Your childcare rights: England

All children have the right to attend childcare and to have their needs met, this includes children with all types and levels of deafness. Understanding your legal rights can help you make sure that your child gets the support they need. 

Knowing your rights and being able to voice them when you need to can be very empowering for you as a parent and can give you confidence that you're doing everything you can for your deaf child.

Equality Act 2010 

The Equality Act 2010 is an important law that provides disabled children with a number of rights and protections. Under the Act, all permanently deaf children meet the definition of disability. 

The Equality Act 2010 means that public bodies, including local authorities and childcare providers: 

• must make reasonable adjustments 
• must promote equality of opportunity for disabled children  
• can’t discriminate against your child – in other words, a childcare provider can’t refuse to accept your child simply because they’re deaf. They also can’t treat your child less favourably than other children by, for example, not allowing them to do certain activities that other children can do. 

Reasonable adjustments 

If your child is disadvantaged by something that an education or childcare setting does, and if there are any simple or inexpensive things that the setting can do to overcome this, they must do it. This is known as making ‘reasonable adjustments.’ 

Reasonable adjustments can include: 

• staff receiving training on how to use a radio aid 
• moving the reading corner to an area with good acoustics and lighting 
• adding soft pads or covers to table and chair legs to avoid scraping sounds 
• adding curtains or soft fabrics and cushions to very open areas to reduce sound reverberation  
• whole setting training around deaf awareness and early communication for deaf children 
• using provided ‘auxiliary aids’, including radio aids. 

Most reasonable adjustments cost little or nothing and are relatively easy to put in place. You have an important role to play in letting the childcare facility know what steps they can take to support your child. 

What is reasonable will depend on the facility’s size and financial resources. It may be easier for a local authority or a large nursery to make a reasonable adjustment than it is for a small childminder.  

Special educational needs (SEN) 

The Children and Families Act 2014 aims to make sure that children with special educational needs (SEN) can achieve the best possible outcomes. 

Your child has special educational needs (SEN) if they have, or are likely to have, much more difficulty in learning than other children of the same age. Most, but not all, deaf children may be viewed by their local authority (council) as having SEN. 

All nurseries, playgroups, pre-schools and registered childminders that are funded by the local authority must follow the laws set out in the Children and Families Act 2014. They must also follow guidance called the SEND Code of Practice: 0 to 25 years (2015). 

Childcare legislation and guidance 

An important piece of legislation for families of disabled children is the Childcare Act 2006. This states that local authorities must make sure there’s enough or ‘sufficient’ childcare in the area for parents of disabled children. 

Government guidance says that local authorities should produce a report on how they’re making sure there’s enough childcare to meet the needs of disabled children. This should be available on your local authority website, or you can ask them to send you a copy. 

Local authorities must provide information to parents about childcare available in the area. This information is on the Coram Family and Childcare website. 

Medical conditions 

Nurseries, pre-schools and childminders must have arrangements in place to support children with SEN or disabilities, as stated in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework (GOV.UK). If your child has glue ear or another form of temporary hearing loss, this can be regarded as a disability.  

There is more information to help childcare providers make sure they’re meeting the needs of all children. 

Meeting the needs of all children and the EYFS framework recommend that early years settings: 

• support your child to build strong foundations 
• work with you, your child’s health visitor and Teacher of the Deaf (ToD) and any other professionals supporting your child 
• work with services, such as Occupational Health, who can provide specialised equipment to support children to access your setting and take part in activities 
• support your child if they’ve already been identified as having SEND or identify SEND through things like the 2-year progress check 
• develop a curriculum that aims to meet the needs of all the children in their care, including your child. 

Funding 

You may be entitled to help with the costs of childcare. All three to four-year-olds are entitled to 570 hours of free childcare a year (15 hours of free childcare a week over 38 weeks). Find out how to apply for free childcare. 

How many hours you can get will depend on your family circumstances. If your child is two and has an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan or is receiving Disability Living Allowance (DLA) they will also be entitled to 570 hours of free childcare a year or 15 hours a week over 38 weeks. If your child is aged three or four and you get certain benefits (such as income support), the childcare provider may be eligible for additional funding through the Early Years Pupil Premium. 

Childcare is only free if the provider is registered with Ofsted, and local authorities must find and fund enough free childcare places for parents in your area. Find out what free childcare is available in your area. Unless the provider is registered with Ofsted, you will not be able to use your free childcare entitlement with a nanny, au pair, home carer or family member. There is guidance for local authorities on free childcare Early Education and Childcare: Statutory guidance for local authorities. 

Making a complaint 

If you have any concerns, try discussing it with the childcare provider or manager of the childcare facility. In most cases, you should be able to resolve any problems with them directly. Depending on the type of childcare, they may have a complaints policy. 

If this doesn’t address your concern or your concern is urgent, you can contact Ofsted directly. You can also get advice from your Local Information, Advice and Support Service (Council for Disabled Children).  

If your complaint is about the range of childcare services available in your area, you can complain to your local authority. Your local authority website should have information about how you can do this. 

Contact, Every Disabled Child Matters, Family and Childcare Trust and Irwin Mitchell Solicitors have published the Childcare for Families with Disabled Children: How to access free childcare for two to four-year-olds guide. Use the template letters in the guide to challenge a childcare provider or a local authority that is refusing to provide support.