Administration
FUNDING FORM
During week commencing 8 January 2018, funding forms will be given to all eligible families. This form is provided by Reading Borough Council and enables us to claim for your child’s funded hours. The form is double sided and requires full completion. It is important that we receive your completed form even if you have decided to use your funding elsewhere.
DO I NEED TO FILL OUT A FORM?
You will only be given a funding form if any of the following has happened during the period between 1 September 2017 to 31 December 2017:
- Your child has turned 3 years of age
- You have changed home address
- Your child has increased or decreased their sessions
- You have applied for extended funding (of up to 30 hours) for the first time
- Your personal circumstances have changed
If you are not given a funding form but think you should complete one, please email our Administrator, Tracy immediately.
FUNDING FORM TYPES
There are 2 different types of funding form available.
Purple form: to claim for universal funding of up to 15 hours per week
Green form: to claim for extended funding of up to 30 hours per week
If you are a family with a DERN code from HMRC for extended funding of up to 30 hours, you may be required to complete both forms depending upon whether you share your funding with another provider.
DEADLINE
Please return your completed form to a member of staff by Tuesday 16th January, at the very latest, as we are working to a very strict deadline set by the Council. Without this form, we will be unable to apply for your funding for the Spring Term and this will result in you being liable to pay for all the hours that your child attends.
IMPORTANT REMINDER:
Please remember that for every day your child attends Pre-school, the first half an hour is UNFUNDED. Also, if your child stays on for lunch on Fridays, this additional hour is also UNFUNDED.
For example, if a child attends 4 mornings per week (totalling 12 hours a week), 10 hours would be funded (2.5 hrs x 4 sessions) with the remaining 2 hours being unfunded.
YOUR INVOICE
The Spring Term runs for 10 weeks. Your invoice will be prepared and e-mailed to you by Friday 9th February. The deadline to pay your invoice will be Friday 23rd February.
We kindly ask our families to settle their invoice by bank transfer if possible. Please note that we do accept Childcare Vouchers and if you are planning to pay using childcare vouchers, please e-mail Tracy Donaldson, to check whether our Pre-school is already registered with your provider.
VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTIONS
St Andrew’s Pre-school is a charity and relies heavily on fundraising and donations to cover the cost of items such as updated play equipment, materials for craft activities etc.
Each term, we request a voluntary contribution from every family, to a maximum of £40.00 and this will be shown on your invoice.
It is entirely voluntary and there is no obligation to make a contribution, however any amount is gratefully received.
Please note that we are unable to claim Gift Aid on voluntary contributions paid using Childcare Vouchers.
GIFT AID
We can reclaim Gift Aid from the Government on any voluntary contributions that we receive, providing you are a UK taxpayer. By completing a Gift Aid form we can reclaim 25p for every £1 received.
As previously mentioned, we are unable to claim Gift Aid on voluntary contributions paid using childcare vouchers.
For new families who are joining us in January, please return your completed Gift Aid form to Hilary or Amanda, if you have not done so already. Thank you.
OFFERS FOR CHILDREN STAYING ON FOR ACADEMIC YEAR 2018/19
During January, Tracy will be e-mailing families who are staying on for another year, asking for their session preferences from September 2018. We would appreciate your prompt response to enable us to secure your sessions and commence our offers to sibling families in early February.
Fundraising
Race Night – Saturday 27th January
If you want a fabulous night out in aid of our wonderful pre-school, please come along to our Annual Race Night, in the St Andrew’s Church Hall. The evening promises to be very entertaining, consisting of a series of ‘horse races’, as well as much food and drink! In each race, racegoers are pitted against each other as they try to be the first to wind their horse to the finish line.
We will have our very own tote where you can place bets on the ‘horses’ that you fancy. There will also be a cash bar, licensed to sell beer, wine, prosecco and soft drinks. You will shortly receive an information and booking sheet. Please invite along friends and family to join in the fun. Entry is just £10 per person, payable at the time of booking, and includes a meal.
In previous years, funds raised on Race Night have been greatly increased by Match Funding (where someone’s employer agrees to give to charity by matching the amount raised). If there’s a chance that you/your partner or someone else has this at work and could use it for our pre-school (at this or another event), Amy (the new Fundraising Coordinator) would love to hear from you! Also see Amy if you would like to help organise Race Night in any way.
Fundraising Shopping!
Have you joined St Andrew’s Pre-school, Reading on EasyFundraising.org.uk? It’s so easy to raise funds for Pre-school every time you shop online with so many retailers, just go via your Easyfundraising link first.
- Microscooters: use code 116825 www.micro-scooters.co.uk
- Stickins labels: code 35624 www.stickins.co.uk
- Yellow moon craft supplies: code STA47919 www.yellowmoon.org.uk
- Pop up play village: let them know you are a St Andrew’s parent if attend an event or book a party with them. www.popupplayvillage.co.uk
- Bridges Estate Agent (The Preschool Sponsor): If you or anyone you know is thinking of putting their house on the market please do mention us if you sell through Bridges!
Pre-school Library
Please continue to enjoy using our Pre-school lending library. As you all know, books are displayed in the front hall every day. Encourage your child to select a book and log it in our big blue record book. Children love to take a book home to share and it provides a lovely link between home and Pre-school.
School Applications
If your child is due to start school in September 2018, the national closing date for applications is 15th January 2018. You must either apply online, or submit a paper form by this date.
Applications received after the closing date will not be considered until after 1st May 2018 when all the places at your preferred school may have been allocated – Reading Borough council strongly advise you submit your application before 15th January 2018.