About Sure Start
For parents
- Parents information
- Looking for childcare?
- Need a nanny
Help & contacts
Looking for childcare?
The new version of the Looking for Childcare? booklet, '0-5 Years: The Essential Guide to Childcare For You and Your Family', is now available
Information on downloading and ordering 0-5 Years: The Essential Guide to Childcare For You and Your Family is available at ECM Publications.
Other new versions of the Looking for Childcare? booklet are currently in production and electronic versions will be available to download in the near future. In the meantime, hard copies of the new booklets, outlined below, can now be ordered in advance - free of charge - by emailing Prolog or by telephoning 0845 60 222 60, quoting the appropriate reference number/s:

Reference: 00125-2009MKO-EN
Title: The Essential Guide: Leaflet Dispenser
Reference: 00126-2009BKT-EN
Title: The Essential Guide to Childcare For You and Your Family: 0-5 Years
Reference: 00127-2009BKT-EN
Title: The Essential Guide to Childcare For You and Your Family: 5-11 Years
Reference: 00128-2009BKT-EN
Title: The Essential Guide to Out of School and Holiday Care: 11-16 Years
For up-to-date information on the new arrangements for childcare inspection and regulation that came into force in September 2008, please see the Childcare Inspection and Regulation page.
The bookets have been created in order to help parents make sense of their childcare options. They cover topics including:
- what your childcare choices are
- how much childcare will cost
- how to arrange childcare
- information about your legal entitlements.
The booklets explain childcare and early education choices for parents. They contain information on financial support, health, learning development, flexible working and careers for parents in childcare.
Choosing the right kind of childcare centre can be a difficult decision. Here is a handy Childcare Checklist that you might find helpful.