Nursery Admissions

Admissions to Nursery 2023/2024

Introduction

If you would like to apply for a place, please collect and complete the ‘Expression of Interest’ form. The form can be downloaded from the download section below or alternatively from the Nursery office, by phone 01942 634706 (nursery) or email: nursery@st-james-daisy-hill.bolton.sch.uk 

Term times/Opening Times

St James (Daisy Hill) CE Primary School Nursery will be operating 5 days a week during term time only.
Morning session: 8:40am – 11:40am
Lunch:  11:40am -12:10pm
Afternoon session: 12.10pm – 3:10pm

Intake

St James (Daisy Hill) CE Primary School Nursery will be operating a termly intake, in line with the free early education eligibility.

30 hour eligible funding

Dependent on employment circumstances, some families will be eligible to receive 30 hours free early education at the start of the term following the child’s third birthday, as shown in the table below.

All full time children should be sent into Nursery each day with a packed lunch.For children attending full time, the nursery week is 32.5 hours.  If a child is entitled to the 30 hours funded childcare, this will end at 12.40pm on a Friday afternoon.  Parents can opt for the additional 2.5 hours on a Friday afternoon for an additional cost of £12.50 per week.

15 hour eligible funding

All families in England with 3 and 4 year old children are eligible to receive 15 hours free early education at the start of the term following the child’s third birthday, as shown in the table above.

Parents who want a part time place are asked to state a preference for morning or afternoon. The Nursery may need to take account of the balance between morning and afternoon places, however, so it may not be possible to fulfil all parents’ requests.

For children entitled to 15 hours free childcare, we have the facility for parents to increase this to full time if they wish. The weekly charge to extend their morning or afternoon sessions to full time will be £87.50

Admission Criteria

Admissions to the nursery will be allocated following the criteria set out below:

Please note-Having a place in a nursery class does not automatically give a child admission to the primary school it is attached to.

Application process

An application form will need to be completed in the term before the child would start nursery.  Places will be allocated once the application form has been returned.  If a child does not receive a place, they will be added to the waiting list and any place that becomes vacant will be allocated according to the admissions policy.

Once a place has been allocated for a child, parents will need to complete a declaration form to assess the eligibility of funding they are entitled to including 15 hours universal entitlement for three and four year olds, 30 hour entitlement for working parents, Early Years Pupil Premium and Disability Access Fund.  This funding agreement will be reviewed every 3 months.

As part of the application process, we also ask for parents to give Nursery the details of the child’s Health Visitor.  This is to enable us to share and receive information regarding your child pre Nursery.

Nursery Attendance

Nursery staff will plan a home visit at a suitable time for both staff and parents.  This visit will give the child and parents the chance to meet the staff and familiarise themselves with each other. This also gives the opportunity for parents to liaise with staff any information they feel appropriate and ask any questions they need and to inform parents of the nursery day and the curriculum followed.

There will be a staggered admission of new children – not all new children will start on the same day.  A small number of children will be admitted on the same session, on a part time basis until Nursery staff feel a child is able to cope with full time hours.  Once a child starts Nursery, if staff have any concerns regarding hours and the welfare of the child, hours can/will be reduced under Nursery Staff’s discretion.  Session dates and times will be clearly identified at the intake meeting or home visits.

The national figure for acceptable attendance is 96%.   This is the expectation for all pupils who attend St James (Daisy Hill) CE Primary School, including Nursery children. If a Nursery child attends significantly less than 90%, parents will be asked to attend a meeting to agree targets for improvement. If these are not met, the school may decide to remove the place unless there are exceptional circumstances. At least one week’s written notice will be given. Families may request to be referred to the FIS (Families Information Service) at the Local Authority who will be able to assist them in finding an alternative provider.

Additional Charges

We are asking parents/carers to make a contribution of £2 a week.  This money will pay for a wide variety of healthy food including hot snacks, and perishable items including items for messy play, topic days, baking etc.

Any additional charges for the increase of hours should be paid every week using the schools online payment system Sims Agora.

Withdrawal of Nursery Place

A one month’s written notice is required to terminate a child’s place.