Admissions Policy

Admissions Policy

Appletrees Day Nursery offers fully inclusive care and is committed to ensuring the promotion of equal opportunity and anti-discriminatory practice.

Appletrees operates a waiting list and a child’s name will be placed on this list on the date the enrolment form is received. There is no registration fee.

The nursery manager will contact families when there is a space available to offer. A deposit will be required at this stage to secure your child’s place at Appletrees.

As far as possible places are allocated on a ‘first come first’ basis, but as the rooms are age related, when offering places to those at the top of the waiting list consideration must be given as to whether the child’s age corresponds with the particular vacancy. This is also the case with regards to which days and the number of days parents require, although every opportunity will be made to discuss this with parents on the waiting list.

Existing families and siblings will have priority of place.

At Appletrees we have a policy that requires children to attend a minimum two sessions per week to support a child’s emotional wellbeing, overall development and settling into a new environment.

The relationship between a child’s parent and the setting is crucial to the child’s well being. Once a child is due to start, there is a settling-in period that is very important. Parents are asked to stay with their child at nursery for part, or all of the first few days of the settling period. The time spent at nursery will be gradually increased during the week and the parents’ time will be reduced until the child is fully relaxed and happy. During this time parents will also get to know the key person better.

Prior to the child starting at nursery the manager or their Key Person will contact parents to arrange a settling meeting. Parents will be able to discuss the settling process further and fill in the required forms detailing contact names and addresses, work and home telephone numbers, emergency contact numbers, names of persons who may collect the child, together with details about the child’s daily routine.

Although very much a matter of parental choice, children who are not going to be following the Department of Health’s childhood immunisation programme in full, will not be admitted to the nursery.

Reviewed September 2017