ADMISSIONS POLICY

Woodlands can care for up to 36 children between the ages of 2-4 years, we accept all children regardless of race, gender, religious beliefs, intellectual or physical ability, social or cultural background and address.

We admit children from the age of 2 years to entering school age, both private and funded children. Children's funded places start the term after their 3rd birthday, this is for both 15 & 30 hour government funding. We also have other funding schemes available (please see below) we are also able to offer stretched funding due to being open 52 weeks of the year.

Registration

Parents may apply at any time for a place for their child, where a session is full the child will be placed on a waiting list.
A £30 refundable deposit is requested for any child new to the setting
All parents applying for a place will be given a copy of the admissions policy, asked to complete a standard registration form.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER YOUR CHILD ONLINE

Attendance at Woodlands does not guarantee a place at any specific primary school.

Private Places

Your childcare costs will be worked out for the whole academic year or until the child becomes funded. (September – June)
Childcare payments will start in September and go through each month until June.
Your childcare invoice will be term time only, if you require childcare through the holidays this will be done separately and a separate invoice will be issued.
Your annual invoice will state the amount you NEED to pay each month.
Your childcare payments need to be paid on 26th each month.
If your child does not attend setting whether or not this is due to sickness, holiday or parental choice your session fees still apply
if you wish to make changes to your childcare you must inform us 4 weeks prior to the change and in writing and your monthly payments will be changed accordingly.

The formula used to work out childcare costs are as follows: -

Cost of childcare required each week x 38 weeks / 10 months (this covers July childcare costs) = the amount to pay each month.

REMEMBER - YOU ARE PAYING FOR YOU CHILD’S SPACE, NOT THEIR ATTENDANCE!

30 Hour Funding

Tax-Free Childcare and 30 hours free childcare are two separate government schemes, to help parents with the cost of childcare.

To qualify for either scheme, parents must be working and each earning at least £120 a week (on average) and not more than £100,000 each a year.

For parents of children who will be 3 on 31st August can apply now.4
You can take your funding hours during term time or alternatively you can choose to spread your funding across the year, however this option will mean that you will get fewer hours per week and you may need to top your hours up privately.

You can apply for childcare funding through one online application – the childcare service

Please REMEMBER that the hours goes with your child not with each child provider and each provider must be informed if your child is at another setting to avoid any large unwanted bills.

For more information regarding the new 30 hours funded childcare please visit -https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/30-hours-free-childcare-eligibility

2 Year Old Funding

Your 2-year-old can get free early education and childcare if you get one of the following:

Income Support
income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
Universal Credit
tax credits and you have an annual income of under £16,190 before tax
the guaranteed element of State Pension Credit
support through part 6 of the Immigration and Asylum Act
the Working Tax Credit 4-week run on (the payment you get when you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit)

A child can also get free early education and childcare if any of the following apply:

they’re looked after by a local council
they have a current statement of special education needs (SEN) or an education, health and care (EHC) plan
they get Disability Living Allowance
they’ve left care under a special guardianship order, child arrangements order or adoption order

15 Hour Funding

All 3 to 4-year-olds in England can get 570 hours of free early education or childcare per year. It’s usually taken as 15 hours a week for 38 weeks of the year.
You can claim your 15 hours of childcare the term after your child turns 3, for example if child was born on 15 February 2013. You can get free childcare when the next academic term starts after 1 April 2016.

Oversubscription criteria:

The following is the order of priority in which applications will be considered if we are oversubscribed regardless of being funded or private.

Children who already attend Woodlands and wish to increase their hours.
Children with SEN and Looked After children.
Children with siblings at or who have previously attended Woodlands.
Date of birth priority with the oldest child admitted first.
If all other factors are equal then the earliest application will receive priority. Children applying for a place at Woodlands in advance of their eligibility will be placed on the waiting list and the date of their application recorded.
Waiting lists will be reviewed half termly

WOODLANDS RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SUSPEND ANY SESSIONS UNTIL THE FEES HAVE BEEN PAID AND CLEARED.

Deferring your child’s primary school placement.

It is a legal requirement that your child is in full time education by the time they are 5 years old or latest the term after. If your child attends woodlands and you wish to defer, please note that your child’s attendance to our setting does not automatically guarantee that they can defer with us.

Applications for deferral need to be made in writing to the management team, please note when making the decision the management team will look at the following areas-

Session availability
Staffing levels – this includes ratios
The child’s induvial needs
What we believe is best for the child.