Newsletter for Early Years and Childcare providers in West Sussex
#42/2024 - Wednesday 16 October 2024
This week's newsletter includes:
- Safeguarding focus: Supervising mealtimes – preventing choking
- Free support groups for early years practitioners
- Childhood immunisations – new web page
- Autumn term network presentations
- SEND and Inclusion Networks
- Brilliant Babies to Terrific Toddlers – A Tool for Reflection
- Help Ofsted to develop their understanding of vulnerability and inclusion
- Best Start in Life Ofsted report
- Early years provider business opportunity
- Early years training
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Latest Ofsted news and updates here.
On average, a child dies in the UK every month from choking, and hundreds more require hospital treatment (Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, 2024). It can happen quickly, and it can happen to anyone.
It is a requirement (Early Years Foundation Stage statutory framework group based 3.36 and childminders 3.40) that children must be seen as well as heard when eating. Therefore, early years and childcare providers must carefully consider how mealtimes are organised and supervised. When mealtimes are well managed, and staff are able to sit with the children, staff can:
- support children effectively,
- support children's independence,
- provide learning opportunities,
- have positive social interaction,
- model good eating habits,
- support children to develop self-help skills, and
- intervene quickly, if required, to keep children safe.
When planning staff rotas, ensure there are enough staff present at mealtimes. Ideally staff will be sitting with the children, but they must be able to see children’s faces while they are eating, even when preparing and serving food. Since choking is silent, just seeing a child’s back is not enough.
Please familiarise yourself with the information included in these useful factsheets from the Food Standards Agency and share with your teams:
Early years food choking hazards
Early years choking hazards food safety advice
Further information is also available from the NHS on how to stop a child from choking.
Early years practitioners may sometimes work with children who display different behaviours resulting from their lived experiences. Working with children who have experienced trauma can impact staff’s own emotional health and wellbeing.
The Virtual School are offering free support groups to early years practitioners who work with children who may have experienced trauma. The aim of the groups are to provide an opportunity for attendees to get to know others facing the same challenges and to share best practice in a supportive and open environment.
You can read the support group flyer to find out more. Please share this flyer with all staff in your setting who may benefit from these sessions.
The West Sussex County Council childhood immunisations web page is now live.
On the page you will find information on:
- the importance of immunisation,
- how to book vaccinations,
- Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR), and
- easy to access resources for parents/carers, and education and childcare settings.
Please share this useful web page with families that attend your setting and take a look at the education resources for your awareness.
Thank you to all those who attended our recent network meetings. We are pleased to share the presentation slides from these meetings with you.
In newsletter #34/2024, we shared our 2024/25 network brochure with you. The brochure includes dates, times and locations of future meetings if you would like to attend.
To book on to a network meeting, click on the booking link for the date you require within the brochure. Alternatively, you can visit the West Sussex Services for Education booking portal and select your required date.
The October SEND and Inclusion Newsletter is now available.
In newsletter #15/2024, we shared that the Kent Early Years Stronger Practice Hub (KEYSPH) has created ‘Brilliant Babies to Terrific Toddlers – A Tool for Reflection’. The tool can support current and new providers working with children aged 2 and under.
The KEYSPH has informed us that the tool can now be sent to providers who are working with children above the age of 2. If you have not received a ‘Brilliant Babies to Terrific Toddlers – A Tool for Reflection’ document, please email family.info.service@westsussex.gov.uk and we will send one to you in the post.
A downloadable version on the KEYSPH website is also available.
In response to the Big Listen, Ofsted has commissioned research on vulnerability and inclusion to inform their inspection and regulatory work in education and children’s social care. Research in Practice, part of the National Children’s Bureau (NCB), is leading the project, which you can read more about here.
As part of this, the NCB are running a series of online focus groups with professionals from all levels across the education and/or social care sectors. The focus groups are due to take place across October and November 2024 (Round 1), and between December 2024 and January 2025 (Round 2).
Visit the Research in Practice website to find out more information about the focus groups, where to express your interest and participant information. For any clarification or questions, please email vulnerabilityproject@researchinpractice.org.uk.
Ofsted have recently published the final part of their Best Start in Life three-part review. The report is part of their series of curriculum research reviews.
The report focuses on what progress looks like for pre-school aged children in the four specific areas of learning – literacy, mathematics, understanding the world, and expressive arts and design. The research is clear: early education is too important to be left to chance. A high-quality early years curriculum is particularly important as not all children get the same start in life. For example, some children may receive different levels of help at home.
You can read the full report here.
In newsletter #40/2024, we shared with you a possible business opportunity for a high-quality early years provider in the Rustington Area. Please see the attachment for more details.
For further information about the 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.
With many of our autumn Paediatric First Aid courses now full, please see the three dates below that have limited spaces left. To book a course, click the course name below. You can also visit our booking portal West Sussex Services for Education and select your required course.
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.
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#41/2024 (Starting school applications; Transition events; Advertise and update your childcare vacancies; Early years SEND assessment guidance and resources; New training module available - supporting individual differences and needs; New Ofsted blog post; Early Years Training)
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#40/2024 (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 - September 2024; Presentations for early years practitioners; Early Years Training)
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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)
Early Years and Childcare newsletter web page.
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