Before your child starts
Childcare information for parents from Flying Start
High quality childcare from Flying Start
If you live in a Flying Start area, your child is eligible to access funded sessional childcare, starting the term after their second birthday until the term after their third birthday. Your child can attend for 2½ hours a day, 5 days a week for 39 weeks of the year. The Flying Start team also arrange family activity days for all the family during school holidays - remember you are welcome to come along!
The Flying Start childcare settings provide high quality childcare. They will work closely with you to promote your child’s development - educationally, socially and emotionally. We want each child to feel safe, stimulated and happy and to feel secure and comfortable. We want you to have confidence that your child is able to benefit from what the setting has to offer. Each setting is registered with and are regulated by Care Inspectorate Wales.
Each setting, therefore, complies with the national minimum standards set by them. All settings are inspected regularly to ensure compliance and a high standard of service delivery.
A copy of their most recent inspection report is available at the setting for you to see. The setting also has a policy booklet that tells you how the setting is run and how your child’s individual needs are met. A copy is available for you to see, or the childcare leader will explain the policies to you.
Flying Start childcare settings
Flying Start childcare is available in specific locations around the island. The childcare officer will advise you of where your child will attend.
Referral process
Now that your child is about 15 months old, you have received a referral form from the childcare officer to place your child’s name on the waiting list with a childcare setting.
The childcare officer can answer any questions you may have about your child starting in childcare.
After completing the referral form, you will receive a letter from Flying Start to confirm that your child’s name has been placed on the waiting list with a childcare setting.
Stay and play sessions
About a month before your child is due to start, your allocated childcare setting will contact you inviting you to two 'stay and play' sessions.
These sessions last about an hour each and are a chance for you to see a typical session in the childcare. You and your child will be able to join in all the activities on offer. You will also meet the childcare team who are at hand to answer your questions and tell you about the setting’s routine.
The leader will complete relevant paperwork with you and collect important information about your child. Your child will not be able to start in childcare until the paperwork is completed. You will be given the setting’s statement of purpose, which will outline key information that is specific to the setting.
Working in partnership with parents
Flying Start childcare settings are committed to providing the best possible outcome for each child. We believe that the most effective way to achieve this is by working in partnership with parents and involving them in their child’s early learning.
Parents are children’s first educators and the most important people in a child’s life. The childcare staff are committed to working closely with you in order to provide good communication and to establish a positive relationship.
It is the parents that know their child best and working in partnership will enable the setting to plan effectively each child’s learning needs.
Settling in
The 'stay and play' sessions will help to settle your child into the childcare, and we strongly recommend that you attend both sessions. The staff will work with you to make the best settling in arrangements for your child and to meet their individual needs.
Your child will be assigned a key person who will develop a positive relationship with you and your child and support them to become familiar with and confident in the environment. This is especially important when they first start and when your child is experiencing transitions.
Transition meetings
Before your child starts and then at the end of each following term, transition meetings will be held between the childcare leader and the Flying Start staff team. This is to make sure that your child’s needs are met and that we are doing all we can to support your child to reach their potential.
If we think that your child could be further supported the childcare leader will talk to you about this before the meeting. We may arrange a smaller meeting with you, so that you can tell us what kind of support you’d like your child to have and who is the best person to do that.
Attendance and absence
We want to make sure that your child makes the most of their time in the childcare, routine is important for children and your child should attend every day. Even though the childcare is funded by Welsh Government, we still have to follow school policies for absence. The childcare setting sends a weekly attendance register to the childcare officer and monitoring officer.
It is important that you let the childcare setting know before the start of the session if your child will not be attending. Either because they are sick, on holiday, or any other occasional day off, such a doctor’s appointment.
In line with our attendance policy if your child does not attend on a regular basis, your child’s place may be re-allocated to a child on the waiting list.
Please stay in touch with your childcare leader. If you have any questions about childcare please contact the Flying Start Childcare Officer on 01407 767 786.
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