Over 3,560 children have secured a pre-school

More than 3,560 children from across the Western Education and Library Board (WELB) area have secured funded pre-school places for September 2012.

Pre-school places funded by the WELB’s Pre-School Education Advisory Group (PEAG) are targeted at children in their final pre-school year ie those children born between July 2, 2008 and July 1, 2009, and are available in nursery schools, nursery units attached to primary schools as well as voluntary and private playgroups and day nurseries.

This year the two stage admissions procedure continued which was introduced to increase the priority given to target age children.  Stage I of the procedure (Wednesday, January 11, 2012 to Friday, March 30, 2012) deals only with children in their pre-school year. Stage II of the procedure (Monday, April 2, 2012 to Friday, June 1, 2012) deals with those pre-school age children who did not secure a place in Stage I and all the younger age pupils.

Parents/guardians will receive letters on Saturday, March 31, 2012 from the pre-school setting which will admit their son or daughter from September 2012.

For those target age children who have not yet been placed at this stage due to parent/guardian preferences being exhausted, the Board will now ask parents/guardians to nominate further preferences from the pre-school settings that may have funded places still available for September 2012.

Any parent wishing to nominate further preferences should return the form issued to them to the WELB Transfer and Open Enrolment section not later than Friday, April 13, 2012. During Stage II of the procedure these further preferences along with all the underage applicants will be considered.  Parents/guardians will be notified of the outcome of Stage II on Saturday, June 2, 2012.

Many voluntary, private playgroups and private day nurseries may also have fee-paying places available for pre-school children. Parents/guardians may contact these providers directly at any time to obtain the necessary information.

If parents/guardians have any further queries they should contact the pre-school setting in the first instance, or alternatively the WELB’s Transfer and Open Enrolment section on at 028 8241 1458/ 1459/ 1571.

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