Why a club sits in an awkward middle
A nursery knows it is regulated. A sports coach running a Saturday session often assumes nothing applies. A club sits between the two, and the rules do differ by the age of the children, the hours you run, whether you take subsidised payments, and where you operate.
Four things touch the website in every country we work in. What registration or approval you hold and whether you show it. How you describe staff vetting. What you do with photographs of children. And how you handle the data and the marketing messages a booking system produces.
This is orientation for a website, not legal advice. Your regulator, your local authority and a local adviser are the authorities on what your club must hold.
United Kingdom
Registration. Childcare registration in England runs through Ofsted, and which register applies depends on the ages you take and how the provision is run; Scotland has the Care Inspectorate, Wales has Care Inspectorate Wales, and Northern Ireland registers through health and social care trusts. Confirm your position with the regulator rather than with another club. If you are registered, show it: the regulator, the registration number and a link to your latest report or rating are among the first things a parent looks for.
Funding routes. Being able to accept payment from a government childcare account generally depends on being registered or approved with the relevant regulator. Say on the fees page which routes you are set up for.
Vetting. Enhanced criminal record checks for staff working with children are standard. Describe the policy rather than publishing certificate details.
Consumer law. Deposits, cancellation windows and late collection charges belong at the point of booking, in the same words the parent agrees to.
Data and marketing. UK GDPR for the child and family records, PECR for the reminders. Medical and safeguarding details are sensitive data; keep them in the booking platform with access control, not in a shared inbox. Marketing emails and texts need consent or the soft opt-in, with an unsubscribe every time.
United States
Licensing. School-age child care licensing is a state matter and varies widely, with exemptions in some states for certain programmes, camps or provision run on school premises. Your state child care licensing agency is the authority. If you are licensed, put the number and the agency on the site.
Subsidy and background checks. Programmes receiving federal or state subsidy payments generally face background check requirements for staff. Describe the policy on your staff page.
Marketing texts. The TCPA governs text messages. Confirmations for a booking a parent made are treated differently from promotional blasts, and automated marketing texts generally need prior express written consent gathered at booking, with a clear opt-out.
Privacy and access. State privacy laws above their thresholds, and accessibility expectations under the ADA.
Canada
Licensing. Provincial and territorial, and school-age programmes are treated differently from province to province. Check with the ministry responsible in your province. Show the licence where you hold one.
Consumer law. Provincial consumer protection acts, Quebec the strictest on advertised prices and contract terms. A site serving Quebec needs French.
Data and messages. PIPEDA, Quebec's Law 25, and CASL for email and text. CASL is stricter than most clubs expect: commercial electronic messages need consent, must identify the sender and must carry an unsubscribe, and implied consent from a past relationship is time-limited.
Australia
Approval. Outside school hours care is commonly delivered under the national quality framework, with approved services assessed and rated. Where that applies to you, show the rating and your service approval details.
Subsidy. Government childcare subsidy generally runs through approved providers, and parents search on that basis, so state your position on the fees page.
Vetting. Working with children checks are state and territory based. Describe the policy.
Consumer law and messages. The Australian Consumer Law on misleading conduct and unfair contract terms, which reaches into your cancellation and late collection clauses. Prices as single figures including GST. The Privacy Act above its threshold, and the Spam Act for marketing messages.
European Union
Licensing. National, and out of school care sits in a different regime in each member state. Confirm with the responsible authority where you operate.
Company details. E-commerce information duties, strictest in the German and Austrian Impressum tradition: legal name, address, contact, register and tax numbers.
Consumer law. Information duties and a withdrawal right for services booked online, with the usual exception once a date-specific service is agreed. Prices inclusive of VAT.
Data. GDPR and ePrivacy consent for cookies. Medical details and collection arrangements are sensitive personal data, so the privacy notice should say where they are stored, usually the booking platform rather than the website.
Photographs of children, everywhere
The rule that is the same everywhere and that clubs most often get wrong. Photograph consent is specific, revocable and separate from every other permission. Collect it in the registration form, record it per child, check it before any image goes on the website or social media, and have a route to take one down quickly.
Where you cannot get consent, photograph the room, the equipment and the staff. Parents mainly want to see where their child will be.
What is the same everywhere
- Show your registration, approval or licence, and your latest rating or report where one exists.
- Describe staff vetting as a policy, on a page a parent can find.
- Publish fees, funding routes, cancellation and late collection terms at the point of booking.
- Keep medical and collection details in the booking platform, not in email.
- Get consent for marketing messages and give an opt-out in every one.
- Publish company details and a privacy notice covering what the platform holds.
- Build to WCAG 2.1 AA, which is where the accessibility law of all of these places lands.
Where this sits
Every after-school and holiday club website we build runs a country checklist at the content stage: registration display, vetting, photograph consent, fees and cancellation statements, marketing consent, company details and accessibility. The same checklist runs across the wider childcare websites we make. For most clubs, showing your real registration and getting photograph consent right covers the bulk of it.