Newsletter for Early Years and Childcare providers in West Sussex
#1/2024 - Wednesday 3 January 2024
This week's newsletter includes:
- Mandatory Early Years Census and Free Entitlement Spring Term actuals
- Expansion of childcare funding offers update
- Understanding changes to the Early Years Foundation Stage
- Starting school applications - 12 days to go
- Bilingual support with school applications
- Updated guidance - working together to safeguard children
- Admission arrangements consultation
- Best start in life part two
- Early Years Training
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Welcome back to 2024, we hope you were able to enjoy a well-earned break when possible. As we welcome in the new year we also welcome in a big period of change for the sector as the new Early Years Foundation Stage statutory framework comes into effect and the expansion of childcare funding offers begin to open up to families. We know there are going to be some busy times ahead but we look forward to working with you all as we navigate these changes and continue to provide the best outcomes possible for all children.
If you would like to be reminded of the upcoming changes to the statutory framework please read newsletter #297. If you would like to keep track of the upcoming changes to childcare funding this year please see our special newsletter published in November, which contains a detailed timeline of key dates.
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 (WSCC) 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. 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. However, all FE providers must submit Spring Term actuals data. Please read Important information - Census 2024 letter for further information.
The Online Provider Portal (OPP) is now open for you to complete the following tasks:
- Submit your annual Early Years Census form
- Submit your Spring Term FE actuals claim
Key dates:
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Headcount day: Thursday 18 January 2024
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Deadline for submission: Friday 26 January 2024
Help and Guidance:
Important to note:
- FE claims can only be made for children who are in attendance during Headcount week (unless absent due to short term sickness or planned holiday).
- A Parent Declaration form must be fully completed and signed no later than Headcount day in order to claim at actuals.
- Each child’s funding claim requires you to record their ethnicity, ensure you refer to the Parent Declaration form and select the ethnicity as stated by the parent/guardian. Please do not select ‘Unknown’ as the DfE require this information as part of the mandatory data collection.
Extended FE claims - In order for a 30 hours code to be valid for Spring Term:
- Parents must have applied for, or reconfirmed their 30 hour code before 31 December 2023.
- The code ‘start date’ must be before 1 January 2024 and the ‘Grace period end date’ covers the Spring Term 2024.
To check a code is valid for Spring Term use the online eligibility checker and view our helpful video guide for step by step guidance. Please note, WSCC cannot fund without a valid code.
If you have any questions or require assistance, please contact the Family Information Service on 01243 777807 and ask for the Specialist Team, or e-mail free.entitlement@westsussex.gov.uk.
The applications for the 2 year old funding offer for working families opened on 2 January 2024. Parents can apply for eligibility codes, similar to the current 3 and 4 year old extended funding offer, via the GOV.UK website. If families in your setting are unsure whether they are eligible or want to know how to apply, please signpost them to www.childcarechoices.gov.uk. They will be able to assess what funding offers they are eligible for and get further guidance on how to apply.
It is important to remind parents if they apply at the beginning of January they may need to reconfirm their codes before the Spring Term, so they do not potentially expire. The government recommends applying for the 2 year old funded offer for working families no earlier than mid-January.
New Statutory Guidance for local authorities was published on 1 January 2024 but will come into force from 1 April 2024, superseding any previous guidance. We are currently reviewing this new statutory guidance to understand what this will mean in practice and further information will be provided via our future weekly newsletters.
As you are aware, changes to the EYFS statutory framework come in to effect on 4 January 2024. To help you prepare, you can visit Help for Early Years Providers to read about the changes for different provider types, and how these changes might impact your setting. Help for Early Years Providers have published new information and guidance on the changes to the EYFS statutory frameworks.
GOV.UK have published a summary of changes for Childminders and group and school-based providers. The changes are mainly regulatory and do not alter the EYFS education reforms that were introduced in 2021.
The deadline for applying for a school place is Monday 15 January 2024 for all children born between 1 September 2019 and 31 August 2020. We would appreciate your help to ensure that the families who should be applying for a school place for their child, particularly those whose child has just started attending your setting and those that may have difficulty reading the information provided, are aware of the deadline and complete their application on time.
To apply for a school place, or for more information on applying, please signpost parents to:
As you are aware, we are no longer carrying out the Starting School Questionnaire in Early Years settings, but we encourage you to continue to work with families to identify any additional support needed to enable children to make a positive start to their school journey.
The West Sussex Ethnic Minority and Traveller Achievement Service (EMTAS) are available to support parents and carers of children with English as an Additional Language (EAL), with applications for primary school places, particularly where language is a barrier. The current languages supported by EMTAS Bilingual Liaison Officers are:
- Bengali
- Bulgarian
- Dari
- Mauritian/Chagossian Creole
- Pashto
- Portuguese
- Romanian
- Russian
- Ukrainian
You can contact the team to request support: emat@westsussex.gov.uk or 0330 222 2111.
Specialist Traveller Education Support (TES) Liaison Officers can also help parents of Gypsy, Traveller, Roma, Showmen or Boater children. Contact the TES team (part of the EMTAS service) to request assistance:tes@westsussex.gov.uk or 0330 222 2155.
Please note: the deadline for primary applications is Monday 15 January 2024 so if a family in your setting would benefit from this support, please contact EMTAS as soon as possible.
Updates to Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023 were published on 15 December 2023. This is statutory guidance which is highlighted in section 3.7 of the new Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework and section 3.8 of the new EYFS statutory framework for Childminders. The EYFS statutory frameworks state "Providers must also take into account the government’s statutory guidance ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ and ‘Prevent duty guidance for England and Wales’".
The updated Working Together to Safeguard Children guidance can be found on the GOV.UK website and a comprehensive summary of changes is also available. The updates include a new chapter bringing together new and existing guidance to emphasise that successful outcomes for children depend on strong multi-agency partnership working across the whole system of help, support and protection including effective work from all agencies with parents, carers, and families. This includes principles for working with parents and carers to centre the importance of building positive, trusting, and co-operative relationships to deliver tailored support to families, and expectations for multi-agency working that apply to all individuals, agencies and organisations working with children and their families, across a range of roles and activities.
West Sussex County Council propose to reduce the Published Admission Numbers (PAN) at the following Community and Controlled schools with effect from 1 September 2025:
- Compton and Up Marden CofE Primary School near Chichester
- Glebe Primary School in Southwick
- Buckingham Park Primary School in Shoreham
They are seeking views on the proposed admission arrangements and oversubscription criteria for all schools for September 2025 entry, as well as key dates in the admissions process. We would appreciate if you could share this survey with parents in your setting, so they have the opportunity to have their say.
To find out more visit yourvoice.westsussex.gov.uk/annual-admissions-consultation-2025-2026. The survey is open until Wednesday 17 January 2024.
Ofsted have released a new podcast. In this episode Shreena Kotecha, Head of Strategy, talks to Lee Owston, Deputy Director, Schools and Early Education and Wendy Ratcliffe, Principal Officer, Early Education. They discuss the second part of the Early Years research review series and explain how this reporting builds on the first part of the series and share what the next report will focus on.
The Role of the Inclusion Coordinator (INCO) (Webinar) highlights how providing an inclusive environment for all children is essential in all Early Years settings. This two-part webinar explores what it means to be an inclusive setting and how this can be achieved for all children. It examines the role of the INCO and how to use local and national guidance to support all children. This course has two parts and learners must attend both in order to be awarded their certificate. The key word for this course is "inclusion" and costs £54 per person.
- Wednesday 24 January – 9.30am to 12.30pm Wednesday 31 January – 9.30am to 12.30pm
Working with Vulnerable Families in the Early Years (Webinar) is a two part webinar and aims to raise awareness and understanding around working with vulnerable families with children aged 0 to 14 years. It focuses on identifying needs, achieving reach and working with other professionals and agencies for better outcomes for all children. The training offers strategies and explores the impact that high quality provision can have on vulnerable children’s achievement and the home learning environment. The key word for this course is "vulnerable" and costs £54 per person.
- Monday 29 January – 9.30am to 12.30pm Monday 5 February – 9.30am to 12.30pm
Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Assessment – Manageable and Meaningful (Webinar) is a three hour, online training session, which explores insights into how an effective key person moves forward in the EYFS. Practitioners will be equipped to ensure that manageable and appropriate assessment practices are tailored to match the needs of individual children. The course champions enjoyable and effective everyday practice that is attuned to each child’s learning and well-being needs. It looks at how assessment can be done whilst retaining the core focus of the EYFS on maintaining high quality interactions and reducing or eliminating burdensome assessment and tracking systems. The key word for this course is "assessment" and costs £27 per person.
- Tuesday 30 January – 9.30am to 12.30pm
Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Essentials (Webinar) is an informative half-day webinar and is particularly relevant to new early years professionals, who may not yet be familiar with the core elements of the EYFS. It is also aimed at those who would benefit from developing their understanding of what is important in provision and practice. Using slides, video footage and activities, the course seeks to support learners in developing their knowledge and understanding of the key elements of the EYFS. The key word for this course is "essentials" and costs £27 per person.
- Wednesday 31 January – 9.30am to 12.30pm
Collaborative and Respectful – Communicating with Parents (Webinar) aims to promote understanding and competence in utilising proven strategies which nurture successful partnerships with parents and carers. It will also support learners to facilitate professional relationships which support children’s learning and well-being by equipping practitioners with the ability to raise issues sensitively and effectively with parents. The key word for this course is "parents" and costs £27 per person.
- Tuesday 27 February– 1.00pm to 4.00pm
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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#297 (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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#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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