Newsletter for Early Years and Childcare providers in West Sussex
#11/2025 - Wednesday 19 March 2025
This week's newsletter includes:
- Safeguarding Focus - Safer recruitment for staff from overseas and those who have lived abroad
- Recording attendance of children and visitors
- Reminder - Provider Declaration 2025/26
- New resource to support setting's Early Years Pupil Premium spending
- Reminder - Operation Encompass briefings
- World Oral Health Day – new resources to download and share
- 'Little Moments Together' campaign
- Pelvic floor exercises for new parents
Difficulty viewing this bulletin? Click here to view in your browser.
Latest Ofsted news and updates here.
Safer recruitment for staff from overseas and those who have lived abroad
If you employ staff from overseas, you must follow the appropriate procedures for safer recruitment, including obtaining background checks for new staff.
Keeping children safe in education 2024 is the statutory guidance published by the Department for Education. This guidance outlines the safeguarding requirements. DBS checks will not cover the time a person has lived outside the UK. Settings must carry out any additional checks they think are appropriate to consider relevant events that occurred outside the UK.
|
Monitoring children’s attendance is an important part of safeguarding and ensures children can access their Early Years Funded Entitlement. Good attendance helps improve education outcomes and supports children’s wellbeing. If children do not attend when you expect them to, it is important to check with their parents/carers to understand why. Tracking attendance also helps you to identify patterns of non-attendance and late arrivals. It is important to work with and support parents in developing good patterns of attendance.
Establishing expectations of good attendance in early years will support children to achieve their best outcomes. It also sets positive habits that are more likely to continue throughout their education. Good attendance is a key part of early years provision, helping to improve outcomes for children and narrow the attainment gap for the most disadvantaged
Visitor records are important for security. All visitors should sign in and out and follow the setting’s safety procedures. Visitors includes external professionals, contractors and parents attending meetings.
The deadline to complete and return your signed Provider Declaration form, for 2025/26, via the Online Provider Portal (OPP) is Friday 21 March. You can find more information about this in our Early Years and Childcare Special Newsletter.
If you have not yet completed the annual Early Years Funded Entitlement Provider Declaration form, sign into the OPP at www.westsussex.gov.uk/eycportal and complete your ‘EYFE Provider Declaration’ signature form electronically.
Failure to return this form by the due date will delay your summer term estimate payment.
Last year, the Department for Education (DfE) announced a 45% increase to Early Years Pupil Premium funding. This means that from April 2025, all early years settings in England will be able to claim up to £570 per eligible child per year.
The early years sector plays an important role in making sure that every child, regardless of background, gets the best start in life. The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) has launched a brand-new resource to help settings make the most of the additional funding, to close learning gaps and support the socio-economically disadvantaged children to flourish.
The guide recommends a balanced approach to spending, and encourages settings to:
-
develop quality practice, including through investing in high-quality professional development.
-
tailor personalised support, including targeted interventions that meet children’s specific needs.
-
lead, plan, and sustain, including supporting meaningful engagement between leaders and their teams so that changes to practice continue.
The resource has been produced in consultation with leaders in the early years sector, and is aligned with guidance from the DfE.
This guidance is based on evidence, so settings can be confident that their EYPP choices can make a big difference. You can explore the EEF resources here.
In newsletter 10/2025, we shared important information of the police and education, early information sharing partnership, Operation Encompass.
To help you understand your role in Operation Encompass, we would like to remind you of two briefing sessions which will be held on Wednesday 26 March.
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.
Every child deserves a bright and confident smile. World Oral Health Day (Thursday 20 March) presents a great reminder of the importance of oral health care. Please take a moment to explore the West Sussex County Council . You will find:
- free downloadable posters and resources for your setting(s)
- tips to share with parents and carers
- toothbrushing programmes
- child friendly videos.
Brushing twice a day with fluoride toothpaste, watching out for sugary snacks, and making regular dental check-ups part of a families schedule are all simple ways to help keep tooth decay at bay. By promoting these small habits, we can support children across West Sussex to maintain healthy teeth now and as they grow.
The Better Health Start for Life 'Little Moments Together' campaign highlights the importance of brain development in the first five years of a child's life. It provides parents and carers with simple, everyday ways to support their child's learning and development through play, conversation and daily routines.
By encouraging parents to build these 'little moments' into their day, settings can help strengthen learning at home. The campaign provides expert advice, practical tips and activity ideas.
Please share the Better Health Start for Life website with families in your setting.
Are new parents in your setting aware they should be doing pelvic floor exercises, but worried about doing them correctly?
Please signpost them to The Wellbeing and Exercise in Pregnancy Programme (WEPP) to watch their ‘Spotlight On’ Pelvic Floor Exercises in Pregnancy video. These exercises can also be used postnatally.
This Spotlight On video includes information on where the pelvic muscles are, why they are important and how to exercise them.
These two courses have been moved from March to April, giving you another opportunity to book on to them before they run. To book, 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
- 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.
 |
|
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. |
-
#10/2025 (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)
-
#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)
-
#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)
-
#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)
-
#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)
Early Years and Childcare newsletter web page.
|
