Admissions     Settling In     Payment     Child Protection     Equal Opportunities

Admissions Policy

It is our intention to make our pre-school genuinely accessible to children and families from all sections of the local community. In order to accomplish this, we will:

• Ensure that the existence of the pre-school is widely known in all local communities. We will place notices advertising the pre-school in places where all sections of the community can see them.
• Arrange our waiting list in order of date of birth.
• Keep a place vacant, if this is financially viable, in order to accommodate emergency admissions.
• Describe the pre-school and its practises in terms which make it clear that it welcomes both fathers and mothers, other relations and other carers, including childminders, and people from all cultural, ethic religious and social groups, with and without disabilities.
• Monitor the gender and ethnic background of children joining the group to ensure that no accidental discrimination is taking place.
• Make our equal opportunities policy widely known.
• Be flexible about attendance patterns so as to accommodate the needs of individual children and families.

Montessori teaching is based on the needs of the child above all others; for this reason, admissions are accepted on the needs of the individual child above all other concerns. As our pre-school follows the Montessori Method, children whose parents who are genuinely interested in the Montessori form of education will be accepted immediately, assuming places are available. In line with the principle stated above, the following prioritisation criteria will be applied to all applicants:

1. As our pre-school is registered as a Full Day Care centre, children requiring full day care will be a priority.
2. Children requiring a single session and lunch club will be our next preference.
3. Children requiring a single session alone will be accepted if there is sufficient space.
4. Children requiring only the free entitlement provided by the government scheme will be offered any remaining spaces once the above criteria have been filled; these children will be booked on a term-by-term basis to allow reallocation of spaces each term to children fitting the higher prioritisation criteria.

Settling In

We want our children to feel safe and happy in the absence of their parents, to recognise other adults as a source of authority, help and friendship and to be able to share with their parents afterwards the new learning experiences enjoyed in the pre-school.

In order to accomplish this, we will:

• Arrange for the child to have six visits to the pre-school. These visits will take place the term before the child is due to start. The six visits will comprise of two one hour visits with an adult, two one hour visits unaccompanied and two full sessions.
• Make clear to families from the outset that they will be supported in the pre-school for as long as it takes to settle their child there.
• Reassure parents whose children seem to be taking a long time settling into the Pre-school.
• Introduce new families into the group on a staggered basis, for example two new children each day for a week rather than ten new children all at once.

Children cannot play or learn successfully if they are anxious and unhappy. Our settling procedures aim to help parents to help their children to feel comfortable in the pre-school, to benefit from what it has to offer, and to be confident that their parents will return at the end of the session.

Payment Policy

All fees are payable in advance. Terms and acceptable methods of payment may be found on the Dates, Times and Fees page.

If you are having difficulty making your payments, you should speak to the Classroom Manager as soon as possible so that we can discuss with you the options available. For the sake of the child we make every effort to come to an arrangement with you to pay off the debt, but if no agreement is made, or you do not keep to it, the Management Committee may have to withdraw your child's place at the school and hand the debt over to a recovery agency.

Child Protection Policy

We intend to create in our pre-school an environment in which children are safe from abuse and in which any suspicion of abuse is promptly and appropriately responded to. In order to achieve this we will:

• Exclude known abusers
  • It will be made clear to applicants for posts within the pre-school that the position is exempt from the provisions of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.
  • All applicants for work within the pre-school, whether voluntary or paid, will be required to complete a police check form and be cleared by the department of Social Services.
• Seek and supply training
  • We will seek out training opportunities for all adults involved in the group to ensure that they recognise the symptoms of possible physical abuse, neglect, emotional abuse and sexual abuse.
• Prevent abuse by means of good practice
  • Adults will not be left alone for long periods with individual children or with small groups.
  • Adults who have not been registered as “fit” persons will not take children unaccompanied to the toilet.
  • Children will be encouraged to develop a sense of autonomy and independence through adult support in making choices and in finding names for their own feelings and acceptable ways to express them. This will enable children to have the self-confidence and the vocabulary to resist inappropriate approaches.
  • The layout of the classroom will permit constant supervision of all children.
• Respond appropriately to suspicions of abuse
  • Changes in children’s behaviour/appearance will be investigated.
  • Parents will normally be the first point of reference, though suspicions will also be referred as appropriate to the Social Services Department.
  • All such suspicions and investigations will be kept confidential, shared only with those who need to know. The people most commonly involved will be the member of staff, the Principal and the Chairperson of the Management Committee.
• Keep records
  • Whenever worrying changes are observed in a child’s behaviour, physical condition or appearance, a specific and confidential record will be set up, quite separate from the usual on-going records of children’s progress and development. The record will include, in addition to the name, address and age of the child: timed and dated observations, describing objectively the child’s behaviour/appearance, without comment or interpretation; where possible, the exact words spoken by the child; the dated name and signature of the recorder. Such records will be kept in a separate file and will not be accessible to people in the pre-school other than the Principal, the Chairperson of the Management Committee and the member of staff, as appropriate.
• Liaise with other bodies
  • The pre-school operates in accordance with local authority guidelines. Confidential records kept on children about whom the pre-school is anxious will be shared with the Social Services Department if the pre-school feels that adequate explanations for changes in the child’s condition have not been provided.
  • If a report on a child is to be made to the authorities, the child’s parents will be informed at the same time as the report is made, except in exceptional cases.
  • The pre-school will maintain ongoing contact with the registered authority, including names, addresses and telephone numbers of individual social workers, to ensure that it would be easy, in an emergency, for the pre-school and the Social Services Department to work well together.
• Support families
  • The pre-school will take every step in it’s power to build up trusting and supportive relationships between families and staff and volunteers in the group.
  • Where abuse at home is suspected, the pre-school will continue to welcome the child and family while investigations proceed.
  • Confidential records kept on a child will be shared with the child’s parents if requested.
  • With the proviso that the care and safety of the child must always be paramount, the pre-school will do all in it’s power to support and work with the child’s family.

Equal Opportunities

The pre-school believes that its activities should be open to all children and families, and to all adults committed to their welfare. We aim to ensure that all who wish to work in, or volunteer to help with, our pre-school have an equal chance to do so.

The pre-school is open to every family in the community and any family joining will be made aware of our policy on equal opportunities.

Employment

The pre-school will appoint the best person for each job and will treat fairly all applications for jobs and all those appointed.

Families

The pre-school recognises that many different types of family successfully love and care for their children.

Festivals

Our aim is to show respectful awareness of all major events in the lives of the children and families in the pre-school, and in our society as a whole, and to welcome the diversity of backgrounds from which they come.

In order to achieve this, without indoctrination in any faith, children will be encouraged to welcome a range of different festivals, together with stories, celebrations and certain food and clothing they involve, as part of the diversity of life.

Activities

All children will be respected and their individuality and potential recognised, valued and nurtured. Activities and the use of equipment will offer children opportunities to develop in an environment free from prejudice and discrimination. Appropriate opportunities will be given to children to explore, acknowledge and value similarities and differences between themselves and others.

Resources

Resources will be chosen to give children a balanced view of the world and an appreciation of the rich diversity of our multi-racial society.

Materials will be selected to help children to develop their self-respect and to respect other people by avoiding stereotypes and derogatory pictures and messages about any group of people.

Special needs

The pre-school recognises the wide range of special needs of children and families in the community, and will consider what part it can play in meeting these needs.

Discriminatory behaviour and remarks

These are unacceptable in the pre-school. The response will aim to be sensitive to the feelings of the victim(s) and to help those responsible to understand and overcome their prejudices.

Food

Medical, cultural and dietary needs will be met.

Last updated July 2009