Newsletter for Early Years and Childcare providers in West Sussex
#296 - Wednesday 13 December 2023
This week's newsletter includes:
- Advanced notice - Mandatory Early Years Census 2024
- Coping with crying and safe sleep for babies training
- Ofsted curriculum roadshows in West Sussex
- Final reminder - the Big Ambition survey
- Stronger Practice Hub new website
- New Foundation Years blog post - National Professional Qualification in Early Years Leadership
- Network meeting presentations
- Ofsted FAQ videos
- Early Years Training - e-learning modules available
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As you may know, every year we carry out the Early Years Census for the Department for Education (DfE). The Early Years Census is crucial because it is used to calculate the amount of funding West Sussex County Council receives for free early education. The Early Years Census is mandatory for all Free Entitlement (FE) providers claiming funding for at least one child in Spring Term 2024.
Providers will need to complete the following tasks via the Online Provider Portal between 2-26 January 2024:
For your information: Headcount day is Thursday 18 January 2024.
Please note, if you are registered to provide FE but are not claiming for any children in Spring Term, you do not need to complete the Early Years Census.
Further information will be communicated via this weekly newsletter in January 2024.
The WSSCP have added Safer Sleeping for Babies and Coping with a Crying Baby - What You Need to Know to their current training offer. It is delivered by a subject specialist and will help practitioners to have conversations with parents around coping with crying and how to make sure that every sleep is a safer sleep.
- Thursday 21 December 2023 - 1.00pm to 2.15pm
- Wednesday 17 January 2024 - 10.00am to 11.15am
- Tuesday 20 February 2024 - 10.00am to 11.15am
- Friday 15 March 2024 - 12.00pm to 1.15pm
To book log on to the Learning and Development Gateway and search for the course by typing the full name of the course in to the search bar.
Ofsted ran a series of Education Inspection Framework curriculum roadshows during Spring 2023 for Early Years settings, including Childminders. They were held in six locations across the country and Ofsted wrote a blog post summarising the impact of the roadshows. West Sussex County Council have been invited to host one of these roadshows for local providers in 2024.
If you are interested in attending one of these events please complete the quick poll on our Early Years and Childcare project page. This will help us understand the most suitable day of the week and time for providers to attend the roadshow. The poll will close on Thursday 4 January 2024.
In newsletter #288 we let you know about the Big Ambition survey. The Children’s Commissioner for England wants to hear directly from children, young people and parents from across the country. 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.
The National Children’s Bureau have launched a new website to support local networks of Early Years practitioners in England. The Early Years Stronger Practice Hubs programme is part of the Department for Education (DfE) Early Years Education Covid-19 Recovery Package.
The 18 Hubs provide advice, share good practice and offer evidence-based professional development for anyone working within an Early Years setting. The website will allow practitioners to find their local Hub from a drop-down list or by navigating a clickable map of England. Practitioners will then be able to access the latest information on:
- upcoming events,
- development programmes,
- resources, and
- approaches.
It will also feature information about the Stronger Practice Hub programme, access to other related DfE programmes and links to the Early Years Evidence Store created by the Education Endowment Foundation. The new website can be found here: www.strongerpracticehubs.org.uk.
Foundation Years have released a new blog post that illustrates the experiences and observations of Jill Whitehouse, who has been a facilitator of the NPQEYL since October 2022. Jill is also a former Deputy Head Teacher with over 30 years' experience in Primary and Early Years education.
The NPQEYL is free, flexible and designed by sector experts to help early years leaders and aspiring leaders to develop their knowledge and strengthen their leadership expertise. It also trains you to support children impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as helping you to lead effectively through:
- creating and implementing a vision and policies,
- improving staff recruitment, development, management and appraisals,
- marketing your setting, and
- working in partnership with parents and carers.
Registrations for the NPQEYL are now open to start in February 2024. You can read the blog post to find out how the NPQEYL might benefit you and then apply on the GOV.UK website.
We want to thank all who attended and participated in our most recent network events. The presentations from the Special Educational and Inclusion Needs Co-Ordinators (SENCO/INCO) and Childminder networks can be found below:
The notes from the Early Years Foundation Stage Leader networks were shared in newsletter #289.
Ofsted has published a new set of FAQ videos on their Youtube channel. The videos are:
The Early Years Training team have the following e-learning modules available. They are all free to attend, self-led modules that can be undertaken at any time.
Early Years Inclusion Support Plan – An Overview explores the specialist support and planning that you may need to put in place for a child attending your setting. The key phrase for this course is "inclusion support".
Early Years Inclusion Support Plan – Specialist Planning explores the specialist support and planning that you may need to put in place for a child attending your setting, including healthcare plans and risk management plans. The key phrase for this course is “inclusion support”.
Early Years Inclusion Support Plan – Individual Planning explores how early years settings can plan for individual children and their developmental needs, covering aspects such as One Page Profiles and Individual Plans. The key phrase for this course is “inclusion support”.
Early Years Inclusion Support Plan – Gathering Information to Share with Others explores how to pull together information from your Early Years Inclusion Support Plans so they are ready to share with others. The key phrase for this course is “inclusion support”.
Effective Leadership – New Manager Support is for Early Years practitioners aspiring to be, or who are in, leadership positions. The module will provide an overview of the leadership role and the support available in West Sussex. It will also cover key content such as manager responsibilities, support and guidance available and understanding the steps to take when becoming a new manager. The key phrase for this course is "new manager".
New Early Years Practitioner is a module for new practitioners and introduces the responsibilities of the role. It will support learners to develop their knowledge and skills around a range of important topics including:
- child development,
- safeguarding,
- health and safety,
- purposeful play,
- supporting children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, and
- working with others (within a setting and external professionals).
The key phrase for this course is "new early years".
To book log on to the Learning and Development Gateway and search for the relevant course using the corresponding key phrase. If you have any questions, please email early.years.training@westsussex.gov.uk.
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 but 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:
- #295 (Warning - Online Provider Portal downtime, Final Reminder - Childcare Expansion Forum Invitation, Early Years Alliance - webinar on Childcare Expansion, Provider survey - Childcare Expansion, Childminder agencies - changes to guidance, Updated - Childminder Start-up Grants, Updated Ofsted guidance - checks on household members and visitors, New mental health support resources for babies and children, Early Years Training)
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#294 (Final reminder - Renaming Free Entitlement for 2, 3 and 4 year olds; Advanced notice - Online Provider Portal downtime; Invitation to join Childcare Expansion Forum; Final reminder - consultation on mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse; Tiny Happy People Champion training; Autumn Statement 2023; Ofsted annual report; New Traveller Education Support Early Years leaflet; Early Years Training)
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#293 (Online Provider Poral 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 (KEYSPH) newsletter; Early Years Professional Development Programme (EYPDP); Support from Early Years and Childcare Advisors (EYCAs) when working with parents/carers; Early Years Training - new payment system coming soon; Early Years Training - booking and cancellation reminder)
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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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