#11/2026 - Wednesday 18 March 2026
This week's newsletter includes:
- Safeguarding Focus: Monitoring child absence in line with the Early Years Foundation Stage
- Provider Declaration 2026/27 reminder
- Have you completed the Early Years Education and Childcare Workforce Review?
- Church Lane Nursery celebrates national award win
- Join the West Sussex Virtual School for breakfast this summer
- White Paper on education reform – open consultation
- Education Endowment Foundation: Take part in a funded research project and build strong vocabulary from the start
- Strengthening professional connections for foster carers and kinship carers
- Early Years Training
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Latest Ofsted news and updates here.
Safeguarding Focus: monitoring child absence in line with the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)
Monitoring child absence is a statutory safeguarding requirement for all early years providers under the EYFS. Both the EYFS statutory framework for group and school-based providers and childminders sets the same clear expectation for all early years providers to act when a child does not attend as expected. Providers are required to identify when absence may indicate a safeguarding concern and to respond promptly. This means that every provider, including group based providers and childminders, must:
- record absences accurately
- follow up any unexplained or prolonged absence without delay
- consider patterns of non‑attendance as part of safeguarding practice
- make reasonable attempts to contact parents, carers, and emergency contacts
- escalate concerns through local safeguarding procedures, which may include contacting children’s social care teams
To ensure you are meeting the requirements of the EYFS, you should review your current practice and check that the following actions are in place:
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Ensure you can identify absence promptly. Records and processes must make it clear when a child is expected to attend and whether they have arrived at the setting. This supports your duty to follow up prolonged or unexplained absence.
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Make reasonable attempts to contact parents, carers, and all emergency contacts when a child does not attend as expected.
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Check that your safeguarding procedures cover absence. Your procedures must explain how you follow up absence and when you escalate concerns to children’s social care teams in line with local safeguarding arrangements.
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Review your attendance policy if you have one. Setting out absence procedures and sharing them with parents and carers supports transparency and consistency.
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Make sure you have sufficient emergency contact information. Updated EYFS guidance recommends holding more than 2 emergency contacts where possible to support timely follow‑up.
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Ensure your induction process includes absence procedures so that all staff understand what to do if a child is unexpectedly absent. This supports your duty to act promptly and consistently.
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Take into account the statutory guidance Working together to safeguard children and the Prevent duty guidance for England and Wales. The EYFS states that providers must refer to these documents when carrying out safeguarding duties, including monitoring absence.
These actions will support your compliance with EYFS requirements and help ensure children are kept safe through timely and appropriate responses to absence.
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This is a reminder that the deadline to complete and return your signed Provider Declaration form via the Online Provider Portal (OPP) is Friday 20 March. You can find more information about this in our Early Years and Childcare Special Newsletter.
If you have not yet completed the annual Early Years Funded Entitlement (EYFE) Provider Declaration form, please sign into the OPP at www.westsussex.gov.uk/eycportal and complete your ‘EYFE Provider Declaration’ signature form electronically. Failure to return this form by the due date will delay your summer term estimate payment.
There is a new form, in addition to the EYFE Provider Declaration, called the 'Correction Form'. Please only complete this form if you have been asked to do so by the Early Years Funding Team.
We have designed the Early Years Education and Childcare Workforce Review to help us understand what you need and how we can support you. The information that you share will feed into and influence our workforce plan.
All early year’s settings that complete and submit their review will be entered into a prize draw. The first 3 entries drawn will win a free place on ‘Safer Recruitment Essentials’, an online workshop from Coram Hempsalls (summer term 2026). Winners will also receive a copy of Kate Moxley's book, 'A Guide to Mental Health for Early Years Educators: Putting Wellbeing at the Heart of Your Philosophy and Practice'.
The deadline for completion is 11.55pm on Wednesday 25 March 2026. Please take 10 minutes to complete the Early Years and Childcare Workforce Review so that your voice is heard and helps shape the workforce support we provide.
For any questions during this process, please email jobsineyc@westsussex.gov.uk.
Huge congratulations to Church Lane Nursery, who have been named Day Nursery of the Year 2025/26 at the Prestige Awards. Members of the team attended the awards ceremony at the Meon Valley Hotel in Southampton on Wednesday 25 February, where they were delighted to receive the award.
Well done to everyone at Church Lane Nursery on this fantastic recognition.
A few spaces remain at the Virtual School summer term Breakfast Briefings. Designated Teachers (DTs) and colleagues who support the DT role, including Designated Safeguarding Leads and Special Educational Needs Coordinators from early years and childcare settings, are warmly invited.
By attending, you can:
- network with others in your locality
- hear Virtual School updates
- explore training opportunities
- discuss key issues and ask questions
To book, click on your preferred locality date below. You can also visit our booking portal West Sussex Services for Education and select your required date.
Adur, Worthing and Horsham – Tuesday 28 April 2026 – Shoreham Academy, BN43 6YQ - 08.30am to 10.00am
Mid Sussex, Crawley and Horsham – Wednesday 29 April 2026 – St Wilfrid’s Catholic School, RH11 8PG - 08.30am to 10.00am
Chichester and Arun – Thursday 21 May 2026 – The Littlehampton Academy, BN17 6FE - 08.45am to 10.45am
The Government has proposed changes in education in its recently published White Paper, ‘Every Child Achieving and Thriving’. The aim is to improve outcomes for children and young people with SEND. You can read a response from Claire Hayes, Director of Education and Skills for West Sussex County Council on the SEND Local Offer news page.
You can read the white paper on the GOV.UK website. The document is available in different formats, including accessible, easy read and British Sign Language (BSL).
A public consultation is now open for you to share your views about the proposed changes. The consultation is open for 12 weeks and closes on 18 May 2026.
We would encourage you and families at your setting, to take part in the consultation and have your say.
You can find information about the consultation in different formats, including accessible, easy read and BSL on the GOV.UK website.
Take part in a funded research project
The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) champion evidence in early education by investing in new projects that help to build the sector’s knowledge of what works. Schools, nurseries and private, voluntary and independent (PVI) settings are invited to take part in 4 trials and one pilot across England.
The projects will:
- provide educators with professional development
- aim to support children's social and emotional, early language or maths development
- evaluate each programme to contribute to the early years evidence-base
The early years projects are:
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Talk with Tales for Children (TWiTCH) – trial. - This is a professional development programme that aims to improve language interactions and language development among 3 and 4 year olds by supporting educators in the early years to use enhanced, high-quality interactions during story time.
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Positive Early Childhood Education (PECE) – trial. - This is a professional development programme for educators in the early years. It provides 22 practical strategies that aim to improve self-regulation and support positive interactions among 3 and 4 year olds.
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Early Skills for Life – pilot. - This is a universal personal, social and emotional development programme that aims to improve self-regulation and emotional expression among 3 and 4 year olds.
Build strong vocabulary from the start
Early vocabulary matters. Children who hear, learn, and use new words in their first years are often more confident readers and learners as they start school. This helps build a strong foundation for later success in school and life.
Evidence shows that both explicit and implicit approaches to vocabulary teaching can make a meaningful difference:
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explicit teaching: intentionally introducing new words, explaining their meanings, and using them in multiple contexts
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implicit modelling: naturally modelling and repeating rich language throughout play, stories, and everyday routines
When vocabulary teaching is joyful, playful, and well-timed, it strengthens learning rather than interrupting it. Small, impactful moments, a word explored in a story, revisited in play, reused in conversation, can have a big impact.
You can find out more here.
The Virtual School is launching a new initiative to strengthen the support network around children and young people. A positive home learning environment, where adults create engaging opportunities, plays a vital role in a child’s progress and development. For the first time, specialist schools‑facing colleagues will be sharing their expertise directly with foster carers and kinship carers.
Ahead of a full day of workshops for foster carers in May, the Virtual School is offering a programme of free online webinars. These sessions will be led by teams such as the Learning and Behaviour Advisory Team, the Educational Psychology Service, and the Autism and Social Communication Team. They aim to help carers navigate education processes, build confidence and develop the knowledge needed to support young people’s learning.
If children in your setting are living with kinship carers, please share the webinar flyer with them. For those supporting Children We Care For, please also share the ‘Save the Date’ flyer for the foster carer training day. If you have any questions, please contact wsvs@westsussex.gov.uk or fostering.training.coordinator@westsussex.gov.uk.
For further updates and developments from the Virtual School, please do have a look at their latest newsletter.
With the 2025/26 training programme coming to an end, we look forward to the 2026/27 programme, with courses starting from mid-April. The full brochure will be released on 1 April. In the meantime, some April and May courses have been released early, which includes some safeguarding courses. Please see below for the next 2 courses coming up. To book, click on your preferred course 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
- 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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#10/2026 (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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#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)
Early Years and Childcare newsletter web page.
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