Admissions Criteria
We adhere to the guidance set out by Wandsworth Council and give priority to;
- Children looked after, or who have an allocated social worker who has provided written support of the application or children who are the subject of adoption, residence order, child arrangements order or special guardianship who were previously looked after by a Local Authority.
- Children who are recommended for a place at that school following an action plan agreed by a multi-disciplinary group e.g. a ‘Team Around the Child’ (TAC). In some cases where there is a particular need, places can be given to children from the age of two years.
- Children with professionally supported educational, medical or social needs.
- Children who live nearest to the school by a straight line between your home and the centre of the school site calculated by Wandsworth Council’s Geographical Information System.
For further details, please refer to ‘Choosing Early Education in Wandsworth’ – available on request.
Additional 15 hours (30 hour offer)
Some working parents may be able to claim an additional 15 hours free nursery education per week. To be eligible for the additional 15 hours, the household must:
- Be a two parent working family or a lone working parent.
- Have all parents working and each parent earning between: the equivalent of 16 hours a week at the National Minimum or Living Wage (includes income received from tax credits or Universal Credit) and earning less than £100,000 per year. Please note, if one parent’s income exceeds £100,000, the household will not be eligible.
- Both parents usually working, but one is temporarily out of work for a particular reason, i.e. one or both parents are away from work on leave (parental, maternity etc.) or one or both parents are in receipt of Statutory Sick Pay.
- Parents on zero-hours contracts will be eligible, as are those who are registered as self-employed.
- One parent is employed and the other parent has either: substantial caring responsibilities and/or disability based on specific benefits received for caring, is a foster carer with their own three and four year old children.
- Parents who are in training will not be eligible as they can receive other Government support.
Please visit the government “Childcare Choices” website to check if you qualify for the additional 15 hours.
To ensure that your child can receive the additional 15 hours entitlement, parents must apply and have their codes validated by the Local Authority by the following deadlines:
- 31 August to receive funding in the Autumn Term
- 31 December to receive funding in the Spring Term
- 31 March to receive funding in the Summer Term
If you do qualify, you will need to provide us with your eligibility/funding code and National Insurance Number prior to the above deadlines.
Please note: Parents are required to review their eligibility every 3 months.
Top Up and Early Entry
If families are not eligible for the additional 15 hours, we are now able to offer the option to “top up” to a full-time place. We are also able to consider “top up” for an early entry, part-time place, for those children who turn 3 in the Autumn or Spring Term prior to the universal 15 hours free entitlement becoming available the term following their third birthday. The cost of “topping up” is £120 per week for the 2020/2021 academic year. We are currently unable to consider individual additional sessions as part of this initiative. If you would like further information, please do contact the school office where a member of the Admin Team will be able to assist you further.
Provision
We usually have approximately 70 (or 50 full-time equivalent) children on roll, the majority of which will attend on a part-time basis. We are able to offer approximately 20 places for children who are eligible for the additional 15 hours (full time, 30 hour offer) or who wish to Top Up.
We offer part-time places for 4 mornings or afternoons and 1 full day to provide 15 hours of free nursery education. The pupil: staff ratio is approximately 1 adult to 8 children for our 3-4 year olds and 1 adult to 3 children for our 2-3 year olds.
Joining the Nursery
Most children join the Nursery at the beginning of the academic year, (which runs from 1st September–31st August), following their 3rd birthday. The starting dates are staggered throughout September to help the children settle more easily.
However, we do occasionally have some spaces available and so if your child has their third birthday after the September start date, do contact a member of the Admin Team on 020 8673 4055 or email admin@balham-nursery.wandsworth.sch.uk who will be able to advise you further.
Admissions
Deadlines for applications
We aim to make our offers for September by the previous Easter break at the latest. Occasionally we may have places available for the Spring Term and so please do apply online and we will let you know if we are able to accommodate your child. If you do miss the deadline, but would still like to apply for a place, please contact the school office who will be able to provide you with further information.
Early Education Places
Families with children aged two years old, who meet the eligibility criteria, are entitled to a maximum of 15 hours per week of free early education for 38 weeks per year from the term after their child’s second birthday. This is called an Early Education Place.
We have a small number of places for children who are eligible for an Early Education Place.
If you are interested in 15 hours of free early learning and play for your two year old, please contact Thrive Wandsworth on 020 88761 7899 or a member of the Balham Children’s Centre team on 07866 154009 and they will take you through the application process and support you in your search for a nursery place.
Delayed admission to Reception Year
Children are usually admitted to the Reception year in the September following their fourth birthday. However, if there are exceptional reasons and your child is “summer born”, i.e. has their birthday between 1 April and 31 August, you can request that your child is delayed admission until the following September. This will usually only apply where there are significant reasons that would benefit your child’s academic, social and emotion development.
If you wish your child to delay entry to Reception and continue at our Nursery, please speak with Emma towards the end of the Autumn Term or in the first two weeks of January.
