Newsletter for Early Years and Childcare providers in West Sussex
#15/2024 - Wednesday 10 April 2024
This week's newsletter includes:
- Business focus - Sign up to offer Tax-Free Childcare
- Validating 2 year old working families codes
- Ofsted Update
- Reminder - Childminder recruitment and retention consultation
- Kent Early Years Stronger Practice Hub newsletter and new supportive document for providers
- Early Years Training
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Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) is a childcare scheme for working parents and it can be used alongside the Early Years Funded Entitlements to help parents pay for any additional costs. It is estimated that there are 1.3 million working families who are eligible for TFC in the UK, however only a small percentage are making use of the scheme. Around 75% of families are losing out on this support.
TFC is available for children aged up to 11, or 17 if the child has a disability. Parents of a child who has a disability can receive up to double the amount of TFC. You can find out more about the scheme by visiting www.gov.uk/tax-free-childcare. You can signpost families to Childcare Choices so they can see if they are eligible. If you are not yet signed up to offer TFC visit the GOV.UK website to find out more and signing up only takes around 10 minutes.
Joining the scheme will enable families to save money, support families to return to work or increase their hours, with the potential to increase occupancy levels and generate income for your setting. Parents need to know that you offer TFC so be sure to advertise and raise awareness where you can.
If you have any queries regarding TFC, please contact us by emailing family.info.service@westsussex.gov.uk or calling 01243 777807. We share regular posts to raise parental awareness of TFC and other support available to parents via the Family Information Service Facebook page, so be sure to follow @FISWestSussex.
A reminder that providers must validate eligibility codes before a child takes up their early years funded entitlement place.
To validate the code, please use the eligibility checker on the Online Provider Portal. Our help guide will support you in locating the checker and provides important guidance to help you identify if a code is valid for the Summer Term or not.
Remember: A code may show as valid with a green tick when you use the eligibility checker, but you must still check the Start Date, End Date and Grace Period End Date to make sure the code can be used for the term.
The Early years inspection handbook was updated on 5 April 2024.The summary of changes includes:
- clarification regarding opportunities to provide information on and/or discuss potential equalities duties, including reasonable adjustments for individuals,
- clarification regarding Ofsted’s pausing policy,
- clarification regarding updated arrangements for handling concerns and complaints in line with Ofsted’s new complaints process, and
- clarification regarding updated arrangements for quality assurance in line with Ofsted’s new complaints process.
In newsletter #12/2024 we let you know that the Department for Education launched a new consultation relating to the recruitment and retention of childminders. The consultation is open to the public and invites responses from:
- current, former, and prospective childminders and providers of childcare on domestic premises (CODP),
- other early years providers,
- childminder agencies,
- parents,
- Ofsted,
- organisations that represent childminders, providers of CODP and other early years providers,
- local authorities and the local government association,
- regulated healthcare professionals who work in GPs surgeries, and
- landlords and any relevant representative bodies.
This consultation closes at 11.59pm on 10 May 2024. You can complete the survey by visiting the GOV.UK website.
Please find a copy of the March 2024 newsletter from the KEYSPH. The newsletter includes reference to a new document 'Brilliant Babies to Terrific Toddlers – A Tool for Reflection’ which will soon be posted to West Sussex providers who are registered to offer childcare for children aged 2 and under.
If you do not currently care for children under the age of 2, but are considering caring for this age range in the future, you can request a copy of the document by emailing family.info.service@westsussex.gov.uk.
We are pleased to announce that all of our safeguarding course dates for the summer term are now available and can be booked via the Learning and Development Gateway. Click the relevant course name below and read the course description to decide which course is suitable for you or your staff. There are more dates available for each course, which are listed on the course page.
Please remember that you must book your space on the relevant course and then pay via the payment steps and link which are shown on the course page. Your space is not confirmed until both booking and payment are completed. If you experience any issues when booking your course, please email early.years.training@westsussex.gov.uk.
Useful information
- 12 Apr - Spring term Sufficiency deadline
- 15 Apr - Portal opens for Summer term actuals
- 02 May - Headcount day
- 10 May - Portal closed for Summer term actuals
- 31 May - Inclusion funding deadline for Autumn term
- W/C 03 Jun - Summer term actuals payments due
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.
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#14/2024 (Safeguarding focus - Dangers of laundry capsules; Accepting your provider declaration and estimate payments; Validating 2 year old working families codes; Transition Events; Pre-school immunisations; Ofsted's big listen consultation - for adults and children; Free trees for schools, nurseries and community groups)
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#13/2024 (High volume of calls and emails; Final reminder to check Early Years Funded Entitlement codes; Childcare Expansion Provider Forum update; Are parents/carers in your setting confused about the new childcare offers?; Department for Education Provider Roadshows - postponed; Review of the Ordinarily Available Inclusive Practice guide; Billingual support for Chagossian families; Ofsted updates)
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#12/2024 (Contacting the Local Authority Designated Officer; Warning - Online Provider Portal downtime; Early Years Funded Entitlement eligibility codes - Summer Term deadline; New funding policy and invoice templates available; Childminder consultation; Early Years Training)
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#11/2024 (Business focus - Funding for apprentices in your setting; Warning - Online Provider Portal downtime; Outcomes Framework for children and young people - parent/carer survey; Department for Education Provider Roadshows; Transition Events 2024; Department for Education COVID recovery programme; Jobcentre plus - support with recruitment; SEND and Inclusion newsletter - March 2024; Fraud guide for businesses)
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#10/2024 (Early Years Funded Entitlement (EYFE) for working families – reminding parents to check and reconfirm their codes; Checking Early Years Funded Entitlement (EYFE) codes; Advanced Warning - Online Provider Portal downtime; Network meeting presentations; New Ofsted early years blog post - Ofsted priorities for the early years sector; Early Years Training; Lose weight for free)
Early Years and Childcare newsletter web page.
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