Newsletter for Early Years and Childcare providers in West Sussex
#40/2024 - Wednesday 2 October 2024
This week's newsletter includes:
- Business focus: Have you ever thought about employing an apprentice?
- UK Health Security Agency outbreak packs for education settings
- Supporting physical development in the early years
- Promoting careers in early years and childcare at local job fairs
- Early years provider business opportunity
- Kent Early Years Stronger Practice Hub newsletter - second September edition 2024
- Presentations for early years practitioners
- Early Years Training
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Latest Ofsted news and updates here.
An apprenticeship is a full-time, paid role which combines on-the-job training, with classroom learning. You could employ a new apprentice or upskill your current workforce.
Not only will you benefit from developing talent that fits into your business needs, but your apprentice will learn up to date principles and practice that they can use in your setting. Additionally, the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) guidance allows you to count an apprentice who is over 16 in ratio at the level below what they are working towards if you judge them to be ‘competent and responsible’ (EYFS 3.30).
For more information about how to offer your own apprenticeships, go to the employing an apprentice web page.
If you have an apprenticeship role you would like to fill, we encourage you to advertise your apprenticeship (and other staff vacancies) on the West Sussex County Council (WSCC) partnership job page. This is a free service and we will advise job seekers to start looking for a role in early years and childcare here.
UKHSA have issued updated outbreak information packs to support those managing early years settings, to manage outbreaks of infectious diseases within their settings. This year’s packs are now available via the attachments below.
As we move into the winter months, outbreaks of respiratory disease and diarrhoea and vomiting become more common. We hope that these packs and the information and action cards will help you manage an outbreak in your setting and to know when to report these to UKHSA.
We hope it is helpful for your staff to familiarise themselves with this information in advance of needing to respond to an outbreak, in particular in ensuring infection, prevention and control are in place routinely as well as adherence to exclusion periods. There is also useful information on the NHS website to explain the importance of the seasonal flu vaccination for children.
The pack gives actions in the form of action cards to follow. We recommend having copies of these laminated in your sick rooms/first aid rooms, and held by key staff who would respond to unwell children.
This year the pack consists of:
If you have older versions of any of the documents above, please remove them and ensure you have the most up to date versions.
A webinar is being planned to explain the packs and answer any questions you have. We will update you with more information via this newsletter.
Physical development enables children to engage with the world around them and lays the building blocks for their future health and physical capabilities. The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) has created a new, bite-sized resource that summarises what research evidence tells us about supporting physical development in the early years. You can read more and download the resources here and read a related blog from Sinead McMahon here.
The EEF are running a survey to find out what motivates early years settings and other educators to take part in research studies. The survey will take around 15 minutes to complete and as a thank you, you can choose to enter into a prize draw to win a £30 Amazon voucher.
The early years and childcare team attended the ’Employ Crawley‘ job fair and ’Horsham District Jobs and Skills Fair‘ this month. Both events had over 300 visitors and provided a great opportunity to promote careers in early years and childcare to a diverse group of job seekers.
Our stall generated real interest at both events, and at the Horsham event we were able to support local settings by signposting to their current vacancies. This was welcomed by both the sector and local job seekers and is something we will continue to do at future events.
To help us support your setting by sharing your current vacancies, please list them for free on the West Sussex County Council (WSCC) partnership job page. You will find guidance to help you list them as well.
We look forward to sharing your vacancies via the West Sussex Early Years and Childcare Training Facebook page and at future events.
We wish to share a possible business opportunity for a high-quality early years provider in the Rustington Area. Rustington Youth Centre currently has two rooms available for hire. There is a large hall with storage, upstairs lounge if required, large kitchen space and a secure courtyard area. This site can be available all year round for 52 weeks if desired. Please see the attachment for more details.
For further information about this opportunity please contact Rustington Parish Council direct on telephone 01903 786 420 or email: enquiry@rustingtonpc.org by Friday 8 November.
Following this, should you require support from an Early Years and Childcare Advisor, you can request new business support via the start a childcare business page.
Please note, any provider wishing to explore this opportunity should ensure they seek appropriate legal advice as well as carrying out due diligence in terms of business planning and cash flow forecasting.
The second September edition of the KEYSPH newsletter is now available.
As part of the Department for Education’s (DfE) Early Years Education Recovery Programme, some podcasts and videos have been produced which may support you in your role.
- How to improve early years education for all
Hosted by the Education Development Trust's (EDT) Education Director Tony McAleavy, this podcast features guest panellists:
- Gill Jones MBE (Chief Quality Officer for the Busy Bees chain of Nurseries),
- Jan Dubiel (Early Childhood Education Specialist/Consultant), and
- Lyn Challender (Programme Director for the EDT).
The episode covers:
- the strengths found in early years education, and priority areas for improving it,
- whether we have consensus on what matters most in this age range,
- the value that should be placed on that which we cannot quantify, and
- inequities in access to enriching early learning experiences.
You can listen to the full podcast on the Education Development Trust website, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Amazon Music.
To listen to other podcasts in the series ‘Brighter Futures’ by the EDT, go to their podcast page.
2. Curriculum Progression in the Early Years Foundation Stage
The Kent Early Years Stronger Practice Hub have created a video, presented by Jan Dubiel. In this hour-long talk, Jan untangles some of the mystery that surrounds the early years curriculum. You can watch the video on YouTube.
Please find a range of courses below that are specifically aimed at those working with 2 year olds and/or babies. To book a course, click the course name below. You can also visit our new booking system and search for a range of courses.
If you experience any issues when booking your course, please email early.years.training@westsussex.gov.uk.
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.
We’re committed to providing excellent support to all providers we engage with. Please take a moment to complete our Early Years and Childcare Provider Feedback Survey and let us know about your experiences. Your feedback will help us improve our service and better support settings like yours. You can visit the web page or scan the QR code below.
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#39/2024 (Safeguarding focus – Lockdown processes; Autumn term 2024 Headcount submissions close this Friday; Autumn term Post Headcount Exceptional Payment requests for eligible Working Families of children aged 9 months to 2 years old; Ofsted Outcomes; October childcare job fair, Horsham – only a few stalls left; Kent Early Years Stronger Practice Hub newsletter - September 2024; Oral Health Training; National Professional Qualification in Early Years Leadership; Early Years Training – Phonics)
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#38/2024 (Updates to our phone system - possible longer call wait times; Early Years Funded Entitlement (EYFE) for 2 year olds; Starting school applications; New Public Mental Health Needs Assessment 2024; Early Years Training
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#37/2024 (Early Years and Childcare Advisors corrected contact information for support; Job centre support with recruitment; Childcare job fair in Horsham in October – meet job seekers; Wellbeing and Exercise in Pregnancy Programme; National Professional Qualification for Early Years Leadership (NPQEYL); Autumn early years and childcare networks; Early Years Training)
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#36/2024 (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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#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)
Early Years and Childcare newsletter web page.
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