Providers

two children playing with male nursery staff member

Providers may have records listed of all Oxfordshire childcare, activities and services on this Directory free of charge.

This includes:

  • Services for children and families eg childcare, education, activities, support services
  • Services suitable for families with a disabled child/young person or one who has special educational needs
  • Services and activities to support young people's wellbeing (aged 13 - 19, up to 24 with learning difficulties and disabilities)

To do this you just need to: REGISTER.

Once you have signed-in to the website you can access your listings whenever you like via the Dashboard link in the top right hand corner of the page. This takes you to your dashboard and you can select "Your Directory Listings" to see and amend your listings. If you need to have an existing record put in your name contact us (fis.enquiries@oxfordshire.gov.uk).

If you want to go straight to your record on the FSD, just type in the name (or part name) in the keyword search. 

Upcoming changes to childcare support

EYFS Regulatory changes - Oct 2023

For information for childcare providers on funding

If you provide childcare, please read

About the use of your information - for childminders

Provider Provider

FAQs for all providers

 

For childcare providers

For registered childcare Ofsted provides basic information about registered childcare to the Family Information Service. The team will make you a basic record with this information when you start or open your provision.  You will then be able to update this, advertise your vacancies, costs, opening times, upload pictures, documents and more. Contact us if you require help with your Ofsted registered record.  

Please also contact us if you wish to add further provision eg out of school care etc. Please do not try to add this yourself.  We will make you a record that you can then update.

If you wish to add an event or job you need to make a new record OR update an archived record. Please do NOT overwrite your childcare provision record. 

Q: How often should I be adding updates?

A: That’s really down to you. Providers update monthly, termly, or every six months, depending on how often their information changes. We would encourage you to update whenever there is a change, or at least twice a term. This helps parents and workers have the most up to date information It also helps your prospective customers to know the current state of vacancies.

Q. How can I add a new listing?

(If you have a childcare record you will only be able to update the existing record and not add a new one).

Please check if your activity/service is already listed before adding a new entry. If it is, please contact fis.enquiries@oxfordshire.gov.uk  including the link (url) for your record and ask to be assigned the record.

You need to be registered and logged in to add a new listing.

From the Dashboard Home Page click on Your Directory Listings and then you can click "Create" to add your record. This opens up a form in which to provide details of your service or activity. The form divides into a number of sections, and you should fill out each section.

To ensure your record meets the new accessibility requirements 

Title

Give your service or activity a short title that will be meaningful to members of the
public, and don't use the same title for multiple listings.

Record Type

Choose either your new record relates to Families and Disabilities or Activities
Oxfordshire

Description

Give a short description of your service/activity using plain English.
Do not use shortened forms. Use “and” (not &) use “for example” (not eg)
Do not add colours, bold or other formatting

Contact Details

Fill in as much contact information as possible such as names, email addresses, phone
numbers etc.

Venue Details

Fill in the details of the venue. For providers who do not wish the full address to be listed
this can be hidden after the listing is created to varying degrees.

Cost Information

Add any costs you may want to list

Date and Time

For example
Monday to Friday 9:00am to 6:00pm
Or Monday 1 June 10:00am to 12:00pm

Other details

Add brief details in all the relevant boxes.

Additional Information & Age Range

Add in the age such as “0 to 2 years”

Images and files

Add relevant images, logos and files.
Files must be less than 10MB and we recommend that your image is at least 500 by 500
pixels in size. Give your image or file a meaningful short title (alternative text) and
ensure any documents are saved as PDFs unless they require filling in such as an
application.

Q. What should I include in my listing?

If you fill out the form in full, you will have included everything we need to create your listing. But if you're not sure what to include in your listing, it can help to look at other listings and see how they are written.

You might also like to think about what a parent or worker might need to know before they choose or suggest your service. This might include:

  • Details of specialist staff, services or equipment you offer
  • Costs
  • Referral criteria or requirements (you can add forms and information only visible to workers/practitioners if this helps)

People tell us that they like listings to be short, clear and factual. They also say that they need enough information to make a choice. This is sometimes a difficult balance, but if you can always link through to your own website or page to provide more information.

Q. How can I add a logo or picture?

It is good to show a logo on your record to make it more individual. Go to my account to sign in.  Choose "provider updates". You will then find the records you can update. 

Click on the arrow to the right of the Actions button and choose "update". 

You can make any updates including adding logos and documents (towards the bottom). Give your document or logo a meaningful title. Then click "save".

If you have not uploaded a logo in the Families or Disabilities channels there will be a generic picture. You can change this at any time by simply deleting and adding your own.

Note: there will be a short delay while your updates are checked 

Q. How can I update a record?

When you are signed in, go to "Your Directory Listings" on the Dashboard.

You will see a list of all your records along with the current status of any updates you have submitted. Click on the update button on the right hand side to make any changes.

A form appears with the current details for that record and you can edit it.  You can jump to a section from the top of the form by clicking the name of the section in the list shown.  

Add or update details in as many sections as you like.  The more complete your record is, the better your service will look to people browsing the site.  When you have finished making changes, click the Next button until you reach the end of your record and a tick box with "I confirm that this information is correct and up to date" will appear, tick this then click save to finish.  A message will appear briefly to confirm a successful save and you will be returned to this page, where you can select another record to update or if you are finished, then sign out using the link in the top right of the page.

If you want to update a record that is not in your name contact us.

If you are a childcare provider and you can't see any live records that you expect, please do not add any  but contact the team who can sort this (we may have a different email address linked to your record).

Here are some instructions with screenshots for how to register and update records

Note: There will be a short delay while your changes are approved.

You will need to make sure your record conforms to the new accessibility standards

Q: What happens to my updates after I have saved them?

Your updates will be queued for checking by the Family Information Service/Activities Oxfordshire before they appear on the website. If there is a question, we will contact you using the contact details given. We aim to process all updates as quickly as possible (within a few days of submission).

Q. When will my new listings or updates appear on the site?

All changes submitted via "provider update" must first be approved by the Family Information Service/Activities Oxfordshire  before they appear on the site. We aim to process new updates as quickly as possible (within a few days of submission).

Q: What if I don't want my details on the Internet (childcare)?

A: If you are a childminder you can ask the FIS team to keep your record off the Internet.  By default basic details will show on the Internet once a childminder is registered. Please note that full address does not show on the Internet for any childminder.

Information (but not full address for childminders) would still be available to be given out over the phone but would not be found by parents searching for childminders on the Internet. 

Q. How do I add or update a job in childcare?

You can add a job through your account by going to the dashboard, “Your Directory
Listings” and then "Create". Just add as much information as possible including a
description and the venue then we will categorise when it comes through to us. A DBS
disclosure is also required. Please note that you should NOT overwrite the record for your childcare provision but you need to make a new separate record

If you already have a job record that is live you can just update this.

If it has expired it will be archived but you can still update it and then it will go to the team to accept the updates and make it live again.

Expiry dates are put on the record either:

a) for the closing date or

b) for 2 months hence if there is no closing date.

After this, the record will no longer appear on the Directory (it will be archived).

Q. How can I reset my password?

No worries if you have forgotten your password.  You can easily get it reset. See here for instructions

Note: You can only reset your password if you have already registered.  If you try to reset and you have not already registered you will get an error message.  Go to Register, fill in and then choose a password.

Record managed by Oxfordshire Family Information Service

Page last reviewed: 23/11/2023

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