Essential Parent supports and promotes the factors that help children reach their potential including good health, attachment, good mental health, responsive feeding, cognitive, physical and emotional development, and many more.

Essential Parent is a digital information service offering expert, evidence-based professional written and video content for conception, pregnancy, birth, babies, toddlers, children and teenagers.

If you are a practitioner working with children and families in the Rochdale borough, please register for a free account by emailing family.info@rochdale.gov.uk.

Also see other supporting information and guides on child health, illnesses and wellbeing.

This guidance covers Ofsted-registered childcare providers for children of all ages, including childminders, nurseries and wraparound childcare and clubs (before- and after- school and holiday care). This guidance does not cover nannies or au pairs, as they work in the child/children’s family home.

Read the full guidance list below:

• Actions for early years and childcare providers during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak (external link).
• Business rates: nursery (childcare) discount 2020 to 2021: coronavirus response – local authority guidance (external link).
• Guidance for early years and childcare providers (external link).
• Guidance for schools (external link).
• Guidance for further and higher education providers (external link).
• Guidance for local authority children’s services (external link).
• Guidance for holiday or after-school clubs and other out-of-school settings (external link).

The Early Help Locality Team is a service working with children and young people to offer family support. It will help your child receive the right support at an early stage before their needs increase.

For further information please see the Early Help Locality Team page.

This page is for childcare providers to search and book on to courses available to them.

For more information or to search for a course please see the Childcare Provider Course bookings page.

The Early Years Portal will enable you to submit required details for children attending your setting quickly and easily and also enable you to perform instant checks of eligibility for 2 year old funding.

For more information please see the Rochdale Early Years Provider Portal page (external link).

The Safe After School campaign is a new campaign launched to support parents with advice and guidance on out of school activities.

For further information please see the Safe After School campaign page.

Information for childcare providers and Early Years education settings regarding the different funding streams available.

For further information please see the Funding for providers to support inclusion and disability page.

Tax Free Childcare is a government scheme to help working families with their childcare costs. As a childcare professional you can sign up online for Tax Free Childcare, allowing parents to pay for childcare directly in to your bank account.

For further information please see the Childcare Providers - Sign up to receive Tax Free Childcare payments page.

• Early years and childcare statutory guidance June 2018 (external link).
• Early years entitlement - Operational guide (external link)
• Early years entitlement - Local authority funding of providers operational guide 2020 to 2021 (external link)

The primary focus of the Supported Day Care Scheme is to ensure that the child's wellbeing and safety are maintained.

For further information please see the Supported Day Care Scheme page.

If you need help registering as a childcare provision, or would like to advertise your service on this directory, please contact Rochdale Family Information Service on 01706 719900 or email family.info@rochdale.gov.uk.