In line with the government’s desire for all schools to offer wraparound childcare from 8am to 6pm, the Department for Education has today unveiled guidance on how schools should handle requests from parents, carers or childcare providers for this provision.

This extra guidance is designed to complement the main guidance issued earlier this month, which set out the rationale and requirements for schools to provide greater wraparound care from Reception age to the end of key stage 3, and up to age 18 for children with disabilities.

The DfE says that currently 80 per cent of schools provide some form of wraparound care, but at least 40 per cent offer it “in a form that may not support parents to work the hours they want” . The government wants to improve this situation by giving parents and carers more rights to request this provision.

Here’s what you need to know about the new guidance on responding to requests:

Wraparound care in schools: handling parents’ requests

1. Key requirements

The guidance firstly sets out the specifics of what schools need to do when they receive a request from a parent or carer for wraparound care, or from a childcare provider that wants to host provision on a school site. The four criteria are that schools must:

• Work with their local authority and any relevant landowner to consider these requests.
• Respond to them in a transparent way.
• Take the lead in managing the right-to-request process.
• Make the final decision about what action to take.

The guidance says that schools must provide clear timescales for dealing with requests, including keeping parents and childcare providers informed of each stage of the request and then providing any rationale for the approval or rejection of a case.

2. Make parents and carers aware of their rights

To make sure that parents and carers know they have the right to request wraparound care, the guidance says schools should ensure that, as part of “regular engagement with parents”, families are made aware of this right and the process for doing so.

It is also advised that when making parents aware, the school should be clear about the information needed from parents to make a decision on wraparound care, such as:

• The type of childcare requested.
• The age range of the children requiring wraparound or holiday childcare.
• When provision is most needed.

The guidance says schools can ask parents to apply in writing via letter or email or via school-run parent surveys.

3. Monitoring requests

The guidance also states that schools should monitor the number and type of requests received, including those from prospective parents. Although the purpose of this is not stated in the guidance, it is likely to monitor demand in a given area to help inform decisions in that locality.

The guidance says schools could help streamline how they process requests by providing termly or annual periods when parents can make requests - something the guidance suggests may make the most sense when “new cohorts of children will be joining the school”, which likely means September.

4. Considering requests

Once a request has been received, schools and trusts can then work with local authorities to consider the options of increasing wraparound childcare and if it is viable.

This work should include consulting with any other relevant parties, such as a landowner, diocese or charitable trustees involved with the school. For example, the guidance notes that a freehold landowner would need to agree to the use of the land or buildings by a childcare provider wishing to operate on the site.

“They may need to enter into any lease or usage agreement with the provider directly. Depending on the nature of this provider’s use of school land, you may also need the involvement or consent of the secretary of state,” the guidance adds.

5. Informing parents

Notably, the guidance states that any decision should be made within “no longer than a term”, which it says should be enough time to consult with everyone, as above and as required, and make a decision.

When informing parents of the outcome, schools should outline how many requests they received, the reasons for the decision and what the next steps are, if any.

If the decision is not to offer wraparound childcare then the school should work with the local authority to signpost other information to parents, chiefly:

• Provision that does not require parents to pick up or drop off their children between the school day and wraparound childcare.
• Their designated wraparound lead.
• The local family information service, which will have up-to-date information about the availability of local childcare.

6. Childcare provider requests

If a school is considering a request from a childcare provider to offer wraparound care or care during school holidays, the guidance says it should make sure that the provider adheres to the following requirements:

• It considers the needs of children with special educational needs and disabilities when planning activities.
• It understands its responsibility to have arrangements in place to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.
• It has properly vetted its staff (both paid and volunteer) before they care for children.

The guidance also advises speaking to the local authority to understand the demand for wraparound care in the local area and suggests that schools could either accept requests on a case-by-case basis or have a termly or annual window when providers can make requests to help streamline these decisions.

Schools are advised that they should inform a provider of an outcome within a month.

If they reject the request, schools do not need to reconsider requests from the same provider for the same type of provision within 12 months of the last request.

However, this comes with the somewhat open-ended caveat that a request may be made again if “you become aware of a change in demand for wraparound provision in the school (or local area)” - although who has responsibility for defining that is not specified.