A family in West Northamptonshire

Bins and local services

You can keep on top of bin collections throughout the year by downloading the West Northamptonshire Council app through Google Play or the Apple app store, and find general information through our bin collection services page.

Find information about air pollution, noise complaints, neighbourhood wardens and more on our environmental health pages.

Find a school

As a new family in West Northamptonshire, one of the first steps you might take is finding the right school for you and your children. We are able to show you the schools most local to you and even help with the application process or an in-year move.

Find a school in West Northamptonshire to discover contact details, Ofsted reports and more, or search via postcode to find your nearest schools.

Home schooling (elective home education)

Elective home education refers to the choice to educate your child at home rather than in school. If you make this choice, you should inform the head teacher of your child’s current school in writing. It will then be the school’s responsibility to inform the council.

In the case that your child has never attended school and is not on a school roll – or you have just moved into Northamptonshire – you can contact us via email at [email protected].

There is no requirement for parents to follow the national curriculum, but you must inform us how you are planning on educating your child. You can do this by completing an elective home education plan and filling out the required form.

School travel

If you have moved home, you will need to reapply for travel assistance as we are required to assess the new route to your child’s school.

​We will provide or arrange free travel arrangements for:

• a child under 8, where the walking distance is more than 2 miles from home to school
• a child aged 8 to 16, where the walking distance is more than 3 miles from home to the school
• a child where the route has been assessed as unacceptable to walk

If you were given a choice of school placement for your child and chose one that is not their nearest suitable school, you will be responsible for the cost of your child's transport to and from said school.

Where a student qualifies on grounds of low income, and also has a learning difficulty or disability which necessitates transport assistance, transport will be provided free of charge.

If you are not eligible for free school travel assistance, you can apply to pay for a space.

You may be able to get a place on non-entitled school travel assistance if:

• you pay for it
• there is a spare space on the service

You may qualify for school travel assistance over the age of 16 if you are:

• in full time-education (12 hours or more a week)
• living more than 3 miles away from your nearest school or further education establishment

All students over the age of 16 who are entitled to school travel assistance will need to contribute £600 a year towards the costs of their transport.

After school clubs, activities and community centres

Youth clubs

Free2Talk is a youth and community organisation in Northamptonshire that offers one to one mentoring on young people’s goals and aspirations, as well as online and in-person creative programmes around music and radio presenting. They have youth groups in multiple areas of Northampton.

Email: [email protected]

Clubs for Young People (CYPN) is a youth group that specialises in safe clubs for children 8-19 years of age, and offers accredited volunteer work for young people to get involved in.

Daventry Hub Youth Club is a space for 11-14 year olds to get together on a Friday evening and enjoy games and socialising. For the cost of £1 a meeting they are able to take advantage of a safe space with peers their age after school.

Contact: [email protected]

Toddler groups

Rugby tots - Banbury, Towcester and Northampton. Rugbytots allows for fun and games with toddlers and young children that parents can get involved in.

First Timers – parent and toddler group (30 Butts Croft Close, Butts Croft Community Centre, Northampton, NN4 0WP) Contact: 01604 705055

Friday Tots – parent and toddler group (High Street, Astcote Methodist Church, Astcote, Towcester, Northamptonshire, NN12 8NW) Contact: 01604 587611

Sports and homework

Youth Northamptonshire FA is the place to go to find opportunities for your children to get involved in youth football. They have a map of FA-affiliated clubs so you can get in touch with your local team.

Email [email protected] or call 01604 670741.

Towcester Youth Coffee House offers a space for children to be supervised and do their homework safely.

SEND support

There are many options in receiving Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) support within West Northamptonshire.

The Local Offer in Northamptonshire provides a platform where you can discover local services and information available for young people (aged 0-25) with special educational needs and disabilities all in one place.

Search through their directory to see how they might be able to support you and your family.

The Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Trust Speech and Language Therapy service offers guidance and information on universal and targeted support for children with Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN).

It also offers advice about when to refer a child to the Speech and Language Therapy Services for specialist support.

Northamptonshire’s Information, Advice and Support Service provides free, confidential, impartial advice, guidance and support to parents of children with special educational needs and children and young people with SEND.

Last updated 12 February 2024