Delivery models for wraparound care

National wraparound childcare programme (NWCP) and Early Years children

The national wraparound childcare programme provides funding for children aged Reception to Year 6. Term time Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm.

However, some schools, or providers may have links with pre-school children whose parents would like them to attend the wraparound provision with older siblings.

If providers/schools would like to include pre-school children, then they can but they must follow the EYFS guidance for ratios, qualifications and support.

What does this mean for schools/providers applying for funding through the NWCP?

The EYFS statutory framework for group and school-based providers states:

Before/after school care and holiday provision

Settings that only provide care before and after school, or during the school holidays, for children who normally attend reception (or older) class during the school day do not need to meet or be guided by the learning and development and assessment requirements set out in Sections 1 and 2. However, settings providing this type of wraparound care for children younger than those in the reception class age range should continue to be guided by, but do not have to meet, the learning and development and assessment requirements. All such providers should discuss with parents and/or carers (and other practitioners/providers as appropriate, including school staff/teachers) the support they intend to offer. All settings that provide care for children aged 0-5 must meet safeguarding and welfare requirements as set out in Section 3. (page 6)

What does this mean in practice?

If you have preschool children attending wraparound provision you will need to make sure that you are providing activities that cover the seven areas of learning and development.

The three prime areas –

• communication and language,
• personal social and emotional development
• physical development

The four specific areas-

• mathematics
• literacy
• understanding the world
• expressive arts and design

You should think about how these activities are provided and any help/support that children may need when accessing these activities.

All providers must follow section 3 – The safeguarding and welfare requirements for children under 5:

Staff: child ratios

Providers must ensure that children are adequately supervised, including whilst eating, and decide how to use staff to ensure children’s needs are met. Providers must inform parents and/or carers about how staff are organised, and, when relevant and practical, aim to involve them in these decisions.

Before/after school care and holiday provision

3.50 Where the provision is solely before/after school care or holiday provision for children who normally attend reception class (or older) during the school day, there must be sufficient staff as for a class of 30 children. It is for providers to determine how many staff are needed to ensure the safety and welfare of children, bearing in mind the type(s) of activity and the age and needs of the children. It is also for providers to determine what qualifications, if any, the manager and/or staff should have. See details on page 6 for the learning and development requirements for providers offering care exclusively before/after school or during the school holidays*

However – if pre-school children (0-5Y) attend then the ratio requirements for those children must be followed.

So, for a school or provider accepting children aged 3-4Y into their wraparound provision they must have regard for paragraphs from 3.35. This will mean that they will need a person with a recognised L3 childcare qualification working with the children on a ratio of one adult to eight children.

Other things to consider

The space requirements will need to be met –

See 3.66 – children aged three to five years: 2.3m2 per child

Schools and other providers of wraparound care will need to think about how they organise the space to ensure the needs of the youngest children are met and are not impacted by the older children. Consider how spaces such as a school hall can be organised to provide sufficient space for younger and older children. Or if a PVI that runs as a pre-school how can spaces be adapted for older children.

Registers and information-

Make sure there is a register of all children who are attending the provision.

Records must be kept in accordance with 3.81 for each child in their care

• Full name.
• Date of birth.
• Name and address of every parent and/or carer who is known to the provider.
• Information about any other person who has parental responsibility for the child. • Which parent(s) and/or carer(s) the child normally lives with.
• Emergency contact details for parents and/or carers.

Costs – different considerations may need to be looked at if a PVI provider offers wraparound care as well as care for younger children entitled to the Nursery Education Funding. The costs for the different care periods must be communicated effectively to parents.

Can NWCP funding be used to employ or get a member of staff qualified at level 3?

Yes – as the EYFS states in 3.50 … It is for providers to determine how many staff are needed to ensure the safety and welfare of children, bearing in mind the type(s) of activity and the age and needs of the children. It is also for providers to determine what qualifications, if any, the manager and/or staff should have…

For full statement see above *

However the NWCP funding can only be used for the employment / training of the members of staff employed in the wraparound care.

Example delivery models could include the following and there may well be overlap between some of these models:

Model 1: In-house

This model means schools will retain control of all aspects of their childcare provision (eg bookings, marketing, staffing, activities offered).

School-led provision delivered by school staff on a school site

Provision that operates on school premises, managed by staff employed directly by a school. The provision is open to all children in that school.

Model 2: Blended and external

Depending on the model chosen schools could retain control of some aspects of their childcare provision, while also working in partnership with their local community.

Private provider-led provision, on or off school site

Provision that is operated and delivered by staff employed by a private provider. If based on a school site, the private provider may rent space from the school to be able to operate provision. Provision could also be operated on another site rather than on school premises.*

Community/cluster model

A community-focused model with children from multiple schools attending provision on one site. This could be operated by a lead school, a private provider, a community organisation or any other appropriate body.

*Private provider-led provision on or off school site could be a Model 3

Model 3: External

The external models could be useful for schools that, for various reasons (for example, lack of experience in running childcare provision, lack of time/staff to manage the provision), wish to hand over responsibility for running their childcare provision to another organisation.

Childminders

Provision delivered by childminders (registered with Ofsted or a childminder
agency), which schools and local authorities signpost to. This could consist of a group of childminders working together on a single site or childminders working individually from their homes.

Early years providers

Provision delivered by early years providers which may take school aged children during wraparound hours. For example, a local nursery or a pre-school operating on or off a school site may run the provision before and after school hours.