hear the child's voice and support multiple areas of learning and development. The survey closes on Friday 15 December 2023.
On Wednesday 8 November we held our Right from the Start: West Sussex Early Years and Childcare Strategy event. This collaborative event brought together key stakeholders with representation from the private and voluntary sector, charities, health, parents, communities, libraries, managers and leaders from across the county. We were also delighted to have representation from Early Years and Childcare professionals and utilise the feedback from the Early Years and Childcare Strategy Survey, which closed on 20 October 2023. It was incredibly positive to have so many strategic leads pledging their ongoing support to this crucial area of work.
Participants engaged in focused discussions and workshops to identify key priorities for the strategy. Keynote speakers Claudia Griffith and Dr Dinesh Sinha (NHS ICB) provided valuable and inspirational insight, whilst Ann Van Dyke MBE reminded us that “Children are part of families, are part of communities, are part of society.” This important quote serving to remind all who attended that early years is everybody’s business.
This event is not the end of our work but only the beginning, as we use this momentum to push forward and implement effective strategies for Early Years and Childcare. As the strategy develops we will continue to keep you updated via the weekly and Out of School newsletters.
The 21st National Playwork Conference takes place in Eastbourne on Tuesday 5 and Wednesday 6 March 2024. You can book your place for the event by visiting the National Playwork Conferences website.
The conference also includes the Annual Playwork Awards. These awards aim to celebrate all that is good about the playwork sector. They aim to praise the work of professionals by identifying people who have made a noticeable contribution and difference to the lives of those they work with. Nominations have closed for this year's event but you can find out more by visiting the Playwork Awards website.
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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#7 (Spring budget - wraparound care update; new targeted setting support - business and sustainability form; holiday activities and food programme - expression of interest; the 14th annual playwork awards; the national conference for out of school clubs)
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#6 (HAF programme; HAF expression of interest; tax-free childcare webinar; reminder to submit - termly childcare provider update form; food safety and sensory food education webinar)
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#5 (Spring budget announcement; wraparound care for military families; TFC new HMRC mailbox; Gypsy Roma Traveller History Month; paediatric first aid courses available)
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#4 (Business opportunity in Wisborough Green; HAF - bookings open; HAF - expressions of interest; Ofsted themes; tax-free childcare; wrap around childcare for armed forces families; employment allowance; safe clubs for children; useful web links; green business newsletter)
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#3 (Ofsted out of school providers offering HAF places; national playwork conference is back; reminder to submit termly childcare provider update forms)
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#2 (Sufficiency updates; HAF expression of interest deadline; HAF providers - benefits of Ofsted registration; safe to play campaign; supporting families with childcare costs; safeguarding reminders)
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