Supporting families in your childcare setting

The aim of the Children’s Learning and Well-Being Audit is to improve children’s life chances by preparing them for school and their adult lives. For our youngest children this means to improve their readiness for school and ensure that their parents and carers are accessing early education as well as health and family support from Children’s Services.

Identifying those who are potentially more vulnerable at the earliest opportunity is essential to provide the right support at the right time to meet their needs and narrow any attainment gaps as early as possible. This is key to improving the opportunities and experiences children have through early years, school and into their adult lives.

The CLaWBA is designed to complement and enhance the work already undertaken by professionals working with early years children and their families giving a holistic view of the child and family need.

The CLaWBA should be used alongside the West Sussex Continuum of Need/Threshold Guidance to identify a child’s level of need and consider whether additional support may be necessary to help them achieve their potential and keep them safe.

• Children’s Learning and Well-Being Audit - Information, guidance and indicators (PDF, 171KB)

The tools can be used by any early years setting to support them in identifying children who may be vulnerable to poorer outcomes and then planning the support that they need to narrow the attainment gap. The information gathered is not collected by West Sussex, but you may wish to share it with other professionals when considering the support needs for a child and their family.

The following documents are provided to support early years settings in gathering information about individual children in order to identify need and plan next steps. These documents can be printed or completed online in your setting:

• Audit form (Excel, 100KB)
• Audit form (Word, 180KB)
• Example of completed audit (PDF 235KB)

The sooner a family receives the right support, the sooner they are able to improve their situation, preventing the need for prolonged support.

Early help includes support for parents-to-be and very young children. It describes interventions and support provided to families where:

• their needs are not being met by routine or 'universal' services
• they do not meet thresholds for statutory interventions.

For support and advice for practitioners see our Early Help services page.

From September 2015, local authorities, health visiting services and early years providers have been expected to bring together health and early education reviews for young children at the age of two to two-and-a-half.

In West Sussex, we have also identified a need to support children and families in preparing for starting school. During the early help consultations for early years settings, children due to start school in the following academic year will be discussed, and planning for any support needs identified.

To arrange two-year integrated reviews in your setting or discuss a child’s health or development needs, view contact details for the Healthy Child Programme Team.

Integrated two-year review

The purpose of the two-year review is to:

• identify the child’s progress, strengths and next steps in order to promote positive outcomes in health and wellbeing, learning and development
• identify any support needs as early as possible and facilitate appropriate intervention and support for children and their families, especially those for whom progress is less than expected
• generate information which can be used to plan services and contribute to the reduction of inequalities in children’s outcomes.

For details of the process and guidance on how to complete an integrated review, refer to the document below:

• Integrated two-year review process and guidance (PDF, 260KB)

You can record Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) outcomes, whether or not an integrated review is taking place, on page 38a of the child’s ‘Red Book’ (Personal Child Health Record) or you can use the template below:

• Two-year EYFS progress review template (Word, 23KB)

You can record an integrated review for a child in your setting using the template below:

• Integrated health and learning review template (Word, 107KB)

Starting school questionnaire

Each autumn, settings will be provided with information about the process of applying for a school place to share with parents/carers of children due to start school in the following academic year. Further information about applying for a school place, including the deadline for applications, can be found on our Starting school places page.

Settings may wish to share the starting school questionnaire below with families to identify any needs that will further support the child and their family to be ready for school. Using the questionnaire is optional, but all settings should work with families to identify any areas of need at the earliest opportunity in order to improve outcomes for the child.

• Starting school questionnaire (PDF, 144KB)

If you require information regarding transition planning see Including all children.

• Early Years hubs for children with SEND - How to get support for children aged 0-5 with additional needs and/or a disability.
• Portage Early Education Service - Home visiting educational service for children with additional support needs offering practical help and ideas to encourage a child's emerging skills. Contact the local Portage office to discuss a referral.
• West Sussex SEND information, advice and support service (formerly known as Parent Partnership Service) - Impartial advice and information to parents and carers of children with SEND.
• Support for children aged 5 and older with SEND - How to access support for children over 5 years old with additional needs and/or a disability.

• Growing and sustaining parent engagement: toolkit
• Communication strategies for parents (PDF, 176KB)
• Resources for fathers - Collection of resources and national research projects focused on involving fathers in early learning and their long term impact.
• Information about the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework.
• Support for parents.
• Support for providers.
• Family hubs - Your local family hub provides and has access to a range of information. They support families and childcare settings to improve outcomes for children.
• What to expect, when? - Guide taking parents through the expectations of each age band in the EYFS and how they can support their child’s learning and development (scroll to EYFS for parents).

A private fostering arrangement is one made without the involvement of a local authority for a child under the age of 16 (under 18 if disabled). They will be cared for by someone other than a parent or close relative, with the intention that it should last for 28 days or more.

Early Years settings that become aware of a private fostering arrangement must make a referral through Integrated Front Door (IFD).

• Private fostering - Information about private fostering and how to make a referral through IFD.