The following information is taken from our Admissions policy.

South Normanton Nursery School offers a flexible and inclusive approach for children whose parents wish them to access Nursery School provision prior to starting school.

South Normanton Nursery School has 52 places per session for children from the age of 3 and our opening times are from 8.30am until 3.30pm. Our sessions are funded by the Local Authority (Derbyshire County Council) and there is also an option to purchase additional sessions to complement funded sessions. We work in partnership with local early years and before/after school providers to ensure that your childcare needs can be met.

Further information regarding our partnership working is also available here.

Children can start at our nursery the term after their third birthday. We offer universal (15 hours) and extended (30 hours) free early years education entitlement flexibly depending on availability and following our admissions criteria below. We also offer 2 year old funded sessions for children who are eligible in the term that they turn three.

Parents can decide to take up all or some of their entitlement with us, however, we state there must a minimum of 2 funded sessions taken at our school.

We offer parents the opportunity to buy additional nursery hours at a cost of £4.75 per hour. These sessions can complement the morning or afternoon education sessions and are allocated dependent on availability of hours and considering the needs of the child. If your additional hour is over lunchtime, then the cost of a school meal is an extra £2.20 (please note this is subject to change by DCC).

For example, if a child attends a morning session, they could access another 4 hours at a cost of £21.20 (4 x £4.75 plus £2.20 for lunch).

A contract will be drawn up for purchasing hours and is supported by our Administration of Additional Sessions policy which can be found on our website.

Further information is available here about the eligibility for sessions or contact the school office for more details.

REGARDLESS OF WHAT ENTITLEMENT YOUR CHILD ACCESSES AT OUR SCHOOL, OUR MAIN PRIORITY WILL BE ALWAYS BE MEETING THE NEEDS OF THE INDIVIDUAL CHILD.

Our hours are as follows:

Morning start 8.30am

Morning end 11.30am

Lunchtime hour 11.30am-12.30pm

Afternoon start 12.30pm

Afternoon end 3.30pm

These are the times that we open the school for drop off and/or pick up. If other drop off or collection times are needed, then this needs to be agreed previously with the Headteacher.

A contract will be drawn up for purchasing sessions and is supported by our Administration of Additional Session policy which can be found on our website.

HOW TO APPLY FOR A PLACE

Parents can ring or come into school to put their child’s name down from birth or they can complete the contact form on our website. Visits are warmly welcomed and open days are advertised on our website for everyone to come and have a look around.

WAITING LIST

Parents are encouraged to put their child’s name down for nursery as soon as possible, stipulating where possible which session they would prefer their child to access and what type of sessions their child will be eligible for. This helps nursery to predict and therefore plan for different cohort sizes.

PLACE ALLOCATION

Parents will be contacted two terms before the child is due to start nursery, and places will be allocated the term before the child starts nursery.

Parents are expected to respond and accept the place within the time limit set, otherwise places will be re-allocated.

If there is no place available for a child who is eligible for nursery funding, Nursery will contact the parents informing them of this as soon as is possible, and offering them a future date when their child will be offered a place or if available, reduced sessions. We will also work with you to help you find alternative provision if needed through our collaborative work with local early years providers.

Places are allocated following the admissions criteria below.

Visits ready for Nursery

(Please see our Transition policy for further details)

Your child will be invited to our Super Squirrels sessions in the term before they attend Nursery accompanied by parents/carers. You can attend as many of these sessions as you wish although we do recommend that you come to all of them. This allows the child and family to become familiar with the staff and routines in preparation for starting Nursery. Two of the sessions will be compulsory to all new starters where we will host an information session and paperwork completion and another play session to become familiar with the main room and outside area.

CRITERIA FOR ADMISSIONS TO SOUTH NORMANTON NURSERY SCHOOL

Places will be allocated in the following order to:

1. Children who are already of nursery age i.e. 3 or 4 and are in care or have a safeguarding plan (in date of birth order)
2. Children who are already of nursery age i.e. 3 or 4 who have a disability or special educational need or children of forces personnel (in date of birth order)
3. Children who are already of nursery age i.e. 3 or 4 (in date of birth order)
4. Children who will be a rising three on entry and are entitled to vulnerable 2 year old funding, children (in date of birth order)
5. Children who live in the catchment area of South Normanton schools.
6. Children who live out of catchment area of South Normanton schools.

Criteria for admissions is followed regardless of when the child’s name was put on our waiting list.

In the case of oversubscription at time of intake, priority will be given to children following the above criteria.

In summary, South Normanton Nursery School offers:

• 15 hour sessions for all 3 and 4 year olds
• 30 hour sessions for ELIGIBLE 3 and 4 year olds
• funded sessions for eligible 2 year olds in the term in which they turn 3.
• additional sessions which can be purchased to compliment funded sessions for 3 and 4 year olds (this also includes lunchtime sessions)
• collaboration with local early years providers to ensure your family’s needs are seamlessly met.

The Governing Body monitor and review all provision at the Nursery School and determine any changes necessary based upon sustainability and funding issues and have final decision making duties regarding any issues raised.

PLEASE NOTE FOLLOWING IMPLEMENTATION OF THE GOVERNMENT’S 30 HOURS CHILDCARE INITIATIVE THIS POLICY IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE IN RELATION TO SUSTAINABILITY AND VIABILITY.

Please follow the link below to view our Full Admissions Policy