Castle Kidz is a childcare service that provides pre-school and after-school care for the local community.

We offer a pre-school service five mornings a week on a full and part-time basis.  Our service operates the ECCE scheme.

Our after-school service operates during school terms from 1.20pm to 6.20pm.  There is an option of an hour’s service between the 1.20pm and 2.20pm pickups from St Francis’ school.

We have a one adult to 8 children ratio for pre-school. This allows for more individual time to be spent with each child.

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Commencing Pre-School 

At the start of the year we ask parents to:

• Provide children with a small schoolbag and lunch bag/box
• Ensure names are on all clothing, lunch boxes and drink containers.
• Send children to school in old clothes. During school it is possible that children will get paint or other stains on their clothes so please dress children accordingly
• During winter months we suggest children are provided with both wellie boots and normal shoes as boots cannot be worn inside.
• We request a complete change of clothes that are clearly labelled, to be given into the school at the start of the year that will be kept in storage in the case of any messy accidents.
• Children may bring one or two personal toys with them to school that can be placed in their schoolbags but we suggest any valuable or easily broken toys are left at home as we do not take responsibility for breakages during play.
• Sunscreen must be provided by parents for their child. We encourage sunscreen to be applied before coming to school but it can be topped up by staff with written consent to do so.

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Arrival and Departure 

Arrival

• It is the policy of Castle Kidz that children on the premises are the responsibility of parents/guardians until inside the classroom
• We ask parents/guardians to park carefully and not block entrances
• We request that you notify management of child’s absence due to illness, injury etc.

Departure

• It is the policy of Castle Kidz that children may only be collected by the person(s) named on the registration form.
• The parent/carer must notify the staff if an alternative named person is to collect the child. If this person is not known to staff members, they will be asked for identification.
• Children must be accompanied by an adult when leaving the building.
• The adult/carer is responsible for the child once they have left the classroom
• Children must always be collected on time. In the event that late pickups become a frequent occurrence it will be mentioned to parents and a late fee will then be issued if late pickups continue

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Settling In

It is the policy of this service that every effort is made to ensure that the settling in period is as easy and pleasant as possible for the children and their parents/carers.

Settling-In Procedures

• Each parent is provided with an information pack about the service before the child starts at the service.
• Each parent is encouraged to drop in to the service with their child before the child starts at the service, so the that the child can become familiar with the other children, staff and the day to day running of the service.
• On the first day if the parent feels it’s necessary they are encouraged to stay with the child until he or she feels comfortable in their new surroundings.
• No child will be pressurised to take part in any activity during the settling in period.
• To help staff build a relationship with the child, staff will discuss the child’s interests with parents, as well as their likes, dislikes and key words the child uses at home
• Each parent will be given a daily account of the child’s progress during the settling in period.

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Admissions

It is the policy of Castle Kidz childcare service to offer equal access to all children from the community including children with additional needs or special requirements, and irrespective of their culture, religion, membership of ethnic group or minority, or family background.

Admissions Procedures

• Each child must be at least 2 years 7 months old and toilet trained when formally enrolled at Castle Kidz, unless in the case of exceptional circumstances agreed with the Manager.
• Children availing of the government-sponsored free pre-school places will be admitted in line with ECCE requirements (see ECCE Enrolment Policy)
• Parents seeking to secure a place for their child must complete an enrolment form and pay a deposit
• A completed enrolment form must be lodged with the service prior to the child attending the service
• Full time children will be admitted on a “first come first served” basis, following submission of the enrolment form.
• Part-time places will be allocated in certain cases at the discretion of management and where places are available.
• Children of pre-ECCE age will be accommodated where places are available.
• If there are no remaining places a waiting list will be drawn up and the following will apply when allocating a place.
  • Priority to full time (5 days)
  • Existing Children
  • Siblings
  • Past pupils
  • Staff children