#28/2025 - Wednesday 16 July 2025
This week's newsletter includes:
- Revised Early Years Foundation Stage statutory framework
- Ofsted renewed inspection framework webinars
- Early Years Foundation Stage safeguarding and welfare requirement changes
- Leading Excellence in Early Years: Quality First Teaching
- Vaccinated children should not be excluded from settings
- Paying for childcare – new resource to share with parents
- Childcare Choices provider updates
- Funded level 3 qualification opportunity
- Early Years Education with Early Years Teacher Status MA - additional funded places available
- Early Years Training
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Latest Ofsted news and updates here.
The Department for Education has published the 2025 edition of the EYFS statutory framework. The updated framework comes into effect on 1 September 2025. The revised documents incorporate several changes aimed at strengthening child safeguarding, staff accountability and recruitment. You can find the update framework here, along with the current versions which are effective until 31 August 2025.
In November 2025, Ofsted are changing their inspection framework. To understand the main changes to education inspection and how they affect you, Ofsted are holding live webinars in September.
To book on to the relevant event for your setting, please visit the applicable link below:
Spaces are limited, however the sessions will be recorded and available afterwards on Ofsted's YouTube channel.
The EYFS framework will see significant changes to safeguarding and welfare requirements from September 2025.
Your Designated Safeguarding Lead is invited to attend a free, online briefing highlighting the changes to the EYFS, and will cover the relevant updates and additional knowledge required. This has been set out as part of the new training content in Annex C. There are three briefing dates to choose from. To book your place visit the link below.
These briefings are limited to one place per setting, but colleagues may watch the briefing together on a single device.
We are pleased to share with you, an exciting programme for current and aspiring leaders who are keen to develop their professional skills and knowledge, and make a difference for children in their setting. The programme is aimed at supporting you to reflect on and develop your provision to improve outcomes for children. There will be a particular focus on those children with vulnerabilities that impact their attainment.
The programme consists of several activities and sessions, starting in October 2025 through to March 2026. We encourage you to read the Programme Overview for further information.
There are only 12 spaces available for practitioners to attend this fully funded programme. If you identify a practitioner who is available to attend the training dates, please complete the application form and return it to sue.woods@westsussex.gov.uk and lisa.guy@westsussex.gov.uk by Thursday 31 July. Please complete the form carefully as this could affect your application eligibility.
The Department for Education and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) are reminding early years and childcare settings that children who have recently received vaccinations should not be excluded from attending if they are well enough.
Dr Mary Ramsay, Director of Public Health Programmes at UKHSA, emphasises that there is no medical reason to keep recently vaccinated children at home if they are feeling well. She warns that such exclusion policies may unintentionally discourage parents from vaccinating their children, increasing the risk of outbreaks in settings. With current outbreaks of measles and reports of whooping cough in some areas, ensuring children receive routine immunisations on time is more critical than ever. Vaccines are safe, and the viruses in them cannot be spread to others.
Early years and childcare settings are encouraged to review their attendance policies to ensure they are inclusive and based on medical evidence. By supporting childhood immunisation and welcoming children who are well, you help protect not just individual children but the wider community.
We have recently produced a ‘Do you need help paying for childcare costs?’ coaster. This useful resource can be shared with parents at your setting as a way to promote the different options available to pay for childcare. We will send these resources out to your settings however if more copies are required, or you have any queries, please email family.info.service@westsussex.gov.uk.
With the expansion of childcare support and the reform of early years education it is important to stay up to date. The Department for Education share the latest announcements, information and news in their Childcare Choices e-newsletter. Sign up to receive the newsletter by completing this e-form.
Do you have staff aged 19 years old or over, who could benefit from a funded opportunity to upskill to a Level 3 qualification? Crawley College are offering the NCFE Cache Level 3 Technical Occupational Entry for the Early Years Workforce.
The aim of this full and relevant qualification is to prepare learners to become early years educators. To be eligible, applicants must hold a GCSE English grade 4 or above (C equivalent) or Level 2 Functional Skills, and need to be working a minimum of seven hours a week in an early years setting.
The proposed teaching hours are Tuesdays 6.00pm to 9.00pm, starting in September 2025 and ending in September 2027. For further information, including how to apply visit here.
The University of Sussex has confirmed that the Department for Education has approved additional funded places for its MA in Early Years with Early Years Teacher Status MA, available through both the Graduate and Employment routes.
Early years professionals located within approximately 90 minutes of the University of Sussex campus are invited to express their interest. For further information or to apply, please contact the Admissions Coordinator, Kathy King: MAEYTSAdmin@sussex.ac.uk.
Full eligibility criteria and application details are available on the University of Sussex website.
With the academic year coming to an end, you may be turning your attention to the next academic year and a possible Ofsted inspection of your setting. We offer a course that is designed to help you and your staff members understand what to expect during an inspection, and help you feel confident and prepared.
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
- 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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#27/2025 (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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#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)
Early Years and Childcare newsletter web page.
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