All 3 to 4-year-olds in England can get 570 free hours per year. It’s usually taken as 15 hours a week for 38 weeks of the year, but you can choose to take fewer hours over more weeks. Find out more from the Gov.UK website.

You can email Children&youngpeople@shropshire.gov.uk for help and advice on the following:

• The process for applying for a mainstream school place or a place in pre-school provision
• The schools with vacancies in the areas you're looking for a school place, so that you know which schools to approach – this can be provided down to specific year group level

For more information on issues relating to schooling, take a look at our main 'Education' page.

• The Bell Foundation – information for parents (In Ukrainian and Russian) on how to help your child at school and about the British school education system
• The Bell Foundation – information and guidance for schools on welcoming displaced children, from a panel of experts
• Council of Europe - Guide for parents and teachers, in Ukrainian and English, on educational resources to allow children to continue their Ukrainian education

• Children in Need has a bank of resources and organisations that can help with talking to children about Ukraine and Russia (mostly aimed at UK children, but useful to share)
• Twinkl (resources for primary school-aged children) has a number of Ukrainian dual language resources
• Links to Ukrainian textbooks and schooling
• Links to educational resources for Ukrainian children
• Ukrainian language resources

• BBC Bitesize – fun and learning-based resources for primary (age 3-11), secondary (age 11-16) and post-16 children
• National Geographic Kids – learning resources, quizzes, and competitions – mostly aimed at primary age children
• UCL – a huge list of resources, including primary, secondary and ESOL, and subject specific, eg numeracy, science etc
• British Council resources for children who speak English as an additional language

• Learning English Plus: This website is aimed at ESOL teachers, but has a huge list of useful resources for ESOL learners to refer to
• British Council Resources for adults who speak English as an additional language, includes online English test and free resources
• Open University free online resources for Ukrainians settling in the UK

With the situation developing in Ukraine, your children may be asking questions that you are unsure how to answer.

• If you have a child in school who is affected by the crisis, please talk to your child’s teachers about any concerns you have and the support you would like the school to provide
• Unicef have information on how to talk to your child about conflict and war
• Newsround, from the BBC’s CBBC channel, has trusted videos and reports about the war in Ukraine
• Newsround also has a section for children offering advice if they are upset by the news
• Place2Be’s educational psychologists have also shared advice about how to discuss war and conflict with children and young people