#27/2025 - Wednesday 9 July 2025
This week's newsletter includes:
- Workforce Focus
- Help us gather feedback on the Impact of Early Years Funded Entitlement
- Children starting school
- SEND and Inclusion newsletter
- Grow, Learn and Flourish West Sussex Teaching School Hub end of year review
- Early Years Training
- Summer Reading Challenge - coming to a library near you
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Latest Ofsted news and updates here.
Early Years and Childcare Workforce Review
Thank you to the 101 providers who completed our early years and childcare workforce review. You can read the highlights of the review and how we plan to act on the feedback here.
Jobs in early years and childcare bulletin
Please remember to use our free Childcare Jobs Bulletin to advertise your vacancies. We have 160 jobseekers subscribed, but we need new jobs coming through to build their trust in the bulletin. Our aim is to make this the top place for finding early years and childcare jobs in West Sussex, but this can take time. Please keep using the bulletin to share your job vacancies, as we need you to advertise your vacancies to help it grow.
You can sign up to receive the bulletin yourself by visiting our careers in early years and childcare website, and clicking on "sign up to our newsletter" at the bottom of the web page.
You can find the guidance and template for submitting your job adverts on our advertise early years and childcare jobs web page.
We want to ensure the process of advertising in the bulletin is as easy and effective as possible. If you have any feedback, please email us at jobsineyc@westsussex.gov.uk.
Careers in early years and childcare events
Over the past six months, we have attended careers events across West Sussex. At these events, we have been promoting careers in early years and childcare. Some of the events we have attended include:
- a presentation for Level 2 Health and Social Care learners at a local college about careers in early years and childcare. As a result, two students signed up for the T Level, and two secured apprenticeships in the sector. None of these learners had previously considered early years as a career, so this was a positive outcome
- an early years and childcare recruitment fair, held in partnership with Jobcentre Plus and Employ Crawley. 70 jobseekers attended to listen to our presentation and speak to the 12 employers who had information stalls at the event
- a presentation for first-year students at a local sixth form college, encouraging them to consider a career in early years and childcare. The session was very well attended, with a full room of students taking part
If you hear about any events in schools, colleges, or your local community where you think we should be, please let us know by emailing jobsineyc@westsussex.gov.uk. Also, when we attend recruitment fairs and events, we take copies of the job vacancies from our Jobs in Early Years and Childcare bulletin with us, so it is important that you use it.
Careers in Early Years and Childcare website
Have you visited our careers in early years and childcare website yet? It is our public facing website that all our partners are directing pupils, jobseekers, and people thinking about changing careers.
We are also distributing careers in early years and childcare flyers across West Sussex. We are working to get these flyers into as many public places as possible. The flyer has a QR code that will take you directly to the website for more information. If you know of a community space where you think we should leave our flyers, please let us know by emailing jobsineyc@westsussex.gov.uk.
New Level 3 Qualification for Early Years Educators starting in September 2025
A new Level 3 qualification called the NCFE CACHE Technical Occupational Entry for the Early Years Workforce (Early Years Educator) Diploma will be available from September 2025. This course has funding for learners aged 19 and over who are working or volunteering in an early years setting. Crawley College are offering this 18 month programme from September, on Tuesdays 6.00pm to 9.00pm. There will be other training providers and colleges offering this funded course. As soon as we have further information we will add it to the qualifications and progression pathways webpage.
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As mentioned in newsletter #25/2025, we are currently running our Funding Impact Survey to understand how the EYFE for Working Families, for both children aged 9 months plus and 2 year olds, is making a difference in families’ lives.
To help us reach as many parents and carers as possible, we will be sending survey slips to settings this week where eligible children are attending. We would appreciate your support in handing these slips to parents and carers whose children are receiving the funding. The more responses we receive, the better we can understand the real impact and continue shaping services that work for families.
If you need more survey slips than what we have posted, you can use this Word document to print more.
Thank you once again for your continued support.
As we approach the end of term, you will be carrying out lots of important work in supporting children and families to prepare for making the transition to school. There is paperwork to support information sharing available on our website. You can read the full guidance and see an example of the completed form at Early Years transition.
Please ensure that you share all key information, including current and historic safeguarding information, with the schools to enable the school that each child transitions to the information that they need to meet each child's needs effectively.
The Summer 2025 SEND and Inclusion newsletter is now available.
The GLF West Sussex TSH end of year review is now available. This useful resource provides an annual review of news from across the GLF West Sussex TSH.
TSH news is suitable for all educational staff. It includes information on Initial Teacher Training, Early Careers Framework, National Professional Qualifications, and professional development available through local curriculum hubs. We recommend that you read the publication. Please share it with your continuing professional development leads, mentors, and induction tutors. Also, share it with any colleagues interested in professional development.
With the academic year coming to an end, it is a good time to start planning for September. You might be thinking about what to cover and include in your curriculum and provision for September and beyond. Below are three courses for the different ages and stages to support you with this.
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.
The West Sussex libraries Summer Reading Challenge is back for 2025. This year's theme is Story Garden, inspiring a love of reading, nature and exploring the outdoors.
Every year, libraries across the country, including all West Sussex libraries run the reading challenge to encourage children to keep reading over the holidays. Children aged 4 to 11 years old will be asked to read books and complete reading challenges to collect stickers and will receive a special medal and certificate for completing the challenge. For children under 4 years old there is a mini challenge available.
This years challenge starts on Saturday 12 July and ends on Saturday 13 September. Please share this fun activity with your families. To request a poster or for further information email FandW.Enquiries@westsussex.gov.uk.
There will be lots of fun activities and events happening throughout the summer too. Visit What's on in libraries to find out more.
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Useful information
- 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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#26/2025 (Business Focus - Limiting place capacity; Early Years Funded Entitlement - autumn term 2025 estimates now open; Post Headcount Exceptional Payment forms for 9 months plus funding claims; Department for Education consultation on floor space requirements - closing soon; Celebrating success of our early years superheroes - Toybox Day Nursery; Kent & Beyond Early Years Stronger Practice Hub newsletter; Early Years Training)
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#25/2025 (Safeguarding Focus - Pan Sussex Safeguarding and Child Protection Procedures website has moved; Help families have their say on the childcare expansion; Sufficiency update for the summer term; Celebrating success of our early years superheroes; National Professional Qualification in Early Years Leadership (NPQEYL) Autumn 2025 update; Thriving in Education offer for early years)
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#24/2025 (Warning - Online Provider Portal downtime; Right From the Start: West Sussex Early Years and Childcare Strategy update; New resources to share with parents; Boost your skills – visit our training and qualifications web pages; Early Years Training)
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#23/2025 (Business Focus - Workplace recycling – are you compliant?; Summer term Post Headcount Exceptional Payment for eligible working families of children aged 9 months to 2 years old – no exceptional reason needed; Advanced warning - Online Provider Portal downtime; Changes to Online Provider Portal login screen; Department for Education consultation – floor space requirements for children; Free Open University early years resources; Kent and Beyond Early Years Stronger Practice Hub; Early Years Training)
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#22/2025 (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)
Early Years and Childcare newsletter web page.
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