Newsletter for Early Years and Childcare providers in West Sussex
#4/2024 - Wednesday 24 January 2024
This week's newsletter includes:
- Deadline approaching - Spring Term Headcount and Census
- Free Entitlement Funding rates 2024/25
- Renaming Free Entitlement and monthly payments
- Information on applying for the new 2 year old entitlement
- Childcare Expansion Forum update
- Follow the Family Information Service Facebook
- Online Provider Portal downtime
- Termly childcare provider form
- Funding support for medical training
- Learning and Development Gateway payment update
- Update to Early Years inspection handbook
- Department for Education Experts and Mentors programme
Difficulty viewing this bulletin? Click here to view in your browser.
A reminder that the Online Provider Portal (OPP) is still open for you to submit your Free Entitlement claims for 2, 3 and 4 year olds. However, we advise you submit your claims as soon as possible as the OPP closes at 11.59pm Friday 26 January . Please refer to the Newsletter 1/2024 for more information on how to claim correctly and tasks you must complete this term.
If you are claiming for at least one child this term, you must also complete the Early Years Census form. Failure to complete the Census form in time will delay the release of your Headcount payment, due week commencing 19 February 2024.
On Monday 22 January a Special Newsletter was published confirming the full funding rates that will be paid to providers from the Summer Term 2024.
In newsletters #293 and #294 we asked for your views on renaming the Free Entitlement for 2, 3 and 4 Year Olds scheme as we prepare for the Department for Education’s Expansion of Childcare offers. Thank you to all who took part.
Based on your responses we are proposing the scheme be re-named to “Early Years Funded Entitlement (EYFE)” from the beginning of the Summer Term 2024. We are currently working on updating the Provider Declaration to reflect this change and the new statutory guidance. Further details on how you can either continue to offer the funding or sign up to the scheme will be communicated via the newsletters in early March 2024.
We also asked you, as part of a provider survey, for your views on monthly payments. It is clear that some of you will benefit from receiving payments monthly, but not all. We are expecting an upgrade to our IT systems at the end of February/early March in order to process the new expanded childcare offers. We will then be in a position to investigate how we could accommodate monthly payments. Once we have carried out our investigations we then propose engaging with you over the different options available and what impact each option could have before any final decisions are made.
The Department for Education have shared additional information for providers and Local Authorities. This document gives an update on the issue some parents have been facing in applying for the new 2 year old entitlement if they already have a Tax-Free Childcare account. The document also includes FAQs for parents, to help you answer any questions parents may have.
We have now had two meetings with the Childcare Expansion Forum where we have discussed a variety of different topics relating to the expansion, including but not limited to:
- parent communications and how we can work together to ensure parent expectations of the scheme are realistic,
- funding rates and business planning, and
- what providers need from the Local Authority to help them plan and make evidence based decisions.
These have been incredibly useful discussions and will be used to feed into publications, briefings and future support. More will be shared via this weekly newsletter in the future.
The providers included in the forum are:
- Windmill Day Nursery
- Kids Capers
- Diggers Forest School
- Nicola Redman (Childminder)
- Bolney Under 5's
- The Nursery School Company
- Executive Head for Boundstone, Chichester and Bognor Nursery Schools
- Colgate Pre-School
These providers represent a mix of childminders, pre-schools and day nurseries from across the Private, Voluntary and Independent sector. As well as maintained nursery schools/classes and a combination of rural and urban locations.
Do you follow the Family Information Service (FIS) on Facebook? The FIS share regular posts on important topics such as:
- the benefits of Early Years care and education,
- support for families and children,
- information on the Expansion of Childcare,
- support available to help pay for childcare,
- how to support children's learning and development at home,
- key dates for school admissions, and
- much more.
We would be grateful if you could promote our FIS Facebook page to parents/carers in your setting, to ensure they receive the most up to date information on the Expansion of Childcare. You can also like our page to keep up to date with all the messages we share with parents. Visit www.facebook.com/FISWestSussex today.
Please be advised that the Online Provider Portal will be unavailable Wednesday 31 January to Thursday 1 February whilst we upgrade our technology. Please note that 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.
With the Expansion of Childcare now underway, it is more important than ever to make sure that we have the correct and most up to date details about your provision on our website. Please submit a provider update form on the Online Provider Portal for this term.
Important reasons for submitting termly updates:
- When new businesses or housing developments are proposed in your local area, we use your provider and vacancy information to help identify if new early years provision is required. New settings may open unnecessarily if your information is out of date and wrong.
- Free advertisement on our website which receives, on average, just under 10,000 hits a month.
More families will likely be searching for childcare over the next few months and your information will help them to find suitable provision in their area. Other ways in which your updates benefit families include:
- Families call us for help to find childcare that meets their individual needs.
- One of the biggest complaints the Family Information Service receives from parents is that setting vacancy information is wrong. It wastes their time and is frustrating for parents when searching for childcare. Our information is only as good as the information you can give us.
- They use our website to find childcare. The details you provide help them to make informed decisions on which providers to contact.
You should provide at least a termly update:
-
Update, even if you are full. Updating is about more than just free advertising. Out of date information can directly affect your business.
- If you have not updated your details in the last year we will remove you from our public list. This is to prevent a breach to our data protection policy, which you agree to when submitting your profile update.
The Early Education and Childcare statutory guidance (April 2023) requires local authorities to publish setting information which is updated at least once a term.
Settings can now receive funding support for training in relation to supporting children with complex medical needs. If a child joining your setting requires your staff team to be trained in medical procedures, for example suction or tracheostomy awareness, you may be eligible for funding to help with these costs. Please email the setting support inbox for your area and an Early Years and Childcare Advisor will provide you with information on obtaining funding and details of our approved training provider.
Please note settings must use their Disability Access Fund to contribute towards the total cost of training. This funding is not available for children who are under the Children and Young People Continuing Care team, as this team can provide training.
Thank you to all who booked on to our Early Years courses in 2023 and the beginning of this year. We want to thank you for your support during our transition to the new system. The Learning and Development Team have listened to feedback and are taking steps to make the system easier to use. When the Learning and Development Gateway migrated to a new system in January last year, it was unable to take payments. A new payment system is currently in development and will be live from 1 February.
For all new course bookings requiring payment, you will need to book a place via the Learning and Development Gateway from 1 February. This will be done by clicking a specified payment link on the course details page. A place on a course is not confirmed until payment has been made.
Unfortunately, the system is unable to take payment for courses that have passed, so we have compiled a list of all bookings that require payment. To make payment easy for you we will be sending individual emails to request payment via BACS. Emails will be sent over the next two weeks for any outstanding payments due.
We will provide further updates on the new system via this weekly newsletter.
The Ofsted Early years inspection handbook was updated on 19 January. Changes include guidance on when the inspection process can be paused and how the inspector should consider the wellbeing of staff. A summary of changes can be found on the Ofsted website.
The Experts and Mentors programme for Early Years group settings and Childminders provides peer support for practitioners to reflect on and develop their setting. The programmes are part of the DfE COVID-19 Recovery Programme and will end in July 2024. If your setting would benefit from this support, please apply now. You can express an interest in taking part either by contacting an Early Years and Childcare Advisor via the setting support email for your area or completing a request for support form as detailed below.
Applications for Childminders to request support from the Childminder Mentor programme are now open for the Summer Term 2024. Applications for the Summer Term must be received by 17 February 2024. You can find out more on the PACEY website and complete the request for support form if you would like to take part.
Applications for group settings are also open. You can find out more about the programme for group settings on the Pen Green Children's Centre website and complete the request for support form if you would like to take part.
Useful information
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:
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 EYCA team 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.
-
#03/2024 (New 2 Year old Free Entitlement for working families - issues when applying; Advanced notice of planned downtime; Expansion of childcare funding offers update - Schools Forum and proposed funding rates; New Parent Declaration form - coming soon; Early Years Foundation Stage Leaders Networks; Early Years Professional Development Programme - closing soon; The Big Ambition - Early Years responses needed; How to use research evidence in practice; Early Years Training)
-
#02/2024 (Expansion of childcare offers survey; Expansion of childcare funding offers update - proposed funding formula and Free Entitlement rates; Starting School Applications - five days to go; Transition events; Wellbeing webinar for practitioners; Free professional development course for Early Years leaders; Early Years Training)
-
#1/2024 (Mandatory Early Years Census and FE spring term actuals; expansion of childcare funding offers update; understanding changes to the EYFS; starting school applications - 12 days to go; updated guidance - working together to safeguard children; admission arrangements consultation; bilingual support with school applications; best start in life part two; early years training)
-
#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)
-
#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)
|
