Newsletter for Early Years and Childcare providers in West Sussex
#9/2025 - Wednesday 5 March 2025
This week's newsletter includes:
- Business Focus - Paying employer National Insurance contributions for apprentices
- Provider Declaration for 2025/26 - number of funded weeks in spring and summer terms 2026
- Information on supporting special education needs and disabilities
- Early years and childcare workforce review – deadline extended
- Confused about staff-to-child ratios?
- Workplace recycling changes from 31 March 2025 - early years and childcare providers impacted
- Careers in early years and childcare new website - 1 week to go
- Webinar for early years providers: improving the way Ofsted inspects education
- Changes to apprenticeship expectations for adult learners
- Early Years Training
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Latest Ofsted news and updates here.
Paying employer National Insurance contributions for apprentices
Did you know that you might not need to pay Class 1 National Insurance contributions for your apprentice if they are:
- under 25 years old
- on a UK apprenticeship standard approved for delivery (this includes Level 2 Early Years Practitioner, Level 3 Early Years Educator and Level 5 Early Years Lead Practitioner).
You can check if your apprentice is on an apprenticeship standard approved for delivery on the England Apprenticeship Standards website.
If your apprentice meets these conditions you will need evidence to apply for National Insurance relief. You can find out how by visiting the Paying employer National Insurance contributions for apprentices under 25 web page.
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In our special newsletter shared with you on Tuesday 4 March 2025, we let you know the Provider Declaration for 2025/26 had been published. We would like to provide some clarity around the number of weeks for the spring term 2026. The Provider Declaration states:
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Term
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Number of weeks
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Term Dates
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Summer 2025
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12
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22/04/2025 – 22/07/2025
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Autumn 2025
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14
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01/09/2025 – 19/12/2025
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Spring 2026
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12*
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05/01/2026 – 27/03/2026
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Summer 2026
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12
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13/04/2026 – 22/07/2026
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What does this mean for you as a provider?
If you are closed during half term week, you would only be able to deliver 11 weeks during the spring term 2026 due to where Easter falls. We will fund the 12th week as part of your spring term 2026 claim with the expectation that you will deliver this week in summer term 2026.
What if I am unable to deliver an extra week in summer term 2026?
If you are unable to deliver an extra 13th week for these children in summer term 2026, when completing your Provider Declaration 2025/26 form please tell us that you will be providing 11 weeks in spring term 2026. If you have already completed your provider declaration and need to amend this, please re-submit a new completed form. When submitting your headcount claims for spring term 2026 you will need to amend the children's claims to 11 weeks.
If this is the case, you will need to make parents aware that you are only able to deliver 37 weeks of Early Years Funded Entitlement (EYFE) for 2025/26 instead of the standard 38 weeks. For children starting in the summer term 2026, they will only be funded for 12 weeks.
What about funded children starting in summer term 2026?
These children are only eligible to receive 12 weeks of funding so if you are opening for an extra week these children are not obligated to attend, however if they wanted to these would be paid for sessions.
Can I offer the additional week during February half term?
Yes, you are welcome to provide the 12th week during the February half term if you are able to deliver EYFE that week. This would mean that you do not have to deliver the additional week in summer term 2026, and that all summer term 2026 children will be able to attend for the standard 12 weeks.
We will remind you of this information again through upcoming newsletters prior to estimates and actuals submissions for spring term 2026.
Have you had a chance to look at our new information for childcare providers website? The content has been reviewed, developed and curated by early years and childcare professionals within the Early Years and Childcare teams at West Sussex County Council. We also gathered feedback and input from our Early Years and Childcare Expansion Forum members, who contributed to the design and development of this website.
As part of this, we have developed a brand new section dedicated to SEND. It contains useful information and guidance on supporting children and young people with SEND in early years and childcare settings. Visit our SEND web pages and you will find:
In newsletter #6/2025 we shared the early years and childcare workforce review with you. We have extended the deadline to Friday 14 March 2025 at 5.00pm.
We really need your input to understand the workforce challenges you are facing. By sharing your valuable insight, you will help us to understand your needs better and how we can help more effectively.
Please complete our early years and childcare workforce review, to help us support you. It takes approximately 10 minutes to complete.
A gentle reminder that 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 (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.
Understanding and implementing staff-to-child ratios in line with the early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework is a mandatory requirement for all early years and childcare settings.
These ratios dictate the minimum number of staff required to supervise a specific number of children and vary depending on the type of provider and the ages of the children. View our guide to ratios in early years and childcare settings for more information.
From 31 March 2025 (or 31 March 2027 for micro-firms), all workplaces (businesses and non-domestic premises) in England have a legal duty to present the following wastes separated in accordance with the arrangements with their waste collector:
- dry recyclable materials - plastic, metal, glass, paper and card (more information on separating recyclable material is in the ‘Separating recyclable waste’ section on the web page linked below)
- food waste
- black bin waste (residual waste)
Visit the GOV.UK web page to find out more.
In newsletter #8/2025 we told you that our new Careers in early years and childcare website and Jobs in early years and childcare (JiEYC) newsletter are coming soon.
We will be sharing the website link to the new website in next week's newsletter on Wednesday 12 March.
If you would like your job vacancies to appear in the first JiEYC newsletter, please use this guidance to help you fill out a job vacancy template. Send your completed template to jobsineyc@westsussex.gov.uk. This is a great opportunity to connect to local job seekers, so do make the most of this free service.
In newsletter #5/2025 we let you know that Ofsted had launched their consultation on proposed changes to the way they inspect education. They are now hosting a free webinar where you will hear directly from Ofsted about the proposed changes to the way they inspect early years providers. There will be an opportunity for you to ask questions. The webinar is on Wednesday 12 March from 6.00pm to 7.00pm. Use the registration form to book your space and find out more.
The Ofsted inspection consultation closes at 11.59pm on 28 April 2025. You can complete the consultation on the GOV.UK website here.
The Department for Education (DfE) have announced that from Tuesday 11 February 2025, employers will be able to decide whether learners, over the age of 19 when they start their apprenticeship, will need to complete a Level 2 English and Maths qualification in order to pass. Funding will still be available if the employer or apprentice feel they do need these qualifications.
Apprentices who are aged 16 to 18 at the start of their training will still be required to achieve English and Maths qualifications.
For more information please visit the GOV.UK website.
With our 2024/25 programme for Paediatric First Aid courses finishing soon, there are still a few spaces available for the last scheduled course.
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.
Future course dates from the summer term will be announced in an upcoming newsletter.
Useful information
- 4 March to 21 March - portal open for Provider Declaration 2025/2026 submissions
- 12 March to 28 March - portal open for summer term estimates
- w/c 7 April - summer term estimate payments due
- 18 April - spring term Sufficiency deadline
- 21 April to 16 May - portal open summer term actuals open
- 8 May - summer term headcount day
- w/c 2 June - summer 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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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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#7/2025 (Safeguarding Focus: Updated safeguarding letter for parents and carers; Advanced warning - Online Provider Portal downtime; Changes to the setting support phone line; Early Years Funded Entitlement - Indicative Budget report; When do you need to notify Ofsted?; Champions of childhood: Celebrating early years heroes conference 2025 - meet our workshop leader; Specialist Advisory Teachers for Early Years SEND Transition (EYSAT’S); Fire Safety Training; Early Years Training)
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#6/2025 (Early Help Focus - Early Help service SEND events; Childcare Expansion Capital Grant Funding - deadline approaching; Business opportunity in Walberton - reminder; Wraparound Childcare Funding Grant - spring term 2025; New Early Years Funded Entitlement web pages for parents/carers; 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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#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)
Early Years and Childcare newsletter web page.
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