Nursery
An independent national service centre for parents of children in state-funded education. They operate a dedicated advice line. The key topics on which ACE can provide further advice, information and support are: exclusion from school, school admissions, special educational needs and all other education-based issues with particular focus on the legal position/rights of parents and how to take unresolved matters further.
Here they have a directory of over 5,300 listings for you to search for day care for children in the UK.
Helping children and adults get the most from learning
Here you can do a a postcode search so you can find a nursery place near you.
OFSTED is the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills. We inspect services providing
education and skills for learners of all ages. We also inspect and regulate services that care for children and young people.
This site will help you locate a pre-school, day nursery, pre-school nursery or early learning facility.
This is a national charity and membership organisation for all PTA’s providing support and resources
Here they are committed to providing high-quality early education and support for parents, children and young people and provide lots of information and advice.
Here they offer free help and advice to parents looking for home-based childcare providers.
The easy way to find local Childcare
For under-fives, nursery schooling takes over from general childcare from the age of around two and a half in the private sector, and three and a half in state pre-school units. So, scarcely is the babe out of nappies before the agonising begins – where to send our precious little mites to start their way in the big, wide world?
You’re under no legal obligation to send your child to nursery – keep them at home if that’s what suits you. But if it doesn’t and you’ve ruled out an all-day childminder, then your choices are between:
Playgroups – or preschool groups – run in the local community, for a few hours a day (you may be expected to help out once a week)
Private nursery schools
State nursery school or nursery unit of a primary school
The childcare you choose will obviously depend both on your child and whether you work so need your child to be looked after for a certain number of hours a day. Playgroups usually offer shorter hours and parents are more heavily involved than in nurseries.