# Childcare Services: answers and explanations

Cambridge IELTS 17, Test 3, Listening Part 2

Source: Recording, questions and answer key from Cambridge IELTS 17, Test 3, Listening Part 2. © Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Used for educational practice. Explanations and evidence notes are written by Testmigo.

## Answer key

| Q | Answer | Proof |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 11 | B, E | We are insured to provide care for up to 70 children |
| 12 | B, E | And about half that number for the breakfast sessions |
| 13 | C | For the afternoon sessions, which run from 3.30 until 6 p.m., it's GBP 7.20. |
| 14 | C | At 5 pm, children are given something more substantial, such as pasta or a casserole. |
| 15 | A | they'll get the chance to make new friends with children from other schools |
| 16 | E | This is the only activity which we have to make an extra charge for |
| 17 | D | if any of you sing or play an instrument, and would be prepared to help out at these sessions |
| 18 | G | but children kept asking if they could do some art |
| 19 | F | but haven't been able to find anyone available to teach it until now |
| 20 | C | so we've decided to restrict this to the over 8s |

## Why these answers are right

**11. B, E.** Mrs Carter says the service is insured to care for up to 70 children, which is a maximum capacity, so E is one fact. She also says about 50 to 60 come in the afternoon but only around half that for breakfast, which gives B.

**12. B, E.** After saying 50 to 60 children usually attend the afternoon sessions, Mrs Carter says about half that number come to breakfast. More children therefore attend after school than before, so B joins E as the second correct fact.

**13. C.** A complete afternoon session runs from 3.30 until 6 p.m., and Mrs Carter says it costs GBP 7.20. The other prices apply to shorter stays, so the cost of the full session is option C.

The why and the trap for questions 14 onwards are free with an account on the [answers page](https://testmigo.com/ielts/listening/childcare-services/answers).

## Transcript

**Announcer:** Part 2, you will hear the manager of a childcare service at a primary school talking to parents at an open day about the school's childcare service offered before and after school.

**Announcer:** First, you have some time to look at questions 11 to 15.

**Announcer:** Now listen carefully and answer questions 11 to 15.

**Mrs Carter:** Good afternoon.

**Mrs Carter:** My name's Mrs Carter, and I run the before and after school extended hours childcare service.

**Mrs Carter:** I hope you've had a chance to have a good look around the school, and talk to staff and pupils.

**Mrs Carter:** I know that many of you are interested in using our childcare service when your child joins the school, and perhaps you already know something about it, but for those that don't, I'll go through the main details now.

**Mrs Carter:** We offer child care for children from the ages of 4 to 11, both before and after school.

**Mrs Carter:** I know that many parents who work find this service invaluable.

**Mrs Carter:** You can leave your child with us, safe in the knowledge that they will be extremely well cared for.

**Mrs Carter:** We are insured to provide care for up to 70 children, although we rarely have this many attending at any one session.

**Mrs Carter:** I think we generally expect around 50 to 60 children for the afternoon sessions.

**Mrs Carter:** And about half that number for the breakfast sessions, although we currently do have 70 children registered with us, not all of these attend every day.

**Mrs Carter:** It's 10 years since we began offering an extended hours service, and we've come a long way during that time.

**Mrs Carter:** When we first opened, we only had about 20 children attending regularly.

**Mrs Carter:** We try to keep our costs as low as we can, and we think we provide very good value for money. For the afternoon sessions, which run from 3.30 until 6 p.m., it's GBP 7.20.

**Mrs Carter:** But if you prefer, you can pay for one hour only, which costs GBP 3.50, or two hours which costs GBP 5.70.

**Mrs Carter:** The cost of the child care includes food and snacks.

**Mrs Carter:** They'll be given breakfast in the morning, and in the afternoon, a healthy snack as soon as they finish school.

**Mrs Carter:** At 5 pm, children are given something more substantial, such as pasta or a casserole.

**Mrs Carter:** Please inform us of any allergies that your child might have.

**Mrs Carter:** And we'll make sure they're offered a suitable alternative.

**Mrs Carter:** As you may know, the childcare service runs through the school holidays from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm.

**Mrs Carter:** We offer a really varied and exciting program to keep the children entertained.

**Mrs Carter:** We don't want them to feel as if they are still at school.

**Mrs Carter:** It will also feel different because they'll get the chance to make new friends with children from other schools.

**Mrs Carter:** Spaces are available for them, because a lot of our term time children don't always attend during the holiday.

**Mrs Carter:** In the past, parents have asked if children over the age of 11 are allowed to come with their younger brothers and sisters, but I'm afraid we're unable to do this.

**Mrs Carter:** Because of the type of insurance we have.

**Announcer:** Before you hear the rest of the talk, you have some time to look at questions 16 to 20.

**Announcer:** Now listen and answer questions 16 to 20.

**Mrs Carter:** So now let me tell you about some of the activities that your child can do during the after-school sessions, as well as being able to use the playground equipment, computers, and the library.

**Mrs Carter:** There is usually at least one special activity that children can do each day.

**Mrs Carter:** For example, Spanish.

**Mrs Carter:** We have a specialist teacher coming in every Thursday.

**Mrs Carter:** To give a basic introduction to the language through games and songs.

**Mrs Carter:** She does two sessions: one for the over 8s, and one for the younger children.

**Mrs Carter:** This is the only activity which we have to make an extra charge for, but it's well worth it.

**Mrs Carter:** Once a week the children have the opportunity to do some music.

**Mrs Carter:** We're very lucky that one of our staff is a member of a folk band.

**Mrs Carter:** On Mondays, she teaches singing and percussion to groups of children.

**Mrs Carter:** We do rely on parental support for this, so if any of you sing or play an instrument, and would be prepared to help out at these sessions, we'd be delighted.

**Mrs Carter:** Painting continues to be one of the most popular activities.

**Mrs Carter:** To begin with, we weren't keen on offering this because of the extra mess involved, but children kept asking if they could do some art.

**Mrs Carter:** And so we finally gave in.

**Mrs Carter:** Art is great for helping the children to relax after working hard at school all day.

**Mrs Carter:** Yoga is something that we've been meaning to introduce for some time, but haven't been able to find anyone available to teach it until now, that is.

**Mrs Carter:** So we'll see how this goes.

**Mrs Carter:** Hopefully, children will benefit in all sorts of ways from this.

**Mrs Carter:** Cooking is another popular activity.

**Mrs Carter:** They make a different sort of cake or pizza or bread each week, although the younger children love doing it.

**Mrs Carter:** We found that the mess was just too much, so we've decided to restrict this to the over 8s, as they are better able to clean up after themselves.

**Announcer:** That is the end of part 2.

**Announcer:** You now have half a minute to check your answers to part 2.

[Practice Childcare Services](https://testmigo.com/ielts/listening/childcare-services)