Pre-School Provision
Please note that Tanfield Community Primary School currently offers provision for children 2 years old and above.
What my Child is Eligible for?
Information on qualifying criteria is below.
Working Family Entitlement – 9 Months to 4 Years Old
Eligible children aged 9 months up to 4 years old from working families are entitled to 1,140 free hours per year equivalent to 30 hours per week (term time only).
Eligibility criteria can be found at 30 hours childcare – Best Start in Life. Children can access this entitlement the term following their 9-month anniversary. The HMRC working family eligibility helpline is available at 0300 1234097.
Early Learning Entitlement – 2-Year-Olds
Eligible 2-year-olds are entitled to 570 funded hours per year equivalent to 15 hours per week (term time only). Eligibility criteria can be found at Durham County Council – Play and Learn. Children can access this entitlement from the start of the term following their 2nd birthday.
Universal Entitlement – 3 and 4-Year-Olds
All 3 and 4-year-olds are entitled to 570 funded hours per year (Universal 15 hours) equivalent to15 hours per week (term time only). Eligibility is based solely on date of birth. Children can access this entitlement from the start of the term following their 3rd birthday.
Additional Charges
Government funding is intended to deliver 15 or 30 hours per week (term time equivalent) of free, high quality, flexible early years education and care. This 15 or 30 hours must be able to be accessed free of charge to parents, that is, there must not be any mandatory charges for parents in relation to the entitlement hours.
Government funding is not intended to cover the costs of meals, other consumables, additional hours or additional services. Providers can charge for consumables, meals and snacks, extra activities and additional hours provided they are not mandatory charges or a condition of accessing a place.
Tanfield Lea Community Primary School can offer the following which are additional charges:
- School Meal £2.95 per day increasing to £3.08 per day from 20 April 2026 (chargeable if your child not entitled to Early Years Pupil Premium funding).
- Extra sessions – chargeable at £10 per session (a session is 3 hours ie a morning or afternoon session). Should you require more than your statutory entitlement, please contact Mrs Dunham to see if we are able to offer you extra sessions.
- Pre-School trip, usually annually to Hall Hill Farm. Costs will be shared with parents/carers when trips are arranged.
Early Years Brochures
In addition to all the information provided on the website about our school, the Early Years staff provide specific information about our Pre-School and Reception provision in the form of two brochures. All parents receive a copy of the brochure prior to their child starting our school. This provides more detailed information about the children’s time in Early Years and offers advice for parents in how to support their children in the first stages of their education.
To learn more please download either a Pre-School or Reception brochure below.
2025-26 Pre-School brochure
2025-26 Reception brochure
Please see below an application which you can download to apply for a place at our Pre-School.
Pre-School Application Form
Stay and Play Sessions
Please see below the information shared with parents at our Autumn Stay and Play Sessions:
Pre-School Dialogic Reading Presentation – Stay and Play Autumn 2025
Reception Literacy Presentation – Stay and Play Autumn 2025
Reception Mathematics Presentation – Stay and Play Autumn 2025
You may need a product like Adobe Reader (free download) to view our PDF documents on our website.
Please see below the information shared with parents at our Autumn Stay and Play Sessions:
