Newsletter for Early Years and Childcare providers in West Sussex
#10/2025 - Wednesday 12 March 2025
This week's newsletter includes:
- Early Years Funded Entitlement summer 2025 term estimates now open
- Operation Encompass information
- New careers in early years and childcare website
- Ordinarily Available Inclusive Practice copies posted to you
- National Professional Qualification in Early Years Leadership
- SEND and Inclusion newsletter - Spring 2025
- Early Years Training
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Latest Ofsted news and updates here.
The Online Provider Portal is now open for you to submit your summer term estimates for Early Years Funded Entitlement (EYFE) for 9 month olds, 2, 3 and 4 year olds.
- Headcount day for summer term 2025 is Thursday 8 May 2025.
- The deadline for estimate submissions is Friday 28 March 2025.
- Payments are scheduled to be received by providers who have no outstanding queries regarding their estimate figures week commencing Monday 7 April 2025.
Please be aware, payments can take up to 3 to 5 working days to be processed by your bank. This means payments may not appear in your bank account until the end of this week.
Please remember that estimates for 2 year old EYFE for Working Families and 2 year old Local Authority Issued EYFE will be a combined figure.
If, after viewing the estimates guidance available on our web page you require further support, in the first instance please email free.entitlement@westsussex.gov.uk, or phone the Family Information Service on 01243 777807.
Operation Encompass is a police and education early information sharing partnership, enabling schools and nurseries to recognise and, where necessary, offer immediate support to children experiencing domestic abuse. It aims to ensure all children experiencing domestic abuse receive timely support in their school or setting, no matter where in the world the child lives.
Operation Encompass will shortly be rolled out to early years group based settings in West Sussex. Currently this will not include childminders. Settings will be notified of any incidents where the police have been involved (due to domestic abuse) when children have been present at the home.
The purpose of the notification is so practitioners can support the child and be aware that the incident may have an effect on their behaviour. For example, a child could be more emotional, be unsettled and/or tired. If the child makes any disclosures about this or any other incident, practitioners should continue to refer these to the Integrated Front Door.
For further information see Sussex Police’s introduction for nurseries.
Two briefing sessions, led by Michelle Redshaw from Sussex Police, will be held on Wednesday 26 March 2025. This will support you to understand your role in Operation Encompass and what you need to do. The sessions will be 45 minutes each. The content at both sessions will be the same so you only need to attend one. You do not need to book the session, just join via the link for the relevant time.
We are pleased to introduce you to our new careers in early years and childcare website. We hope that the information will make it easier for people interested in a career in early years and childcare to understand and access routes into the sector. Our partners are very excited and looking forward to signposting job seekers to this space.
The website encourages people interested in a career in early years and childcare to subscribe to the jobs in early years and childcare newsletter. You can now find the guidance and template for submitting job vacancies on our information for childcare providers website. Please continue to submit your job vacancies to us, so we can share them on your behalf.
The third edition of the co-produced West Sussex Ordinarily Available Inclusive Practice guide 2025 (OAIP) had been published. The OAIP guide highlights a range of support and expectations that early years and childcare settings can ordinarily provide for a child or young person, including prompts, strategies and examples of good practice. This includes a section for children aged 0 to 5 years. This revised guide has been produced in partnership with education settings, parents and carers, professionals, and services.
We will be sharing hard copies of the OAIP with you via post. These will be sent to all early years and childcare settings and childminders. If you are a childminder who works on one premises with another childminder, only one copy will be received.
In newsletter 37/2024, we informed you that there will be a second cohort of NPQEYL for this academic year which will commence in April 2025. The Grow Learn Flourish (GLF) West Sussex Teaching School team would like to thank those who have applied so far.
The NPQEYL is a high quality, recognised programme of professional development aimed at EYFS staff. It is designed for leaders qualified to at least level 3 who are, or are aspiring to be, a:
- nursery manager
- headteacher of a school-based or maintained nursery
- registered childminders with leadership responsibilities
Funding for the spring 2025 cohort will remain the same as for the autumn 2024 cohort. This is available to schools/settings who are identified as being in the top 50% for Pupil Premium intake. If you are an eligible setting for funding for all programmes, you will have received direct communication from GLF West Sussex Teaching School hub. More information can be found on the GLF West Sussex Teaching School hub website. If you have staff interested in undertaking the NPQEYL programme in the spring cohort, please use this form to apply. Deadline for applications is Friday 28 March 2025.
Should you have any questions, please email Kellie Hall on khall1@glfschools.org or Caroline Carroll on caroline.carroll@millais.org.uk.
The spring edition of the SEND and Inclusion newsletter is now available.
Future course dates for the 2025/26 programme will be announced in the coming weeks. We still have a small number of courses remaining and running in March, including the course 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
- 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 for summer term actuals
- 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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#9/2025 (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; New website - Careers in early years and childcare, 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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#8/2025 (Reminder - Online Provider Portal downtime; Wraparound Childcare Funding Grant; Early Years Funded Entitlements spring term payments; Champions of childhood: Celebrating early years heroes conference 2025 - spaces are limited; Coming soon - careers in early years and childcare website and Jobs in early years and childcare newsletter; Childcare Works Wraparound and Early Years Provider Toolkit; Supporting regular activity and exercise before and after pregnancy; Kent Early Years Stronger Practice Hub newsletter; Early Years Training)
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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)
Early Years and Childcare newsletter web page.
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