Newsletter for Early Years and Childcare providers in West Sussex
#36/2024 - Wednesday 4 September 2024
This week's newsletter includes:
- Business focus - Marketing your early years and childcare business
- Early Years Funded Entitlement autumn term Actuals - now open
- Early Years Funded Entitlements for Working Families
- Claiming Disability Access fund
- Early Years Funded Entitlement leaflet for parents and carers - digital copies available
- Setting support phone line reminder
- Fire safety training
- Oral health pilot
- PACEY Childcare and Early Years Awards 2024
- Early Years and Childcare 2024/25 Training and Events Brochure
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As we start the new academic year, it is a good time to reflect on and update your marketing strategies to attract new families and retain current ones.
Marketing is an essential part of any business. Having a clear plan in place helps you:
- better understand your customers needs,
- consider what you want your business to achieve,
- decide how you want your business to be viewed by others, and
- understand how to communicate key messages.
Consider involving your families in the creation of your marketing strategy to ensure you meet the needs of the families who attend your setting.
A good marketing strategy should explore these three areas:
Your target market
- who are your customers?
- who do you want to attract in future?
Your messages
- what information do you need to get across?
- what impression are you trying to create?
- what is your Unique Selling Point (USP)?
Your methods
- what marketing activities will ensure that the right messages reach your target market?
- are you utilising a variety of methods including social media, local advertising and community engagement?
- have you reviewed your current marketing activities and checked the information on your website is up to date?
All early years and childcare providers in West Sussex can take advantage of the free advertising available to promote their business to parents and carers via the Family Information Service website.
You can take our online e-module Marketing for Early Years and Childcare Providers on the Learning and Development Gateway. It includes information on how to develop a marketing plan and effective marketing for your business. If you experience any issues when booking your course, please email early.years.training@westsussex.gov.uk.
The Online Provider Portal (OPP) is now open for you to submit your autumn term EYFE Actuals claim.
Key dates:
-
Headcount day - Thursday 19 September 2024
-
Deadline for submission - Friday 27 September 2024
Help and Guidance:
Important to note:
- EYFE claims can only be made for children who are in attendance during Headcount week (unless they are 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 ‘Not Yet Obtained/Not Obtained’ as the Department for Education require this information as part of the mandatory data collection.
In order for an EYFE for Working Families eligibility code to be valid for autumn term:
- Parents must have applied for, or reconfirmed their eligibility code before 31 August 2024.
- The code ‘start date’ must be before 1 September 2024 and the ‘Grace period end date’ must cover the autumn term 2024.
To check a code is valid for autumn term, use the online eligibility checker and view our helpful video guide for step by step guidance. Please note, West Sussex County Council cannot fund EYFE for Working Families claims 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.
If you wish to claim a DAF payment for a child this term, please ensure that you email us the following evidence:
- A copy of the letter confirming the child's current Disability Living Allowance award.
- A copy of the child's Parent Declaration Form (using the current April 2024 version, signed by both parents and provider no later than Headcount Day which is 19 September for the autumn term 2024).
Having the relevant evidence sent to us will ensure we are able to process your claim, for eligible children, and send a DAF payment to you without delay. If an out of date or incomplete version of the Parent Declaration Form is sent as part of the claim, the claim will be declined but you will be able to submit the correct paperwork the following term. We therefore ask providers to please ensure that the Parent Declaration Form is completed fully and correctly to avoid any delay in receiving the DAF funding. If you send the evidence by 17 September 2024, we will try to check the evidence and give you the opportunity to rectify issues before Headcount.
Evidence should be emailed to free.entitlement@westsussex.gov.uk.
Following feedback from some providers we have made our EYFE - a guide for parents and carers leaflet available as a digital PDF. This will allow you to email the leaflet to parents/carers or it can form part of a digital welcome back. Please consider providing hard copies to parents/carers who may not be able to access digital documents. The leaflet can be located in the 'How do I order copies of the EYFE leaflet?' of our providing EYFE web page. Printed copies of the leaflet are still available and can be ordered by emailing family.info.service@westsussex.gov.uk.
In newsletter #32/2024, we let you know about some changes to the setting support phone line. The setting support phone line will now only run weekly on Tuesdays 1.00pm to 4.00pm.
Are you looking to enhance your understanding of fire safety? Don’t miss this invaluable opportunity to attend our specialised fire safety training course, designed specifically for nurseries, out-of-school providers, and home-based childminders working with young children.
The experienced fire officers will equip you with essential knowledge and practical skills to ensure the safety of the children in your care.
The next available course dates and locations are:
- Wednesday 16 October 2024 - 1.15pm to 4.15pm - Horsham Fire Station, RH12 1YA
- Tuesday 4 February 2025 - 9.30am to 12.30pm - Worthing Fire Station, BN14 7RN
For more information and to book onto the fire safety training courses offered by West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, visit their web page. You can also contact them on 0330 222 4658 or email frsct@westsussex.gov.uk.
The oral health pilot currently running in West Sussex will end in March 2025. The team can provide oral care advice for early years providers by visiting nurseries, playgroups and childminders to carry out staff training. They offer a variety of free training that will support you with tooth-brushing schemes and help you to support parents. They can also provide 1:1 sessions for families if required. Contact the team to discuss this further by emailing SCTR.oralhealthpromotionteam@nhs.net or phone on 01273 267345.
PACEY have launched the Childcare and Early Years Awards 2024. This is an opportunity to celebrate the very best of early years providers and acknowledge the outstanding work they do. The award categories are:
- Childminder of the year
- Nanny of the year
- Group setting of the year
- Rising star
- Longevity
Awards close for entries on Monday 30 September at midnight. Visit the awards web page to find out more and enter your submission. The winners will be announced at PACEY's childcare and early years conference on Saturday 26 October and all applicants will receive a 25% discount on their ticket price.
We are excited to share our new training brochure for 2024/25. We have worked hard to ensure it is an engaging training programme that offers professional development opportunities for everyone. We hope this training will provide all practitioners with the skills, knowledge and confidence required to understand and nurture children’s individual needs.
You can view the new 2024/25 Early Years and Childcare Training and Events Brochure for course details, dates and times. To book on to a course, either click on the course booking link within the brochure or visit West Sussex Services for Education and search for the course.
Useful information
- 02 Sep - Portal opened 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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#35/2024 (Safeguarding focus - Updated Prevent referral form; Right from the Start: Early Years and Childcare Strategy; Applications open for Wraparound Childcare Programme Funding; Registering as a childminder and nanny; Ofsted updates - returning the ID checking form to Ofsted; Join the West Sussex Multiply Bus for a week of learning and fun; Kent Early Years Stronger Practice Hub newsletter - August 2024; Early Years Training)
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#34/2024 (Childcare Expansion Forum – joining opportunity extension; New Early Years Funded Entitlement web pages; Ofsted updates - what early years providers and practitioners need to know; Childminders - new to Ofsted inspections, what do you need to know?)
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#33/2024 (Early Years Funded Entitlement for working families - autumn term deadlines; Applying for Early Years Funded Entitlement when on parental leave; Do Something Big campaign - advertising your vacancies; PACEY's first childcare and early years conference)
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#32/2024 (Business focus - Maintaining quality early years and childcare provision in the face of workforce challenges; Setting support phoneline - downtime and changes to operating hours; European Early Childhood Education Research Association conference 2024 - Brighton; Brighton and Hove childminder conference - November 2024; Childcare Expansion Forum - opportunity to join; Making Every Contact Count training)
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#31/2024 (Safeguarding focus - Emotional abuse - childhood verbal abuse; Reminder to have your say on Early Years Funded Entitlement payments; Advanced warning - Online Provider Portal downtime; Check Early Years Funded Entitlement codes for working families; Childcare Expansion Forum - opportunity to join; Free training from Kent Early Years Stronger Practice Hub)
Early Years and Childcare newsletter web page.
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