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A quick guide to Childcare
- Early Years Education for Three and Four Year Olds

[ Home Page > About The Council > Council Services > Community Services > The Family Room > Childcare & Early Years Education > A quick guide to Childcare ]

A quick guide to Childcare

Providers who have to register under the Children Act 1989

Type of Provision	Age range	Quick Notes
Sessional Day Care What this term means.
Pre-School Playgroups	2 ½ - 5 years	Sessions run for a maximum of four hours in a day. For free places see grants for three and four year olds.
Childminders.	0-8 years	Offer full or part-time care. Can take children over 8 but do not need to register them, although they are taken into account in the child/adult ratios. For fre places see grants for 3 and 4 year olds.
Full Day Care What this term means...
Day Nurseries.	0-5 years	Offer full or part-time care. For free places see grants for 4yr olds.
Creches (Must register if open more than six times a year)	0-8 years	Most are open all day but take children for a session. Recreational creches where parents are involved in activities on the same premises can't have individual children for longer than 3 hours. If parents are not easily contacted, creches may only take children over 2 years old, with sessions no longer than 2 hours.
Childcare for the Over 5's What this term means
After School Clubs and Holiday Care Schemes	4-8 years	Scheme has to run for over 2 hours a day, more than 5 times a year. Children have to be brought and collected. Some schemes provide transport.
	8 years upwards	Children over 8 can attend but do not have to be registered.
Playschemes	4-8 years	Must run for over 2 hours a day, more than 5 times a year. Children have to be brought and collected, but some schemes have transport. Need to ensure that younger children are safe and well looked after. Specialised activities should be supervised by a qualified or trained instructor or leader in that activity.
Nanny Share	0-8 years.	Has to be a nanny employed to care for children from 3 or more households in one premises. Needs to register as a childminder.
Providers who do NOT have to register under the Children Act 1989
Parent/Carer and Toddler Groups.	0-5 years	Parents stay with own children in the session. Older children usually attend registered provision.
Relatives		It is not necessary for close relatives to register to care for their family's children unless they care for other children as well.
Nannies	0 years up	Professional childcare workers either qualified or experienced who care for other people's children in their own homes.
Local Education Authority Provision What this term means.
Nursery/Early Years Classes.	3-4 years	Attached to a primary school. Age varies when children are taken into the class and when they move into the reception class.
Reception Class.	4 years.	Children enter the class in the term before they reach their 5th birthday.