Newsletter for Early Years and Childcare providers in West Sussex
#22/2025 - Wednesday 4 June 2025
This week's newsletter includes:
- Early Help Focus - Early Help community outreach engagement
- Warning - Online Provider Portal downtime
- Wraparound Childcare Programme Funding and wraparound webinar
- Working together to safeguard children - update
- Check an early years qualification service – available now
- New Early Education and Childcare Coalition survey
- Free paediatric first aid training
- Free nutrition webinars
- Education Endowment Fund (EEF) opportunities
- Early Years Training
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Latest Ofsted news and updates here.
The Early Help Family Hubs plan and deliver a proactive community outreach engagement programme to promote the Early Help offer and key public health messages. These sessions provide families with information, advice, and guidance on a wide range of topics to support family life and improve outcomes for children.
In partnership with the Family Information Service, the Family Hub Teams map local groups and organisations so that these can be shared with families to connect them with services in their area.
Family Hubs currently attend venues such as parent/toddler groups, libraries and food banks, and some secondary schools where drop-ins for young people are available. During school holidays, community outreach engagement takes place in local parks and at wider community events, often in partnership with other services.
The information, advice and guidance given has enabled hundreds of families to access preventative services and engage in their local Family Hub. There, they can benefit from the sensory rooms, magic carpets, sensory toy libraries, high-quality play spaces, oral healthcare, food parcels, assistance with utility top-ups and white goods.
Community outreach events are advertised on the Family Hub’s Facebook page. Please see the flyer for the QR codes for each hub’s Facebook page and share this with families in your setting.
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Please be advised that the Online Provider Portal will be unavailable from 12.30pm on Friday 6 June for viewing and submitting forms, but you can still access the funding area.
The OPP will be completely unavailable on Monday 9 June until 5.00pm. This is due to essential maintenance that is taking place. Please note, parents and carers will not be able to submit 2 year old Local Authority Issued Early Years Funded Entitlement applications and our Family Information Service website will also be unavailable to the public.
Following a number of recent enquiries, the opportunity to apply for wraparound programme funding is now re-open. For more information visit the Wraparound Childcare Programme Funding web page.
The next deadline is Friday 11 July.
Childcare Works are also hosting a webinar for wraparound providers on Tuesday 10 June from 7.00pm to 8.00pm. This session is a chance for wraparound childcare providers to find out about the guidance and information available to support you and your out of school club or childminding business. This includes breakfast clubs, after school clubs, holiday clubs and playschemes. It is also an opportunity for you to find out more about Childcare Works' new Wraparound Toolkit. You can sign up for this webinar here.
The Working together to safeguard children web page has recently been updated with new resources to support those who work with children.
The update includes:
- an illustrated guide
- an accompanying animated video
- a toolkit of resources.
These materials are designed to help explain to children, young people, and their families how professionals and organisations work together to help, support, and protect them.
Early years managers can now use the new Check an early years qualification digital service to quickly verify whether staff qualifications meet the requirements for staff:child ratios in England. This free GOV.UK tool allows managers to check a qualification’s approval status by entering key details such as:
- course start date
- qualification level
- awarding organisation
At the end of the process, an outcome is provided which can be printed for your records.
Using the new service will enable you to:
- save time during recruitment and HR processes
- support workforce planning ahead of the September 2025 expansion of Early Years Funded Entitlements
- reduce confusion when checking qualifications
This service does not provide guidance on qualifications that were achieved outside the United Kingdom (UK). Visit the qualifications achieved outside of the UK web page for more information.
If you need help using the service you can contact the Department for Education.
Ahead of the government’s Spending Review in June, where future public spending plans will be set out, the Early Years Alliance and the Early Education and Childcare Coalition are joining forces. Together, they are calling for increased investment in the early years sector. To support this campaign, the Coalition has launched a short survey to capture the real impact of rising costs, including increases to the national minimum wage and employer national insurance contributions.
The results of the survey will be used alongside a new independent research report commissioned by the Coalition to support the ongoing campaign for better funding for the sector ahead of the Spending Review. The survey should take around 5 minutes to complete and can be submitted once per setting (or site, if part of a chain).
In newsletter #21/2025, we shared information with you about the Early Years Foundation Stage Safeguarding Reforms. From September 2025, you will be required to have a trained member of staff present while children eat.
Each eligible setting can claim one free paediatric first aid training place. Please refer to the information in newsletter #21/2025 for further information and how to book your place.
There are a number of free nutrition related webinars that settings are able to access. All courses run from 6.30pm to 8.00pm. Please click the course name below for more information and to book.
You can also access a free Nurturing Nutrition: Building Healthy Foundations in the Early Years Vodcast. This vodcast covers the following key topics:
- building healthy food foundations from birth to 5
- encouraging positive attitudes towards food
- addressing common nutritional concerns in early years settings
The session will also include an important update from Ofsted. You can download the slides from the event here.
Do you want to play a vital role in connecting research to day-to-day practice? If so, you might be interested in an opportunity the EEF is proposing. The application window closes on 19 June 2025 and you can find out more information here.
The EEF are also offering the opportunity for early years settings to take part in Early Talk Boost - second trial. To take part, you need to sign-up by midday on 14 July 2025. To find out more about this or any other EEF trials, please see the EEF website.
This week, we are highlighting our courses designed for those wishing to expand their knowledge of phonics. These courses cover common misconceptions, explore effective techniques and skills, and provide practical guidance on incorporating phonics into everyday sounds.
To book, click the course name below. You can also visit our booking portal West Sussex Services for Education and select your required course. The 25/26 training brochure contains information on all of our courses and course descriptions.
If you experience any issues when booking your course, please email early.years.training@westsussex.gov.uk.
Useful information
- w/c 9 June - summer term actuals payments due
- 30 June to 15 August - portal open for autumn term estimates
- 29 August - summer term Sufficiency deadline
- 1 September to 26 September - portal open for autumn term actuals
- 18 September - autumn term headcount day
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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#21/2025 (Safeguarding Focus - Pan Sussex Half Day Conference - Understanding Safeguarding Children in a Digital Age; Advanced warning - Online Provider Portal downtime ; Summer term Post Headcount Exceptional Payment (PHEP) flexibility for eligible working families of children aged 9 months to 2 years old; Updating your staff contact information; New Department for Education newsletter for early years providers; Anti-Racist Education Conference; Allergy Support for Schools and Early Years Providers; New Ofsted Blog; Early Years Training – Funding for one free Paediatric First Aid training per setting; Early Years Training)
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#20/2025 (Impact of childcare expansion survey; Jobs in Early Years and Childcare Newsletter; Children, Young People and Learning SEND and Inclusion Newsletter; West Sussex Safeguarding Children Partnership - free training; Fire Safety Training ;Early Years Training)
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#19/2025 (Business Focus - explore our business support web pages for settings; Summer term Early Years Funded Entitlement actuals – deadline this Friday; Right From The Start Early Years survey; Childminding Week; Early Years Funded Entitlements for Working Families - 30 hours applications open now; New Ofsted research report; Wraparound settings - inclusive provision; Fully funded Early Years SENCO training - apply now; Department for Education launches new consultation on floor space requirements; Early Years Training)
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#18/2025 (Summer term 2025 actuals claims - action required; Early Years Funded Entitlement (EYFE) for Working Families codes – new online request for support for; Termly Provider Update; Childcare Expansion Capital Grant funding - deadline approaching; Early Language Support for Every Child - Free Event; National Wraparound Childcare Programme Grant Funding; National Professional Qualification (NPQ) Autumn 2025 update; West Sussex Safeguarding Children Partnership (WSSCP) free training, Early Years Training)
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#17/2025 (New nutrition guidance from the Department for Education; World Hand Hygiene Day 2025; Dadpad - New app launch event; Reminder to sign up to Operation Encompass; Help parents save money on childcare costs; Early Years Training)
Early Years and Childcare newsletter web page.
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