Childcare and Education
Returning to work
Advice on returning to work after maternity leave.
More information is available on the Citizen's Advice website.
Looking for an education provider?
This comes in a range of offers, including childminders, day nurseries, preschools, nursery schools and holiday clubs.
More information is available on Staffordshire Connects.
Checking the quality of childcare providers
All registered childcare providers are inspected regularly by Ofsted. This means the safety and suitability of premises, suitability of staff and understanding of safeguarding procedures and the early years foundation stage is checked and childcare settings are rated either outstanding, good, requires improvement or inadequate. You will see at the foot of all inspection reports what settings have been recommended to do in order to improve.
More information is available on the Government's website.
Funding available for childcare
Funding for 2 year olds
More information for your funding eligibility on the Think2 pages.
Funding for 3 and 4 year olds
More information can be found on the children and early years section of our website.
I need further help with paying for childcare
More information can be found on the Government's website.
You may also be entitled to other benefits. You can find out on our benefit checker.
Understanding your child's early development and education
Early years foundation stage guidance for parents
Registered early years providers are required to meet certain standards when providing care and delivering early education. The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is a statutory framework that sets standards for the learning, development, and care of children from birth to 5 years old in England. The framework is designed to ensure that all children learn and develop well, are kept healthy and safe, and have the knowledge and skills they need to start school.
Information about the Early Years foundation stage and the requirements of Early Years settings can be found on the Government's website:
Early years settings are also required to assess your child’s progress at age 2, your health visitor will do this too, this is called the integrated review and is done between the age of 2 and 3 years old to ensure your child is developing at a good pace and gets access to any help and support needed for this to happen. More information can be found on our Integrated Reviews page and on the Government's website.
Starting schools
All children are legally required to attend school by the age of 5 years, most schools have 1 admission in September of each year, this means depending on your child’s birthday they will start full time school somewhere between the age of 4 and 5 years old. You will need to select a school and apply for a place up to a year in advance, information about how to do this can be found on our website and on the Government's website.