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The National Wraparound Childcare Programme is part of the childcare reforms announced in the 2023 spring budget. The government’s ambition is that by 2026, all parents and carers of primary school aged children who need it will be able to access term time childcare in their local area from 8:00 am until 6:00 pm, so that parents can access employment and improve labour market participation. 

For more information visit:

Perhaps you have been approached by parents who require before, after school or holiday care? Or you are considering how as a school you are going to meet the government’s commitment to increase the availability of childcare for primary school aged children?

For your club to be successful it will need to meet the demands of parents at your school or in the local community. Schools should be keeping a log of requests made by parents for wraparound care ensuring that they respond appropriately to any requests they receive. 

For guidance on how to respond to requests for wraparound childcare please visit .

Remember that circumstances change, especially in light of the government’s childcare expansion, schools may find that more parents are in need of childcare, therefore it’s important that schools regularly survey parental demand for wraparound, perhaps termly or at the very least annually. 

A simple questionnaire/survey of parents that are part of your school and the wider community would be useful to establish an idea of potential demand for your service. 

Are parents currently using a private provider for wraparound care? Does another childcare provider already pick up from your school premises, such as a private out of school club provider, day nursery or childminder?

It is important that schools have a good understanding of whether the demand for out of school care is being met by existing providers. There is no point setting up new provision if this already exists and meets demand. 

Schools planning to open new provision should consider the impact of opening such provision on existing providers, who may be delivering the same service. It would be recommended that schools and external providers explore opportunities to work in partnership to meet parental demand, rather than schools opening a setting that could undermine existing provision. 

Schools can talk to the Local Authority to find out more information about what provision is operating locally.  You can also use the on the 51²èÂ¥ Children First (WCF) website to find out information on what other provision is operating in your area. 

You may find the childcare sufficiency pages on the 51²èÂ¥ website useful to find out more about levels of supply and demand within each district of 51²èÂ¥.

Some schools already work in partnership with an external provider to deliver out of school care for their families either on or off the school site. If this is how your school delivers out of school care, it is essential that parents and carers are directed to these external providers by you. 

Successful signposting includes:

• school website: include a wraparound/out of school club section on your website with details of providers you work in partnership with. Make sure that the wraparound section is easy for parents/carers to find, it may be worth testing with a few parents to check that they can navigate it without support
• prospective/new pupil information packs: make sure these include details of wraparound provision, this is often what parents are looking for when they are choosing a school. Consider having the Out of School provider attend open days for prospective families
• newsletters: include information on external providers and perhaps include them in articles to show how you work in partnership to benefit the children
• advertise: use school notice boards and reception areas to advertise wraparound, most external providers have leaflets or websites, share these in book bags or in newsletters

If provision is off site parents should not have to transport children at the end of a school day to an external provider to access out of school care, there should be a seamless transition from the end of the school day to the external provider. This move to the external provider should include the exchange of important information between school and setting, the out of school provider may be the only professionals that speak to the parents/carers on a regular basis. 

Depending on the distance between school and the premises used to deliver out of school care, external providers may develop a walking bus or use a minibus to transport children. Through forming new partnership arrangements, schools and settings can work together to facilitate the most appropriate way to transport children to out of school club.

There is no single way to deliver wraparound care, there are a range of different delivery models, each one with its own practical considerations and benefits. It is important to consider which would be best suited to your school, see the table below for a summary of delivery models along with the benefits of each type. 

Schools intending to provide childcare for children aged 2 years and over do not need to register with Ofsted, as long as at least one of these children is a pupil at the school. Where your governing board manages the childcare provision, Ofsted will consider this provision as part of your school inspection. You must register with Ofsted if you are a school that admits children to their register who are not yet two-years old. 

Find out more information on .

In all cases, whether you are running provision under your school registration or you are required to register separately with Ofsted you must still meet the requirements of the relevant register’s dependant on the age of the children you care for. 

If you care for children in the early years age group (children aged from birth until 31 August following their fifth birthday), you must meet the requirements of the

If you care for children from 1 September after the child’s fifth birthday up until their eighth birthday, you must meet the requirements of Ofsted’s Compulsory Childcare Register 

If you care for children aged eight and over, you must also meet the requirements of Ofsted’s Voluntary Childcare Register 

Schools should check that the owner who controls the use of the school site is happy with the proposal to deliver wraparound on the school site. 

Where wraparound is delivered to children who are not pupils of the school, you may require the agreement of the landowner of charitable land held for specific purposes. You will also need written consent or active participation from the relevant body that owns the school site to rent out school facilities for wraparound provision. 

The premises should be warm, welcoming, and accessible for all children, staff, and parents. The environment should be safe, secure with space organised to promote children’s play and development, both indoors and outdoors. 

Ideally the space should feel different to school, so even if a classroom is the only option, consider how the space could be transformed or customised for the club so that children have some ownership and that it feels different from school, remember this is out of school time! 

For out of school clubs in which the youngest children are of reception age or older, the minimum requirement in relation to staffing ratio’s is that there should be sufficient staff as for a class of 30 children. Although this is the minimum legal ratio, in reality not many clubs operate at this ratio and feel it is necessary to exceed these minimum ratios to ensure the safety and welfare of children. 

Many clubs operate on a ratio of 1:8 for children up to the age of eight. There are no statutory ratio requirements for children over eight, but you must ensure that children are kept safe, many clubs work on a 1:10 ratio for children over eight. 

When considering how many staff you need to ensure the safety and welfare of children, schools should consider:

• the types of activities that will be taking place
• the age and need of the children, including SEND or medical needs
• if any children need 1:1 support
• Safeguarding

If your out of school provision includes nursery age children (younger than reception age), there must be sufficient staff as stated in the

If your out of school club only cares for children of reception age or above, there are no specific childcare or playwork qualification requirements for staff. 

However, the DFE , suggests that if you are a school providing childcare that is not eligible for registration on the Childcare Register, you must still meet the registers requirements.

Ofsted’s Voluntary Childcare Register requires managers of provision to hold a relevant level 2 qualification. 

It is important that staff working in out of school clubs have the relevant skills, knowledge, and training to fulfil their roles. They are responsible for ensuring that children are kept safe, and their wellbeing is supported. 

As a minimum you will need staff with paediatric first aid, safeguarding children and food hygiene training to ensure that children are kept safe. 

It would be beneficial for staff to complete Playwork training, or for leaders to be Playwork trained to deliver high quality out of school provision. 

Playwork Apprenticeships and training 

Out of school clubs should deliver high quality play-based provision, ideally lead by Playwork trained staff. 

There are opportunities for Schools to invest in their own staff to gain a Playwork qualification. You are able to search the apprenticeship directory for

Parents should pay for out of school provision and schools should charge parents in line with the guidance .

When considering fee’s for out of school provision, schools should make it affordable for parents but will also need to understand how much to charge to maintain financial viability. Whilst you may find it useful to find out what other local clubs are charging, you must base your fee structure on your own operating costs 

Essentially knowing how much it costs to run the before and after school club and maintaining oversight of income and expenditure is essential for future financial success. 

For support developing a pricing structure:

Schools Finance Team: SFT@worcestershire.gov.uk

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is everyone’s responsibility. All out of school settings should be a safe and happy place for children. Parents and carers should feel confident that their child is well looked after and that robust safeguarding arrangements are in place. 

For school run provision your arrangements for safeguarding and child protection will apply

You will need to:

• follow the statutory guidance on
• meet the Childcare Register’s requirements, even if you are a school providing childcare that is not eligible for registration on the Childcare Register
• make sure all staff receive safeguarding training, and that they know the identity of the Designated Safeguarding Lead (or deputies) and how to contact them.
• make sure all staff, including volunteers, have obtained an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check
• make sure you have appropriate policies and procedures in place to identify and deal with safeguarding incidents quickly
• follow the safeguarding and welfare requirements within the Early Years Foundation Stage statutory framework, when children in reception year or younger are cared for.

For further information on a range of services to help meet regulatory requirements and keep children safe, please visit Safeguarding children.

If you set up wraparound childcare on school site, you will need to:

• establish and agree the vision and aims of provision with stakeholders – including parents, governors, trustees, staff and PVI providers (where appropriate)
• ensure activities do not interfere with your school’s responsibility to provide a high quality and safe teaching environment
• agree who will lead on wraparound childcare within your school or trust, and partner organisations where appropriate
• when working in partnership, establish and agree how you will work together and any written agreements between the relevant parties
• have all necessary permissions from the landowner to use school facilities for wraparound.
• have a plan for which days and times you will offer provision
• have a suitable location to offer childcare, including ensuring school facilities are safe and are in good condition.
• have, or check, appropriate Ofsted registrations in place, where applicable
• understand and meet the requirements and standards for delivering wraparound childcare, including:  robust and effective safeguarding and welfare practices that adhere to keeping children safe in education, health and safety policies, inclusivity, travel to provision (where needed), having appropriate staff
• ensure provision meets minimum safe standards of childcare and adheres to the law
• promote and support use of government subsidies such as Tax-Free Childcare and Universal Credit Childcare
• establish a sufficient and appropriate workforce
• establish a clear and transparent charging and remissions policy, including any extra charges
• check you have the correct insurance cover
• if offering food, adhere to appropriate guidance
• check you have the appropriate policies and agreements in place

More information can be found in the DFE publication:

If you choose to work in partnership with another school or PVI provider, you should: 

• have a clear aim when choosing your partner 
• put in place clear and open channels of communication 
• establish clear roles and responsibilities 
• establish and agree working agreements such as a partnership agreement or service level agreement
• ensure appropriate safeguarding arrangements are in place
• have regular meetings to reflect on successes and challenges
• regularly evaluate the partnership arrangement 
• establish and agree terms of use of school facilities, such as leases, licences or hire agreements
• agree on the input of personnel and resources, for example: staff, facilities, cleaning services

You may also want to consider: 

• the provider’s track record of financial sustainability 
• the length of contract to allow provision to grow and become sustainable 
• what would trigger a break clause 
• an exit strategy
• experience in providing childcare
• whether providers have appropriate registrations in place, and encourage them to register with Ofsted, where they are eligible to do so

For more information see 

Tax – Free Childcare is a UK wide offer. Eligible working parents with children 11 or under can get up to £2,000 per child, per year, towards their childcare costs (or up to £4,000 for disabled children 16 or under).

You will only be able to receive Tax- Free Childcare payments from your parents if you’ve signed up to Tax- Free Childcare. 

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Universal Credit Childcare, this is for eligible parents who pay for childcare while they work, Universal Credit can pay for some of the childcare costs. Parents can get back up to 85% of their childcare costs. 

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