Stay tuned: brand new site, coming soon!

Admissions Policy

Enquires can be made through our website forestschoolforlife.co.uk or on the telephone, 07830379 520.
All enquiries are followed up with a phone call to discuss parent/carers requirements.

A handbook is provided initially (this is also downloadable on our website) to ensure parent/carers are aware of
our Forest School philosophy and outdoor learning approaches.

Once a parent/carer has visited the setting and decided to choose a placement here, we ask that a Registration
form be completed via our Babysdays system, at this point you will be asked to provide a £50 non refundable
deposit fee. As and when a place becomes available the parent/carer will be contacted and offered a place. You
will be sent a kit list and an ‘All About Me’ form. You will be introduced to your Key Worker and given settling
in sessions. If at this time the parent/carer no longer requires the place it will be offered to the next name on the
list. Siblings are given priority placements to encourage families to stay together and to ease the school run
pressure on parent/carers.

Forest School For Life is registered on both the Voluntary and Compulsory Register with Ofsted. We offer 33
early years placements a day. 6 under two’s, 12 two-three’s and 15 three-fours.

In addition we welcome Children from Home Ed Groups and Holiday club for Primary age Children.

We open all year around from 8am – 5pm except for Bank Holidays and two weeks over Christmas.

Opening Hours (we review our opening hours each year to ensure our Children are having the best experiences)

We are open Monday – Thursday (Fridays we close as a setting to enable family events and for staff training).

We are an “all day” setting, which means you may collect earlier but will still be charged the same fees

Fees

These are charged monthly in advance; your total annual cost is worked out and split into 12 equal payments.

Each month you will be charged the same irrespective of the length of the month or the quantity of sessions attended.

Late fees will be added if late payment happens more than once. Late fees are charged at 5% of your total amount owing and will be added to your following monthly invoice. If you are having trouble making payments, please talk to the management.

Fees are reviewed in April each year and are subject to change.

As part of the registration process, parents/carers will be required to provide documentation to evidence their child’s date of birth. This is to confirm they have reached the eligible age for the funded entitlement. A copy will not be retained but may be requested again later by the Local Authority for audit or fraud investigation purposes.

We are an inclusive setting. The outdoors, especially Forest School offers a tremendous enabling environment for children who may be struggling with an indoor setting or might benefit from an alternative provision. We welcome all children. If your child’s needs become identified as needing extra support we will work with you as a family to ensure we wrap the appropriate services around you and your child to give them the best possible start and opportunities to play and learn.

[2.15] Families accepting a 2-year-old funded place will be able to claim the entitlement until their child(ren) is/are eligible for either the 3- and 4-year-old funding universal entitlement or working parent entitlement.

Early Education is offered within the national parameters –

  • no session to be longer than 10 hours
  • no minimum session length (subject to the requirements of registration on the Ofsted Early Years Register)
  • not before 6.00am or after 8.00pm
  • a maximum of two sites in a single day

[2.27] The Admission and Charging Policies are issued to all families as part of the registration process. They are also available on our Babysdays system.

[2.30] We will work in partnership with parents, carers, childcare providers, the local authority, and other organisations to improve provision and outcomes for children in their setting. Where required we will seek parent / carer consent to collect, share and use your information in accordance with the Data Protection Act and General Data Protection Regulations.

Our setting has made a Flourish Pledge, which means we are working together with the local authority to make Flourish the shared ambition of everyone working to improve the lives of children and young people in Norfolk.

[2.31] To ensure a smooth transition for the child, we will work closely with families to discuss and agree how a child’s overall care will work in practice where an entitlement is split across different providers, and where possible when families transfer their funding claim to a new setting.

[2.35] We are required to have arrangements in place to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). These arrangements should include a clear approach to identifying and responding to SEND.

This means we will –

  • follow the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework to provide an inclusive environment for all children and their families, together with the requirements to comply with the Equalities Act and the Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice
  • monitor and review children ’s progress and development in partnership with families. Where a child appears to be behind expected levels of development or where a child’s progress gives cause for concern a graduated approach will be adopted with 4 stages of action: Assess, Plan, Do & Review
  • provide information to families on how their child’s development is being supported and in agreement, consent will be sought to apply for additional funding and request support from outside agencies where necessary
  • utilise the SEN inclusion fund and Disability Access Fund to deliver effective support
  • publish our contribution to the ‘SEN Local Offer’ in Norfolk. This is available on the Norfolk Community Directory and x to ensure information is available to parents so they can make choices about the right childcare provision for their child with SEN

[2.37] We aim to identify all children that may attract any additional funding such as EYPP, DAF, SEND Inclusion Fund and any locally available funding streams with a view to submit a claim/application to support and improve their outcomes. This will be in partnership with families and consent will be sought prior to submitting a claim/application.

[2.51] We will work with parents to ensure that as far as possible the hours/sessions that can be taken as funded provision are convenient for parents’ working hours.