Application Information

Young Risers Term dates for 2024 - 2025

Young Risers Term dates for 2025 - 2026

YOUNG RISERS PRE-SCHOOL FUNDING DELIVERY PATTERN 

Our opening hours are 9.00am - 3.00pm, term time only (38 weeks per year), not including public holidays.  At Young Risers Pre-school we consider applications for places from all families regardless of how fees are paid.  In order that we remain a sustainable charity we have parameters in place as follows: 

FEE STRUCTURE FOR NON-FUNDED CHILDREN - £8.50 PER HOUR

FEE STRUCTURE FOR FUNDED CHIlDREN WITH EFFECT FROM SEPTEMBER 2024

Children accessing the 3-4 year old Universal Entitlement, FF2 funding for eligible 2 year olds or 2 year old working parent entitlement are entitled to 15 hours free childcare for 38 weeks to a maximum of 570 hours per year.

Free early education may be taken with multiple providers.

At Young Risers Pre-School we offer the free education pattern of delivery in the following way:

We advise that children do a minumum of 2 sessions on 2 different days.

Children whose parents are eligible for the working parent entitlement for 3-4 year olds can access up to 30 hours of free childcare for 38 weeks to a maximum of 1140 hours per year.

These 30 hour spaces are subject to availibility and children must access the full 30 hours.

Government funding is intended to deliver 15 or 30 hours a week of free high quality, flexible education.  It is not intended to cover the cost of mealtimes. 

We also offer a Breakfast club from 8.15am - 9.00am - this is at a charge of £7.00 and must be pre-booked.

Meal charge - Snack - This is an optional charge, and you will need to opt in/out of this charge.

Snack is charged at 50p per session ( a session is 3 hours 9am-12pm/12pm-3pm), your child is provided with at least 5 different choices of fruit per week, a choice of grain - bread, breadsticks, waffles, pancakes, crackers or cereal, we also provide dips, yoghurts, cheese, toppings for toast and crackers.  We also cater for food allergies/intolerances.  We also provide children with the opportunities to taste food from different cultures at snack time, for example noodles, rice and prawn crackers for Chinese New Year.

If you choose to opt out of the snack charge you will be asked to provide at least 2 pieces of fruit and 1 grain per session for your child, as well as supplying ingredients for food tasting as and when needed, taking into account food allergies and food that we will not allow in the setting as stated in our packed lunch policy.

Please see below links that can help you with childcare costs.

Tax-Free Childcare

To support parents/carers with childcare costs for children of all ages, the Government introduced the Tax-Free childcare scheme which is available to around 2 million households.  You can open an online account which you pay into to cover the cost of childcare; for every £8.00 you pay in, the government will top up your account with an extra £2.00.

To find out more about this scheme please go to:

https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/childcare-schemes-interest-welcome

Please note we are a registered provider for tax free childcare.

30 hours Childcare

For those parents/carers with children aged 3-4 years, the 30 hours childcare scheme is available.  To find out more about whether you may be eligible and how to apply, please go to:

https://chilcare-support.tax.service.gov.uk/par/app/applynow

2 Year old Funding for working parents

As may of you may be aware from April 2024, 2 year olds may be eligible for funding for those parents who are working.

To find out if you are eligible please go to:

https://www.gov.uk/check-eligible-free-childcare-if-youre-working

2 Year old funding for eligible families

For families in England, receiving some additional forms of government support.  This scheme is know as Free for 2 in Kent. 

To find out more about whether you may be eligible and how to apply, please go to:

https://www.kent.gov.uk/education-and-children/chidcare-and-pre-school/free-childcare

First Days

The first few days at pre-school, can be traumatic for any child and parent. Our aim is to make the process as painless as possible, for both you and your child. To do this, we invite you to stay on the first visit/s for a short while or a whole session if you feel it is necessary for your child to settle in. We also encourage the child to join in the play and your key person will assist with this during the session. We also welcome you and your child to make some informal visits prior to starting at the pre-school so they can start to make friends. Your child’s coat peg and name card will be ready for them so they can feel part of the pre-school.

All children need a named bag with a change of clothing (nappies or training pants if required). Please name all your child's belongings.

Key Person

Young Risers operates a key person system.  This means that each member of staff has a group of children for whom she is particularly responsible.  Your child's key person will be the person who works with you to make sure that what we provide is right for your child's particular needs and interests.

The role of the early years practitioner has changed dramatically over the years partially due to legislation from successive governments but at Young Risers we believe that our role as practitioners is to ensure the needs of each child are met in order to encourage independence and confidence. Children who feel confident about themselves are more able to have a positive learning experience, which will lay a strong foundation for later learning. We believe in providing the support so every child feels valued therefore we plan for the individual child’s needs by completing an initial assessment of your child after the first two weeks of entry to the Pre-school.

We promote a home to school learning journey where you can include photographs and information regarding outings, visits or family celebrations or events that take place out of school. This builds on the relationship between your child’s key person and your child as they discuss and look at the learning journeys on a weekly basis.

Transition to school

Our transition to school is fluid as we are in the infant school building. Our staff meet up with the foundation staff practitioners on a regular basis to share good practice and we organise joint events with the school FIRPS committee, building on the unique relationship we have with Istead Rise School and the community. We  have established links with other local early years settings and each key person produces a report for their key children, which passes to their foundation stage teacher to support a smooth transition.

Smarter Play

SmarterPlay is a new app providing families in Kent  with exclusive free access to a range of opportunities and facilities to support them in parenting their young children. It is available for both iphones and android. Just look in the playstore on your device.