Places for 2-year-olds

What we offer 2-year-olds

For the school year 2024-2025, we will provide free hours for 2-year-olds in school term-time only (no holiday playscheme). We don't take children under 2.

For eligible low-income families:

Morning places: 9am to 12 noon, 5 days a week
Afternoon places: 1pm to 4pm, 5 days a week

For eligible working families:

Three-day places: Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, 9am to 4pm: 15 free hours plus 6 Additional Hours

These families can purchase more education and care in term-time:

at Church Hill: Mondays 9am to 4pm (15 free hours plus 13 Additional Hours)
at Low Hall: Mondays and/or Fridays 9am to 4pm (15 free hours plus 13 or 23 Additional Hours).
also at Low Hall: Breakfast Club (8-9am) and/or Teatime Club (4pm to 6pm) for 3, 4 or 5 days a week.

If we fail to fill these places, we offer:

More morning and afternoon places for low-income/disadvantaged families.
Four-day Daycare (paid for) places: Monday to Thursday from 9am – 4pm, a total of 28 additional hours.

Fees

Additional hours: £10 per hour.

Children bring a packed lunch.

Families provide nappies and wipes for children who do not yet use the toilet.

We ask all families to make a weekly voluntary donation to School Fund. The money is used to provide children’s snacks, subsidise small group outings and pay towards children’s entertainers.

Who is eligible for what?

Families are eligible for financial and non-financial reasons.

Low-income places

You may be eligible for a low-income place because of your family circumstances or your child’s needs. Check your eligibility and apply for a free 2-year-old place for low-income families on the Waltham Forest website or scan the QR code. Call the Waltham Forest Childcare Team on 020 8496 3566 if you need help to apply.

QR code leading www.walthamforest.gov.uk/families-young-people-and-children/free-early-education-and-childcare/free-early-education-two-year-olds

Working families places

You may be eligible for a working families place because of how much you earn. Check your eligibility and apply for a free eligible working families place on the government website or scan the QR code.

QR code leading to www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/

How do I put my child on the waiting list?

As soon as your child is born and has a name, you can add them to our Waiting Lists for free. Please don't do this before they are born:

fill out our Application form
select ‘Church Hill’ or ‘Low Hall’
fill in the rest of the form and submit it. You must answer questions with a '*'.

This adds your child to the Waiting List of the school you have selected. Like primary and secondary schools, we offer places according to our admissions criteria, not time on the list. Read more about Who gets a place and what happens next.

When can my 2-year-old start nursery?

Eligible 2-year-olds can start their free 15 hours the term after their 2nd birthday, as soon as we have a place.

We cannot take a child before they are 2.

When do I find out if we have a place?

Most places are available in September, and we contact everyone on our waiting list the Spring before that. We ask:

if you still want a place at the school
what type of place you want to apply for

We then work out if we have a place that suits you. If we do, we send you an 'offer email'. If you say 'yes' to this offer, we arrange for you and your child to start the Admissions process and Settling in.

If a place becomes available mid-year, we try to fill it. We contact the families on our waiting list in the order set out in our admissions criteria.

Parents who are studying or working

It is our experience that children who attend school every day benefit in many ways, however children also benefit enormously from spending quality time with their parents and carers. We offer the places allocated to the 2-year-olds of eligible working families as three longer days in order to fit with working patterns.

If you have a morning or afternoon place and have an opportunity to study or work that means you need a different pattern, please talk to Helen Currie, our Executive Headteacher as soon as possible.