Newsletter for Early Years and Childcare providers in West Sussex
#26/2024 - Wednesday 26 June 2024
This week's newsletter includes:
- Safeguarding focus - Water safety - always supervise children around water
- Consultation open - Early Years Funded Entitlement payments
- Heat Health Alerts - Yellow
- Gypsy, Roma, Traveller and Showman terminology
- Dingley's Promise - Fostering Meaningful Inclusion in Early Years Settings
- Early Years Training
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Now summer is here, it is a great time to be aware of water safety, particularly for children. On average 312 people a year accidentally drown, so please join us in supporting the national campaign by the Royal Life Saving Society UK (RLSS UK). You can share this website with parents/carers and promote the latest water safety messages to keep children, young people and families safe this summer. Drowning is preventable, and with knowledge and awareness can be avoided.
Please share the following water safety tips, with parents/carers, but also consider how they might apply to your setting.
- Vigilance, supervision and knowledge of how to help are critical. Start by identifying locations and situations that will cause harm.
- Empty paddling pools as soon as they have been used. Always turn paddling pools upside down once empty.
- Always supervise your children around water, including bath time (never leave children unattended).
- Always use gates, fences and locks to prevent children from gaining access to pools of water (swimming pools, ponds, any bodies of water at home).
- Securely cover all water storage tanks and drains.
- Make sure products you’ve purchased are fit for purpose and explain any risks.
Remember, always supervise children in and around water.
Free water safety resources:
In our special newsletter, dated 21 June 2024, we invited you to share your views on the three possible payments options for receiving EYFE funding. As part of the consultation we would like to hear your views on the advantages and challenges associated with each proposed option. There is:
- a briefing document outlining the proposed options,
- a Payment Schedules Modelling Tool, which allows you to input your typical EYFE claims to see how this would be paid via each proposed option,
- and a link to the survey.
The consultation is now open and closes 11.55pm on Friday 2 August 2024. Visit the YourVoice page to have your say.
A yellow heat health alert from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is in place from 8.00am Monday 24 June to 5.00pm Thursday 27 June in the South East of England.
Hot weather can affect your health. The people most likely to be affected are the elderly, the very young, and people with pre-existing medical conditions. To plan for the potential risk to health if we do see extreme temperatures, please ensure that you have considered how these risks can be mitigated through measures that your setting can control during heat health alerts, if you have not already done so.
UKHSA advice and guidance:
Additional guidance and resources are available here:
Following consultation with their members, the Showmen's Guild of Great Britain are asking that local authorities move away from the relatively new acronym "GTRSB" (Gypsy, Traveller, Roma, Showman and Boater) and instead revert to referring to Showman as a distinct cultural and economic group. This reflects that Showman are a distinct group, though not currently considered an ethnic minority within UK ethnicity data.
In West Sussex County Council, we will therefore be referring to Gypsy, Roma, Traveller (GRT) and Showman children and families, going forward. While these families have always shared common experiences with other Traveller groups, there is also much which makes them a distinct and unique group in their own right.
Dingley's Promise have launched a range of training videos and resources to support best practice Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND) provision. These informative best practice resources will support you to promote meaningful inclusion within your setting. The Meaningful Inclusion in Early Years Settings resources can be accessed via the Childcare Works HUB Early Years. These resources could be used as a training opportunity and discussion starter, so that all staff have a best practice foundation in inclusion. You could consider using these resources in upcoming staff meetings to support continual professional development.
This week we have three courses we are excited to share with you, including the popular "Leadership and Management – Following the Leader course", which was available in last year's training schedule. These are bookable on the Learning and Development Gateway and can be found by clicking the course titles below.
Please remember that you are required to book a space first on Learning and Development Gateway 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
- 05 July - Portal closes for autumn term estimates
- w/c 15 July - Autumn term estimate payments due
- 30 Aug - Sufficiency deadline for summer term
- 02 Sep - Portal scheduled to open for autumn term actuals
- 19 Sept - Autumn term headcount day
- 27 Sept - Portal closes for autumn term actuals
- w/c 21 Oct - Autumn 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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#25/2024 (Early Years Funded Entitlement autumn 2024 term Estimates now open; New Early Years Funded Entitlement leaflet; Business opportunity in Shoreham-by-Sea; Childcare Expansion Capital Funding - expressions of interest; Gypsy, Roma and Traveller month - June 2024; Ethnic Minority Traveller Achievement Service resource; Early Years Training)
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#24/2024 (Business focus - Changes to holiday entitlement; Sign up arrangements regarding Early Years Funded Entitlement for 9 month olds; Post Headcount Exceptional payment request for children starting between 6 May - 14 June; Early Years Funded Entitlements for 9 month olds - key messages for parents/carers; Childcare Expansion Capital Funding - expression of interest; Early Years Foundation Stage Leaders Network slides; Masters in Early Years Education with Early Years Teacher Status; Early Years Training)
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#23/2024 (Online Provider Portal downtime, Early Years Funded Entitlement (EYFE) for 2, 3 and 4 year olds – Summer Term Payments, Business Opportunity for Early Years Provision in Horsham, Starting School, Get ready for summer – Encourage families to check vaccinations are up to date, Oral Health Support in Early Years, Early Years Training)
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#22/2024 (Safeguarding focus - Coping with a crying baby and safer sleep resources; Advanced warning - Online Provider Portal downtime; Early Years Evidence Store expands to explore self-regulation and executive function; Final reminder Ofsted's Big Listen consultation - for adults and children; Kent Early Years Stronger Practice Hub newsletter - May 2024; Early Years Training)
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#21/2024 (Free Communication Friendly spaces event - change of time; Help for early years providers - new nutrition content; New Ofsted blogs; SEND and Inclusion newsletter - May 2024; Reminder - Ofsted's Big Listen consultation; Reminder - Early Years Foundation Stage safeguarding consultation; National Smile Month 2024; Early Years Training)
Early Years and Childcare newsletter web page.
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