#47/2025 - Wednesday 26 November 2025
This week's newsletter includes:
- Warning - Online Provider Portal downtime
- Early Years Funded Entitlement - spring term 2026 estimates open
- Early Years Funded Entitlement for working families eligibility codes
- Early Years Funded Entitlement number of weeks in spring term
- Starting school applications
- Admissions consultation
- Updated children's vaccine schedule resources
- Kent & Beyond Early Years Stronger Practice Hub Webinars
- Have your say on the future of local government in West Sussex
- Early Years Training
Difficulty viewing this bulletin? Click here to view in your browser.
Latest Ofsted news and updates here.
Please be advised that the Online Provider Portal (OPP) will be unavailable from 12.30pm on Thursday 4 December for viewing and submitting forms, but you can still access the funding area.
The OPP will be completely unavailable on Friday 5 December 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.
A reminder that the Online Provider Portal (OPP) is open for you to submit your spring term estimates for EYFE for 9 month olds, 2, 3 and 4 year olds.
Please note that estimates for 2 year old EYFE for Working Families and 2 year old Local Authority Issued EYFE will be a combined figure.
- The deadline for spring term estimate submissions is 12 December 2025.
- Payments are scheduled to be received by providers week commencing 22 December 2025. Please note once the payment is processed these can take up to 3 to 5 working days to appear in your account.
- Headcount day for spring term is 15 January 2026.
For further information please refer to the previous newsletter #46/2025
For an EYFE for Working Families eligibility code to be valid for spring term, parents must have applied for, or reconfirmed, their eligibility code before 31 December 2025.
We would like to remind settings to use the Working Families Eligibility Checker on the Online Provider Portal, to check each child’s eligibility code dates to ensure the code is valid for the spring term.
For spring term 2026:
- the Code Start Date must be on or before 31 December 2025.
- the Code End Date must be after 1 January 2026
- if the Code End Date is before 1 January 2026 and the child has accessed EYFE for Working Families with your setting last term, the Grace Period can be utilised (Grace Period End Date must be 31 March 2026 or later to cover the Spring term).
For further guidance, please use the Eligibility Checker help guide.
If you continue to have Working Family eligibility codes issues, please fill out the support request form on the Funded entitlement codes - working families eligibility checker web page.
Earlier this year we let you know that if you are a term time only provider and close during spring half term week, you will only be able to deliver 11 weeks during the spring term 2026, due to where Easter falls. As a reminder, we will fund the 12th week as part of your spring term 2026 claim with the expectation that you will deliver this week in summer term 2026.
If you are open during February half term, you are welcome to deliver the 12th week then provided you are able to deliver EYFE that week. This would mean you wouldn't need to deliver the additional week in summer term 2026, and all summer term 2026 children could attend for the standard 12 weeks.
For further information please refer to our previous newsletter #9/2025
If you still have queries regarding the number of weeks in the term please contact the Early Years Funding team by email: eyfe@westsussex.gov.uk
Please make sure that families with children starting school in September 2026 know the deadline to apply. Applications must be submitted by Thursday 15 January 2026 to be considered in the first round of allocation.
We are no longer carrying out the Starting School Questionnaire in early years settings, but encourage you to continue to work with families to identify any additional support needed to enable children to make a positive start to their school journey. We recommend sharing the Starting Reception website with families. The website offers a range of information and guidance to help parents build their children’s confidence, and prepare them for starting school. It also provides support for parents who have concerns about their child’s development.
If a family has questions about the school admissions process that you cannot answer, please refer to the information on the West Sussex County Council Starting school places web page or contact the Pupil Admissions Team.
West Sussex County Council (WSCC) are seeking the views of parents/carers with children aged 2 to 18 years old, as well as members of the public interested in local school admissions. They are holding a consultation on proposals to reduce the Published Admission Numbers for the reception year group at the schools listed below, for September 2027 entry:
- Bersted Green Primary Primary School, Bognor Regis
- Swiss Gardens Primary School, Shoreham-By-Sea
- Upper Beeding Primary School, Upper Beeding, Steyning
- East Preston Infant School, East Preston, Littlehampton
- The Meads Primary School, East Grinstead
WSCC welcome your views on the proposed admission arrangements and oversubscription criteria for all Community and Voluntary Controlled schools for September 2027 entry, as well as key dates in the admissions process.
Visit the Annual Admissions Consultation 2027/28 web page for more information. If you are a provider based in Bognor Regis, East Grinstead, Littlehampton, Shoreham-By-Sea and/or Steyning, please can you also share this with parents/carers in your setting, to give them the chance to have their say. This consultation closes on Friday 16 January 2026.
As mentioned in newsletter #39/2025, there have been important changes to the childhood vaccination schedule. To help families stay informed and children stay protected, please:
- share the updated vaccine schedule postcard with parents and carers in your setting
- use the accompanying information sheet to access helpful resources and guidance for explaining the new routine schedule and vaccinations
These materials are designed to make conversations with families easier and to support them in understanding why these changes matter for their child’s health.
To help you feel confident in these conversations, Making Every Conversation Count training sessions are available to anyone who works with the public in West Sussex. Please read the flyer for details, dates and more information.
An additional online session has been added for Thursday 11 December, 1.00pm to 4.00pm. To book this date or any later dates, please visit the Learning Pool booking page.
Following recent feedback, the Kent and Beyond Early Years Stronger Practice Hub are repeating 2 free virtual webinars by Dr Ahmar Ferguson, focusing on supporting attachment and regulation difficulties in early years.
– 2 December 7.00pm
– 4 December 7.00pm
For more information please see the course flyer.
The Local Government Reorganisation in East Sussex and Brighton and Hove, and West Sussex consultation is now live. Citizens that live in West Sussex are being asked for their views on the two options that were presented to government by all West Sussex Councils earlier this year.
There are two options being proposed by the West Sussex councils which are:
- a single unitary authority for the whole of West Sussex (supported by West Sussex County Council)
- two unitary authorities in West Sussex each responsible for services in its area (supported by the district and borough councils in West Sussex)
There is also a separate model being proposed by Brighton and Hove City Council for five unitary councils across the whole of Sussex which would include boundary changes within West Sussex.
The consultation is open until 11.59pm on Sunday 11 January 2026 and can be found here. We encourage you to have your say and share with families in your setting to raise awareness.
The Early Years and Childcare Training team has been working hard to ensure that we are responding to the demand for safeguarding training. Monitoring of bookings and waitlists across course dates has enabled us to organise a further two safeguarding sessions with a trainer for early 2026. 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
- 12 December - Portal closes for settings to submit estimates for spring term
- w/c 22 December - Payments expected for spring term estimates
- 1 January 2026 - Early bird discount for the West Sussex Early Years Education and Childcare Conference ends
- 2 January 2026 - Autumn term sufficiency deadline
- 5 January 2026 - Portal opens for settings to submit actuals for spring term
- 15 January 2026 - Headcount day for spring term
- 30 January 2026 - Portal closes for settings to submit actuals for spring term
- w/c 23 February - Payments for spring term actuals due to be released
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:
It is important you follow the correct steps and notify the relevant teams and professionals if your setting needs to close.
Contact your local setting support team and visit our closing your early years and childcare setting web page for step by step support.
We share a weekly Jobs in Early Years and Childcare bulletin with members of the public. You can find guidance and a template for submitting your job adverts to this bulletin on our advertise early years and childcare jobs web page. You will also find useful guidance on advertising your job vacancies on other platforms.
-
#46/2025 (Safeguarding Focus - Lockdown processes; References; Safeguarding and child protection refresher and Designated Safeguarding Lead training; Early Years Funded Entitlement - spring term 2025 estimates now open; Starting school applications help from the Ethnic Minority and Traveller Achievement Service; Best Start in Life – supporting parents from pregnancy to childcare; You are invited - strengthening support for families event; Supervised toothbrushing champions; SENCO/INCO network meeting slides; Sustainability Support for Education free email series; Early Years Training)
-
#45/2025 (Get winter ready – support for you and the families in your setting; More opportunities from the Kent and Beyond Stronger Practice Hub; Carbon Literacy training; Get free climate action support for your setting from a Climate Ambassador; Early Years Training – last chance to secure a free space)
-
#44/2025 (Business Focus - Can you offer work experience?; Early Years Funding Team new email is live; Rethinking the recruitment and retention of staff; Early Years Senior Leader Apprenticeship; Wraparound Childcare Programme Funding; Kent and Beyond Stronger Practice Hub newsletter; Early Years Training)
-
#43/2025 (The Free entitlement email address will soon be changing; Home-based Childcare Awards 2025 – nominations now open; Maths Champions - professional development programme; Changes to Ofsted inspections - Ofsted webinars recordings; Free resources for early years and wrapround providers; Early Years Training)
-
#42/2025 (Safeguarding Focus)Safeguarding Month 2025 and upcoming special safeguarding course; Early Years Funded Entitlements for 9 months plus, 2, 3 and 4 year olds – autumn term payments; New Ofsted Inspection Framework - Volunteers Needed; Business opportunity - West Green Primary School; New Making Every Contact Count vaccination training – supporting early years conversations; Information for Childminders; Chichester College Early Years Drop In Session; Congratulations; Early Years Training
Early Years and Childcare newsletter web page.
|
