MAPS

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Welcome to MAPS
Matthew Arnold Pre School
Our 2 Year Old Provision

Welcome to MAPS! We are a friendly, caring team who keep the children at the heart of our provision and planning.

We have wonderful indoor and outdoor provision and plan to ensure we are meeting the needs of the individual children in our care. We love to see your children in Nursery and strongly encourage our parents to bring their children to school every single day to encourage consistency and routine and ensure they do not miss out on any exciting learning opportunities!

We are keen to develop positive relationships with our parents and understand that when we work collaboratively we can truly provide amazing care, opportunities to support the development of your child.

Admissions

We welcome children into our MAPS Nursery as soon as they turned two.

Currently we offer fee paying and funding places for 2 year olds. Financial support for 2 year olds has been introduced and we can offer support. However, you must met a given criteria to qualify for a funded place. Please contact the nursery for further details.

Your 2 year old is eligible for this funding the term after their 2nd birthday. Children born 1st January to 31st March would be eligible from April. Children born 1st April to 31st August would be eligible from September and children born 1st September to 31st December would be eligible from January.

Funded Places

A significant number of two year olds are now eligible for free childcare. Your family must meet one of the following eligibility criteria:

Eligibility criteria

Your child will be eligible for a free place if you are in receipt of the following benefits.

Income Support
Income based Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA)
Income related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
Universal Credit and your household income is £15400 a year or less after tax, not including benefit payments
The guaranteed element of Pension Credit
Child Tax Credit, Working Tax Credit (or both) and your household income is £16190 a year or less before tax
The Working Tax Credit 4-week run on (the payment you get when you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit)

Children are also entitled to a place if:

Are looked after by the local authority
Have an education, health and care (EHC) plan
Get Disability Living Allowance
have left care under an adoption order, special guardianship order or a child arrangements order

Free childcare for working parents of children aged 2

From April 2024, free childcare is being expanded for working families of younger children so they can access 15 hours per week, increasing to 30 hours per week by September 2025.

Eligible working parents of three and four-year-olds already get 30 hours a week of free childcare. This expanded offer for younger children will be rolled out in stages as follows:

From April 2024 - working parents of two-year olds can access 15 hours of free childcare.
From September 2024 – working parents of children aged 9 to 23 months can access 15 hours of free childcare.
From September 2025 – working parents of children aged nine months upwards can access 30 hours of free childcare per week, right up to their child starting school.

Depending on your provider, these hours can be used over 38 weeks during term time, or up to 52 weeks if you use fewer than your total hours per week.

The funding is not intended to cover the costs of meals, nappies or additional activities, such as trips. Providers may charge a fee for these additions.

Eligible working parents

You or your partner must work at least 16 hours per week and not earn more than £100,000 to be eligible for this expanded funding. You can check full eligibility criteria on the Childcare Choices website.

If you are not in work you will not qualify for this offer but you may qualify for the free childcare for 2 year olds scheme.

When can I apply?

Children are entitled to the funded hours from the term after the age they become eligible:

Children born between 1st January and 31st March become eligible from 1st April
Children born between 1st April and 31st August become eligible from 1st September
Children born between 1st September and 31st December become eligible from 1st January

If you think you might be eligible for free childcare we can help you apply for this or you can apply online at https://liverpool.gov.uk/schools-and-learning/early-years-and-childcare/free-early-learning-2-year-olds/

Non-Funded two year olds:

For two year olds who are not eligible for free childcare, our fees are as follows:

£25 per morning or afternoon session

Please note we currently do not provide 30 hour sessions or lunches for our two year olds.

Please note that a place at MAPS Nursery does grant automatic transition from a 2 year old place to a 3 year old place at Matthew Arnold Primary School Nursery if places are available. Applications for a 3 year old place must be made through Matthew Arnold Primary School and you must apply through the school administration office. Places for Matthew Arnold Primary School Nursery are allocated in application date order. If your child attends our provision and a 3 year old place within the school nursery is available when your child is eligible, you will be contacted by the school to offer you this place

Daily Organisation

Session times:

Morning session – 8:40am to 11:40am

Afternoon session – 12:30pm to 3:30pm

The nursery is part of Matthew Arnold Primary School. Children within the nursery are able to participate in weekly sessions and we provide exciting and engaging experiences for our children to participate in following their own child led interests. The daily routine incorporates learning through play, key worker time and activities that build on the children’s developing knowledge and curiosity.

Through our bespoke planning we can provide engaging activities that promote physical coordination and manipulative skills, role-play and language development, music and movement, song/story times, musical instrument sessions and outdoor play. The children’s interests are used to carefully plan for their next steps within the setting as they independently access the resources within their child initiated play opportunities.

The daily key worker time is used as an opportunity to take part in small group activities that build upon the children’s attention and listening skills, social interactions and language development. Children spend a lot of their time outdoors and have access to the school nursery outdoor play area.

Dropping Off and Collecting

At the beginning of each session the children and families are greeted by a member of the EYFS team through our designated entrance to the MAPS nursery building and straight into the foyer where they have their own cloakroom facilities. At the end of each session, parents/carers are then asked to remain outside the building whereby a designated member of the team will meet and greet the parents/carers and hand over your child safely to you.

You will be required to complete an authorisation form stating which people have permission to collect your child from MAPS and they must be at least 16 years old. We will not release your child unless they are collected from the nursery by an adult named on the form. It is not appropriate to have your child collected by an older child in the school.

Snack

Children are encouraged to share a healthy snack and drink of milk in a small friendly group where a member of the EYFS team will promote good table manners and encourage children to be independent in their feeding. We do ask for a half termly voluntary contribution of £7 per child to be paid via ParentPay. Children will be offered fresh water throughout their session.