Admissions policy

Ethos:

At Chingford House Nursery we endeavour to make the accessibility to our nursery as equitable as possible. When filling vacancies, the nursery will ensure that children and families are not disadvantaged or treated less favourably

Aims:

To provide a service which embraces the different cultures, ethnicities and learning abilities within the community and reflects the diversity of Waltham Forest and beyond.
To ensure that families have equal and fair access to our setting
To provide high quality childcare and education in line with Ofsted and Waltham Forest guidelines.

Chingford House School is registered for children aged from 6 months to the term after their 5th birthday. The nursery adheres to the statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage and our Ofsted registration to ensure that we are operating within the correct ratios for specific aged children:

1 Adult: 3 babies under 2’s
1 Adult: 4 children aged 2-3
1 Adult: 8 children aged 3-5

Considerations for prioritising places:

availability of places for specific ages
siblings that already attend the nursery
families requiring a full-time place
the length of time a child has been on the admissions list
families that require support due to extenuating circumstances, i.e., bereavement
parent or child’s health/medical needs
the space, training and knowledge of staff for children with specific needs

Parents are required to complete a registration form and to sign a parental contract; these forms allow us to store personal information about the child and family (according to General Data Protection Regulations). The information is also used to contact parents when we offer out a place.

Chingford House Nursery endeavours to be as flexible as possible when offering out places, however, experience indicates that children respond better to consistent and consecutive days. The minimum days that we offer are 2 full days or 5 mornings/afternoons per week.

Nursery places availability and eligibility

Children who are three and four will be offered a universal entitlement of 12 free hours of nursery education per week, stretched over the nursery year of 48 weeks. This is available to all children aged three and four from the term after the child’s third birthday.

There is Free Extended Entitlement for children aged 3 and 4yrs which is 24 hours per week for the weeks that we are open and is available to families who are eligible. The criteria include:

Both parents must be working or self-employed – or the sole parent is working or self-employed in a lone parent family
That each parent earns on average a weekly minimum equivalent to 16 hours at National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage
That each parent must have an annual income of less than £100,000
One/both parent(s) is away on leave (parental, maternal etc.) or one/both parent(s) is on Statutory sick pay
Parents on zero-hours contracts will be eligible, as are those who are registered as self-employed
One parent is employed and the other parent has substantial caring responsibilities and/or disability
Only a valid 30hrs Code will guarantee the funding of the extended 15hrs under this entitlement and it is the parent(s)/carer(s) responsibility to provide this
Parents will be asked to renew their 30hrs code every 3 months. The nursery will not hold a place for a child whose parent/carer is still ‘applying’ or ‘re-applying’ or has lost their eligibility code
HMRC will prompt parents by email or text 4 weeks and then 2 weeks before to renew their 30hrs code if they have not reconfirmed their eligibility
If a 30hrs Code cannot be renewed, or the parent chooses not to renew the code, after 3 months the code will enter a ‘grace period’. This is a short period of time in which extended 15 hours can still be offered by the nursery

Ineligibility and end of grace period:

If a ‘grace period’ lapses, the place will revert to a universal place. The financial sustainability of Chingford House Nursery is essential and therefore we reserve the right to fill any vacant spaces.

The 30 hours funding will only be offered to children attending 4 or 5 full days a week.

Early Education for eligible children aged 2yrs:

Targeted offer of 12 hours per week for the most vulnerable 2 year old children whose families meet the criteria, is available from the term after the child’s 2nd birthday. This is an all year round provision. Parents/carers of children who wish to access a free 2 year old place should apply to Waltham Forest Local Authority who will confirm eligibility. If the child is eligible a specific code will be issued to the parents and the nursery.

Charged Day Care:

All admissions will be considered and places offered to children following the criteria in the admissions policy. Place allocation is dependent on space availability and staffing in the particular room.

When a place is offered it will need to be secured with a deposit which will be deducted from the final month once the parent has given one month’s notice of the child leaving our nursery

If parents want to book additional hours they must ask the Manager or Owner and have it agreed. The additional hours must be paid on the morning of the extra session.

Nursery Start Dates

Children’s start dates are arranged to meet each child/families’ individual needs.

Chingford House Nursery offers a settling-in date which has been created to ensure that children feel safe and are happy to be left; as well as this, children begin to establish a relationship with their Key Person and are able to play alongside other children and are secure enough to access their learning environment (see our Settling- In policy). Children aged 3 and 4 will not receive their full free entitlement hours during the settling-in period. The child’s official start date begins a week after the settling-in date.

Policy created by: Yolande Farrell Manager

Signed off by: Zarkar Akhtar Owner

Date: June 2023

Date of next review: June 2024

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