Cygnets
Firstly, welcome to the FORT Federation which includes Payhembury and Awliscombe Primary Schools. I am delighted to confirm that we offer preschool provision 5 days per week in our foundation stage classroom where Preschool and Reception children learn and play together. We accept children from their third birthday; however, free funding (15hrs or 30hrs) is only available the term after their third birthday.
Charges for 2024 – 2025 are currently £15.90 per session, or £34.45 for the whole day (subject to annual incremental increases). Any non-funded hours will be invoiced to you termly for you to pay via Parent Pay, childcare vouchers or HMRC tax free childcare.
The sessions on offer are as follows:
Morning 9.00am -12.00pm (3hrs)
Afternoon 12.30pm -3.30pm (3hrs)
All Day 9.00am -3.30pm including lunch (6.5hrs)
Lunch is only available to children staying all day. If your child would like to stay all day, then they can either have school dinner (£2.60 a meal) or you can provide a packed lunch. Free fruit and vegetables are provided at break time, and you can sign up to Cool Milk online at www.coolmilk.com/register. Your child is also welcome to bring a healthy nut-free snack if they wish, along with a drinks bottle.
To reserve a space at Preschool, please return the Preschool Booking Form to the school office via email. We will not be able to reserve any sessions without this information.
30 hours free entitlement over 38 weeks
Eligibility for the 30 hours will be available to families where:
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Both parents are working (or the sole parent is working in a lone parent family), and each parent earns, on average, a weekly minimum equivalent to 16 hours at national minimum wage (NMW) or national living wage (NLW).
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Working will include employed or self-employed persons.
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It includes those parents on zero-hour contracts who meet the criteria.
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There will be an income cap so that, when at least one parent in a household has an income of £100,000 or more, that family will not be eligible to take up the extra free hours.
In order to do this, you will need to carry out the following;
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Get 30 hours free childcare: step by step - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
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Follow on-line instructions to register as a Gateway user – for this you will need proof of identity for which you can use passport details, payslip information or tax credit information.
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Once in receipt of your username for Gateway you will then be able to register your interest in the extended entitlement.
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You will then need to wait to receive an e-mail notification as to whether your request has been successful, and an 11-digit code will be issued.
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This code will need to be given to the school office by the end of the term before your child starts.
Both the Preschool Fees & Charging and Preschool Admissions policies can be found in the policies section of this website, but should you require hard copies then please be sure to request these from the office.
Once your booking form and S11/1 data forms have been submitted and you have received confirmation of a start date, our preschool leader will contact you for a chat.
If you have any questions or require further information on any aspect of joining our schools, please do not hesitate to contact either school office.