Parents page

Early Years Wales has always supported parents and families to participate in their children's development. This was a founding objective of the organisation and we continue to develop ways to ensure that families are supported from birth through their early years.

Supporting families

In this section you will find information of the different types of early years childcare and education available to you, along with guidance that will enable you to select the right childcare for you.

You will also find a brief overview of our Welsh Active Early Years project, which aims to encourage parents/carers and children to enjoy playing actively together.

Childcare – What’s it all about

Helping to shape their future

Early years childcare and education has many benefits in helping shape a child's confidence and curiosity before attending school. When children are young, every experience and encounter is a learning opportunity and quality childcare gives them the opportunity to learn as they grow. Advantages of children attending an early years setting include:

  • Being introduced to other children within the setting helps to improve their social skills, enabling them to find stability within friendship groups. Children can make friends, learn to share, cooperate and become accountable for their actions, all within a safe and comfortable environment.
     
  • Sessions within a quality childcare environment are usually planned to be both fun and exciting. They help them build more confidence, a natural curiosity and a love for learning.
     
  • Childcare can guide children in helping them understand that everyone is unique and special in their own way with their own beliefs, culture and ethnicity. Valuing differences and diversity are crucial in early development, and childcare workers can act as a guide to make sure children appreciate and accept differences.
     
  • Early years childcare and education can help a child to become a better communicator at an early age by boosting a child's vocabulary, a critical component in language development and literacy.
Choosing Childcare

A big step…

Choosing childcare is a big step for you and your family and can be a daunting process. When you are considering which type of childcare is suitable, you firstly will need to think about whether you require:

  • full time or part time childcare,
  • childcare all the year round, out of school hours only, or just occasionally
  • childcare to be near your home or near your work.
  • home based or setting based

For a more detailed guide to finding the right childcare for you, your child and your family in Wales please download the below booklet:

There are several different types of childcare that may be available for your child. These include:

  • Sessional care or playgroups (sometimes called preschools) – Provides care for children, typically aged from two to four years old. Care is usually provided for up to four hours a day, up to five days per week however, some can provide care all day. Many playgroups are open school term-time only, others operate all year round. They often operate from community centres, school sites or church buildings and may offer a wraparound and/or a collection service to and from local primary schools. Unlike Day Nurseries, Playgroups do not care for babies from birth onwards.
  • Cylchoedd Meithrin - Provides Welsh-Medium childcare for children usually aged 2 years to school age. Cylchoedd Meithrin services vary from full day care, sessional care (2–4 hour sessions) or wrap around care with the local school. All elements of the service are provided through the medium of Welsh where children are fully immersed in the language. Most parents who send their child to Cylch Meithrin don't speak Welsh themselves and can take advantage of learning the language as well if they so choose.
     
  • Day nurseries or full day care – generally care for children from birth upwards and typically operate from early mornings to late evenings, five to seven days per week, all year round. Opening hours can vary. Many offer a collection service to and from local schools.
     
  • Out of School care – this can be a breakfast club, an after-school club, or school holiday care. The club may be based in your child's school, another local school or other premises and may be used to extend a child's school day. The children tend to be aged 3 to 12 years old and the setting may provide a collection service from local schools.
     
  • Childminder – a registered childminder is a person providing care and learning opportunities for one or more children throughout the year, within the childminders own home. The age of the child can be from birth upwards and some operate with the help of an assistant. Hours may vary and may include early mornings through to late evenings and even weekends.
     
  • Crèche – these facilities provide a time-limited childcare option for mainly parents/carers of young children attending courses or other training. They can also provide parents/carers with the opportunity to take part in social or recreational activities. Crèche facilities can operate in a range of settings e.g. education centre, shopping centre or leisure centre. The opening hours of the crèche may be flexible to meet the changing needs of parents/carers.
     
  • Nannies – provide childcare for one or more children in the parent's own home. They can sometimes live with the family and can be full time, part time or for after school hours. Unlike childminders, nannies are not always registered to provide childcare however, subject to them meeting certain criteria and checks, a nanny can apply to register with CIW under the Approval of Home Childcare Providers (Wales) Scheme 2021.
     
  • Wraparound care – this describes a service that some childcare providers including playgroups, day nurseries and childminders provide outside of normal part or full time school hours, to extend a child's day in education and childcare. A typical example is a playgroup providing a lunch time and afternoon session for children attending part time school during the morning. This type of care often involves collection from local schools and is usually for children aged three and above.

Our Search for Childcare facility is a directory of Early Years Wales members. Simply enter your postcode to find childcare within your local authority

Before you decide

Consideration points

There are several things you may wish to do before you select your child's childcare provider:

  • Visit the setting beforehand so that you can truly get a feel for the quality of the childcare they offer. Ask lots of questions and check that everything is clean, safe and secure, that staff are welcoming, friendly and professional and that the children in the setting look happy and settled.
     
  • If the provision provides food, check their menus and food hygiene ratings which should be displayed within the setting. If your child has any allergy or dietary requirements, check how the staff will cater for your child
     
  • Any childcare setting which runs for more than 2 hours per day (apart from nannies) must register with Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW). You can read the childcare providers latest CIW inspection report to get a good overview of the service they are providing. Reports can be found at the following link. https://careinspectorate.wales/service-directory  Nannies do not need to register with CIW but can apply to be part of the childcare at home voluntary approval scheme.
     
  • Study the childcare provider's website, social media presence and online forums to see what people are saying about them.
     
  • Check to see if the provider has participated in any quality standards or awards schemes such as Early Years Wales' Quality for All.
     
  • Clarify what the fees cover, holiday arrangements and check to see if any funding for fees is available. Always read the terms and conditions of any parental contract.

Parent and Toddler groups are traditionally informal groups providing opportunities for parents/ carers and their young children to meet in a safe and friendly place within their local community such as in a community centre, church hall or other venue for groups to meet.

You may find that in your area such groups are called, Parent and Toddler groups, baby groups or similar. Most of them are informal settings that provide play spaces, story time, singing and crafts. You may also come across more formal groups that offer focused activities e.g. baby gymnastics, baby yoga, singing, swimming etc.

Resource

Get in touch

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Regional offices

Wherever you are located, Early Years Wales aims to have an office near you. If you require our support, feel free to give us a call where we can discuss your query or arrange for one of our support staff to meet with you.

Our office hours are Monday – Friday (9am – 5pm)