This article has been brought to you by Slough Borough Council's Childcare Development Coordinator from Early Years, Clare Thompson, for the attention of all early years providers including schools with nursery classes and nursery schools.
The new provider agreement is based on the model agreement from the Department for Education which sets out the department’s expectations on what should be included in agreements between local authorities and providers (provider agreements) and refers to early years provision free of charge (sections 7 and 7A of the Childcare Act 2006) and free childcare (section 2 of the Childcare Act 2016) as the ‘free entitlement(s)’ or ‘free hours’ or a ‘free place’.
The provider agreement applies to the 15 hour entitlement for the most disadvantaged two-year-olds, the 15 hour entitlement for parents of three- and four-year-olds (the universal entitlement) and the 30 hours entitlement for working parents of three- and four-year-olds (the extended entitlement).
All providers offering funded early learning in Slough are required to read and sign the provider agreement on the final page of the document (page 49).
Please return a signed copy of the agreement to Eyfunding@slough.gov.uk by Friday 7th September 2018.