Wraparound Childcare
Are you a school looking for a wraparound childcare provider?
Are you a wraparound childcare provider looking to work with schools to develop new provision?
The government’s ambition is that all parents and carers of primary school-aged children who need wraparound childcare should be able to access term time provision in their local area from 8am-6pm (or equivalent, if data shows that local demand is for different hours).
The government expects all schools that educate primary school-aged pupils to:
- work with your local authority wraparound lead and others in the sector, to identify how you can support parents to access wraparound childcare.
- have school or PVI provider (including childminder) run wraparound childcare on the school site, unless there is a reasonable justification not to (having considered all support available, in particular from the national wraparound childcare programme).
- work collaboratively with your LA to ensure parents are, at a minimum, signposted to appropriate provision, if you are unable to have wraparound on the school site. Provision must not require parents to pick up or drop off their children between the school day and wraparound.
- promote and support government subsidies such as Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) and Universal Credit (UC) Childcare, which can help parents with the affordability of childcare, and supports schools, trusts, and PVI providers with the sustainability of provision.
In addition, schools are expected to:
- respond to their community’s wraparound needs by adhering to the right to request guidance, which describes your role in:
- considering and responding to parents’ requests for the school to deliver wraparound childcare.
- considering and responding to PVI providers’ requests to use the school site to deliver wraparound childcare.
- support the local authority to understand parental demand and, where relevant, existing wraparound provision in your school.
We would like to facilitate links between schools and prospective wraparound childcare providers. Please register your details here:
https://forms.office.com/e/Bfzspxs9us
Please contact Earlyyearsandchildcareteam@cheshireeast.gov.uk if you require any support.
Expanded entitlements from September 2024 onwards
From 1 April, eligible working parents can apply for:
- 15 hours childcare for their two-year-old
- 30 hours childcare for their three- or four-year-old
The second phase of the childcare support expansion will be rolled out from September. From 12 May, eligible working parents can apply for 15 hours for their child aged 9 months old and over.
To be eligible from 1 September 2024, children must have a date of birth on or before 30 November 2023.
To use their hours during autumn term, parents need to apply for their code by 31 August and must reconfirm their details every three months via their Childcare Choices account. Codes applied for in May will have an end date in August and will therefore need reconfirming before the code can be used for autumn term 2024.
Once codes are provided by parents, please check the end date of the code via the Eligibility Checker on the Provider Portal by adding the code, child date of birth and parent/carer NI number. The data will not be stored at this stage but will highlight to parents the importance of reconfirming their code, especially those whose codes have an end date before 31 August 2024.
From September 2025, eligible working parents with children between 9 months up to school age will have access to 30 hours childcare.
Provider Portal Closure – Summer Term
The Provider Portal has closed for the summer term. Any further additions or adjustments for the summer term should be emailed, with a copy of the completed parental declaration form, to the FEEE Team at FEEE@cheshireeast.gov.uk
Parental Declaration Form
In readiness for autumn term and the second phase of the expanded entitlements, updates have been made to the parental declaration form. This can be used for new children (parents can still sign the older version if in place, for any amendments). From April 2024 2-year-olds qualify for DAF and EYPP, and under 2s will qualify from September 2024, it is vital that the consent boxes on the parental declaration are ticked to enable an eligibility check to be completed.
Grant funding to develop new childcare places
Childcare Expansion Capital Grant
This funding is intended to support expansion of the 30-hours early years entitlement for working families and wraparound provision in primary schools. It must be spent on capital projects, and is being provided to meet the capital costs associated with projects that help ensure sufficient places for:
- Children taking up an early years place through the expanded 30-hours entitlement for qualifying working parents (from the term following the child reaching 9-months to the term in which they turn 3-years-old);
- Increasing the supply of wraparound childcare for primary-school aged children.
Projects may be funded to develop either 30-hours early years entitlement or wraparound childcare, or both.
National Wraparound Childcare Programme
Revenue funding will be available to support the operating costs of new wraparound provision. The funding will be tapered. This reflects the expectation that the funding is used to fund set up and running costs of new and expanded wraparound places and that, as take-up of provision increases, and therefore income from parental payments increases, the level of grant funding needed to contribute to running costs to ensure sustainability reduces.
Details of how to apply for the development grants will be made available via this bulletin during summer term. Applications will be invited from all sectors; day nurseries, pre-schools, schools, childminders, before and after school childcare providers.
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Cheshire East Council (Unitary)
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