The Families Information Service

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We provide a telephone, internet and outreach service, dedicated to providing accurate information for childcare providers, mums, dads and carers with children from birth to 20 years old in Kingston and the surrounding areas. We offer free information and advice and guidance on childcare, education, leisure activities, training and careers in childcare.

We provide information and lists of registered childminders, day nurseries, pre-schools and playgroups. We can also offer information on financial help that could help with childcare and early education costs so do contact us to talk about your individual childcare needs.

We have several team members who can help you, namely;

• Families Information Service Manager
• Senior Information Officer
• Information/Audit Officer
• Assistant Information Officer
• Childcare Access Officer

If you are looking for a childminder, please either use the Family Services Directory or call us for an up to date list.  Please be aware that childminder details cannot be shown in their entirety online as their details are data protected.

Family Service Directory

Day nurseries provide care and education for pre-school children aged from six weeks to five years old. Hours tend to fit in with an average working day of 8am – 6pm and care is usually provided all year round. You can send your child full or part time. Most nurseries offer early education, but please speak to your provider about terms and conditions first.

Family Service Directory

Pre-schools and playgroups provide early education and childcare for children from two to five years of age. Most offer daily sessions between two and a half and three hours long during term times. Some pre schools are developing their services to offer longer sessions or full time daycare. Most pre schools and playgroups in Kingston offer the free Early Education Funding (EEF).

Family Service Directory

Holiday play schemes and out of school clubs are for school-age children to play and learn and have fun in groups. They can be based in or near schools and more are being set up to help families where parents work. These services can be registered with OFSTED provided they are caring for children under 8 years of age or more than two hours a day and more than 6 days a year.

Family Service Directory

Creches provide short-term childcare where a child can be looked after while a parent/carer usually remains on site doing an activity i.e. leisure or shopping, college or personal appointment. Some creches may provide a “drop and shop“ creche where parents can go off site. Creches usually take children from 0-5 years although some do allow older children to attend.

Family Service Directory

As part of the Families Information Service (FIS), the Childcare Access Officer (CAO) delivers an Outreach Service to the community, taking FIS information and guidance to Children's Centres, black, minority and ethnic (BME) groups with a focus on hard to reach groups. Parent and Toddler groups are also attended as well as community events across the borough.  Please read the outreach programme for the coming months:

For information on the outreach programme we offer, please check your local Children's Centre or contact Maxine Baum on 020 8547 6581 or email maxine.baum@rbk.kingston.gov.uk

Bringing together professional requests and parental requests for childcare that is difficult to navigate and access. Offering a unique emergency childcare service and also providing a text alert service that has a 99 per cent success rate. We do this using the CAO's brokerage flowchart of how we achieve brokerage.

For information on the brokerage service we offer, please contact Maxine Baum on 020 8547 6581 or email maxine.baum@rbk.kingston.gov.uk

You can see some further details of the childcare options for you to consider below.

If you cannot find what you are looking for or require more information please give us a call or email one of our team.

Email: fis@rbk.kingston.gov.uk
Telephone: 020 8547 6582

Room 16
Guildhall 1
High Street
Kingston
KT1 1EU  

You can find up to date information on a variety of childcare options here, including day nurseries, out of school clubs, pre schools, creches, childminders and schools.  You can also find information on activites for young children and teenagers on our Family Service Directory (FSD), and Positive Activities for young people, see below.

You can also search for sports activities throughout the borough, including activities for those with special needs.  You can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook. There is also information on the bottom of this page about registering with Ofsted. This "checking out services" booklet explains how Ofsted register the different types of childcare and what checks are carried out on staff.

For Childminders, we have created a leaflet on questions to ask, things to look out for when visiting the childminders home. This leaflet is called "Guidelines for choosing a childminder" and is also available at the bottom of this page.

You can also view the guidelines for the control of infection and communicable disease in school and early years settings on the HPA website.

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