APPLYING FOR A NURSERY PLACE
An exciting journey starts here.
Parents are keen for their children to attend this school. This is due to the high levels of care that staff give to every pupil. Pupils enjoy coming to school and feel safe.
Ofsted, November 2022
Our Nursery is a highly popular, 104-place provision offering both full-time and part-time places for 3 and 4-year-olds.
SUPPORT WITH PAYING FOR YOUR CHILDCARE
Government support is available to help with childcare costs for parents and carers
Nursery fees
All children are eligible for 15 hours of free early years education per week.
From the term after their third birthday, some children are entitled to 30 hours of free early years education per week. Parents and carers can apply for this via UK Government’s Childcare Choices website. If you are applying for a funded full-time nursery place at Nursery, you will be required to provide Someries Infant School and Early Childhood Education Centre with an eligibility code for this. You can apply for your eligibility code here.
If you are not eligible for 30 hours free childcare, but would like your child to access Nursery on a full-time basis, there are additional fees for this which are outlined in the table below.
Our nursery fees have been set by the Governing Board as follows:
| Session | Fee |
|---|---|
| Additional 3-hour daily session | £23.66 |
| 15 hours' additional provision | £118.30 |
| Daily lunch charge with a hot meal provided by the school | £6.02 |
An indicative cost for self-funded full-time provision at Nursery is £148.40 per week, which includes 30 hours of early years education and a daily hot meal provided by our onsite catering team.
Fees are paid to the school online via Arbor, and you will be provided access to this system when your child is allocated a place at Nursery.
The school also accepts childcare voucher payments and salary sacrifice schemes. Further information about Tax-Free Childcare can be found here.
Wraparound childcare
Someries Infant School and Early Childhood Education Centre offers before- and after-school wraparound childcare provision for all pupils, including those attending Nursery.
Further information about our wraparound childcare provision can be found here.
Registering for a place at Nursery
You can register for a place on our waiting list at Nursery by completing the form below
Parents or carers may place their child on our nursery waiting list by completing the nursery registration form below. After making your application, our School Operations Officer will contact you to discuss your application.
Admission to Nursery
The Governing Board has set its planned admission numbers for Nursery as 104 pupils as follows:
- 16 part-time morning sessions taking place between 8.45 a.m. and 11.45 a.m.
- 16 part-time afternoon sessions taking place between 12.15 p.m. and 3.15 p.m.
- 36 full-time sessions taking place between 8.45 a.m. and 3.15 p.m. (incorporating a lunch break)
Children can be registered on our nursery waiting list from the date they are born. Most children are admitted to our nursery in September following their third birthday. However, where places become available, pupils can be admitted to our nursery in January or April following their third birthday.
The Governing Board has agreed that places at Nursery will be allocated according to the child’s age and the following admissions criteria:
| 1. | A ‘looked after child’ or a child who was previously looked after but immediately after being looked after became subject to an adoption, child arrangements, or special guardianship order [see note 1], including those who appear to Someries Infant School and Early Childhood Education Centre to have been in state care [see note 2] outside of England and ceased to be in care as a result of being adopted. A looked after child is a child who is (a) in the care of a local authority, or (b) being provided with accommodation by a local authority in the exercise of their social services functions (section 22(1) of the Children Act 1989). |
|---|---|
| 2. | Children of staff [see note 3] who are employed by the school. |
| 3. | Children in the catchment area with a sibling or siblings [see note 4] already attending Someries Infant School and Early Childhood Education Centre or Someries Junior School at the proposed date of admission. |
| 4. | Children living in the catchment area of Someries Infant School and Early Childhood Education Centre. |
| 5. | Children who live outside the catchment area with siblings at Someries Infant School and/ or Someries Junior School who will still be attending Someries Infant School and Early Childhood Education Centre and/ or Someries Junior School at the proposed date of admission. |
| 6. | On the shortest distance, measured in a straight line, between the main entrance [see note 5] of the school site and the pupil’s home address [see note 6], with those living closer to the school being accorded higher priority. |
1. An adoption order is an order under the Adoption Act 1976 (see section 12 adoption orders) and children who were adopted under the Adoption and Children’s Act 2002 (see section 46 adoption orders). A ‘child arrangements order’ is an order settling the arrangements to be made as to the person with whom the child is to live under Section 8 of the Children Act 1989 as amended by section 14 of the Children and Families Act 2014. Section 14A of the Children Act 1989 defines a ‘special guardianship order’ as an order appointing one or more individuals to be a child’s special guardian (or special guardian).
2. A child is regarded as having been in state care in a place outside of England if they were accompanied by a public authority, a religious organisation or any other provider of care whose sole purpose is to benefit society.
3. Someries Infant School regard children of staff as somebody employed to work at the school on a permanent contract for at least 15 hours per week, who meets one of the following criteria at the time of application: (1) has been in post continuously for at least 2 years; or (2) is recruited to fill a vacant post for which there is a demonstrable skills shortage. Children of staff that have given notice of resignation will not be considered under this criterion. For the purpose of satisfying these criteria, a member of staff is defined as a permanent member of the teaching staff or a permanent member of the non-teaching staff. The staff member must be the child’s parent or legal guardian and the child must be living permanently with the member of staff.
4. The terms ‘sibling’ or ‘siblings’ include natural, adopted and step brothers and sisters. It also includes fostered siblings, where foster care has been arranged by children’s social services. Other family relationships will not be considered under this criterion, including cousins.
5. The ‘main entrance’ to the school is the door used to access the school’s main reception.
6. The pupil’s home address is measured from a point at the address identified in the Local Land and Property Gazetteer. A pupil’s home address is where she or he spends the majority of the school week (Monday to Friday, including evenings) with her/ his parents or legal guardian. The address of a childminder or family member who looks after the children before or after school cannot be used. If there is any query on the home address, this will be checked against official documentation.
The application deadline for a September place at Nursery is 20 January each year. Letters informing parents and carers whether or not their child has been allocated a place at Nursery will be sent on 3 February each year.
The Governing Board reserve the right to make the final decision on admissions to Nursery.
We aim to ensure that our school is as financially viable as possible; we will, therefore, endeavour to fill all places in our nursery at all times by offering unused places to families registered on our waiting list until we are full.
The benefits of attending Nursery
From the very start, your child can enjoy Someries Infant School and Early Childhood Education Centre's philosophy and be part of our school community from an early age
Nursery is located in its own, newly-refurbished building on our school site. The equipment and resources available to pupils promote discovery as well as encourage development and sustain curiosity.
We offer:
- teacher-led activities
- a well-planned learning environment
- an extensive range of resources and equipment
- a fantastic outdoor area which nursery pupils share with our reception pupils
- small groups that cater for individual needs
- a child-led curriculum
- highly trained staff
- daily phonics sessions
- daily mathematics sessions
- weekly music lessons delivered by a specialist music teacher
- weekly physical education lessons
By the end of their time at Nursery, we aim for children to have excelled to the best of their ability and, ultimately, be ready for a successful start at school.
Due to the high demand for sessions at Nursery, we would recommend that you make your application as soon as possible as we often have significant waiting lists for each cohort.
