#34/2026 - Wednesday 2 September 2026
This week's newsletter includes:
- Autumn term 2026 census and actuals claims - action required
- New opportunity for early education leaders, including childminders, to join our early years provider forum
- Protecting children this autumn
- Home learning environment guidance
- New safer sleep Sudden Unexpected Death in Infancy (SUDI) prevention training
- Free family learning courses staring this September
- Early years training
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Latest Ofsted news and updates here.
The Online Provider Portal (OPP) is now open for you to submit your census and Early Years Funded Entitlement claims for the 9 month plus, 2 year old and 3 and 4 year old age groups.
Key dates:
- Headcount day – Thursday 17 September 2026
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Deadline for submissions – Tuesday 22 September 2026 at 11.59pm. Note this date is earlier than in previous terms.
The census is required termly and is found in the new My Details section of your OPP account. You will be unable to submit your actuals until you have completed your census.
Video guides are available to help you complete the termly census and your actuals:
These video guides can also be found on our Early Years Funded Entitlement actuals web page, along with the following guidance documents:
- Introductory guide and census - how to access and complete the census form, how to access the OPP actuals, and how to remove child records for children you will no longer claim for
- Existing children - how to claim for existing children
- New children - how to add children to your headcount
- Post-submission guidance - information on queries you may receive from the Early Years Funding Team following your submission, and how to view a summary of your funding claims for the term
Please note that, contrary to the guidance, you may not need to enter a SEN Primary Special Need, and this field may be unavailable. This is due to an issue with importing this information which we are working with our software supplier to fix. If it is fixed whilst actuals are open, we will switch the SEN Primary Special Need question back on.
If there are any outstanding queries, we will contact you to resolve them.
Number of weeks claimed in a year issue
Please note that for term time only providers, you may only claim a maximum of 38 weeks per year. We may contact you to inform you we have reduced the number of weeks you have claimed for this term to 13 instead of 14. This will happen if:
- Autumn 2026 is the final term of the child’s entitlement year
- All 15 or 30 hours have been claimed for the child
- You (or the child’s previous provider) claimed 12 weeks in spring 2026 and 13 weeks in summer 2026.
Autumn 2026 will be the final term of the entitlement year for children with the following dates of birth:
- 9 months plus – 1 December 2024 – 31 March 2025
- 2 year olds – 1 September 2023 – 31 December 2023
- 3 year olds – 1 September 2022 – 31 December 2022
- 4 year olds – 1 September 2021 – 31 December 2021
This issue will be due to the extra twelfth week being claimed in spring 2026. When added to the 13 weeks for summer and 14 weeks for autumn, this would total 39 weeks for the year resulting in too many hours/weeks being claimed overall. For most term time only providers, the spring term was only 11 weeks in length, so the twelfth week of funding should be used to fund the fourteenth week of autumn.
This is similar to the changes made to claims in the summer term for children whose entitlement year ran from autumn to summer.
We are looking for new members to join our provider forum.
Since it was established in 2023, the forum has become an important partnership between providers and West Sussex County Council, helping to ensure that the views and experiences of the sector are reflected in local developments and decision-making.
Over the past year, forum members have:
- influenced the development of new digital systems, including the online parent declaration
- helped shape workforce development priorities and support initiatives
- informed discussions around Special Educational Needs and Disabilities provision and school transitions
- contributed to Best Start in Life projects and family engagement initiatives
- provided valuable feedback that has helped improve guidance, communications and operational processes
We are now looking to expand membership and would particularly welcome applications from a range of providers, including childminders.
If you are passionate about early years and would like the opportunity to share your experiences, influence future developments, and collaborate with colleagues from across the sector, we would love to hear from you.
For full details about the forum and how to apply, please see the invitation and application information.
With children returning to settings and schools after the summer break, Public Health West Sussex and the NHS are reminding parents to ensure their children are protected against serious illnesses this autumn and winter.
When children play and learn together, there is an increased risk of catching preventable diseases if they are not fully up to date with their vaccinations. Please support the ongoing campaign by reminding families to check that their children have received all their routine childhood vaccinations.
If parents are unsure whether their child is up to date, they can check their Personal Child Health Record (Red Book) or contact their GP practice.
For more information, visit the Childhood Immunisations web page.
In partnership with Best Start in Life, the National Literacy Trust have recently produced home learning environment guidance to support Best Start Family Hub delivery. Embedding the home learning environment: evidence, practice and partnerships was developed with stakeholders from across the sector, including family hubs.
It brings together the best available evidence and practical insight to support local authorities in helping families strengthen their home learning environment. The resource focuses on what works, why it matters and how to apply it, and is designed to support consistent, inclusive practice.
Monday 12 October - 12.00pm to 1.00pm - online.
We encourage all professionals who work directly with, or may encounter, parents and carers of babies to attend the new Safer Sleep SUDI prevention Training session.
This training will be delivered by Natalie Price, Child Death Review Specialist Nurse and is designed to help reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. The session will provide staff working within Surrey and Sussex with the knowledge and confidence to recognise key risk factors, enable them to have effective conversations about safer sleep practices and support families in understanding how to manage a crying baby.
Please register for the session and help us by promoting the training within your setting. A recording will be available after the event for those who are unable to attend.
If you would like to arrange a bespoke session for your team, please contact Natalie Price directly to discuss your requirements: natalie.price3@nhs.net
The Family Learning team is offering a variety of free courses for parents, carers and families across West Sussex this September.
The sessions are designed to help families learn, grow and thrive together. They provide an opportunity to gain practical skills, build confidence, and support children's learning and development.
Please share the Family Learning course page with families in your setting. The page includes information about available courses, how to apply and who to contact with any queries.
The start of a new academic year often brings new faces to early years settings, both in the children attending and new staff supporting them. To help your new team members get off to the best possible start, we have a selection of essential training courses available, including a comprehensive full-day safeguarding course covering the key basics.
Explore the courses below and click on the course titles to book your place. 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
- 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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#33/2026 (Safeguarding focus - Changes to the early years foundation stage from 1 September 2026: suitable people; Early Years Training - safeguarding and child protection; Inclusive Safeguarding: Strengthening Protection for Children with Disabilities conference; Update - missing payment remittance documents; Schema Play with Tamsin Grimmer; Screen use guidance for early years providers; Guidance from the Education Endowment Foundation; Hello from Kent and Beyond Early Years Stronger Practice Hub; Early Years Training)
- (Business Focus - The power of work experience in early education and childcare; Inclusive Early Years Fund 2026/27; Webinars now available - changes to claiming for children after headcount from autumn 2026; Early Years Teaching Degree Apprenticeship at Roehampton University; Early Years Training)
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#31/2026 (Moderate air pollution alert and amber heat-health alert; Early Years Funded Entitlement autumn term estimates - submissions close Friday; Paying your annual fee with Ofsted; Sussex Child Death Overview Panel (CDOP) report; West Sussex Neglect Strategy 2024 to 2029; What have we learned about children born during the pandemic; Celebrating good practice; New Podcast from Ofsted available; July update from the Kent and Beyond Stronger Practice Hub; Making Every Contact Count vaccination training – supporting early years conversations)
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#30/2026 (Safeguarding focus – Department for Education and National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children early years safeguarding training; Emerging safeguarding consideration: tracking and recording devices; Amber heat health-alert; Safer sleep product guidance; Early Years Training)
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#29/2026 (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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#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)
Early Years and Childcare newsletter web page.
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