Childcare That ‘Wraps Around’ The Conventional School Day

In the Spring Budget 2023, the Government announced that from September 2024, a programme of national wraparound childcare expansion support would begin, to enable schools and local areas to set up wraparound childcare provision either side of the school day. By September 2026 parents of primary school-age children should then be able to access Childcare that ‘wraps around’ the conventional school day within their local area, from 8am – 6pm.

The varied enrichment and extra-curricular activities currently offered before and after the school day, such as sports clubs, will often, not meet the requirements of wraparound childcare. However, these should continue to be delivered, as there may be opportunities where these enrichment activities can interact with, complement, or support the delivery of wraparound childcare provision.

All early years providers and schools play a key role in delivering the expansion of wraparound provision through their local knowledge, expertise, resources, and experience. They can all offer wraparound childcare which, can be run on a school site or at another setting in the area. It could mean expanding existing wraparound provision or exploring opportunities to work with other providers to form partnerships, build connections and maximise the sustainability of wraparound provision. Wraparound childcare delivery models could be any of the following and may well overlap:

• School-led provision delivered by school staff on a school site
• Private provider-led provision, on or off school site
• Community/cluster model
• Childminders
• Early years providers

There is no one-size-fits-all model, and each model will have different benefits and drawbacks.

Schools are uniquely placed at the heart of their communities, to understand the needs of families and the support they require. They will play a critical role in the success of the programme and can support the availability of wraparound childcare by:

• Responding to their communities’ needs for wraparound.
• Reporting to the local authority where they have unmet demand.
• Communicating wraparound childcare options to parents.

In early 2024 the government will publish separate guidance for schools, and this will include practical guidance to support those who wish to deliver or expand Wraparound Childcare provision. 

In preparation for the expansions, we would encourage schools to begin to look at their current offers on site, identify need / demand from parents and begin to develop and action plan.

For initial information on delivery options that could be considered please see the information located on the Early Years and Childcare webpages here:- WCCC-505288705-403 (warwickshire.gov.uk)   Further information is available from:  Education Hub: Wraparound Childcare