Extra "free" preschool year

dori_dormer

Ok so by my calculations on paper, for my February boy, 1 .5 free ecce years equates to him being 11.7 starting 6th class. He would not be 12 until the feb of 6th class so would not meet the criteria of the schools you talked about.

1 extra ecce year, means starting school at 5.7, and starting 6th class at 12.7. Meeting the criteria.

I think the whole idea of the extra ecce yr is to get kids starting school at 5 or older. And it seems maybe the secondary schools are trying to get in line with this also?

dori_dormer

But as a side note, how many parents actually look at the enrolment criteria of the secondary schools before 5th class? What would you do with a kid like yours or mine who just missed out by a month? They couldn't surely stop them from entering secondary school? All the schools need to be in line with rules like that to consider

Millem

Dori maybe it's 1st jan in 1st year? I just presumed it was 6th class because all the educate togethers here go by a 1st come 1st come basis?
I teach in a protestant school and the age restrictions have been waived for protestant children. Now though the demand is insane that all the kids seem to be older and protestant!

It really is a head melt! I suppose time will tell on what will happen with ecce. In a way I wish they would do something like french school....they start in the year they are 3 so lads would start at 3 and 7 months. My guy also down for there but they don't accept ecce.

angeldelight

I just checked enrolment policy of the local secondary school to see after reading the last few posts - it's by 1st of January of first year

mirrorwall14

I have no clue how all of this works I will be moving house this year so I don't even know where to register him for primary school because we haven't decided where we'll be. Do preschools have similar area specific enrollment policies as schools? If not maybe i could get him registered for a place near work so it doesn't matter where I am

Millem

mirrorwall14 wrote: »

I have no clue how all of this works I will be moving house this year so I don't even know where to register him for primary school because we haven't decided where we'll be. Do preschools have similar area specific enrollment policies as schools? If not maybe i could get him registered for a place near work so it doesn't matter where I am

Mirrorwall of us it doesn't matter where you live for preschool but our primary school makes you show a gas/electricity bill to prove address and it has to have a certain date on it!!!!

Millem

angeldelight wrote: »

I just checked enrolment policy of the local secondary school to see after reading the last few posts - it's by 1st of January of first year

I will ask in work as I am guessing different schools have different criteria?

mirrorwall14

Millem wrote: »

Mirrorwall of us it doesn't matter where you live for preschool but our primary school makes you show a gas/electricity bill to prove address and it has to have a certain date on it!!!!

Yeah the schools seem to need the area. How far in advance should I be booking preschool I wonder? He's almost 1

Millem

mirrorwall14 wrote: »

Yeah the schools seem to need the area. How far in advance should I be booking preschool I wonder? He's almost 1

MirrorWall I contacted during summer and had to come for a one on one meeting which I couldn't schedule until week after Halloween midterm as it had to be between 10-11 as she wanted me to see kids with Montessori materials. They follow primary school dates so I went back to work before them in August and they closed for summer and oct mid term!! It was actually an interview :eek: as in me being interviewed :eek::eek: places are being allocated this feb for September.

I also contacted local creche in sept (already viewed it when he was baby) for September as my back up and had no response! Creche beside work has already told me only 3 days are available for sept 2016.

maybe dublin is worse though than other counties?

mirrorwall14

I'm North Kildare so I imagine it won't be much better Millem. I might do some ringing around just to see when I should be applying. There's one within walking distance of my current childminder so that might work very well though I know they also childmind before and after preschool so I guess I'll have to figure out which is better value and the better environment. I love my childminder

RentDayBlues

Book it now! Any good preschool will be booked in advance. I put my youngest down when she was just gone 1, my eldest was 2 1/2. At that time we could only get a part time place for the following September (this was in April). I wish we had gone earlier for our oldest as she would now be applicable for the full free year but we can't get a place.

I'm going to send my second, born Feb 2014, on September 2016, we'll pay until April and then she'll get remaining weeks and the following year free.

mirrorwall14

He will be 3 years and 9 months in Sept 2018 and 4 years 9 months in Sept 2019 which is when I'd be hoping for him to start school.

So my understanding is that he can't start the "free year" until he hits 3 which is January 2018. Then he'll get 20hours from Jan-June of 2018 and Sept 2018-June 2019 for free? Is that correct?

Does everyone send their child entirely to them or have a childminder who picks them up/drops them off and minds them on the other days?

Millem

mirrorwall14 wrote: »

He will be 3 years and 9 months in Sept 2018 and 4 years 9 months in Sept 2019 which is when I'd be hoping for him to start school.

So my understanding is that he can't start the "free year" until he hits 3 which is January 2018. Then he'll get 20hours from Jan-June of 2018 and Sept 2018-June 2019 for free? Is that correct?

Does everyone send their child entirely to them or have a childminder who picks them up/drops them off and minds them on the other days?

No mirrorWall he starts 1st April-June then again in sept-june.they need to be 3 by 1st January if after they start 1st april.

Ms2011

My son is doing his first free year so I emailed his preschool to see where I stood with regards the 2nd year.
Don't know if this is any help or not but this is the reply I got:

Hi Ms2011,

The extended ECCE scheme will take effect from September 2016. Any child currently on ECCE who qualifies with the age criteria can avail of another free year next year. The new age range is 3years to 5yrs 6mths. Once a child turns 3 they can now avail of free pre school up until they reach 5yrs 6mths so J will qualify for another free year as he will be 5yrs 2mths finishing in June 2017. I will need to re register him in September so I will just need copy of Birth cert and proof of PPS number again as we cannot keep this information on file for data protection reasons. 

If you could let the girls know as soon as possible if you decide to take up this option as places will be in high demand now. I have spoken to J's teachers and they feel he would greatly benefit from another year of pre school before he is ready for national school.

Dracula!

My son was 3 in November and has just started the new scheme this week. We had to dog for info at the creche. The info being shared by the government is very hazy and has changed. If your child was 3 between Sept and December 2015 they can start in January for a total of 61 weeks until they go to school in Sept 2017

Calahonda52

Don't have any kids in this system but I do financial plans for folk who are in trouble with their mortgages so does the free preschool cover Xmas and Easter breaks or should I include something for paid all day childcare for Xmas and Easter and if so how many weeks?

I am working on the period 1st Sept to 30th June: is this right
Thanks

dori_dormer

As far as I am aware you can choose (creche dependant) whether to divide the payment over school term or 52 weeks. Everyone's yearly payment is the same so if you want the 52 weeks you have to top up I believe

Calahonda52

dori_dormer wrote: »

As far as I am aware you can choose (creche dependant) whether to divide the payment over school term or 52 weeks. Everyone's yearly payment is the same so if you want the 52 weeks you have to top up I believe

Thanks, this as new to me so any links please?
Also who get the payment: parent, preschool, creche etc?

When is it paid: in stages?
Thanks again

dori_dormer

As far as I'm aware the creche will need birth certificate and pps number and then they do all the paperwork for you. Otherwise people would take the money and maybe not send the child

Calahonda52

dori_dormer wrote: »

As far as I'm aware the creche will need birth certificate and pps number and then they do all the paperwork for you. Otherwise people would take the money and maybe not send the child

Indeed:D Thanks

Lashes28

What a load of horse shíte so because my daughter was born on 4 January we miss out on 4 months of free childcare? Grrr

Millem

Lashes28 wrote: »

What a load of horse shíte so because my daughter was born on 4 January we miss out on 4 months of free childcare? Grrr

Yes! We are in a similar position lashes you miss out on all jan, feb and march.
My friend baby is the 2nd sept so can't join scheme until 1st jan.

How Strange

I think our Creche just needed our sons date of birth, his pps and perhaps mine as the parent. They get the payment directly. We split the savings over 52 weeks as my son was full time. My daughter was born in April and from what I can see it seems to be the best time for the extra year. She will start in September this year.

ml123

Dracula! wrote: »

My son was 3 in November and has just started the new scheme this week. We had to dog for info at the creche. The info being shared by the government is very hazy and has changed. If your child was 3 between Sept and December 2015 they can start in January for a total of 61 weeks until they go to school in Sept 2017

Hiya,

I just looked at the Department of Children and Youth Affairs website re the free school year and it says that children born between Feb 2011 and June 2012 are entitled to the preschool from Sept 2015 to June 2016.

My little boy was 3 in October 2015 and it says for his age he's not entitled to the free year until Sept 2016.

http://www.dcya.gov.ie/viewdoc.asp?fn=%2Fdocuments%2FECCE-Scheme%2Fintro.htm&mn=chiq&nID=2

I'd only love to get the free year for him - do you have a link or a website I could get the information from for our creche?

Cheers

javagal

This is all so confusing, can someone help me make sense of it please?
My daughter was 3 in July (so born July 2012) and before the scheme, she wasn't entitled to her free year till September 2016 but can I send her earlier?


How does it work, who do I get in touch with ?
Thanks

dori_dormer

The extra free year doesn't start until sept 2016 if I remember correctly. There is no starting in jan or April this year as far as I know. Unless maybe some preschools have places and they are allowing you to send your three year old to start now as their first year? I'm not sure, I thought the child had to be registered by sometime in oct to get the grant.

RentDayBlues

My eldest is July 2012, so under the old scheme she wasn't entitled to ecce until September 2016. She is currently in a montessori 2 mornings per week.

Under the new scheme she cannot enrol until September 2016. Had she been entitled to ecce in September 2015 and we had decided to wait until September 2016, then she could have retrospectively enrolled for 2015. She cannot enter ecce this year as it officially changes in September.

Our second is February 2014 and will start montessori in September 2016, but she won't get onto the ecce programme until April 2017.

The new scheme is costing us money as we cannot get the part time space we had booked anymore as priority goes to full time, so we'll pay for a full time place for our second child to ensure her place in the montessori

Ginny

Any 2012 July babies are literally born in the wrong month. You need to be 3 in June to qualify for the year. My little man is July 2012 too, so the original year 1 we would have been (and still are) starting in Sept 2016. With the new year being added in 2016 kids who were 3 by the cut off date in June 2015 could use the original year to start in Jan 2016, they can then use the new additional year from Sept 2016 too. They won't get the full 2 years but would have the ECCE from Jan 2016 to May 2017.
If that makes sense?

dori_dormer

Ginny there is no starting in jan 2016. The only start dates in 2016 is sept. Or sept 2015. After that the enrolments are jan 17, April 17 and sept 17

yellow hen

My son would be due to start in September 2016 and although he's currently full-time in the creche, I hadn't formally enrolled him for the ECCE programme yet. I asked about it yesterday and they were fully booked! If he's full-time in the creche he will get a place but if he was part-time (which I had intended to change him to as I'll be on maternity leave) he wouldn't get a place. It's not the most transparent application process.