About our Nursery
The Holy Trinity Nursery is led by qualified teachers and follows the Government's "Early Years Foundation Stage" (EYFS) curriculum which consists of seven different areas of learning. We aim to deliver this to all the children by offering a wide variety of activities to encourage children to become independent learners that are ready for the school year ahead.
We admit children to the Nursery class for one year, from the September of the school year in which the child turns 4:
If there are places in the nursery after the end of the Autumn term the school may offer these to children who turned three during the Autumn term, in accordance with the criteria set out in our Admissions Policy. If you would like to be added to the waiting list for an early place please contact Samantha Joiner (SBM@holytrinity.merton.sch.uk). Please note that we will be unable to let you know whether we have a place for your child until late December.
Open/ Foundation and Part Time/ Full Time Spaces
We can accommodate up to 26 children in the nursery at any one time. We offer a combination of both part time and full time places (all term time only):
Half of the places will be allocated to Open Place applicants and half to Foundation Place applicants, in keeping with our Admissions Policy for the wider school (see 'Admissions Arrangements' below).
Places will typically be made available as follows:
The school reserves the right to offer unused spaces to families requesting an alternative session, to maximise capacity in the nursery e.g. if we have unused full time places we may convert these to half day sessions.
When applying parents may list their session preferences in priority order. We will use our Admissions Criteria to rank all applicants and work from the top of the list downwards to allocate all available places. This means that a family applying for a full day place may be offered a half day place if all of the full day places have been allocated by the time we reach their position in the ranked applicant list.
Government Funding and Fees
Part Time Places – Fully Funded
Part time places are fully funded by the government’s Free Early Universal Education Offer which provides free nursery education for children over 3 years old for 15 hours per week (this equates to 3 hours per day in our nursery). Please note that you cannot use your child’s funding at our nursery and at another nursery at the same time.
Full Time Places – Part Funded
Some families are entitled to 30 hours’ free childcare per week. To find out whether you might be eligible and to register for funding please visit https://www.gov.uk/30-hours-free-childcare).
Our full time places are from 8.30am to 3.30pm, five days per week (35 hours per week in total). We therefore ask parents to pay a charge of £9.50 per day for the additional hour each day for which we cannot claim government funding.
The 30 hours funding is subject to eligibility criteria which are determined by the government. If you are offered a full day place and accept this but subsequently do not receive the government funding (or if you cease to be eligible during the year) you will be required to pay the school for all sessions not funded by the government.
Full Time Places – Self Funded
Families who are not eligible for 30 hours government funded childcare may choose to self-fund. Your child will receive 3 hours of government funded “free” provision each day and then 4 additional self-funded hours at a cost of £41 per day.
Parents whose applications for full day sessions are successful will receive additional information about how and when the fees should be paid at the time of offer.
Entry in September 2024 - How and When to Apply
As we are a voluntary aided school, we manage all nursery applications ourselves in accordance with our Admissions Policy. The application deadline for Nursery places starting in September 2024 was at 5pm on Monday 12th February 2024.
If you wish to make a late application, the form below should be downloaded, printed, completed and returned directly to the school. Applications may also be emailed to sbm@holytrinity.merton.sch.uk.
Should you wish to apply for a Foundation place you will also need to complete a Supplementary Form (which you must get signed by the minister of your church) and to return this along with your application form. A copy may be found below.
We are aware that many local churches have been closed during the Covid-19 pandemic, meaning that families have been prevented from consistently attending church over the two year period required. Our governors have therefore written an addendum to our Admissions Policy which states that: "In the event that the church has been closed for public worship and has not provided alternative premises for that worship during the last 2 years, the requirement for attendance will only apply to the period when the church or alternative premises have been available for public worship".
Children who have attended the nursery at Holy Trinity do not automatically receive a place in our Reception class, nor do they have priority over those who have not attended our nursery.
In Year Places
If you are interested in an in-year place (either because if your child is already of nursery age or because you are interested in an early place for a child who turns 3 in the autumn term) please email Samantha Joiner (SBM@holytrinity.merton.sch.uk) who will let you know if we have spaces available and add you to the waiting list where applicable.
If you are successful in obtaining an early place you will need to apply again for the following academic year, so that we can be fair to all applicants.
If You have Questions...
If you would like to talk through any aspect of the Admissions process, please contact Samantha Joiner (SBM@holytrinity.merton.sch.uk) or 020 8542 1591
Appeals can be considered under two categories: