Applying for early childhood education

Vantaa offers early childhood education is municipal day care centres and in family day care. You can also apply for a place in a private day care centre, family day care or group family day care.

varhaiskasvattaja pitää kahta lasta sylissään.

You can apply for a place in either municipal or private early childhood education for your child all year round. The application must be submitted at least four months before the child needs the place. If the guardian has an urgent need for a place in early childhood education because of, for example, employment or studies, the application must be submitted at least two weeks before the child needs the place.

The early childhood education hours

Vantaa also offers families the possibility to select the early childhood education hours:

  • a maximum of 20 hours a week, or

  • more than 20 but fewer than 25 hours a week, or

  • more than 25 but fewer than 35 hours a week, or

  • at least 35 but fewer than 50 hours a week. 

The selected early childhood education hours can be used according to the family’s needs on a daily basis or just a few days a week.

Family day care is available between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. at the family day carer’s home and in group family day care centres. Early childhood education in day care centres is mainly available between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Between 6 a.m. -7 a.m. and 5 p.m. - 6 p.m., the need for early childhood education must be based on the guardians' work or studies.

In addition, Vantaa has day care centres that offer night care (6 p.m. – 10 p.m.) and day care centres that are open 24/7, even in the weekends.

Early childhood education during evenings, nights and weekends is available for families who need it for their child because of the parents’ work or studies. The need is demonstrated with a certificate from the employer or school which must indicate the work or study schedule of the parent.

The application for early childhood education

With an early childhood education application, you can apply for a place for your child in a municipal day care centre, group family day care and family day care as well as a service-voucher private day care centre and group family day care. Early childhood education is organized in English only in Y.E.S. Day Care Centre and in a private day care centre, Pilke Pohjantähti. You can apply for a place in clubs with club application.

You can apply for a place in a private day care centre, group family day care and family day care that operates with private day care allowance (Kela’s website) by contacting the day care centre or family day care provider directly.

The service voucher 

Private day care allowance

Filling in the application for early childhood education

The applicant's address information comes to the application from Dvv. Unfortunately, it is currently not possible to add an alternative address to the application. This does not prevent you from applying to the desired unit.

 

Application process

Decisions on municipal early childhood education are made approximately one month before the desired start time. However, for those starting in August, the decision is made already before Midsummer.

If you have applied for early childhood education for your child from a private day care centre or group family day care operating with service vouchers, you will receive a decision approximately one month after you submit the application. Urgent applications are processed immediately.

Read more about service vouchers >

Enquiries related to applications

Vantaa Info assists families in e.g. filling in applications for early childhood education, making income declarations related to customer fees as well as online services. Guidance is available in all Vantaa Info locations as well as by phone and email. Vantaa also has several early childhood education service counsellors (”palveluohjaaja” in Finnish). A service counsellor presents the various early childhood education options for families and helps them apply for a place in early childhood education.

Transfer applications

If guardians wish to change their child’s current early childhood education place, the following principles are applied to assigning a new early childhood education place:

  • a transfer application shall be made together with the daycare center director who makes the application on VaSa, on behalf of the family
  • the transfer application is valid for one year from its date of arrival
  • the child’s need for support is entered in the transfer application
  • as a general rule, transfers are implemented from the beginning of the next operating year (August 1)
  • the same principles are applied to the placement as in case of a new applicant
  • the decisionmaker can use his consideration while accounting for the overall situation of early childhood education
  • if the opening hours of the child’s current unit are insufficient, the transfer will be implemented as soon as possible
  • in case the family moves to another locality, the transfer will be implemented as soon as possible if it is not possible for the family to continue in the current early childhood education place, for instance, due to travel connections
  • if the child’s present early childhood education takes place in a unit whose distance is less than 1.5 kilometers from the child's home, or if the travel time between the home and the early childhood education place is less than 30 minutes, the transfer is, as a general rule, not purposeful.

The principles guiding the placement of children into early childhood education in Vantaa

When there are more applicants to a certain day care centre than there are free spaces, the following will be considered (not in order of importance):

  • siblings 

  • child-specific special needs (language, growth and learning support, Child Welfare’s support measures) 

  • daily day care hours 

  • whether the guardian is a single parent 

  • transport possibilities 

  • group functionality (the children’s age distribution; language, growth and learning support)

When placing children in a Swedish-speaking early childhood education, also these factors will be considered:

  • the child’s mother tongue is Swedish 

  • one of the parents or guardians in the family speak Swedish 

  • the child has experience of Swedish-speaking language environment

Keywords

Daycare centerApplyingApplications