Useful websites

The following links are to organisations and groups who offer advice and help on finding childcare, regulation of childcare and assistance available to help pay for care.

NSPCC  - all sorts of useful information, such as 'When is it safe to leave my child alone', practical information on managing children's behaviour, child safety etc.  

 http://www.nspcc.org.uk/html/Home/Informationresources/forparentscarers.htm

Ofsted - The Office for Standards in Education, the body which registers and regulates childcare provision. You can look for the latest inspection reports on local providers.

 http://www.ofsted.gov.uk 

Childcarelink - a website with details of childcare provision, arranged by local authority area. You can search by postcode or town name. Most areas also provide other child-related information.

 http://www.childcarelink.gov.uk 

Child Benefit  - for information on child benefits and tax credits, and the new Child Trust Fund, all now administered by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (formerly the Inland Revenue and HM Customs & Excise).

 http://www.hmrc.gov.uk 

New Deal for Lone Parents - the initiative to enable lone parents to get back into work

http://www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk/JCP/Customers/New_Deal/index.html 

Daycare Trust - the national childcare charity, providing information to parents, childcare providers, employers, trade unions, local authorities and policy makers.

http://www.daycaretrust.org.uk/index.php 

Working Families - (formerly New Ways to Work and Parents at Work) works with parents, carers and organisations to help children, working parents and carers and their employers find a better balance between the responsibilities at home and work. The site hosts discussion forums for working families.

 http://www.workingfamilies.org.uk

Elizabeth Nuffield Education Fund - this fund offers grants for childcare to student mothers in higher education. 

http://www.nuffield.com/go/grants/enef/page_81.html

The Educational Grants Advisory Service - EGAS offers advice and guidance on funding to those studying in post-16 education in the UK. services are free to individual students. They publish a guide to student funding, some of which is available on their website.

http://www.egas-online.org/fwa/ 

Learndirect - offers training courses and advice on training, also has details on the website about funding for childcare for students.

http://www.learndirect-advice.co.uk/helpandadvice/helpwithchildcare/

PANN - The Professional Association of Nursery Nurses, is part of the Professional Association of Teachers, and is a Union for those who are employed in childcare in day nurseries and as nannies. They also hold information about employment rules for nannies and nanny agencies.

http://www.pat.org.uk/index.cfm/page/_sections.content.cfm/cid/92/navid/5/parentid/0

National Day Nurseries Association - NDNA is the national membership organisation for UK day nurseries. They run a Quality Assurance Scheme called "Quality Counts".

http://www.ndna.org.uk

http://www.ndna.org.uk/C2B/document_tree/ViewACategory.asp?CategoryID=5

Pre-school Learning Alliance - The PLA is a national educational charity and umbrella organisation linking 17,000 pre-school providers. The PLA Quality Assurance Scheme is called "Aiming for Quality".

http://www.pre-school.org.uk

http://www.pre-school.org.uk/iacontent.php/en/11.phtml

4 Children - Formerly Kids Club Network, is a national charity dedicated to creating opportunities and building futures for children. Particularly concerned with the provision of quality out of school care for children, the 4 Children Quality Assurance Scheme is called "Aiming High".

http://www.4children.org.uk

http://www.4children.org.uk/whatwedo/view/node/52

Opening Doors Service - this is a scheme run by Southampton Mencap to support children with special needs in order that they can access registered play and out of school provision, both during term time and in the school holidays.

http://www.southamptonmencap.org/openingdoors.html

Right from the Start - is another scheme run by Mencap. This is to support children under 3 who have been diagnosed with a disability or who are undergoing diagnosis. 

http://www.southamptonmencap.org 

Sure Start - is a government programme with the aim of delivering the best start in life for every child, bringing together early education, childcare, health and family support.

http://www.surestart.gov.uk/ 

Childcare Approval Scheme - is a scheme to provide recognised national status for individuals providing childcare which is not otherwise required to register and is provided in the child's own home or, for children over 7, on other domestic premises, for example nannies.

http://www.childcareapprovalscheme.co.uk

NCMA - the National Childminding Association is the membership organisation for childminders in England and Wales. A charity, it supports childminders by training, advice and support networks. The NCMA has two Quality Assurance schemes, NCMA Children Come First, for approved childminding networks, and for individual childminders NCMA Quality First. Their helpline is available to parents as well as childminders for advice on contractual matters, for example.

http://www.ncma.org.uk