Dates and fees

All you need to know about when and how much

Term dates

You can download the school calendar as a pdf here.

Autumn Term 2023:
4 September 2023 - 20 December 2023

Half term break: 23-27 October 2023

Inset days: Friday 1 September 2023

Spring Term 2024:
8 January 2024 - 28 March 2024

Half term break: 13-17 February 2023

Inset day: Monday 19 February 2024

Summer Term 2024:
15 April 2024 - 19 July 2024

Half term break: 28-31 May 2024 

Inset days: Monday-Wednesday 22-24 July 2024

As new events are confirmed we will update this section with dates.

Session times

Opening times from 8.30am-3.15pm term-time only.

Choice of sessions

Morning session: 8.30am-11.30pm

Lunch session: 11.30am-12.30pm

Afternoon session: 12.30am-3.15pm

or a flexible combination of session types.

Fees and funding

Two-and-a-half to three year old children
Staff ratio of 1:4

£7.50 per hour
Minimum two sessions per week

Three year old children
Staff ratio of 1:6

£6.50 per hour
Minimum two sessions per week

15 hours free

In Oxfordshire, children become eligible for free preschool sessions in the term after their third birthday. The terms are split into three main terms:

Autumn Term 1     Spring Term 2     Summer Term 3

Eligible children are entitled to 15 hours of preschool per week for 38 weeks a year.

By law the eligibility terms start on 1 January, 1 April and 1 September, and children must have had their 3rd birthday before these dates to receive government preschool funding:

Date of third birthdayEntitlement start date
1 April-31 AugustTerm 1 | September
1 September-31 DecemberTerm 3 | January
1 January-31 MarchTerm 5 | April

15 and 30 hours offer

In addition to the 15 hours, some children may be eligible for extra funding via the government’s extended 30 hours funding scheme.

For further information on government funding please see the Oxfordshire County Council website

Our preschool is a registered charity, and is managed by a committee of parent volunteers. Our aim is to keep costs low while providing the best possible care and learning environment for your child/children.

Where the 30 hour funding is claimed or you wish to use your 15 hours during a lunch and/or afternoon session we need to make up the shortfall between the government funding and the actual running costs of the preschool.

Therefore to provide the 30 hours offer and 15 hours outside of the morning sessions we ask for a fee in the region of £2.50 per hour to cover the difference in the preschools running costs to government funding.

Invoices

During the early part of each term invoices are issued in advance for the sessions allocated to your child.

Invoices can only be calculated once all Parental Declaration Forms (detailed above) have been received, and funding claimed where appropriate.

What our parents say

“James has thoroughly enjoyed his time at preschool. I have watched him grow develop and make strong bonds with his friends. This is thanks to the wonderful staff who create a fun, nurturing and caring environment. We will all miss this fantastic preschool.”
Love James and family
“We feel we are part of the Sacred Heart Family and we owe it to you that Noah has had such a good start on his school journey and that he enjoys learning and interacting with other and his teachers. We feel lucky that it’s not really a goodbye from us yet, as Timo is about to shake things up with you all soon.”
Lots of love Kevin, Carola, Noah and Timo