Education, learning and work for parents, carers

The range of adult education courses available in Slough are many & varied from courses that offer an introduction to a skill such as cooking or clothes making, courses in English, courses to support you in your role as a parent through to courses that offer you a recognised qualification and can lead to employment.

Courses are offered by a range of providers in many venues across Slough.

• Check the community learning course guide on Slough Borough Council website. 

WEA (Workers' Educational Association) offers a wide choice of courses to develop skills for work and life, ESOL, arts and crafts, languages and culture, humanities and science.

• Find WEA courses.

Windsor Forest College provides over 800 full-time, part-time and apprenticeship courses in various subjects, from entry level through to Higher Education at three main campuses:

• Langley College
• Strode’s College in Egham
• Windsor College.

All three colleges provide part-time professional and recreational courses.

• Find a course at Windsor Forest College.

The council's Community Learning and Skills team run courses for job seekers. There are workshops on CV building, interview techniques and more.

If you have additional needs, you may want to contact the council's Employ-ability advice service that offers support and guidance for jobseekers with disabilities.

Job Centres maintain a jobs database and can also help to find work locally. They can also advise on skills, training and employability.

Slough Job Centre Plus is located at:

Upton Lodge
2a Yew Tree Road
Slough
Berkshire
United Kingdom
SL1 2AQ

You can call them on 0845 604 3719.

• Find a job on GOV.UK.

• Want a job you love?
• Are you thinking of starting a career in early years?

Check Bright futures start in early years.

Working in early years and childcare can be fun, exciting and incredibly rewarding, with lots of different job opportunities.

So, if you’ve often wondered whether you could make the switch and change to a career in early years and childcare, you might be surprised at just how easy it could be.

• Check Slough Borough Council's Early years and childcare pages for guidance on working in early years and childcare and the next chidminder information sessions.

Find:

• help and support offered by PACEY.
• other resources from PACEY in partnership with Job Centre Plus.

Check Pacey's YouTube videos on 'Become a childminder' and 'Childminders caring for disabled children'.

Please note: If you access the videos on YouTube the subtitles are auto generated. Some videos may not have subtitles. Some videos may autoplay.

Childminder start-up grant

The childminder start-up grant scheme will support new childminders.

The scheme:

• provides grant funding, worth £7.2m over the next two financial years, helping childminders with the cost of setting up their own businesses.
• will be available to all new childminders who have completed their registration on or after 15 March 2023.

Individuals who have previously been registered as childminders and wish to re-register into the sector may also apply for the scheme.

There must be at least a 12-month gap between the date of their previous registration being cancelled and their new registration being finalised.

The scheme will offer:

• £600 to new childminders registering with Ofsted
• £1200 to new childminders registering with a childminder agency.

£1200 grants will be paid in two instalments, with a 6-month limit on claiming the second instalment.

Childminders must apply for the grant within two months of registering as a childminder, or within two months of the scheme launching.

If you registered between:

• 15 March and 31 July 2023, you must apply by 31 January 2024
• 1 August and 31 December 2023, you must apply by 29 February 2024.

Check eligibility and how to apply for the Childminder start-up grant on GOV.UK.

Apply on Ecorys’ application website.