School wraparound childcare guidance updated

The Department for Education (DfE) has updated its guidance on providing wraparound childcare, suggesting schools should give parents termly windows to request childcare.

Ahead of its nationwide launch in September of on-site wraparound childcare, the government has published the guidance to help schools and academies understand how to respond to requests for more provision.

The guidance is aimed at children in nursery and reception to the end of Key Stage 3.

Wraparound childcare means families are able to claim up to 20 hours a week of capped by region funding for wraparound childcare (before and after school care) for each child during term time.

A variety of suggestions for schools were made in the document, but here are the highlights.

Firstly, parents should have the right to lodge a written request for wraparound or holiday care for children between four and 14. Disabled children are also eligible up to the age of 18.

Leaders should make families aware of this, setting out “the timetable and process that parents will need to follow”. All requests – including those from prospective parents – should be logged and monitored.  

The DfE also suggested schools could have a "termly or annual period during the year" when parents could lodge their submissions. School leaders should then engage with the local authority once they have received the request. The council will then be expected to work with the parent to consider if there is suitable provision in the area already in place.

The local authority and school leaders should then make their decision "within an appropriate timeframe, but no longer than a term" and tell the parents if their request has been accepted or denied. If it is the latter, the parents must be given alternative options.

If the children are accepted into the activities, leaders short make sure the films have properly vetted all staff before they begin.

The guidance stressed that “any wraparound and holiday childcare you consider is suitable for all children in the school”, including those with SEND.