West Sussex Early Years Education and Childcare Training

17/09/2026

🌳Outdoor and risky play

Check out this Nursery World article on children's outdoor play: https://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/content/news/new-outdoor-play-research-centre-launched-as-study-finds-children-start-playing-outdoors-later-than-ever

👉Our popular 3-hour webinar is for any staff working within an early years education setting who are working with children under three. The webinar will support you to examine the importance of outdoor play and risk taking in young children’s development.

Managing risks is a key life skill and by being exposed to it from an early age it can help us to understand our own abilities, use vital critical thinking, and assess how to use this within play. Risky, outdoor play is thrilling and exciting. It's challenging and it tests limits, helping children to explore, push and establish their own boundaries.

📢 Avoid disappointment and book now to secure your space!

✅Wednesday 14 October 2026, 09:30 - 12:30, Online, £31 🔗https://education.westsussex.gov.uk/Event/292741

To book, the West Sussex Services for Education portal can be found at https://education.westsussex.gov.uk Click 'Services for Early Years and Childcare' on the home page and then click ‘Login to Early Years and Childcare'.

If you have any questions, please email [email protected]

17/09/2026

✏️Write on Track! Practical approaches to writing development

“Children need opportunities to experiment, explore, imitate, and play with writing” Campbell and Featherstone

👉This inspirational, half-day course provides reassuring clarity and invaluable tips for appropriate and playful learning experiences. This session explores the basic skills which underpin enjoyment and progress in literacy development. Numerous invaluable tips and insights, empower participants to understand what children do, and do not, need at different stages of literacy development. Innovative resource ideas facilitate the introduction of fascinating and effective low-cost/no-cost resources.

✨Fabulous Feedback✨
✨"Already started making changes to the resources for writing in the classroom. Has made me think about how to support those children who are struggling with handwriting and go back to gross motor skills before worrying too much about fine motor and pencil control. Was really helpful to think about how we help EAL children access the vocab related to writing and making sure they fully understand before trying to teach them explicitly."
✨"I always find Gail’s courses useful as she brings in lots of practical ideas." "Gail had a range of age groups to consider in this course, and made the content relevant to all."

📢 Avoid disappointment and book now to secure your space!

✅Tuesday 10 November 2026, 09:30 - 12:30, Online, £31
🔗https://education.westsussex.gov.uk/Event/293190

To book, the West Sussex Services for Education portal can be found at https://education.westsussex.gov.uk Click 'Services for Early Years and Childcare' on the home page and then click ‘Login to Early Years and Childcare'.

If you have any questions, please email [email protected]

17/09/2026

🚨Evening Session🚨

A look at our words: The impact of what adults say

This informative, 1.5 hour webinar will support your understanding of the potential power and impact of your everyday words and communication behaviours. It will tackle some fundamental issues that can be challenging for practitioners.

👉The session will explore how and why attitudes and behaviours of practitioners in daily interactions can have a significant impact upon core factors of a child’s development and progress.

🚨This course was put as an evening session based on requests. To ensure we continue to run evening sessions, please ensure you book to justify this🚨

📢 Avoid disappointment and book now to secure your space!

✅Thursday 22 October 2026, 19:00 - 20:30, Online, £21
🔗https://education.westsussex.gov.uk/Event/293063

To book, the West Sussex Services for Education portal can be found at education.westsussex.gov.uk. Click 'Services for Early Years and Childcare' on the home page and then click ‘Login to Early Years and Childcare'.

Any questions, please email [email protected]

16/09/2026

✨New career opportunity -Jobs in Early Years and Childcare✨

Activ8 Nursery is looking for a Level 3 Practitioner in Henfield, Horsham

✅Contract type: Permanent.

✅Working hours and pattern: 25 to 40 hours per week between 7.30am and 6.00pm, term time or full year positions available.

✅Salary band: Between £12.71 and £13.50 per hour subject to qualifications and experience.

✅About us: Activ8 Henfield is a day nursery with plenty of outside space. The team are passionate and dedicated in providing a nurturing environment for all children aged 0 to 5 years.

✅Job details: They are looking for a dynamic and passionate level 3 practitioner to share their vision and enthusiasm for providing a safe and inspiring environment, ideally in the baby room. Opportunities for career progression such as room lead.

✅What you need to succeed: You will need experience of working in childcare, lots of energy and enthusiasm and be keen to have an impact within their nursery. You will also need good communication skills, be reliable and self motivated.

👉How to find out more and apply: Please send your CV and a covering letter to [email protected] or call 07385 690815.

👉Closing date: 30 September 2026.

For more jobs in early years and childcare please see the most recent Jobs in Early Years and Childcare Bulletin
🔗https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/UKWSCC/bulletins/42928f1

📢Do you have a job within your setting that you would like to advertise on our page?
👉Email us at [email protected]

16/09/2026

Always wanted to begin a journey in Makaton? Now is the perfect time to start! 🫰

This is a certified Makaton Foundation Level 1 course for those working in early years education settings, and teachers and teaching assistants working in reception and year one.

👉The aim of this course is to provide you with a detailed introduction to Makaton Foundation Level 1. It combines a practical approach with theory and technical information, as well as an experiential introduction to communication disability.

📢Avoid disappointment and book your space now!

✅Thursday 05 November 2026, 09:30 - 16:30, Chichester, £92
🔗https://education.westsussex.gov.uk/Event/291545

To book, the West Sussex Services for Education portal can be found at https://education.westsussex.gov.uk Click 'Services for Early Years and Childcare' on the home page and then click ‘Login to Early Years and Childcare'.

If you have any questions, please email [email protected]

15/09/2026

🌐Online safety🌐

👉Check out the NSPCC's online safety: expert insight videos.

These videos are a valuable resource for professionals who work with children. This series of expert insight films helps those working and volunteering with children and young people to explore what online safety means, recognise the risks children face and understand how to support children’s safety online.

For more information click the link below:
🔗https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/research-resources/expert-insights/online-safety

Online safety videos 🔗 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_r_2Fqw0_0UnNakzQmxkCND8bPj8A4iw

These five films explore what online safety means, how to recognise the risks children face and how to support children’s safety online.

15/09/2026

Baby Room Basics: Speech and language development

👉Develop an initial understanding of babies initial speech and language.

🔷Part of our amazing *Expansion Support Offer* only £10 per person to attend. To support settings in realising their expansion plans, we are offering training and support to upskill both retained staff and recent recruits at a subsidised cost. These set courses are part of the ‘Expansion Support’ courses and are running at a subsidised cost of £10 per place.🔷

This 90 minute webinar will support you to explore, at an introductory level, effective approaches for supporting a baby's speech and language development so that you can implement them in your setting and daily practice.

In response to the childcare expansion, our new Baby Room Basics courses look to support staff in feeling confident and knowledgeable working with the under 2’s.

✅Thursday 19 November 2026, 09:30 - 11:00, Online, £10🔷
🔗https://education.westsussex.gov.uk/Event/292860

To book, the West Sussex Services for Education portal can be found at https://education.westsussex.gov.uk Click 'Services for Early Years and Childcare' on the home page and then click ‘Login to Early Years and Childcare'.

If you have any questions, please email [email protected]

15/09/2026

✨Do you have an outstanding manager? ✨

If your manager is passionate about the care and development of both staff and children at your setting, leads by example in everything that they do and priorotises the well-being of children and staff, enter them in the NDNA Awards for Manager of the Year 2027.

The deadline for entries is 8 January: https://votendna.org.uk/

With thanks to our Manager of the Year sponsors, Citation Ltd and NDNA Award headline sponsors, Hope Education.

14/09/2026

✨New career opportunity -Jobs in Early Years and Childcare✨

Hawthorns Primary School and Nursery is looking for a Nursery Manager in Durrington, Worthing

✅Contract type: Permanent.

✅Working hours and pattern: 37 hours per week, term time only.

✅Salary band: £28,153 to £29,542 per year, pro rata. Higher grade considered based on qualifications and experience.

✅About us: Hawthorns Primary School and Nursery is a friendly, happy and caring one-form entry primary school in Worthing, which has a fantastic and supportive staff team and is well respected within the local community.

✅Job details: They are looking for an experienced nursery manager to join their friendly team and help create a welcoming, safe and stimulating nursery/pre school environment, tailored to meet the individual needs of each child, in accordance with the Early Years Foundation Stage statutory framework.

✅What you need to succeed: You will need a strong understanding of child development from birth to five, safeguarding and welfare requirements, assessment and planning, and strategies to support communication and language development. You will be committed to inclusive practice, including supporting children with SEND, and will have the skills to lead high-quality early years provision while building strong partnerships with families and other professionals.

👉How to find out more and apply: Applications forms and a recruitment pack can be downloaded from their website www.hawthornsprimaryschool.co.uk and should be sent to [email protected] You can call the school directly on 01903 268174

👉Closing date: 16 September 2026.

For more jobs in early years and childcare please see the most recent Jobs in Early Years and Childcare Bulletin
🔗https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/UKWSCC/bulletins/42928f1

📢Do you have a job within your setting that you would like to advertise on our page?
👉Email us at [email protected]

14/09/2026

🌟EYFS Essentials🌟

This course seeks to support you in developing your knowledge and understanding of the essential key elements of the EYFS. Content is brought alive with pictures, stories and opportunities to participate. The course includes an introduction to the EYFS; the seven key features of effective practice, the areas of learning and development, a glance at observation and assessment, and the characteristics of effective teaching and learning.

👉Do you have a new starter? Someone in your setting new or needing a refresher of the EYFS basics? Then this is the perfect course for you!

📢 Avoid disappointment and book now to secure your space!

✅Thursday 08 October 2026, 09:30 - 12:30, Online, £31
🔗https://education.westsussex.gov.uk/Event/293082

To book, the West Sussex Services for Education portal can be found at https://education.westsussex.gov.uk Click 'Services for Early Years and Childcare' on the home page and then click ‘Login to Early Years and Childcare'.

If you have any questions, please email [email protected]