You can use your funded entitlement whenever we are open. This is your universal 15 hours or the extended 30 hours entitlement (for working families) and the two year old funding. Any additional hours or hours over what you are entitled to can be paid for. The preschool is open for 39 weeks of the year, but funding only covers 38 weeks. To off set this we take 5 occasional days throughout the year.
You can find out about if you are eligible for up to 30 hours funding, tax free childcare etc. from the government website Childcare Choices.
If you receive a code for 30 hours you need to pass this onto our office as soon as you get it as we have deadlines to meet to be able to claim this for you. The code will stay the same throughout your child’s time with us so you only need to tell us once. However you must keep an eye open for a reminder email and re validate the code every few months. Without a valid code you will not receive extra funding.
Funding only covers the hours your child is in preschool, lunches must be paid for separately or your child may bring in a packed lunch. Packed lunches must contain healthy food that is nut free and contain as little single use plastic packaging as possible. The preschool is a nut free environment to avoid accidental introduction of nuts to children who have allergies. Please only include one ‘treat’ item if you feel the need to add it, for example crisps or a cake, not both.
Consumables such as snack, EYLog, some art supplies (the basics are covered by funding, but as we are an outstanding setting we go above and beyond the basics), some additional cleaning products, equipment and many many other things are not covered by the funding. To allow us to run efficiently and effectively, we ask you for a small voluntary contribution per session towards these costs at the end of every month. We also sometimes ask you to provide resources to help such as tissues, plants, paper etc.
For any payments due, we will invoice parents at the end of the month. This will be to pay upon receipt. Payments can be made via BACs, Child Care Vouchers, Tax Free Childcare and cash.
Sorry we no longer accept cheques.
Any sessions over your funded entitlement must be paid for. We charge a late payment charge, so make sure you pay before the deadline on the invoice.
If you use Tax-Free Childcare, you’ll set up an online childcare account for your child. For every £8 you pay into this account, the government will pay in £2 to use to pay your provider.
You can get Tax-Free Childcare at the same time as 30 hours free childcare if you’re eligible for both.
Find out if you are eligible, don’t assume you aren’t!!! It is designed to help working families. Go on their website and check as soon as you can, it is designed to help you with your childcare costs.
We promote the inclusion of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and support them in reaching their full potential, encouraging all children to value and respect diversity and difference.
When a child with a Special Educational Need or Disability requires a place within preschool, the usual admission arrangements will be made. Parents/carers can discuss with the SENCo and key person whether any additional resources or changes to the room layout will be needed or specific training for staff is required.
We will make any reasonable steps and adjustments required to the preschool so any child with SEND can access the environment and we will work with external professionals involved.
Children with SEND will not be treated less favourably than any other child and we will take steps to prevent discrimination from happening.
All children will have access to opportunities using each child’s unique strength and interest to drive their learning. The curriculum is relevant to all, purposeful, engaging and is delivered within a learning environment that stimulates creativity, challenges, motivates and is rewarding and fun.
If you have a child with SEND and they are not toilet trained we do not expect them to out of nappies when they start like we do with the other children. We will work with you and them to develop this skill – if and when they are able.
Independence is an essential skill to learn at preschool. The more independent your child becomes, the more their self esteem, self belief and self confidence will grow.
We prefer children to wear jogging bottoms or leggings on their bottom half as school trousers, skirts and jeans can often be difficult for little fingers to get off when they go to the toilet.
Velcro is the best fastening for shoes as your little one will struggle with buckles and laces.
Children should be becoming more independent with their self care too, this includes wiping their own bottoms and washing their hands, putting on their own coat and shoes. They should be able to use a cup and feed themselves too.
We do help children with everything, but we do encourage them to try themselves first to be as independent as possible. The best way to encourage independence is to allow the child plenty of time to try and give praise and encouragement.
Children do not need to wear uniform for preschool, however if you would prefer them to wear one we have teamed up with Logos unlimited to provide it. They have shops behind Lidl in Swalwell, or on the Team Valley if you would prefer to try them on. If your child wears a uniform it will save their other clothes from getting dirty, marked or worn out. We do ask past parents to send in their old uniform so they can be given to new children. We will make these available when you visit.
Please don’t think you have to wear uniform, it is children or parents choice. If they don’t wear uniform, please don’t send your child in expensive clothes – they will get dirty!
To enable the children to be as independent as possible, clothes should be easy to get on and off such as elasticated waists or Velcro fastenings. Please don’t put your child in dungarees, onesies, skinny jeans or lace up shoes. Also school trousers aren’t a good idea for preschool as they often have a teflon coating which prevents us from seeing if they have had an accident and often come with a clasp fastening which is difficult for little fingers.
The best thing to wear is leggings or joggers with an elasticated waist and a top
Shoes must be easy to get on and off independently such as Velcro straps to avoid and hinderance. No laces or buckles unless your child can do these for themselves.
Please ensure your child is dressed appropriately for all weather conditions, they should bring a coat everyday. In the North East we can have four seasons in one day.
Shoulders should be covered in hot sun, they should also bring in their own sunhat.
On cold days mittens are easier to put on independently (they keep your hands warmer too) and waterproof ones keep their hands warmer for longer (so they can make snowballs without wet gloves).
All clothes, coats, hats, bags, shoes, wellies lunch boxes etc. must have their name in. If they don’t, be prepared to lose a jumper or pair of shoes. It’s much easier for us to return anything that has a name inside and your child will learn to look for their name too. You can buy printed sticky labels for inside black shoes, they’re much cheaper than buying a new pair, or a sharpie works just as good.
We can take up to 48 children at any one time, can you imagine how time consuming this can be for the staff if the majority of children have new black shoes, in the same style, in the same size.
We are based within a residential area and we ask people using the school and preschool not to park within the school car park or the residential cul-de-sac. Please do not block people’s drives or any paths.
We are lucky enough to be able to use the Coachman car park, use this place to park if you must bring a car.
We would rather people walked as it is a healthier option and children learn about road safety for their future independent lives.
Please take care when walking as some drivers do not pay attention to the roads and some park on the paths you wish to use. We have tried many times various strategies but there is always some people who think they are above the law or their lives are more valuable than others. Please do not become one of these drivers!
Lets try and keep our school a safe environment for everyone.
When children first start preschool they seem to pick up every illness going, this slows down once they have been here a while and is building up their immune system for starting school.
Please keep your child at home if they are ill. We follow the UK Health Security Agency and NHS Guidelines to stop the spread of infection.
If we send your child home poorly they must be off school the following day too. Sickness and Diarrhoea requires your child to be absent for 48 hours after the last episode (regardless of how well they look and active they are, they could still be infectious).
Preschool is not a fun place to be when you are poorly, even with paracetamol as this wears out by lunchtime.
If too many staff become unwell we may be unable to keep safe ratios and may have to close the preschool. This is why it is so important to keep children who are unwell at home.
We have a Pandemic Policy with a COVID-19 section, this policy supersedes our usual illness policy during a pandemic.
Staff generally do not wear PPE unless they have an underlying medical condition, your child is displaying symptoms or needs intimate care.
Please do not give your child paracetamol before coming into preschool as it can mask a high temperature. Ensure all your emergency contacts are up to date and correct on EYLog, you should have at least 3.
If your child requires medication please complete a medicine form on the EYLog to allow staff to administer it during preschool hours. If it is only once or twice a day medication please do it at home
If your child is staying a full day they will require lunch. You can either pay for a school lunch or provide a healthy packed lunch.
Preschool collects the cooked lunches from the school kitchen and follows the Gateshead school lunch menu.
The school operates a single choice, jacket potato or vegetarian option (this must be informed in advance). You can choose your lunch choice each day.
Allergies, intolerances and any other medical needs (such as diabetes) are catered for everyday.
You can find out the daily menu here
Ensure your child’s packed lunch is in a named container. All containers must be named so we can return them if they get mixed up.
Packed lunches must be healthy, no chocolate, sweets, fizzy or sugary drinks and no glass bottles please. All foods must be nut free as other children sitting close by might have an allergy. Grapes and other small fruits must be cut in half or quartered to avoid choking. Sausage and cheese must be cut into strips, not chunks and we cannot have popcorn for under 5 year olds.
Choosing an item from each food group helps support a balanced diet and goes towards the goal of 5 portions of fruit and vegetables every day. If you need any advice or tips look at the NHS Change 4 Life website.
If you want to introduce new food to your children it can often help if you involve them in lunch box planning and/or shopping.
In hot weather you might want to pack an ice block to keep the food chilled, we do not have space in our fridge to keep these cool.
If you would like you child to clean their teeth after lunch please provide a tooth brush and paste in a small washbag which can be kept in their bag.
Whickham Parochial Preschool follows the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework which is a principled approach to guide the work and procedures in the setting as well as the Birth to 5 Matters. As part of this approach we follow almost seventy policies and procedures to ensure we maintain high standards. These policies include some of the following, but this is not the full list:
Child Protection and Safeguarding policies and procedures including; social media, mobile phones, child absence, toileting, intimate care, etc.
Health and Safety policies and procedures including; administering medication, infectious children, Sun protection, managing and reporting accidents, equipment and resources etc.
Parent and Carer polices and procedures including; non payment of fees, parent / carer behaviour, complaints, parental involvement, etc.
Staff, student and volunteer policies and procedure including; Key Person, staff selection and recruitment, student and volunteers, staff training, etc.
Forest School policies and procedures including; use of fire, safe hand tools, risk assessments, hen keeping, rules and procedures, insurance, etc.
General policies and procedures including; aims, admissions, settling in, British values, special educational needs, GDPR, behaviour, learning and development, equality and diversity etc.
If you are one of our families and would like to see any of these policies and procedure please ask in the office and we can email you a copy out. We have a folder containing hard copies in the office which you will also be able to read.
These policies and procedures are reviewed annually but may be changed during the year if circumstances, events, reflection and legislation etc. require it.
The use of mobile phones inside the building or taking photos or videos from outside the building is strictly prohibited. This is to protect the children within our care and to maintain high levels of safeguarding at all times.
When collecting your child please do not use a mobile phone as the staff may need to speak with you. Also your child has missed you while they have been in preschool and they do not need to compete with your phone.
We WILL NOT hand your child over to you at the door if you are on your phone.
Smoking and the use of e-cigarettes, vapes etc. are not permitted anywhere on school sites or within the area of their entrances or carparks etc.
We try to model good practices for the children and using this paraphernalia is not something we endorse as good behaviour.
