Early years education and childcare in England

This information is for families of deaf children in England. Read our information for Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Finding and choosing early years education or childcare that works for you and your family is worth investing time in. As a parent of a deaf child, there are some extra things to think about to make the right decision for your child.

• Is the childcare environment deaf-friendly, welcoming and inclusive?
• Will they be able to help develop your child’s language and communication skills?
• Is there a good listening environment with as little background noise as possible? Would your child be able to listen, learn and socialise?
• Are they happy to learn skills to support your child? Will they learn how to look after your child’s hearing technology? Are they open to alternative communication methods like sign language?
• Are they willing to build an ongoing relationship with you to support your child’s development?
• Will they be able to support your child's emotional wellbeing and help them to make friends?
• Do they have experience working with deaf children or children with hearing loss?
• Will there be any other deaf children, or will your child be the only deaf child? Do you want them to be around other deaf children?

This information will help you to choose the right early years setting for your child.

Your options

There are different early years education and childcare options available. Depending on where you live, these may include:

• nurseries
• pre-schools and playgroups (sometimes held in church halls or community centres)
• childminders
• nannies, au pairs or home carers
• family and friends

Finding an early education or childcare provider in your area

Each local authority should have a Family Information Service (FIS). Your local FIS should list the childcare options in your area. The Coram Family and Childcare website provides links to Family Information Services across the UK.

Local authorities must produce a Local Offer with information about: 

• the support available for families of children with special educational needs and disabilities
• early years education and childcare options for your child

You can also ask for suggestions and advice from:

• your child’s Teacher of the Deaf (ToD), if they have one
• your local specialist education service for deaf children
• other parents of deaf children in your area
• our free Helpline

If you're interested in an early years setting, it's a good idea to check the Ofsted rating (GOV.UK). This can give you an insight into how they follow the curriculum and meet safeguarding requirements. As well as the kind of relationships they have with parents and children.

We were looking at the philosophy of the nursery and their goals, which helped us filter out a few. We were looking for environments that had an individual child focus rather than being results-orientated. Establishing the child’s emotional needs, rather than focusing solely on achievements.

“We wanted them to be collaborative and open to working with us, to take new ideas on board, be adaptive and provide regular feedback on her development, as well as actively wanting Millie in their classroom and being willing to make the necessary adaptations to make it a good environment for her.”

Matt is dad to Millie (6), who is profoundly deaf and wears cochlear implants.

Read Millie's story.

Tips for choosing an early education or childcare setting

• Try to visit a range of early education and childcare settings, ideally with your child. Make notes and compare the different options using our checklist:

  Document

  Choosing childcare for your deaf child.pdf (426.94 KB)
• Involve friends and family – ask if they can come with you on your visits to help you decide.
• Ask to speak to other parents using the service.
• Check that the early education or childcare provider is of good quality. Childminders should be registered, and nannies can sometimes volunteer to do so. In most cases, you can look up inspection reports for a nursery, pre-school or childminder.
• Share our resources and training for professionals. These aim to help early years education providers understand how to support deaf children. We recommend our 'Deaf-friendly early education and childcare' resource.
• Create a personal passport using our templates, available in jungle animal and under the sea themes. A personal passport is a document that includes all the most important information about your child’s needs. They can help any adult caring for your child to support them in the best way possible. You can include details of your child's hearing loss or deafness, how they communicate and if they use any hearing devices or assistive technology.
• Watch the staff playing with the children. Are they at the children's level and engaged in play? Are they having fun with the children and interacting with them meaningfully?
• Notice the environment. What are the acoustics like in the areas your child will be? Are the ceilings are very high? Are there any soft furnishings or curtains? High ceilings and hard surfaces can make sounds bounce around the room, making it more difficult for deaf children to access sound and learning.
• Ask the provider about their values and ethos. Do they align with yours and what you want for your child?
• Ask the professionals working with your child about the options in your area.

Choosing the right nursery for Thomas was really important to us. We wanted to make sure he was in an environment that would cater for his needs. We looked at a number of nurseries and chose one because it seemed a calming environment and we got a good feel for the staff when we visited.

“The nursery was completely upfront from the start that they had no experience of working with deaf children but they were willing to learn. All the nursery staff received deaf awareness training from our Teacher of the Deaf (ToD) in their own time; they’ve been fantastic. It took Thomas a couple of weeks to settle in but he’s now thriving and loves the time he spends there.” 

Craig is dad to Thomas (3) who is profoundly deaf and wears cochlear implants.

Reasonable adjustments

Once you've chosen an early years education or childcare setting, they have a duty to provide reasonable adjustments. These are simple or inexpensive things they can do to help your child access learning. As well as stay safe in a setting.

You can find out more about deaf children's rights in early education and childcare.

Childcare at home

You may decide that childcare at home is the best option for you and your deaf child. Lots of families use nannies, au pairs, home carers or family members to provide childcare. These are some of the home-based or informal childcare options. 

One advantage is that they can provide more tailored, one-to-one support for your child. However, they don’t have to meet the same requirements as formal early years education and childcare. It’s also still important that they have a good understanding of deafness and your child’s needs. 

Here are some questions you can ask to check if the childcare being provided in the home is deaf aware.

• Do they have a good understanding of deaf children’s needs?
• Do they have prior experience of working with deaf children?
• Does the carer have a good rapport with your child?
• Do they engage well with your child?
• How will they make sure your child takes part in a mix of activities, including with other children?
• Are they willing to work with your child's ToD to make sure your child is effectively supported? Where available from your local specialist education support.
• Can they provide effective support to your child around language and communication?
• Can they manage your child’s hearing devices and any assistive technology?
• Have you shared with them how your child's deafness may affect their behaviour? Have you shared how you'd like them to support your child to manage their big feelings?
• Are they able to write reports or supporting letters to help access additional support?

We always spoke to the little ones face-to-face at their level anyway, but we now keep the en-suite light on at night for Oliver, so if he wakes he’s got a night light and if he calls me, he can see me coming and read my lips. 

“When we take the children to the park or farm and Oliver goes and plays, I make sure we can see each other. I’ll look at him and put my thumb up and he’ll put his thumb up to say he’s OK. If he shakes his head, I know he’s not OK so I’ll go over. Or if he calls me over I put my thumb up so he knows I’ve heard him.”

Maria is grandmother to Oliver (4), who’s severely deaf and wears hearing aids, and regularly looks after him and his younger sister overnight.

You’re not alone

Most deaf children are born to hearing parents who have no previous experience of deafness. Understanding your child's deafness might feel hard enough, without having to think about early years education and childcare options! It's common to feel overwhelmed or confused. Take your time to process the different options and don't be afraid to ask questions. 

Remember, help is available. For advice and support, contact our Helpline.