Preschool

Costs

Wrap Around Care

What your child will need:

• A change of clothes and spare pants/socks. These are not only for accidents but also if a child gets wet during water play or a spillage!
• Nappies/pull up’s and wipes (if needed). If your child is toilet training, please bring lots of spare pants and changes of clothes.
• Named welly boots
• A named waterproof coat
• Clearly named sun cream in the hot weather and a sun hat
• In the winter please bring in a named hat, gloves and scarf
• A named rucksack to keep their belongings on their peg (please only keep this at pre-school on the days/sessions that your child is in)

Curriculum

We provide a broad and balanced curriculum in line with the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework:

Early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework - GOV.UK

We ensure that we have a child-focussed, sequential and progressive curriculum that enable all children to be prepared for the next step in their education.

All element of the EYFS curriculum are incorporated into a safe outdoor environment, where free play, fresh air, exposure to the natural world and physical activity are an integral part of learning. We aim for all children to be able to explore new experiences that cannot be found indoors.

As part of this ethos, we offer regular forest school sessions within a small wooded area within the grounds of the school site. Experiences include building dens, climbing trees, treasure hunts, woodland craft and wildlife exploration to name a few.

Funding

There are a range of funding avenues for parents in order to support a child’s attendance at preschool. Children become eligible for free early education funding at different points in the year depending on their birthday.

If you would like any further information about funding, please contact us.

Funding for Two Year-Olds:

Depending on your personal circumstances, your child may be entitled to 2-year-old funding. For more information, please have a look here to find out if you are eligible. If so, you can apply online or call 01305 221066 for more information. If your application is successful, you will be issued with a reference number; this is the number required to give to your childcare provider. 

Funding for Three and Four Year-Olds:

A child will become eligible for 3 and 4-year-old funding the term after their 3rd birthday. All families with a 3 or 4-year-old child are eligible for the universal funding offer of up to 15 hours. Some families will also be able to receive the extended entitlement of up to 30 hours which is available to support parents getting back into work. Please note that we can only accept up to 6 hours of funding for each day at preschool.

Tax-free Childcare:

Parents are able to open a new childcare account and for every £8 you pay into your account, the government will pay in £2. You are entitled to receive up to £2,000 government support per child, per year towards your childcare costs. Payments to the nursery are then made directly from this account. Parents can use Tax-Free Childcare alongside the 15 and 30 hours funding but can’t use it at the same time as they receive childcare vouchers, universal credit or tax credits.

Tax Credits and Universal Credits for Childcare:

Depending on personal circumstances, some families will qualify to receive either tax credits or universal credit to help with the cost of childcare.

Pupil Premium

Early Years Pupil Premium:

The Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) is additional funding for Early Years settings to support the education they provide for their children. Lytchett Matravers Preschool may use this funding to purchase and provide additional resources and equipment that can be used within our provision or we could use the funding to offer a staff member specialist training to further support your child’s needs. This funding is provided to the provider rather than to the families directly.

Early Years Pupil Premium Eligibility:

3 and 4-year-olds in funded early education will attract EYPP funding if they meet at least one of the following criteria or their family receives one of the following:

• Income Support
• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Support under part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• The guaranteed element of State Pension Credit
• Child Tax Credit (provided they’re not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190)
• Working Tax Credit run-on, which is paid for 4 weeks after they stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit
• Universal Credit – your household income must be less that £7,400 after tax, not including benefits that you receive
• They are currently being looked after by a local authority in England or Wales
• They have left care in England or Wales through:

 * An adoption

 * A special guardianship order

 * A child arrangement order

Children must receive free early education funding in order to attract EYPP funding. They do not have to take up their full entitlement of hours of funding in order to get EYPP.

Useful Information

Snack Time

We ask that families provide a healthy snack of fruit to be eaten during the day. Milk and water are provided to the children from Preschool.

Special Needs

LMPS will, wherever possible, accommodate children with special needs. Each case will be assessed individually taking into consideration the child’s needs, staff ratio and our ability to meet the child's needs. 

Behaviour

We have a few rules in Preschool that are in line with our whole school Behaviour Policy and Curriculum: ‘We choose kindness and work together’; ‘We have high expectations’.

We also talk with the children about having 'kind hands' and 'kind feet'. When talking to the children about undesirable behaviour we take time to explain why their behaviour is not acceptable and identify what we do want to see them doing.  We are always consistent so that the children soon feel secure and confident in our rules and expectations.  This encourages the children to develop their self-discipline. If a child is persistently not following our rules and expectations then we follow our school graduated response.  

Nappy Changing

We realise and accept that the stages of a child’s development vary when they attend Preschool. Some children will be in nappies or trainer pants. We ask that the following be adhered to:

• We expect all children wherever possible to arrive at Preschool in a clean nappy.
• Parents need to bring their child to Lytchett Matravers Preschool with a named bag that contains nappies, wipes and a spare change of clothes.  

Personal Possessions

Please discourage your child from bringing their own possessions into Preschool. These can get easily lost or broken and we don't want any children to be upset. 

Photography 

The staff are required to take photographs of the children. These will be used appropriately for use in their personal ‘Learning Journeys’ on Nursery in a Box.  We will also use photographs on displays and within the Preschool environment to celebrate their learning and successes. When your child starts with us we will as for your permission before we use any images showing what the children have been doing publicly. No photograph will be taken of a child whose parent/carer has not already given their consent by signing the relevant section within your online application on Nursery in a Box. 

Safeguarding

We are dedicated to the welfare and protection of our children and if an occasion does arise where we need to speak to you about your child, please understand that their safety and happiness is our top priority.  

Please see our school safeguarding information page for further information.