Little Learners @Castle Batch Primary School Academy

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Little Learners is our Early Years setting at Castle Batch Primary School Academy. The Nursery opened in September 2022 and we welcome children aged 2 – 4 years to learn, explore and have fun through play. The Nursery offers families and Little Learners a warm welcome, with a well-qualified, experienced Nursery Team who care for the children and provide the highest standard of care and education.

At Little Learners Nursery we understand and celebrate the unique qualities in every child and we ensure our Nursery is an enjoyable and positive experience for all of the children in our care. Our purpose built classrooms, Discoverers and Adventurers will have access to outstanding resources and learning opportunities, with the outside area being an extension of the classroom. Castle Batch Primary School Academy offers Little Learners access to wonderful facilities such as the Forest School area, large dining and sports hall and the playing fields.

To register your interest, please fill out the form below and we will be in touch.

Enquiry form

Little Learners @ Castle Batch operates on an all year round (50 week) basis, with sessions between 7.30am and 6.00pm. The session timings and costs can be found below; 

Places at Little Learners

Little Learners operates on an all year round (50 week) basis, between 7.30am and 6.00pm.

The Nursery will be closed for two weeks at Christmas and for Bank Holidays, fees are not charged for the days it is closed.

Little Learners welcomes children from 2 – 4 years for paid or funded sessions, or indeed a combination of both. We appreciate interested families will need to know as much as they can about the sessions in order to choose the sessions that suit them the best. Please see below for full session information;

The session options above allow families to ‘build’ the option that suits them, for example many families book Early Bird as part of their contracted sessions but it is also available on an ad-hoc basis for an additional level of flexibility for families childcare needs. Additionally, for peace of mind, once a child’s sessions have been agreed, parents will be issued with a contract, securing those sessions for that child, each week until 31^st August before the child is due to attend school.

How does the Early Years Entitlement work at Little Learners?

Our families will be able to access their statutory and extended entitlement offer in a variety of different ways. Our stretched funding offer will allow families to access fully funded childcare for 47.5 weeks of the year. To illustrate, the 30 hours are ‘stretched’ to cover the 47.5 weeks that we can offer funding, resulting in 24 fully funded hours being available per week.

This allows families to choose the attendance pattern that suits them best (using 24 hours). One of the most popular options will be three ‘Short Days’ (8 hours x 3 days = 24 hours) however families can choose any combination of sessions to make up 24 hours. This is with the exception of the early start as funding cannot be used against Early Bird sessions. Families should choose the sessions that suit their needs however, if changes need to be made this is possible. Changes to funded sessions can only be made at the start of a term (September, January and April) and then cannot be changed again until the start of the following term.

Paid hours can be booked to increase the length of a child’s session, for example a family could choose to pay for 4.00pm – 6.00pm on top of an 8.00am – 4.00pm funded day.

If a Little Learner is entitled to the statutory funding only (15 hours per week) this is also stretched to allow them to attend 12 hours per week for 47.5 hours a year.

Tax-free childcare

What is the scheme?

Tax-Free Childcare is a new scheme which gives eligible families up to £2,000 free per child towards childcare costs.

You may be able to open a new online childcare account via www.childcarechoices.gov.uk which for every £8 you pay into, the government will pay in an extra £2 (up to £2,000), so it effectively gives you basic-rate tax back on what you pay, hence the scheme’s name.

Am I entitled?

To qualify, parents must be working and each earning at least £120 a week. Tax-free childcare can't be used at the same time as childcare vouchers, Universal Credit or tax credits. However, 30 hours free childcare can be received alongside this.

You're usually eligible if your child is under 12 (17 if disabled) and all of the following apply to you (and/or partner):

• are 16 or over
• are over 21 and earn on average at least £120 a week, unless in your first year of self-employment
• earn less than £100,000 a year each
• don't get other support with your childcare, including from a childcare voucher or salary sacrifice scheme

How to apply

You can apply for tax-free childcare at www.childcarechoices.gov.uk. You will need to provide your email address and your child’s date of birth.

Your Little Learner can wear a Nursery polo t-shirt and hoodie. These are available in two Nursery colours. To purchase Nursery uniform please order from our local supplier, Price and Buckland. 

https://www.pbuniform-online.co.uk/castlebatch