3.7 Maintaining Service Information We maintained and enhanced information for 497 services on the Dewis Cymru online directory, which also feeds into the Childcare Information Wales website.
This included:
263 childcare records
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• 234 listings for family support services, activities for children and young people, and parent & toddler groups
We also conducted our annual review of providers offering Welsh-medium childcare and those operating outside standard hours (before 8am, after 6pm, and weekends). This data informs both the Childcare Sufficiency Assessment and the Welsh in Education Strategic Plan . 3.8 Social Media Engagement We continued to grow our online presence, reaching 4,700 Facebook followers — a 5.6% increase from last year. Our most successful post was a link to our Summer Activities Programme, which reached over 9,000 accounts and gained 50 new followers in that month alone. Our Index Guide to Education post gained over 4,500 views and our Childcare Offer Applications post in February gained almost 4,000 views. Due to changes in Facebook ’ s data insights, we are unable to compare reach figures with previous years.
4. KEY CHALLENGES
4.1 Supporting Children with Additional Needs While the Welsh Government Additional Support Grant (ASG) provides vital funding for children with additional needs accessing the Childcare Offer, sector-wide staffing shortages have made it difficult for providers to offer the required support. This has limited access to childcare for some families, preventing parents from benefiting from the Offer. Additionally, the ASG only covers Childcare Offer-funded hours (17.5 hours per week during term time and 30 hours during holidays). Many children attend for longer periods, and without additional funding, parents are often asked to cover the cost of extra support themselves. This has led to us having to negotiate difficult conversations between families
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