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Covid News Update

Covid News Update

Dear Parent/Carers,

Following the PM’s speech last night, I’m sure many of you are concerned, confused and worried about how the lockdown of the whole country is going to affect you as a family. Schools have been told to close for remote learning however the Early Years sector have been instructed to remain open.

Brampton and Hilltop Pre-schools will continue to operate as normal and will inform you of any changes if we are given additional guidance or if staffing levels reduce and this proves difficult to sustain the current numbers of children we care for. We all have families and children ourselves and know that this awful virus has had an impact on each and every one of us and we all hope that with vaccinations being rolled out there is a brighter future ahead for us all.

We ask that you support us by ensuring you wear a mask at the gate when collecting/dropping off your children (Unless exempt) and do not attend pre-school if you, your child or someone in your household has symptoms of Coronavirus and observe social distancing when at the gate.

Stay safe and look after each other.

National lockdown: Stay at Home – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Kind regards

Sarah Bailey

Manager

Brampton & Hilltop Pre-schools

Portishead Pre-school Charity 1180880

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

To all our lovely families, the teams at Brampton and Hilltop wish you a very Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year!

We look forward to seeing you when term starts on Monday 4th Jan 2021.

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Fees and Funding

Fees and Funding

Sessions are charged at £17.00 per session, or can be funded using either the 15 hours of free childcare for all 3 and 4 year olds (details available here) or using the additional 15 hours of funding (details and application form). For 3 and 4 year old funding, the child can only receive a funded place from the start of the term after their birthday (subject to their birthday being before the funding period date).  Funding periods start on 1 January, 1 April and 1 September each year.  

At Hilltop, parents may also access and use 2 year old funding (details).

Lunch Club is charged at an additional cost of £3.50 per day, payable at the beginning of each term, which is non refundable.  

A consumable donation is charged at £8 each term, this covers morning and afternoon snacks, as well as some activities, like baking. This is not a mandatory fee, however without this being paid we would be unable to offer a healthy snack to all children and provide such a high range of activities.

There is an admin fee of £10. This is applicable only for children who pay fees.

Re-opening of the Pre-Schools

Re-opening of the Pre-Schools

First of all we would like to thank you for your good wishes and emails regarding the re-opening of pre-school. We have been working closely with committee to plan for a date to re-open. Due to staff being furloughed and time constraints we are now planning to re-open on Monday 8th June.

We have received a number of emails enquiring what the pre-school will be like for the children when we return, therefore I have attached the latest risk assessment that we have put in place for when re-open. I have listed a few main points below which have been a recurring theme in emails we’ve received.

  • We will be using staggered start and finish times to enable a social distanced approach to drop off and pick ups and staff will at times be wearing increased PPE.
  • Children will be collected from the main gate at Brampton and side gate at Hilltop by a staff member, as parents will not be permitted into the building. We will not be able to store bikes/scooter/pushchairs during this period.
  • No toys from home will be permitted.
  • Only children that attend all day will be able to stay for lunch.
  • We will not be offering any changes to sessions children already attend.
  • There will be a cap of 15 children per session, although due to the nature of how we operate children will mix with other children through-out the week.
  •  We will allow children who attend other provisions (as well as the pre-school) to attend preschool to support working parents.
  • Equipment/toys will be washed after each session.
  • Children will be helped to wash hands when entering pre-school and hand washing will have an increased focus throughout the session/day.
  • Children who are unwell or displaying symptoms of illness will not be permitted into pre-school until well.
  • We will where possible use small group work however we will not be able to prevent children from interacting through-out the session/day.

This list is not exhaustive and there will be activities on going that we will need to amend to help minimise cross infection. We want to reassure you that although we have put these measure in place, we are still the same people and will continue to support and teach your children in a caring and fun environment.

Please check your emails and our pre-school website for updates going forward. We look forward to seeing those of you who are returning, and wish others a lovely summer.

Planned Re-opening of the settings

Planned Re-opening of the settings

*Please notify Sarah via email as soon as possible if you intend to send your child back to pre-school from June 1st*

The team are currently preparing the settings for a possible June 1st reopening, as per the phased guidance from the government.

We want to reassure you that the welfare and safeguarding of your children, and our staff, are of paramount importance and we are working hard to ensure we can minimise risk, wherever possible, at the setting. Going forward we will require your support and cooperation with changes to our daily operation, which will be sent out in due course.

Our intention, is to open each session everyday and offer lunch club only to those children who attend all day. Due to the uncertainty of the numbers of children who will return next term and to plan effectively, we need to know if you intend to send your child back to the pre-school from June 1st . (Potential opening date)


Can you please email: manager@portisheadpreschool.co.uk as soon as possible with your decision.