Newsletter for Early Years and Childcare providers in West Sussex
#2/2025 - Wednesday 15 January 2025
This week's newsletter includes:
- Starting school applications - deadline today
- Spring term Early Years Funded Entitlement headcount and Early Years Census 2025 - deadline approaching
- Early Years Funded Entitlement for Working Families - code issues resolved
- Transition events 2025
- Ofsted Early Years workshop for professionals
- Wellbeing and Exercise in Pregnancy Programme - pregnancy and postnatal exercise
- Free online festival for families
- Race Equality Week 2025
- Early Years Training
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Latest Ofsted news and updates here.
The deadline for applying for a school place is Wednesday 15 January 2025. Please make sure that the families who should be applying for a primary, infant or junior school place for their child, are aware of the deadline and submit their application on time.
To apply for a school place and for more information on the application process, please signpost parents/carers to the . They can also read the and the for guidance.
The Online Provider Portal (OPP) is still open for you to submit your EYFE claims for 9 month plus, 2 year old and 3 and 4 year old children and your Early Years Census 2025. The deadlines for submissions are as follows:
- EYFE actuals claims - 11.59pm on Tuesday 21 January 2025
- Early Years Census 2025 – 5.00pm on Friday 31 January 2025
If you have no children to claim for this term, you must log in to the OPP and check your headcount information. We carry forward children’s details from the previous term, so you need to log in and remove any children's details that may have been carried forward. You can find useful guidance on how to do this on the EYFE estimates and actuals web page. By removing children's details, it will ensure you do not receive reminders from us about missing submissions.
If you are claiming for at least one child this term, you must also complete the Early Years Census 2025 form. Failure to complete this in time will delay the release of your headcount payment, due week commencing 24 February 2025.
We advise you submit your claims and Early Years Census 2025 as soon as possible. Please refer to the Early Years Funding newsletter for more information.
The Department for Education has confirmed that the recent Early Years Funded Entitlement for Working Families eligibility code issues have now been resolved. The affected codes have been successfully backdated over the weekend.
All valid codes that were applied for on 31 December 2024 or earlier where parents received an ‘eligible’ response in January will now show a Discretionary Start Date of 31 December 2024 on the online eligibility code checker. This allows parents to use their code for the spring term.
If you have any questions, please email free.entitlement@westsussex.gov.uk.
This year, the transition events will run from 6 to 16 May. The transition events are an opportunity for you to meet with staff from schools to provide a brief overview of children who will be starting at their school in September 2025. For more information, including dates and venues of this year's events, please see the early years transitions web page. To book your places, please see the transition events 2025 document.
In Ofsted’s response to the Big Listen, there is an ambition to increase Ofsted’s focus on how providers are meeting the needs of vulnerable children, learners and young people. As part of this, Ofsted will be introducing a new inspection criterion on inclusion in order to help direct attention and resources to those with the highest need. Ofsted has commissioned research on vulnerability and inclusion. Research in Practice is leading a project which aims to help Ofsted develop an evidence-informed conceptualisation of vulnerability and inclusion.
A session for EY professionals to support this piece of work is being run on 23 January 2025 from 9.30am to 11.30am. There is also a session on 22 January 2025 from 4.00pm to 6.00pm, for professionals across education and social care who are not able to make the sector specific slots. If you would like to be involved, please read the information on the website to find out more and book your place.
Do you have any parents/carers in your setting that are pregnant or recently postnatal? The Wellbeing and Exercise in Pregnancy Programme has some energising total body workouts to give them a boost in the New Year. In the Exercise with Nicole workout videos, there are pregnancy and postnatal workouts to try, that last between 20 to 25 minutes long. Please share the links with families in your setting.
The Early Years (EY) Alliance are hosting a free online family festival. The festival will celebrate the role of parents and carers as their child’s first and most enduring educator. The event is completely free to all attendees.
The event will take place via Zoom and is aimed at parents and carers of children aged under 5. There will be multiple sessions for adults and children, which will have information and advice about how parents and carers can support children’s learning and development at home. Providers are also welcome to book sessions and attend the event. You can visit the EY Alliance Family Festival web page for a full itinerary and more information. Please can you share the Family Festival web page with parents/carers in your setting, so they can find out more about the event and book a place.
The three-day online festival will run from Thursday 13 February to Saturday 15 February 2025. You can book a place via Eventbrite.
Race Equality Week is an annual UK-wide movement uniting organisations and individuals to address the barriers to race equality in the workplace. In 2025, Race Equality Week takes place from 3 to 9 February. You can find out more and register at Race Equality Matters.
With January in full swing, please see three courses we have running in February. 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.
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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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#1/2025 (Cold health alert extended into the weekend for the South East; Mandatory Early Years Census 2025 and spring term Actuals – action required; Childcare Expansion Capital Grant Funding - deadline approaching; Wraparound Childcare Funding Grant - spring term 2025; Annual Admissions Consultation 2026/27; Business opportunity in Walberton; Better Health Start for Life - Top Tips for Teeth; Maths Champions – professional development programme; Early Years Training)
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#51/2024 (Safeguarding focus: Making a referral to WORTH services; Photographing and filming children; West Sussex Early Years and Childcare Conference 2025: Champions of Childhood – Celebrating Early Years Heroes; Starting School Applications - one month to go; Virtual school support groups; The Wellbeing and Exercise in Pregnancy Programme - the benefits of yoga; Fire safety training for early years and childcare providers; Mental health first aid (adult) training)
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#50/2024 (Online Provider Portal downtime; Early Years Funded Entitlement spring term estimate payments; Early Years Funded Entitlement for Working Families - spring term code deadline; Advance notice - mandatory Early Years Census 2025; Final reminder - checking working families eligibility codes webinar; Inclusion Funding - online information updated and availability for 9 months plus; Childcare Expansion Capital Grant Funding - applications open for further projects; Presentations from INCO/SENCO Networks; Bookstart packs - deliveries starting early 2025)
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#49/2024 (Changes to information gathering for SEND Under 5's and Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment, Advanced warning - Online Provider Portal downtime, Emergency closure planning and response for settings, Wraparound childcare funding - last week to apply, Final reminder - Have your say in the Early Years Funded Entitlement (EYFE) Payment Consultation – Stage Two mandatory survey for EYFE providers, Norovirus symptoms and how to prevent the spread of infection, SEND and Inclusion Newsletter - November 2024, Safer sleep for babies and coping with a crying baby, Early Years Training)
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#48/2024 (Business focus - Management and leadership courses; Offering Early Years Funded Entitlement from January 2025; Early Years Funded Entitlement - checking Working Families codes workshop; Wraparound Childcare Funding Programme - 2024 deadline; Starting school applications; Creating accessible spaces for children with cerebral palsy; Infection prevention; Wellbeing and Exercise in Pregnancy Programme social media launch; Early Years Training)
Early Years and Childcare newsletter web page.
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