Welcome to 
Nursery

Early Years practice at Dial Park has been developed through research and evidence into best practice, which enables us to provide an excellent early experience for our children.

We are intentionally inclusive and all children are warmly welcomed by caring, nurturing and knowledgeable staff into an environment that sparks their curiosity and develops their independence. The children are active learners within quality first teaching sessions as well as whilst exploring their enabling environment where play is purposeful,

Strong relationships and excellent communication with parents is at the heart of our ethos, working together as a team is extremely important to us as you join us on your child's educational journey within the Dial Park family.

Our partnerships with Startwell, Portage and Offerton Early Years Workers enable us to provide early support to our families through a babbling babies group and also our baby and toddler group. 

In nursery we have our own Forest School site and all children have one forest school session per week. We follow the Forest School ethos and our sessions involve a variety of child led and adult supported activities. We gather together to check in and think about our boundaries and ways to be safe in the forest. We play a wide range of fun and active games which help develop our social, listening and gross motor skills.

We can also participate in adult directed activities such as making leaf mobiles, making chalk paint, creating natural art and making a variety of different bird feeders. We also have ‘Forest time’ which is where children self select their own play and Forest School activities - these include bird watching, bug hunting, playing in the mud kitchen, building dens, climbing snd chilling in the hammock! We also have fires, learn about the seasons, the changing weathers and each session helps develop our respect, knowledge and care for the natural world.

There is a plethora of very experienced talented people within our Early Years team. All of the staff at Dial Park are enthusiastic and dedicated to helping each and every child to reach their full potential whilst ensuring they feel safe, confident and independent to explore their new learning environment.

They are approachable and helpful and will ensure parents feel confident with this big step in their families lives.

Our staff are also very committed to their own personal development and ensure that they are at the forefront of research, evidence and training. 

This is an online presentation that Mr Wrigley and Mrs Honeychurch did for our Nursery parents over zoom to explain how parents can help their child at home. It is very different having to talk into a camera than talking to parents and children face to face but there are some great tips in the video for you.

From September 2017, all families with a 3 and 4 year old child will still be eligible for the universal offer of free early education of up to 15 hours a week term time or a total of 570 hours taken throughout the year. Some children will be eligible for extended childcare, which is up to 30 hours a week term time or a total of 1140 hours taken throughout the year.

We are offering 30 hours places to those children entitled to it. If you are interested and think you may be entitled please follow the local authority guidance below.

Eligibility for 30 hours:

Both parents must be working (or the sole parent is working in a lone parent family), and each parent earns a weekly minimum equivalent to 16 hours at national minimum wage or living wage, and less than £100,000 per year working will include employed and self-employed persons
in general families where one parent does not work (or neither parent works) will not be eligible for these additional hours both parents are employed but one or both parents is temporarily away from the workplace on parental, maternity or paternity leave both parents are employed but one or both parents is temporarily away from the workplace on adoption leave both parents are employed but one or both parents is temporarily away from the workplace on statutory sick pay
one parent is employed and one parent has substantial caring responsibilities based on specific benefits received for caring or one parent is employed and one parent is disabled or incapacitated based on receipt of specific benefits
What you have to do to apply:

Apply for a 15 hours place as usual via www.stockport.gov.uk and click “apply for” and “nursery admissions”. You can check what help you could get with childcare costs and an indication as to your eligibility for 30 hours free childcare via www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/. You can pre-register for email alerts to notify when you can apply for 30 hours free child care.

Once the portal is open, register and apply for a childcare service account. If eligible you will be issued with a code.

The Online Portal.

Parents will be able to apply for both Tax Free Childcare (see below) and 30 hour free childcare through a joint application system.

It will provide a simple journey for all parents and because the criteria are similar, it will avoid the need to provide the same information twice parents will be expected to inform HM Revenue and Customs of any change in circumstance that may affect their eligibility if eligibility changes there is a proposed grace period – this is intended to enable children to keep their place if parents become ineligible. More details will be available about the grace period.
Tax-free Childcare.

Tax free childcare is a new UK wide government scheme to help working parents with the cost of childcare and will be launched from early 2017. As a school we signed up to receive payments from parents using this account. For parents to apply for 30 hours free childcare they will need to open a childcare service account. This is a single online application for both 30 hours and tax free childcare.