Current charges

The 15 - 30 hours funding is for children from two years until the the term a child turns five years old. The invoices raised for these children are for additional services, this includes meals, snacks and consumables, suncream, tissues, toilet paper, nappies, the washing of clothes and linen changed daily, trips and any extra hours, whether mentoring or late pick up. Educational resources are provided by the kindergarten; books, art supplies, games, blocks, garden equipment, craft materials, crucial for creating rich education.

Parents have an option to pay otherwise arrangements can be made to supply the additional needs including lunches and snacks. During the autumn term I will audit all the above and finalise the charges raised in January 2026 for the funded entitlement hours. The items on invoices will also be shown on the website for reference. The funded hours are to be inclusive for all children and any financial concerns of parents should be raised and any necessary arrangements made.

We will also regularly review the charges policy making sure all children have access to quality early years education. Families must have flexibility. Fee and payment policies must be flexible if a family is unable to pay. Also there has to be a preparation for dispute resolution, which will outline the steps if a dispute arises over fees and where possible I would always aim to provide managable payment plans.

As part of our autumnal audit I will share why we supply the seasonal food and how the children are involved in the preparation of their own food, accommodating the different dietary needs of the children, within this will be our revised healthy eating policy and allergy protocols. We will begin the autumn with grinding an ancient grain for making of our morning buns.

Milling in the first week of kindergarten

Harvest notes

The harvest of apples from the allotment are eaten during our morning snack. The cooked apple will be made into jars added to oats, chia seeds, a little honey, some nuts and can be taken on our walk to Hawkwood for Forest Friday or eaten in the afternoon as our snack before home-time story.

The plan is that I will update the photos regularly during the terms and use this journal for short notes to highlight curriculum and events, which will be elaborated in the mailchimp emails to all families in attendance.

This week I will be publishing in the journal the new early years requirements coming into place in January. Part of the the new requirements is making any invoicing transparent. This includes what is chargeable as extras and what must be provided. This is for children of funded age. I try to make it not too much of a financial leap when a child turns 5 and not longer receives the funding. The cost of materials for craft and art, reading and writing are broken down for the children turning 5. During the autumn term I will be auditing the costs so that the final itemised invoices will be standard for invoices raised at the beginning of each half term.

I am meeting Rhona tomorrow who is the kindergarten grandmother and she makes the children’s birthday presents and enjoys hearing about the new families joining the kindergarten community. We will begin to celebrate the birthdays starting with Zen whilst the new children with summer birthdays settle in.

Rhona would make these jars when taking Albert on walks. We can add blackberries on our walk to Hawkwood.

Often the leavers need a meet up in order to prepare for the transition to school. Milo popped in to meet the kitten.