Newsletter for Early Years and Childcare providers in West Sussex
#297 - Wednesday 20 December 2023
This week's newsletter includes:
- Safeguarding focus - when to contact the Local Authority Designated Officer
- New Early Years Foundation Stage statutory documents published
- Speech and Language Support in the Early Years
- Free Early Years Special Educational Needs and Disabilities training
- SEND and Inclusion newsletter
- Free workshops - cost of living support for children and families
- Prevent duty guidance updated
- Updates to GOV.UK login for training
- Early Years Training
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As the year comes to a close, we want to take a moment to express our appreciation for all your hard work and dedication to nurturing the youngest children in our community. The impact you have on the lives of children and families in West Sussex is immeasurable and we are truly grateful for all that you do. For those who are able, we hope that you can spend time with your own families and friends over the Christmas break. For those who continue to work over the Christmas period, we hope you are able to find time to rest and recharge, we understand it is not always easy to do this but your own health and wellbeing is important.
2023 has bought in a lot of change with more expected over the coming months, from the changes to statutory guidance to the expansion of childcare funding offers. Paired with the continued rising cost of living we appreciate how difficult this year has been on children, families, staff and managers. We also understand winter and the festive period can be a difficult time for some. If you are struggling the charity Mind have information, support and links on their Christmas and mental health webpage.
This will be the last newsletter of 2023 and the next edition will be shared Wednesday 3 January 2024.
Safeguarding Focus
If you suspect a staff member has met one or more of the following four criteria, you must contact the LADO:
- Behaved in a way that has harmed a child or may have harmed a child.
- Possibly committed a criminal offence against or related to a child.
- Behaved towards a child or children in a way that indicates he/she would pose a risk of harm to children.
- Behaved or may have behaved in a way that indicates they may not be suitable to work with children.
Information may also come to light about a staff member's conduct outside of the workplace which may indicate a breach of professional conduct or may raise concerns about their suitability to work within the children’s workforce.
It is important that all allegations of abuse and breaches of professional conduct are taken seriously and considered with an open and inquiring mind.
When considering whether to contact the LADO, you should always refer to the four criteria above to understand whether it meets the reporting threshold. Some low level concerns relating to the action of a staff member may not require you to contact the LADO but may be dealt with using your own investigation and disciplinary processes. This may include, but is not limited to, scenarios such as:
- A child has said they do not like a staff member because they shout – as a setting you can investigate this and if there is no evidence of harm you should record the incident following your own internal procedures.
- A child has ingested food they are intolerant to due to staff error but the child came to no harm as a result – as a setting you can investigate this internally, if there is no harm to the child (such as a reaction or hospitalisation) and parents have been notified and are not concerned. You may wish to review your internal training and food handling processes to mitigate future risk. However, if this is a repeated behaviour by a staff member and is purposefully neglectful you would contact the LADO.
- A child has fallen and hurt themselves due to the room they are playing in being messy. They have a minor injury that does not require medical attention at a hospital, but parents have been notified and have decided to collect the child from the setting early. No further medical attention was sought – as a setting you can investigate this internally and utilise your own disciplinary processes where appropriate.
If you are unsure whether a situation meets the LADO reporting threshold you can of course always contact them to discuss it further. Attending regular Safeguarding and Designated Safeguarding Lead training is important to keep knowledge fresh and up to date. Scenario workshops are often undertaken during these courses, which may support your decision making and knowledge for the future.
Useful links:
Following a consultation in Summer 2023, the Department for Education(DfE) have published the two updated EYFS statutory framework documents. Subject to parliamentary procedure these two frameworks, one for childminders and one for group and school-based providers, will replace the current single EYFS framework from 4 January 2024.
The DfE recognises the effort and expertise settings put into providing high quality early education to the children in their care. They hope that publishing these frameworks in advance will support settings to get to grips with flexibilities being introduced. This is alongside the information and guidance that has already been published on Foundation Years, such as their blog post on the updates.
The Early Years Qualifications Requirements and Standards guidance has also been published and will come into effect from 4 January 2024.
We are currently working with the Local Government Association to review and develop the speech and language support that is provided across services to young children. The focus of this work includes both the universal offer and the targeted offer for children who have delays in their speech, language and communication development.
We are holding an online event on Wednesday 24 January 2.00pm to 4.00pm to discuss what is currently available and what needs to be developed. The event will be attended by a range of professionals and we would like to have representation from Early Years practitioners, so they can share their perspective in the discussions. If you, or a colleague, are available and interested in attending this event to share your reflections on the current offer and any additional support needed, please email family.info.service@westsussex.gov.uk. If there is a large amount of interest in the event, we will review and prioritise attendance to ensure balanced representation from across the sector.
Nasen are offering free training webinars around supporting children with SEND. The training sessions will provide practitioners with a thorough understanding of inclusive practice for SEND in Early Years settings, including:
- responsibilities of a setting towards children with SEND,
- the role of the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO) and the key person in settings,
- the importance of the early identification of SEND,
- what effective inclusive practice looks like,
- how to develop positive relationships with parents and carers of children with SEND, and
- Nasen’s free Early Years resources to support you in meeting the needs of all children in your setting.
Who would benefit from this training?
- Early Years practitioners
- Childminders
- New SENCOs
There are multiple dates and courses available between January 2024 and March 2024. You can view all the courses and book via Nasen's free early years training webpage.
Help children and families build resilience in the face of the rising cost-of-living by joining this free webinar. You don’t need any specialist knowledge to join and you will be introduced to stories, games, songs and Makaton signing activities that support parents and children aged under 7 to learn about money together. You will also receive free resources and information to help you signpost parents more effectively to the support they need.
"It was really valuable to discover what terms and approaches are most appropriate to use with learners when discussing such sensitive and important matters. There were lots of really practical tips and I was signposted to some excellent resources. Overall, it has really boosted my motivation and confidence." - Karen Anderson, Tutor.
Book your free funded place via the Campaign for Learning website.
Please find the link to the Autumn Term 2023 edition of the SEND and Inclusion newsletter.
The Prevent duty guidance has been updated and will come in to effect on the 31 December 2023. It has been updated to reflect several recommendations of the Independent Review of Prevent. It is an update to the existing Prevent duty guidance for early years, schools, higher education institutions and local authorities in England and Wales (last updated in April 2021). The following briefing notes for Early Years and Schools highlights specific changes and how they relate to the sector.
From 2024, the Department for Education are changing the way you sign into your Early Years Child Development Training account. This change means that you will need to create a GOV.UK account, using the email address you already use to access your training. It will allow you to access multiple government services using one set of login details. In the future, you will be able to use your GOV.UK One Login to access all services on GOV.UK.
Working with Children who have English as an Additional Language (Webinar)
This webinar looks at how a child’s first language needs to be represented in settings to ensure that family experiences are being reinforced and valued. A feeling of belonging contributes to a sense of worth and language is crucial in both. This session will encourage settings to work in partnership with families. It will also help settings identify and implement strategies so all children value and respect different languages and cultures. The key word for this course is "language" and costs £27 per person.
- Thursday 18 January – 1.30pm to 4.30pm
To book please log on to the Learning and Development Gateway and search for the course using the corresponding key word. If you experience any issues when booking your course, 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:
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#296 (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 on National Professional Qualification in Early Years Leadership; Network meeting presentations; Early Years Training - e-learning modules available; Ofsted FAQ videos)
- #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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