Term Dates

St. Peter's Preschool broadly follows the school term dates of the London Borough of Waltham Forest and we are actively exploring running additional provision during school holiday times where there is demand for us to do so. Our term dates for 2021/22 are as follows:

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2022

Autumn Term - 6th September - 16th December (Half Term 24th Oct - 28th October)

INSET DAY 21st October

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2023

Spring Term - 4th January - 31st March (Half Term 13th February - 17th February)

INSET DAY 10th February

Summer Term - 17th April - 21st July (Half Term 29th May - 2nd June)

INSET DAY 26th May

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Timings

We open for drop off from 8:45am and parents/carers are welcome to drop and go or head over to the brand new café at St. Peter's Church. Doors close at 9am.

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Children attending for half day sessions are ready for collection at 12noon and must be collected by 12:15pm at the latest.

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Children attending for full day sessions are ready for collection by 3pm and everyone needs to be picked up by 3:15pm at the latest.

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Attendance

Children are welcome to attend from one half day each week up to five full days. Please be aware that where we are oversubscribed, priority is given to children attending more sessions as this aids consistency of care and building friendships within the setting.

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Where it will not take us outside of our safeguarding ratios, we may occasionally be able to cater for one off situations for current preschool members who need to attend extra sessions (such as where a parent/carer has to go into the office for an extra day) - if you need to access this service please contact education@rbf.org.uk at least 48 hours before the session is required.

As a charitable organisation dedicated to supporting families, we want to make our services as accessible to families as possible.

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Deposit

All families are required to pay a £75 holding deposit to secure their place at St. Peter's Preschool which is refunded to you when your child leaves the preschool if there are no arrears on your account. Your deposit also secures you your child's first uniform jumper, jumpsuit and wellies and we ask that when your deposit is returned you consider donating old uniform to us to keep as spares and to help out families who might not otherwise be able to afford it. Please note that if you pay a deposit but your child does not end up attending the preschool then it is non-refundable.

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Costings

We have a simple pricing structure of £22 per child per half day attended. All fees have to be paid in advance (so fees for September are payable by 28th August) and places will be suspended where families are in arrears. 

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Eligible for 30 Hours Free Childcare?

If you are eligible for 30 Hours Free Childcare then you do not need to pay anything. However, the amount which RBF receives from the government for providing free childcare places is significantly less than what it costs us to offer the provision, so we invite all families to make a voluntary contribution to the Red Balloon Foundation of £6 per half day attended to help make up the shortfall. UK Taxpayers can additionally Gift Aid their donation. Please note that donations are entirely voluntary and if you cannot afford to make them your child can still access everything that the preschool has to offer.

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St. Peter's Preschool is run by a charity and operates on a not for profit basis. Any surplus that the setting generates is reinvested into supporting vulnerable families across RBF's work.

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Additional Fees

Please note that collections made after 3:15pm will incur a charge of £10, rising by £5 each time in the term that a family is late to pick up. The Peterhouse Hall is used by other groups every evening and our team needs time to clean and clear the space ready for the next users.

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Please be aware, in accordance with our Safeguarding Policy we have to make a report to Waltham Forest Social Care with regard to children who are persistently not collected in a timely way from RBF activities that they are attending.