Newsletter for Early Years and Childcare providers in West Sussex
#6/2025 - Wednesday 12 February 2025
This week's newsletter includes:
- Early Help Focus - Early Help service special educational needs and disabilities events
- Childcare Expansion Capital Grant funding - deadline approaching
- Business opportunity in Walberton - reminder
- Wraparound Childcare Funding Grant
- New Early Years Funded Entitlement web pages for parents/carers
- Early years and childcare workforce review - have your say
- Champions of childhood: Celebrating early years heroes conference 2025
- National Professional Qualifications information
- New toilet training guidance
- Network presentations
- Early Years Training
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Latest Ofsted news and updates here.
The Early Help Family Hubs are holding a series of events for children with SEND (up to the age of 11 years), with their siblings, parents and carers.
Events are held in the school holidays to make them as accessible as possible for families. The activities within the events encourage children to explore and enhance their sensory experience through themed messy play and use of sensory rooms, magic carpets and outside play areas.
Reaching Families, SENDIAS, Aspens, West Sussex County Council (WSCC) Library Service and Disability Register, WSCC Family Learning and WSCC SEND Local Offer, who all provide valuable information to support parents and carers.
Fifteen events have taken place across the county with 135 families attending, and a further 21 events are scheduled. Please see the flyer for details of future dates and venues and share this with the families in your setting.
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In newsletter #50/2024 we let you know that applications are open to invite further projects to apply for Childcare Expansion Capital Grant funding. This funding is to support the creation of additional early years and/or wraparound childcare places made available by September 2025. The deadline to submit your application is Friday 14 February 2025. Please visit the Childcare Expansion Capital Funding web page for further information and to apply.
If you have plans to expand but are not in a position to provide the supporting documentation needed for your application by the deadline, please contact childcareexpansiongrants@westsussex.gov.uk to discuss your project further. We are keen to support providers aiming to increase early years and/or wraparound childcare places and would be happy to discuss projects that are in the early stages of development.
In newsletter #01/2025 we shared a possible business opportunity for a high-quality early years provider in Walberton, BN18, (between Chichester and Arundel). Due to the retirement of the current owners, this long established pre-school is for sale.
For further information about the opportunity please email contact@walbertonpre-school.co.uk by Friday 14 February.
Following this, should you require support from an Early Years and Childcare Advisor, you can request new business support via the set up or expand early years and childcare provision 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 current funding window is still open for applications for the Wraparound Childcare Funding Grant. Last term we funded over £1.1 million in grants, creating over 1,000 wraparound places across the county. The application window is open until 3 March 2025 and places should be available by the summer term 2025, where possible. Please visit the Wraparound Childcare Programme Funding webpage for further information and to apply.
If you have any questions, please email: wraparound.childcare@westsussex.gov.uk
We are pleased to share our newly updated Early Years Funded Entitlement (EYFE) web pages for parents and carers with you. These web pages are a useful tool you can use in your conversations with parents and carers about EYFE.
We have designed an early years and workforce review, to help us better understand your needs and how we can support you with recruitment and retention.
As part of our commitment to the Right from the Start: West Sussex Early Years and Childcare Strategy 2024-2027, we aim to support you with recruiting and retaining staff while ensuring the sector can maintain a highly qualified workforce with desirable career pathways.
All settings who complete the early years and childcare workforce review will be entered into a prize draw. The first three entries drawn will win:
- a free place on ‘Rethinking the recruitment and retention of staff’ from Linden Learning (taking place on Tuesday 25 March 2025 9.30am to 12.30pm, online), and
- a free login for the National Day Nurseries Association eLearning course 'Safer Recruitment, Selection, and Induction'.
These courses can be completed by you or any member of your team.
The early years and childcare workforce review takes approximately 10 minutes to complete. The review closes Wednesday 5 March 2025 at 5.00pm.
Do you like crocodiles? We hope so as they may feature in Ben Kingston-Hughes’ workshop on the need for risk and challenge in early years play. His practical session explores why risk and challenge are vital for wellbeing and support children to assess danger. Learn about fascinating new neuroscience on risk and overprotection and explore practical ideas to encourage children to challenge themselves. Along with our exciting speaker schedule, the conference also offers time to network and engage in wellbeing activities and enjoy a two course lunch.
Unfortunately, we have had to cancel the conference day on Saturday 8 March due to low numbers. However, we still have a full day of learning, networking and fun available on Friday 7 March.
Please see the conference brochure for more information and the schedule.
To book your place, click on the booking link below:
West Sussex Early Years and Childcare Conference 2025 (South) – Friday 7 March – Field Place, Worthing, BN13 1NP - 9.00am to 3.30pm - £75 per person.
If you experience any issues when booking your place, please email: early.years.training@westsussex.gov.uk.
NPQ applications are open for the spring 2025 cohort and should be made before the end of February. Links to applications can be found on the Grow Learn Flourish (GLF) website. Some settings have previously asked GLF for a poster that can be sent out to staff with basic information about NPQs. This poster can either be sent to your whole teaching team asking for interest or on an individual basis for a more targeted approach.
NPQ funding eligibility
You should have received a letter detailing your funding eligibility status for Spring 2025. However, if you are unsure of your setting’s eligibility status, please email Caroline Carroll at caroline.carroll@millais.org.uk to confirm.
If you are a setting who is not eligible for funding for all NPQ programmes and you have staff interested in doing the senior leadership programme, you may want to consider the School Leader Programme Level 5 Apprenticeship with NPQSL. This is a similar programme but has some variation. The apprenticeship levy pot can be considered for these programmes. More information and a short video outlining the leadership apprenticeship route can be found here.
The Department for Education has published new toilet training guidance on the 'Help for early years providers' website. The guidance includes information and resources on:
- when to start toilet training,
- how to toilet train,
- common toilet training challenges,
- supporting children with special educational needs and disabilities, and
- working in partnership with parents and carers.
Following the recent network meetings, copies of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Leader and Childminder Networks are available.
At some of the network events, there were also additional presentations on:
Please see two courses we have running in the early stages of March, including a full day course around the topic of transitions. 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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#5/2025 (Business Focus - Childcare Expansion Myth-buster; Ofsted inspections - consultation launched; New information for early years and childcare providers website - now available; Recognise your apprentice by nominating them for our Exceptional Early Years Apprentice Award; Right from the Start: West Sussex Early Years and Childcare Strategy – we need you!; Introducing the new experience-based route for practitioners to count in ratio at level 3; Deadline for Childminder Start-up Grant applications – reminder; Early Years and Childcare Workforce Survey; Champions of childhood: celebrating early years heroes conference 2025 - meet our workshop leader; Early Years Training)
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#4/2025 (Safeguarding Focus: Let’s Talk PANTS with Pantosaurus!; New website for early years and childcare providers - final reminder; Champions of childhood: celebrating early years heroes conference 2025 - introducing our keynote speaker; Autumn Early Years and Childcare networks; Sustainability and climate change strategy for education; Resources available to help you at your setting)
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#3/2025 (Business Focus: National Apprenticeship Week - nominate your apprentice for an Exceptional Early Years Apprentice Award; Early Years Conference 2025 - book soon to avoid disappointment; Training required for settings with children aged under 2 years; Termly Provider Update; New website for early years and childcare providers - advance notice; Childcare Works launches Early Years Provider Toolkit; Department for Education (DfE) Early Years Provider Roadshows for 2025; National Professional Qualification for Early Years Leadership (NPQEYL); Early Years Training)
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#2/2025 (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 (EY) 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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#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)
Early Years and Childcare newsletter web page.
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