Nursery Admissions & Funding

Places at Little Robins Nursery are subject to application and availability. In order to access our provision, children must be 3 or 4 years old – a start date can be agreed at the beginning of the next available term after their third birthday.

Owing to child supervision ratios and limitations on facilities, Little Robins Nursery is unable to offer routine nappy changing to all children, except where there is a pre-agreed Intimate Care Plan (ICP) and/or medical dispensation. For this reason, children attending the Nursery must be fully toilet trained (or close to ‘dry’) prior to starting at the nursery.

Since nursery education is not compulsory below the age of 5, parents can request the number of sessions that their child attends as well as choosing morning, afternoon or all day sessions (subject to availability)

All parents are eligible for 15 hours per week of government funded nursery provision once their child turns 3 years old. For parents who are eligible for extended government funded hours (30 hours per week) you will need to visit the gov.uk website to get your code which then needs to be passed to the school office.

PLEASE NOTE: Unfortunately, children who attend Little Robins Nursery are not guaranteed a place in Mildmay Primary School Reception; parents are still required to apply to the local authority for a place in school in the year prior to their intended start date. The local authority is responsible for all initial school allocations in Essex. However, children who do attend Little Robins Nursery often find the transition to school easier to cope with.

The closing date for applications for Reception (starting September 2026) is 15^th January 2026.