need help for dd starting pre school in september

[tjacksonpfc]

hi i was wondering if any one could help me i have just been into the school where my dd will be starting pre school september it has a nursery conected to the main school she will be 3 july so will start 5 mornings a wekk september. i was under the impression that when they are 3 pre school is free i have just been give all the prosectus about the school to find that they charge £15 per term towards cost £5 refundable book deposit and then the school uniform on top. is this correct it is not a private school it is a state one. thanks in adavnce for any responses.

DS's pre-school is a state one and we pay 50p per session (in lieu of parents having to help on a rota). I just had his invoice for this half term which is £14, so we probably pay about £30/term.

I'm quite happy with this, as I know why we are paying it. Can you ask the pre-school what the £15 cost is for?

its says its for treats on friday snack times and towards plants and toys

Hi

We pay 3 pounds per term towards cooking and other materials not covered in their budget. Its supposed to be voluntary but not treated so in practice. We dont object as it is a good school, and it helps our children get a better range of activities.

Preschool is in theory free but it seems very common to ask for parental contributions

teh book deposit is so that the children ring any books home they make sure they are returned i guess.

the £15 is actually more common than you'd think.

none in our area make charges once the kids are funded, at ours the pre-school year do a longer session on a friday (not open to the younger kids) where the kids take their lunch and eat it there and we pay £3 for the extra hour (3.5hr rather than 2.5hr).
Personally I'd object to fri snack time treats on principle - they should be giving them fruit and portraying it as the best thing to have, not teaching them that other things are treats.

The only charge I pay is for lunch club on the days she has lunch there and that's £2 per session.

We don't pay anything but we do bring our own fruit/veg snacks. However we do A LOT of fundraising which probably gets up people's noses as much as requesting a regular cheque. Swings and roundabouts I guess.