Information for parents
Childcare
All 3 to 4-year-olds in England can get 570 free hours per year. It’s usually taken as 15 hours a week for 38 weeks of the year, but you can choose to take fewer hours over more weeks. Find out more from the Gov.UK website.
School places
You can email Children&youngpeople@shropshire.gov.uk for help and advice on the following:
- The process for applying for a mainstream school place or a place in pre-school provision
- The schools with vacancies in the areas you're looking for a school place, so that you know which schools to approach – this can be provided down to specific year group level
For more information on issues relating to schooling, take a look at our main 'Education' page.
Resources for schools and parents
- The Bell Foundation – information for parents (In Ukrainian and Russian) on how to help your child at school and about the British school education system
- The Bell Foundation – information and guidance for schools on welcoming displaced children, from a panel of experts
- Council of Europe - Guide for parents and teachers, in Ukrainian and English, on educational resources to allow children to continue their Ukrainian education
Learning resources for Ukrainian children (English language and school resources specifically for Ukrainians)
- Children in Need has a bank of resources and organisations that can help with talking to children about Ukraine and Russia (mostly aimed at UK children, but useful to share)
- Twinkl (resources for primary school-aged children) has a number of Ukrainian dual language resources
- Links to Ukrainian textbooks and schooling
- Links to educational resources for Ukrainian children
- Ukrainian language resources
Learning resources for Ukrainian children (school and learning resources in English)
- BBC Bitesize – fun and learning-based resources for primary (age 3-11), secondary (age 11-16) and post-16 children
- National Geographic Kids – learning resources, quizzes, and competitions – mostly aimed at primary age children
- UCL – a huge list of resources, including primary, secondary and ESOL, and subject specific, eg numeracy, science etc
- British Council resources for children who speak English as an additional language
Learning resources: for Ukrainian adults (ESOL/ English language)Learning resources: for Ukrainian adults (ESOL/ English language)
- Learning English Plus: This website is aimed at ESOL teachers, but has a huge list of useful resources for ESOL learners to refer to
- British Council Resources for adults who speak English as an additional language, includes online English test and free resources
- Open University free online resources for Ukrainians settling in the UK
Help with answering difficult questions
With the situation developing in Ukraine, your children may be asking questions that you are unsure how to answer.
- If you have a child in school who is affected by the crisis, please talk to your child’s teachers about any concerns you have and the support you would like the school to provide
- Unicef have information on how to talk to your child about conflict and war
- Newsround, from the BBC’s CBBC channel, has trusted videos and reports about the war in Ukraine
- Newsround also has a section for children offering advice if they are upset by the news
- Place2Be’s educational psychologists have also shared advice about how to discuss war and conflict with children and young people