#28/2026 - Wednesday 15 July 2026
This week's newsletter includes:
- Good Level of Development Focus - mathematical development
- Changes to the early years foundation stage statutory framework
- Service update: West Sussex County Council phone line issues
- Early years funding consultation 2026
- Have your say on early years teaching reforms
- Regulated activity: removal of the supervision exemption from 1 September 2026
- Priority Services Register – support for families and staff
- Business support tools for providers
- Watch the webinar: bringing a reading-rich culture to life
- Good news to share from the 2026 Annual Literacy Survey
- SEND and Inclusion newsletter
- Early Years Training
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Latest Ofsted news and updates here.
Teaching children mathematical skills is fundamental to their academic achievement. Early mathematical ability is one of the strongest predictors of future outcomes but it is an area that many people feel less enthusiastic and less confident in.
Early educators need to build their confidence in understanding and teaching key mathematical skills in order to support children effectively and avoid sharing negative feelings about mathematics. The following web pages have useful resources to help with this:
Maths Champions is a tried and tested professional development programme that has been independently evaluated and shown to boost children’s attainment by an average of 3 months’ additional progress in maths and language by the end of reception year. It has shown that the strongest gains have been recorded for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
This National Day Nurseries Association programme is currently being offered free of charge to all early years group settings offering places to 3 and 4 year olds. To find out more, please visit the website or book onto an information session (dates available over July and August).
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Ofsted has now published the updated early years foundation stage statutory framework for childminders and group and school-based providers. The new frameworks come into effect from 1 September 2026 and the main changes are:
- updates on safer sleep
- a requirement for providers to have regard to screen use
- prohibiting childcare where banned dog breeds are present
- other safeguarding clarifications
The group and school-based providers framework also requires providers of childcare on domestic premises to notify Ofsted or their childminder agency of changes to persons aged 16 or over living or working on the premises.
Both frameworks have also been updated to state that providers must not allow individuals to begin working or volunteering at the setting until they have received the applicant’s enhanced criminal records and barred list check. This is a change from the current frameworks, which only prohibits individuals from having unsupervised contact with children until the relevant checks have been received.
Following the issued yesterday regarding intermittent issues with West Sussex County Council phone lines, normal service now appears to have resumed. Thank you for your patience and understanding while the issues were being resolved.
The Department for Education has published the 'Early years funding: proposed changes to the entitlements funding system' consultation. This consultation is looking to seek views on proposed changes to the early years funding system that support the current early years entitlements offer.
Early years providers are encouraged to review the proposals and share their feedback. The consultation closes on 14 September 2026.
Please note that all responses must be submitted via the official consultation link. We encourage providers to take this opportunity to help shape future early years funding arrangements.
The Department for Education has launched the Shaping the future of early years teaching consultation, seeking views on proposed reforms to how early years teachers are trained and supported. The aim is to strengthen training quality, improve career pathways, and raise the status of early years teaching across all settings.
This is your chance to have a voice in shaping the future of early years teaching, so please complete the survey before it closes on 24 September 2026.
From 1 September 2026, new legislation will be introduced through the Crime and Policing Act 2026 which will change how regulated activity with children is defined.
Did you know that parents, carers and early years professionals may be eligible for free additional support from their utility providers through the Priority Services Register (PSR)?
The Department for Education has launched a set of business support materials on the Foundation Years web page, designed to provide practical support on running an early years provision. These resources bring together key information on business planning, finance, marketing and human resources within an early years context.
The web page also signposts to important national guidance, and highlights the need to understand local provider agreements, funding rules and consumer law when delivering childcare.
A range of practical business support tools is included, developed by a local authority which has been shared for wider use. These tools include:
- a business planning template
- cashflow tools
- occupancy calculators
- marketing plans to support sustainability and growth
These resources are further enhanced by materials from Childcare Works. You can access this comprehensive suite of tools from the Setting up an Early Years provider business web page.
For further business support, early years and childcare providers can request targeted support from our Early Years and Childcare team.
In newsletter #23/2026 we shared a free online webinar from the National Literacy Trust, held on Wednesday 24 June. If you could not attend, or would like to watch it again, a recording of From vision to practice: bringing a reading-rich culture to life across the early years is now available on YouTube.
The National Literacy Trust has published 2 reports based on 125,375 responses to its 2026 Annual Literacy Survey. These responses have come from children and young people aged 5 to 18 from 479 schools across the UK.
More than 1 in 3 (36.1%) children and young people said they enjoyed reading in their free time. This number has increased from 32.7% which was recorded in 2025. This is the first increase in reading enjoyment since 2021.
We know that a love of reading starts in early years, so thank you for all you have done to promote reading with children and contributed to this increase. Explore the survey key findings on the National Literacy Trust website.
The July SEND and Inclusion newsletter is now available.
Communication is key to building the foundations for a child’s development. Equally, good and effective communication with parents and carers can also support with the smooth running of your setting.
To support with how to encourage effective communication skills, there are 3 courses available in the autumn term. 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
- w/c 24 August - autumn term estimate payments due to settings
- 31 August - deadline for parents to reconfirm/apply for their Working Family Eligibility codes to use for the autumn term
- 31 August - summer term sufficiency deadline
- 31 August - summer term termly childcare provider update deadline
- 1 September - portal opens for settings to submit actuals for autumn term
- 17 September - autumn term headcount day
- w/c 21 September - autumn term monthly estimate payments due to settings
- 22 September - portal closes for settings to submit actuals for autumn term
- 1 October - Department for Education census day for autumn term
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.
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.
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#27/2026 (Update to weather heat alert for early education and childcare; Connect with the Family Information Service and your local Best Start Family Hub on Instagram; Changes to the way you request funding after headcount; Have your say on the Competition and Markets Authority Childcare Services review; Watch the webinar: how new government funded training can help you support SEND in your setting; Free online early years child development training; National Programme Qualifications update; Childminding UK - have you read their blog?; Kent and Beyond Early Years Stronger Practice Hub; Early Years Training)
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#26/2026 (Service update: council-wide IT and phone line issues; Congratulations to Church Lane Nursery; Early Years Funded Entitlement - autumn term 2026 estimates now open; Free supervised toothbrushing scheme; Support families to keep children protected – childhood vaccinations; Early Years Training)
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#25/2026 (Safeguarding Focus; Childhood immunisations reminder; Starting school with West Sussex libraries; Tax-Free Childcare; Supporting Traveller Families to Access Early Education; Apprenticeships funding update - changes for August 2026; Early Years Training)
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#24/2026 (Good Level of Development Focus - National Year of Reading 'Go All In'; Advanced warning - Online Provider Portal downtime; Transitions - effective information sharing for children moving on; Early education partnership funding - applications now open; West Sussex, Brighton and Hove Careers Hub summer conference - July 2026; School-based Nursery Capital Grant update; Leading Excellence in Early Years: Quality First Teaching; Read to the Beat this summer; Slides from recent network meetings)
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#23/2026 (Business Focus - supporting the Early Years workforce; Operation Encompass - reminder for settings; Virtual School support with transitions and training opportunities; Childminder assistants - where to start with recruitment; Webinar - creating a reading‑rich culture; National Year of Reading; Early Years SENCO Level 3; Training opportunity in the Arun Area; Update from Kent and Beyond Early Years Stronger Practice Hub; Early Years Training)
Early Years and Childcare newsletter web page.
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