Prospective parents (including New Parent Pack)

Please get in touch if you would like to enquire about places available from September 2021.

Welcome letter to parents:

Our charity 

Stepping Stones is a charity pre-school, totally focused on our children, families and community, where children  build on their learning through creative play. 

Every parent or carer is a Family Member of the charity and is involved in the Stepping Stones community. Our  Trustees oversee the charity’s work. All Trustees either currently have children at the pre-school, or previously  had children with us and Kathryn Rogers is our Chair of Trustees. 

Our skilled and experienced staff team nurture every child’s individual interests and partner with families in their  child’s learning, giving children the freedom to develop at their own pace. 

Key information 

Our sessions run from 9.00 – 12.00, Monday to Friday, during term time. Our term dates are on our website. If  your child will not be in for any reason, please let us know in advance, or at the latest by 9.30 on the morning of the session.

Registered charity number: 1037668 A member of the Early Years Alliance 

We have a Coronavirus Policy and risk assessment in place, which we will be updating as necessary in line with  government guidance. Both documents are included in this welcome pack. Our staff team will be on hand to take  you through how everything will operate; please be aware of the following key points: 

• Parents and carers will not be permitted on to the premises and will be required to hand their children over to a member of staff at the side gate. Children will be admitted to the pre-school garden one at a time, via the side gate where a member of staff will welcome them. Staff will take children from parents  or carers, maintaining a distance of 2 metres 
• Whilst waiting for the pre-school to open, parents and carers will be required to line up at 2 metre intervals along the hedge towards the church and to exit the car park by walking alongside the building towards the gate 
• Parents and carers will be required to pick their children up at 12.00 noon by waiting in the same position at 2 metre marked intervals alongside the hedge. Children will be handed over to parents at the gate, one at a time, at a 2 metre distance 
• Children should not bring any items into the pre-school other than a coat and spare clothes in a wipeable bag, if required. We also cannot store pushchairs, scooters or any other items on the site for the session • Parents and carers should avoid using the car park at Kendall Hall to allow for social distancing • Staff will be practicing good hygiene and cleanliness standards and encouraging children to do the same • Children will wash their hands in the outside washing facilities as soon as they enter the pre-school for at least 20 seconds, and at regular intervals through the day 
• All staff and children will cover mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing, with either a bent elbow or tissue and always wash hands afterwards
• Children and staff will not be admitted to the pre-school if they have: a new continuous cough, a high temperature, or a loss of taste and smell
• Parents and carers will not send children to pre-school if they have administered Calpol or other children’s paracetamol
• If children develop symptoms of coronavirus whilst in our care, staff will wear PPE and isolate the child who will need to be picked up as soon as possible. Children will then not be permitted back into pre school for 10 days or until they have had a negative coronavirus test. It is advised that all children who present with symptoms should be tested as soon as possible.

Finance 

We will receive some government funding for a number of our children. Unfortunately, the funding will not fully cover the children’s time with us and we therefore ask you to make a monthly contribution to our charity of  £35 a month (there are some exceptions so please check with us and we can clarify on an individual basis). Please set this up by the end of September by visiting our Just Giving page, clicking on ‘Donate’ and  selecting ‘Monthly’: www.justgiving.com/steppingstonescanterbury (We would like to keep a track of monthly donations. To help us to do this, please do not tick the box: ‘hide donation amount from public view’ and when asked if Just Giving can share your details with us, select ‘Yes please, opt me in’. Your donation will not appear on a public site and we will not send you anything extra!). Thank you. 

How you will be involved 

Your child’s key person will fully involve you in your child’s learning and development and we will be in touch regularly by email with updates on Stepping Stones and to invite you to get involved in socially distanced special  events and virtual fundrasising activities. 

As a Family Member, we will invite you to our Annual General Meeting and any other general meetings. 

We really value the support and skills you can bring to us as a Family Member Volunteer or a Trustee. Please let us know how you would  like to get involved.

Please follow us on facebook – @steppingstonescanterbury – and twitter – @pre_stones – and check out our  website: www.steppingstonescanterbury.org.uk 

If you have any questions at all, please get in touch. We can’t wait to see you in September. Stepping Stones Team

Please click on the link below for the Welcome Morning Presentation that was delivered to new parents (September 2019)

http://www.steppingstonescanterbury.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Copy-of-19-09-02-Welcome-Morning-Presentation.pptx

Useful information for parents

Parents are regarded as members of our setting who have full participatory rights. These include a right to be:

• Valued and respected
• Kept informed
• Consulted
• Involved
• Included at all levels.

As a community based, voluntary managed setting, we also depend on the good will of parents and their involvement to keep going. Membership of the setting carries expectations on parents for their support and commitment.

Term Dates 2021-2022

Term one:

6^th September to 22^nd October

Term two:

1^st November to 17^th December

Term three:

4^th January to 11^th February

Term four:

21^st February to 1^st April

Term five:

19^th April to 27^th May

Term six:

6^th June to 22^nd July

FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENTS 2020/2021

Fees

The hourly cost of per 3 hour session from September 2020 has been set at £5.71. Fees can be paid directly into the Stepping Stones account or they can be paid weekly or monthly. You will be issued with an Invoice at the start of the term which will show details of your payment options. You are able to pay for extra sessions should we be unable to offer you all of your hours funded (if your child is eligible for funding; see below).

KCC Early Education Entitlement

Every child is eligible for 15 hours (dependent on available spaces) of funded childcare starting from the term after their 3rd Birthday. You can pay for sessions on top of funded sessions at our daily rate, if funded sessions are not available.

This will be applied for automatically on your behalf. You will need to show your child’s Birth Certificate and sign a form confirming eligilibity. You will also need to know your National Insurance Number.

Early Years Pupil Premium

If your child is over 3 and you are in receipt of certain benefits, we may be able to obtain additional funding to assist us with your child’s place at Stepping Stones, please speak to your key person about this.

Free for 2-year olds

Stepping Stones is registered to offer free places for 2 year olds who fall into the correct age bracket and if families are in receipt of certain benefits.

Childcare Vouchers

Stepping Stones is also registered to with, Computershare  (www.computersharevoucherservices.com) and Fideliti (www.fideliti.co.uk/) and Edenred (www.edenred.co.uk/) voucher schemes. If your employer is also registered, you may be able to claim some of your fees through this.

Please contact your key person if you wish to discuss any of the above. You can leave a message on the answerphone and we will call you back as soon as possible or email us at info@steppingstonescanterbury.org.uk.

EARLY YEARS PUPIL PREMIUM

Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) is available to children who attend a setting and have a free Early Education Place as a 3 or 4-year old, funded by Kent County Council.

You may be eligible if you are in receipt of certain benefits, or if you have previously claimed Free for 2 funding.

The funding is given to the setting so that it can be used to enhance your childs learning. The setting may, for example employ a speech therapist, purchase new resources or have extra staffing.

A form is available at (www.kent.gov.uk/pupilpremium).

Please speak to your key person if you wish to discuss this further or need any assistance with the forms.

Please print the names and email address that you would prefer to be contacted on.

Child’s Name …………………………………………………………

Parent one’s Name ……………………………………………………………………………….

Email Address ………………………………………………………………………………

Parent two’s Name ………………………………………………………………………………

Email Address ……………………………………………………………………………….

Setting: Stepping Stones Pre-School

Kendall Hall, Nunnery Fields

Canterbury, CT1 3JN

Manager: Sally Heath

Data Protection and Privacy Notice

 We have to follow the requirements of the data protection act, when we accept and use information about you and your child, for example, addresses, national insurance numbers, dates of birth etc.

 The Data Protection Act 1998 was updated as the GDPR which came into effect in May 2018, this requires that every data controller (e.g. Stepping Stones Preschool) who is processing personal information registers with the ICO – we are registered as required.

 Kent County Council says “The Privacy notice is designed to meet the needs of the Data Protection Act and should be brought to the attention of all children for whom data is being submitted in the Early Years Census. Early years settings are responsible for doing this for their children and the privacy notice might be included as part of an induction pack. Unless there has been a revision, privacy notices do not need reissuing on an annual basis.

 The Privacy Notice refers the parents / carers to the LA website to see how they will store and use the data.

 The Privacy Notices also refer the parents / carers to the DfE website to see how they will store and use the data. Explanations are provided on how the data collected in the Early Years Census will be used. They include details of organisations with which data will be shared, e.g. the Department of Health and Ofsted.”

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/0BzfmAuX7eVuCTTBDZnlWakVpNVNvNTVjdmU4aFlYaFhEaTY4/edit#slide=id.p1