#29/2026 - Wednesday 22 July 2026
This week's newsletter includes:
- Remittance advice update
- New Early Years Teacher Degree Apprenticeship
- Why vaccination matters
- Signpost families to the Best Start in Life website
- Early Years Training
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Latest Ofsted news and updates here.
Wishing you a safe and enjoyable summer
As the summer holidays begin, we would like to thank all early education and childcare educators for your continued hard work and commitment throughout the year.
Whether you are taking some time to recharge or supporting children and families over the summer, we hope you have a safe and enjoyable holiday period. Stay healthy, cool and prepared with advice and support on the Keeping safe this summer web page.
We hope you enjoy the opportunities summer brings for outdoor play and exploration.
As highlighted in newsletter #22/2026, we are aware that some settings have experienced issues with missing payment remittance documents. We have been working closely with the relevant team to investigate and resolve this matter.
If your setting does not receive future remittance documents, or if you identify any mistakes, please contact us at EYFE@westsussex.gov.uk. We will be happy to investigate the issue and provide support where needed.
Are you looking to develop and retain talented early years staff? The new Early Years Teacher Degree Apprenticeship enables practitioners to gain a degree and achieve Early Years Teacher Status while continuing to work in their setting. Employers can benefit from an employer support grant to help cover backfill and associated employment costs.
Roehampton University is offering live online teaching sessions, guided independent study, workplace-based learning activities, professional mentoring and structured workplace observation and feedback, making it easier for staff to study alongside their existing role.
To see all of the providers offering this apprenticeship, please visit the apprenticeship training directory.
Vaccination has transformed public health and continues to protect children from diseases that can cause serious harm or even death. By promoting immunisations in your setting, you are helping families understand the long-term benefits of keeping children up to date. You can help build confidence by signposting to trusted local information on the Childhood Immunisations web page.
The Best Start in Life website brings together trusted advice and practical support for parents and carers from pregnancy through to starting school. Families can find information on child development, preparing for school, childcare support, feeding, sleep, speech and language, and much more. We encourage settings to share the website with families as a trusted source of information and advice.
Throughout the year, we offer a range of paediatric first aid training spread across the county and across the week to enable all to attend. Our autumn courses start in September, with a number of dates fully booked. Below are the next 2 dates with spaces remaining. 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
- w/c 19 October - autumn 26 actuals due to settings who are paid twice termly
- w/c 26 October - monthly estimate payment due
- w/c 23 November - actuals payment due for settings who are paid monthly
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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#28/2026 (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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#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)
Early Years and Childcare newsletter web page.
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