Oxfordshire Children's Information Service

Provider Services

Information about your services
OCIS publications
Language Line
Ofsted
Help us to help you
Supporting the development of childcare in Oxfordshire
Services for providers looking for administrators
Sustainability funding
Developing childcare workforce
Childminding
Events

OCIS is working to support you to develop and sustain your business. If you keep us updated about your services it will help us to do this.

Information about your services

Our helpline receives about 400 enquiries each month from people looking for childcare or activities for children or young people. Also, about 3,000 people each month visit this website. We advise parents and carers about the different types of childcare available and give information about paying for it. We produce individual reports about provision available in the area required.

The Oxfordshire Services Directory (OSD) is an on-line directory of services for children, young people and families in Oxfordshire that includes information about activities, events and things to do.

OCIS Publications

We produce free guides on a range of childcare and children's services for parents and carers in Oxfordshire:

Local Information Guides for each of the 5 district council areas;
Your Child and You for parents and carers of disabled children.

OCIS has a contract with Language Line. This is a telephone interpretation service for people who do not speak English. It works on a three way basis between:

the parent or carer,
the service provider/professional (this may be OCIS or a provider of childcare, early education or other children's service), and
an interpreter.

Language Line then quickly finds a suitable interpreter so can be used "on the spot" to help communication.

The service is FREE to parents, and to providers who want to use it to communicate with parents or carers.

Providers can use Language Line in the following ways:

Contact OCIS if you know a parent/carer who wants to talk to an OCIS Information Officer.
Contact OCIS if you know of a setting or service provider who could benefit from the phone interpretation service to communicate with parents.
Contact OCIS to find out about training in using Language Line. We organise training sessions from time to time and can brief providers over the phone. We also have training DVDs and videos you may borrow.
Look at the Language Line website - www.languageline.co.uk
Click here for instructions on how to access a telephone interpreter

OfSTED

Ofsted is the regulatory body for all registered childcare. They pass initial information to OCIS when an Oxfordshire provider has completed their registration and has a Childcare Registration certificate.

We then contact these providers for additional details, for example, costs, opening hours and other facilities and services they provide. This information is then included in the individual reports that we send to parents and also displayed on the internet (with the permission of the provider).

Help us to help you

Please help us to support your business by contacting OCIS regularly with any changes to your details or vacancies. You can:

complete the Update Information Forms on-line,
print out a form and post to us
fill in a shorter vacancy update form or
telephone the OCIS Helpline.

Also if you are running activities for children and young people contact OCIS to put your details on the Oxfordshire Services Directory.

Click here to send us information on the the number of children you have spaces for.

The childminder and daycare information forms are to be amended; in the meantime please contact OCIS via email enquiries@oxoncis.org.uk to let us know about any amendments.

Supporting the development of childcare in Oxfordshire

We work closely with the Early Years and Family Support (Oxfordshire County Council) and other local organisations to support the development of childcare in Oxfordshire. We provide potential new providers of childcare with information about current provision in a particular area.

See our Links Page for information about local organisations that support childcare development.

Services for childcare providers looking for administrators

OCIS can advertise administrative job vacancies in childcare settings, pre-schools and out of school schemes run by voluntary management committees.

Administrators can play a crucial part in supporting the day-to-day operations of voluntary childcare provision, and improve sustainability. Funding may be available from the Early Years and Family Support for settings to employ administrators.

Click here for information about recruiting administrators.

Settings who wish to advertise administrative job vacancies should use the Childcare Jobs page or you can contact our Recruitment team on 08452 26 26 36.

Funding for providers