Admissions Policy

1. Admissions Policy

Statement of intent

It is our intention to make our setting accessible to children and families from all sections of the local community. We aim to ensure that all sections of our community have access to the setting through open, fair and clearly communicated procedures. In order to achieve this aim, we operate the following admissions policy.

We ensure that the existence of our setting is widely advertised in places accessible to all sections of the community. We welcome all carers, fathers and mothers, other relations and childminders. We describe our setting and its practices in terms of how it treats each child and their family, having regard to their needs arising from their gender, special educational needs, disabilities, social background, religion, ethnicity or from English being a newly acquired additional language.

A non-refundable £40 fee is required at registration, unless the child is eligible for a fully funded place. A deposit is no longer required. The waiting list is operated on a first come first served system, but the preschool may also exercise it's discretion with regard to individual cases. Children may be admitted out of order of initial registration to adjust numbers of children of a certain age group or to permit the staffing ratios to be maintained adequately.

Fees are payable termly in advance. Half a terms notice is required to leave the preschool or the fees will be retained in lieu of notice. In case of a fully funded place a maximum 2 week notice is required. Requests for more days or a change of days should be submitted to the Supervisor in writing, at the end of the previous term.

We make our equal opportunities policy widely known. We are flexible about attendance patterns to accommodate the needs of individual children and families. However, we strongly support regular and consistent attendance, and should a child regularly not attend the setting for 20 days or more they will lose their eligibility for Early Years Funding.

What we offer: Morning sessions - 9:00 to 12:00; Afternoon sessions - 12:00 to 15:00; Full days - 9:00 to 15:00. Sessions without EY funding cost £5.95 p/hour, or £17.85 p/session, or £35.70 p/full day.

We accept Early Years Funding for 2 Yos (15 and 30 hours), EY Funding Universal for 3 / 4 Yos (15 hours) and EY Funding for 3 / 4 Yos working parents (additional 15 hours). Funded places for 3 / 4 Yos come with a voluntary extra charge of £1.25 p/hour. This charge is for consumables, healthy mid morning snack, nappies and wet wipes (if not provided), events and special activities. We also offer fully funded places for 2YOs who are eligible. You can check your eligibility for EY Funding here: https://beststartinlife.gov.uk

We do not charge for Bank Holidays and Staff Inset Days because the preschool is closed. Families with fully funded sessions will be offered these sessions on other days, but if this is not possible the funding claim for the setting will be adjusted accordingly. We operate Term-Time only and have 5 Inset days during the whole academic year. We are flexible with choice of sessions offering different combinations, to accomodate each family's needs. We suggest and encourage a minimum of 3 sessions as consistency helps with the settling-in process.

This policy was adopted by Polstead Preschool Oxford; Signed on behalf of the Management Committee Role of Signatory Amended on 12th June 2026