Funded, part time, early years education is available from the term following a child’s 3rd birthday. This is sometimes called Rising 3’s, Early Years Education or Foundation Learning.
This phase is crucial in your child’s life, laying the foundation for their future learning, physical growth, and emotional development. Nursery education is an integral part of the Curriculum for Wales. To learn more about Early Years Education in Wales and its delivery, please refer to this guide produced by the Welsh Government.
Curriculum for Wales – Nursery education for 3 and 4 year olds: A guide for parents and carers
The table below shows when Early Years Education will be available for your child.
Child’s 3rd Birthday | When can my child access their early years education place? |
1 September to 31 December | The beginning of term on or after 1st January (Spring and Summer terms) |
1 January to 31 March | The beginning of term on or after 1st April (Summer term only) |
1 April to 31 August | The beginning of term on or after 1st September (School based Nursery only) |
Your child is entitled to a minimum of 10 hours per week of Early Years Education. This is offered in a range of funded childcare settings, including Playgroups, Cylch Meithrin, day nurseries as well as in schools. During the academic year of your child’s 4th birthday, Early Years Education is only available in a school setting.
All applications for Early Years Education places must be made on the Caerphilly School Admissions Website. You will need to create an account on the parent portal. Once created, you can use the same account for each child in your family and for any future school applications. Applications open at the beginning of September for the following year.
Under the Childcare Offer for Wales, you could claim up to 30 hours of early education and childcare per week, for up to 48 weeks of the year. The scheme aims to make life a bit easier for parents or carers by providing support with childcare costs.
Eligible children aged 3-4 years could be entitled to government funded childcare from the term following their 3rd birthday until they are in full time education.
This means that, as well as 10 hours of part-time early years education, your child could also be entitled to 20 hours of funded childcare during term time, and 30 hours during school holidays.
Visit the Childcare Offer for Wales section for further details and how to apply.
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