Admission to Clare Bears Pre-School

Clare Bears Pre-school is open to every member of the local community for children between the ages of 2 and 5 years.

Children are eligible to attend Clare Bears once they are two years old. Any parent/carer wishing to register their child for a place at the pre-school will need to submit a Registration Form. Please phone or email us at manager@clarebears.org for an application form. On receipt of this, a Confirmation Letter will be sent notifying the parent/carer that their child is on the waiting list, which is arranged as per our admissions policy. It is important to enrol your child as early as possible to ensure their place.

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Session Times

Clare Bears is open every weekday from 8.30am to 3pm during normal school terms. Early bird sessions are 8.30-9am and main sessions are 9-12pm, or 9-3pm. We are open for 38 weeks of the year. Our term days coincide with those of Clare Community Primary School.

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Lunch Club

Lunch club runs Monday to Friday, from 12pm to 1pm. Children bring their own packed lunch and are supervised throughout the lunch period, with different activities to those during the morning session. This is an optional session, which can be used as a 'funded' hour or provided at an extra cost of £6.50.

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Fees

Fees are £4.00 for our early bird session (8.30-9am), £19.50 per morning session (9am-12pm) or £26.00 per morning session with an added lunch club 9(9am-1pm) or lunch club can be added for £6.50 per session (subject to availability) and £33.00 per full day session (9am-3pm) and are payable half-termly in advance. You will be sent an invoice with instructions of how to pay. We are also registered to accept ‘Childcare Vouchers’.

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As a setting, we offer funded places in all of our sessions, Monday to Friday -, for 38 weeks per year. For those who do not yet qualify for government funding we charge additional fees but keep these as low as possible and in line with government funding in order to remain affordable to our families.

 

Government funding is intended to deliver 15 or 30 hours a week of funded, high quality, flexible childcare to two-, three- and four-year-old children. Our hourly rates invoiced to families also deliver the same. The funding and hourly rates are not intended to cover the costs of snacks/meals, other consumables, additional hours or additional services.

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To cover the cost of consumables we charge all parents /carers a consumable charge each half term. This charge is currently:

 

         £4 per week if your child attends 4 sessions or less (1 session = morning only 9-12, 2 sessions is one day, 9-1pm or 9-3pm)

 

OR

 

        £5.50 per week if your child attends more than 4 sessions a week.

 

This charge is broken down into a cost per session but is used to cover all resources used by your child throughout the year. You will receive an invoice each half term, two weeks before the new term or half term commencing.

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Early Years Funding

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Government Funded Places​ for 2,3 and 4-year-olds

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All 3 to 4-year-olds in England can get free early education or childcare. Some 2-year-olds are also eligible for 15 hours free childcare, for example if you get certain benefits or both parents work. Eligible children may access up to five free sessions per week, for almost the entirety of each term. This then replaces the session fees stated above, however our consumables charge remains as an additional charge.

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Government funding is available to all 3 year olds, from the fixed date following their third birthday, please see the chart below. For eligible two year olds the same dates can be applied but instead using the date of their second birthday.

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15 hours free childcare

All children aged 3 and 4 in England and some aged 2, can get 570 free hours per year. It’s usually taken as 15 hours a week for 38 weeks of the year. You can get it from the term after your child’s 2nd birthday (if eligible) or 3rd birthday (universal).

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30 hours free childcare

You may be able to get up to 30 hours free childcare (1,140 hours per year, which you can choose how you take). If you’re eligible for the extra hours, you sign up online to get a code to give to your childcare provider (us) to reserve your place. You’ll get the extra hours once the next term starts.

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Eligibility

You can usually get 30 hours free childcare if you (and your partner, if you have one) are:

• in work - or getting parental leave, sick leave or annual leave

• each earning at least the National Minimum Wage or Living Wage for 16 hours a week 

This earnings limit doesn’t apply if you’re self-employed and started your business less than 12 months ago.

You’re not eligible if:

• your child doesn’t usually live with you

• the child is your foster child

• either you or your partner has a taxable income over £100,000

You can get 30 hours free childcare at the same time as claiming Universal Credit, tax credits or childcare vouchers.

If you can’t work

You may still be eligible if your partner is working, and you get Incapacity Benefit, Severe Disablement Allowance, Carer’s Allowance or Employment and Support Allowance.

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Apply for 30 hours free childcare

You’ll need your details (and your partner’s, if you have one), including your:

• National Insurance number

• Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR), if you’re self-employed

You’ll get a childcare account if your application is successful. You can use it to get your code for 30 hours free childcare.

If you pay for childcare and want to use Tax-Free Childcare to get help with costs, you can also apply using this service.

It usually takes 20 minutes to apply. You may find out if you’re eligible straight away, but it can take up to 7 days.

 

 

Visit https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/  to check if you are eligible.
 

If you require further information about the scheme, please speak to our Manager.
 

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2-year-olds

Some 2-year-olds in England can also get 15 hours free early education and childcare.

You are eligible for funding if you receive one of the following:

• Income Support

• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance

• Income-related Employment Support Allowance

• Support through Part 6 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999

• State Pension Credit (the guaranteed element)

• Child Tax Credit and /or Working Tax Credit and earn no more than £16,190 per year

• Working Tax Credit 4-week run on (the payment you get when you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit)

• Children looked after by a local council are also entitled to a place.

• Child has a current statement of special educational needs (SEN) or an education, health and care plan

• Disability Living Allowance

• Child adopted from local authority care

• Child left care under a special guardianship order, child arrangements order or residence order

If your child is eligible, you can start claiming the term after they turn 2. The date you can claim will depend on when their birthday is.

Contact your local Council to check if your child is eligible

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From April 2024, eligible working parents of 2-year-olds will be able to access 15 hours childcare support.
Visit https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/  to check if you are eligible.

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Tax-Free Childcare

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We have signed up to receive payments from this scheme.

Tax-free childcare is a government scheme that pays working parents a 25% top-up based on what they pay for childcare - up to a maximum of £2,000 a year, given when parents pay out at least £10,000.

The scheme was launched in April 2017, and is the main option for parents who are in work.

 

Contact https://www.gov.uk/tax-free-childcare   or https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/ to check if you are eligible.

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Additional Funding in Suffolk

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Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP)

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The Early Years Pupil Premium is a UK Government scheme that provides additional funding to early years providers to support 3- and 4-year-olds from low-income families as well as some other types of disadvantaged background.

The EYPP funding is intended to help close the gap in development and school readiness between children from low-income families and their more affluent or advantaged peers. Early years providers will use the EYPP funding to provide additional support and resources that enhance the learning and development of those specific, disadvantaged, children under their care. It may be used solely for an individual child or pooled to support a group of eligible children with similar support needs.

Clare Bears Pre-School use the funding in a variety of ways to support the children in our care. Examples include:

• Covering the cost of our ‘consumables’ charge, paid by non-eligible parents

• Covering extra hours worked by existing staff working to support eligible children;

• Providing extra resources (e.g. books, specific equipment etc.) to enhance learning and development;

• Offering additional activities/trips to extend children’s experiences where such would be deemed advantageous.

 

Funding for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities

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High quality, inclusive practice is essential in the early years. Most children with additional or special educational needs and/or disabilities will not require special resources or enhanced staffing to be successfully integrated into our setting. However, some children with more complex needs may benefit from enhanced provision or additional resources for a period of time.

 

                       Short term Funding                          

Suffolk- Inclusion Fund

In Suffolk the inclusion fund, where needed, supports early years providers to secure good progress in children’s learning and development in the short term. The funding is for eligible children that may not be working consistently at the level of their peers, but are likely to achieve/exceed expected levels of progress with support. Their engagement will be enhanced through curriculum differentiation and some individualised support.

 

Longer term Funding

If after the period of inclusion funding the child’s needs are not appropriate for high needs funding, the provider (us) will be expected to make reasonable adjustments to meet the child’s needs within the total resources available to us.

If a child requires longer term support, we are advised to make an application for High needs funding and, where appropriate, to apply for an Education, Health and Care Plan.

 

Suffolk- High Needs Funding (HNF)

High needs funding supports provision for children with SEND who require additional resources to participate in education and learning, 

Suffolk- DAF

To be eligible a child must be in receipt of Disability Living Allowance, and the provider (us) must have a

copy of the letter that proves this. Additionally, the child must be taking up at least some of their funded entitlement with us.

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Education, Health and Care (EHC) Needs Assessments and Plans

The majority of children with special education needs or disabilities (SEND) will have the support they need within local mainstream early years settings. Within Suffolk this is called SEN Support.

 

 

The SEND Code of Practice says that “where, despite the school having taken relevant and purposeful action to identify, assess and meet the SEN of the child or young person, the child or young person has not made expected progress, the school or parents should consider requesting an Education, Health and Care needs assessment. To inform its decision the local authority will expect to see evidence of the action taken by the school as part of SEN support.” (6.63)

 

In some cases, an Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment (EHCNA) may lead to an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) being issued.

You can find out more about this process on the Suffolk Local Offer website.

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