#10/2026 - Wednesday 11 March 2026
This week's newsletter includes:
- Good Level of Development Focus – Using Early Years Pupil Premium to narrow the attainment gap
- Important action for existing Early Years Funded Entitlement providers
- Common error when submitting your Provider Declaration form
- Early Years Network Group - update
- Tax-Free Childcare
- Starting Reception webinar and new toothbrushing guide
- Maths Champions programme
- Early Years Training
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Latest Ofsted news and updates here.
Using Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) to narrow the attainment gap
Giving every child the best start in life is the Government's strategy for improving child development and meeting the national ambition that 75% of 5 year olds in England have a Good Level of Development (GLD) by 2028.
For West Sussex, our targets are:
- 76.7% for all children (75% nationally)
- 53.4% for Free School Meal children
Children are defined as having reached a GLD at the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage, if they have achieved the expected level for the early learning goals in the prime areas of learning, which are:
- communication and language
- personal, social and emotional development
- physical development
Plus the specific areas of:
Our priority is to work collectively to ensure that every child in West Sussex has the best possible start in life and is supported to reach their full potential.
As an Early Years Educator, you can support this by identifying the 10% most disadvantaged children in your cohort and consider what support they may need to access and benefit fully from your setting's ambitious curriculum. Many of these children will be in receipt of the EYPP which should be used to help narrow the attainment gap.
The Education Endowment Foundation has an Early Years Evidence Store which provides you with evidence based strategies to improve outcomes for children. The Evidence Store includes a toolkit on EYPP which will support you in maximising the impact of this funding for the children in your setting. Your Early Years and Childcare Advisor can discuss this with you at your setting review meeting and offer you some advice and guidance to make the most of this funding.
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As shared in our Special Newsletter - New Provider Declaration all existing EYFE providers must complete and return their signed Provider Declaration Form via the Online Provider Portal (OPP) by 20 March 2026 in order to continue delivering EYFE from April 2026.
To complete your annual EYFE Provider Declaration Form, sign into the OPP and complete your ‘EYFE Provider Declaration’ signature form electronically.
Failure to return this form by the 20 March deadline will delay your summer term estimate payment.
Please note that we are running ‘Online Provider Portal Training: Completing your Annual Provider Declarations’ webinars. This is still open for booking:
Please contact EYFE@westsussex.gov.uk if you are a provider wishing to:
- register to deliver EYFE for the first time
- amend your current EYFE delivery model
- add a new EYFE age group to your provision
You must email us to request the appropriate form. Please do not complete the EYFE Provider Declaration Form on the Online Provider Portal in these circumstances.
We have begun processing your Provider Declaration 2026/27 forms and have identified a common issue that is leading to forms being declined.
In Question 4 'Confirming the number of weeks and term dates you are delivering EYFE per term', please note that the example table shows the maximum possible term date parameters and the maximum number of weeks.
When completing this question please ensure that the dates you provide reflect the actual Early Years Funded Entitlement (EYFE) delivery weeks for your setting for each term.
In some cases, the maximum term dates shown in the example are longer than the maximum number of funded weeks available. When this happens, you will need to define your start and end dates so that they correctly match the number of EYFE weeks you are claiming.
For example:
- Autumn 2026 term dates are 01/09/2026 – 18/12/2026, which cover 16 weeks.
- However, the maximum funded term-time claim for Autumn is 14 weeks.
- You must therefore enter term dates that match your 14 funded weeks (excluding closures for example half-term, bank holidays or inset days).
Please do not call us to check whether we have received your declaration form or whether it has been completed correctly, as this will increase processing times for all providers. Your form will show as pending until we have been able to review and authorise or decline your forms.
If we identify any issues with your submission, we will contact you directly.
For further guidance to support you completing the form please visit our Online Provider Portal web page.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to speak to the Family Information Service team at the Early Years Network Groups last year. We really appreciated your honest feedback about the online forms, including the Staff Update form, Termly Update form and Sufficiency form. Your insights have been extremely valuable, and we wanted to update you on where things currently stand.
Over the past few months, we have been reviewing all of the suggestions you shared and exploring what changes can be made. Some improvements are already underway, while others need more investigation to make sure any updates are effective, workable and consistent across the service. We are working through a number of suggestions and ensuring any changes are properly tested. Once this is complete, we will share a full summary of the updates.
We wanted to reassure you that:
- we are still actively looking into all feedback received
- suggested improvements have not been forgotten, and several are already being progressed in the background
- we will share a detailed update on confirmed changes and next steps as soon as this work is complete
Thank you again for your time, your thoughtful comments and your ongoing patience. Your feedback is helping us improve the experience for all early years providers, and we really appreciate your support. If you have additional thoughts in the meantime, please feel free to get in touch with the Family Information Service.
TFC is a scheme available for eligible working parents who can receive a £2 top up for every £8 towards the cost of their childcare. It can be used for wrapround childcare and holiday schemes as well as at early years settings.
The Family Information Service has a search route on its website which identifies the settings who offer TFC. Parents and carers may base their childcare decisions on whether they could claim TFC and therefore save money on their childcare bills.
If you already offer TFC, and your setting is not listed in the TFC search, please ensure that you complete the termly childcare provider update form. If you do not currently offer this, please help families to save money by signing up to offer TFC.
The Best Start in Life website has lots of useful information about the scheme, including frequently asked questions, which can be shared with parents and carers at your setting.
Alongside their Starting Reception and Potty Training guide, Kindred Square have launched a new Children's Toothbrushing guide. It has been created to help share clear, trusted oral health advice with families. Developed in collaboration with the early years sector, the British Society of Paediatric Dentistry and the Oral Health Foundation, the guide supports healthy routines from the earliest years. It also provides consistent, evidence-informed messaging for families. Please share these guides with families in your setting.
Why oral health matters:
Tooth decay remains the leading cause of hospital admissions for children aged between 5 and 9 years old, and establishing good habits early can make a lasting difference.
The guide includes:
- when and how to brush children's teeth
- practical tips to build brushing into everyday routines
- advice on supporting children's wider oral health
- inclusive guidance for families of children with SEND
Kindred Square are also offering a free practical webinar focused on supporting children and families as they prepare for school. In this session they will:
- spotlight practical examples of practice linked to starting Reception
- share actionable top tips to strengthen your approach to supporting children in preparing for starting school
- explore how to maximise engagement with families around national offer day (16 April)
- introduce the new Children's Toothbrushing guide
Sign up for the webinar on Wednesday 18 March from 9.30am to 10.30am. If you can't join the webinar live, continue to register and you will receive a recording afterwards.
In light of the Best Start in Life guidance, with its clear focus on maths, literacy and personal, social and emotional development, it is increasingly important that we consider how we close the gap in these priority areas. Research from the Maths Champions programme shows significant progress for disadvantaged groups, demonstrating the impact that high‑quality early maths practice can have.
As you know, maths is a specific area of learning, and secure early mathematical understanding is essential for children in Reception to achieve a Good Level of Development (GLD). There are currently places remaining in the programme offered via the Kent and Beyond Stronger Practice Hub. For more information, please see the flyer and presentation from the National Day Nurseries Association. They are offering information sessions for those who are interested. You can also submit your interest here.
This is a free programme that would normally cost £1,200.
This opportunity is currently only open to early years group settings.
To support the EYFS Safeguarding Reforms, we are funding one free Paediatric First Aid training place for:
- infant and primary schools, and wraparound childcare providers who offer food and/or monitor children while eating and have Reception children on role
- Ofsted registered early years nurseries, pre-schools, and childminders.
There is one free place available to be booked and taken before 31 March 2026, if your setting has not already.
There are spaces available for 2 additional dates in March. To book, click on your preferred course date 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 a course or are unsure whether you have a free place available, please email early.years.training@westsussex.gov.uk.
Useful information
- 27 March - Portal closes for settings to submit summer term estimates
- w/c 6 April - Payments for summer term estimates due to be released
- 10 April 2026 - Spring term sufficiency deadline
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.
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#9/2026 (Business Focus - Free cyber security support for businesses; Early Years Funded Entitlement - summer term 2026 estimates now open; Early Years Funded Entitlement for Working Families eligibility codes; Webinars available - completing your Annual Provider Declaration; Have you completed the Early Years Education and Childcare Workforce Review?; Grants and funds available to support outdoor education; Parental conduct; Early Years and Childcare Inclusion/Special Educational Needs Network; Kent and Beyond Stronger Practice Hub: summer term training and networks; Early Years Training)
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#8/2026 (Early Help Focus - Best Start Family Hubs; White Paper on Education Reform - Update from Claire Hayes, Assistant Director of Education and Skills; Early Years Funded Entitlement - Indicative Budget report; Wraparound parent survey; 23rd National Playwork Conference for early years and wraparound care settings; The second early years education and childcare workforce review has landed; Transition events; Kent and Beyond Stronger Practice Hub: summer term training and networks; SEND and Inclusion Newsletter; Early Years Training)
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#7/2026 (Business Focus - Employment Rights Act 2025: What Providers Need to Know, Small Hands, Big Planet: Climate action workshop for early years educators, Product recall: Hobbycraft “Giant box of craft”, Do you have any staff vacancies to fill?, Early years education and childcare jobs fairs, Bursaries for Level 3 Diploma for Working in the Early Years Sector, Ofsted inspections since November 2025, Kent and Beyond Stronger Practice Hub Virtual Training and Networks, Early Years Training)
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#6/2026 (Product recall: Aptamil and Cow and Gate First Infant Milk and Follow on Milk formula; Fully Funded MA in Early Years Education with Early Years Teacher Status – applications now open; Wraparound Childcare Parent Survey –reminder; Updated Quality Improvement Principles – The National Children’s Bureau; New podcast for early years practitioners; Maths Champions - professional development programme; Virtual school newsletter; Early Years Training)
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#5/2026 (Business Focus - Employment Rights Act 2025: What Providers Need to Know; Small Hands, Big Planet: Climate action workshop for early years educators; Product recall: Hobbycraft “Giant box of craft”; Do you have any staff vacancies to fill?;Early years education and childcare jobs fairs; Bursaries for Level 3 Diploma for Working in the Early Years Sector; Ofsted inspections since November 2025;Kent and Beyond Stronger Practice Hub Virtual Training and Networks; Early Years Training)
Early Years and Childcare newsletter web page.
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