Children aged up to 4 years: 4 half days or 3 short days.
Notice Periods:
We make every effort to help parents who need to increase or decrease attendance, but as a non-profit organisation we request parents observe the notice periods in the childcare contract and pay for booked sessions to the end of the respective notice period.
Punctuality:
We maintain a well-organised environment thanks to the efforts made by all parents to arrive and pick-up punctually. With your co-operation, every child gets the quality of service they deserve.
Booked Sessions:
All sessions booked are payable, regardless of holidays and illnesses. A large proportion of our costs are fixed so in order to maintain a high staff-child ratio the fee payments must be paid regularly, in advance.
Language Policy:
Children whose main language is English at home will gain the full benefit of the early Years Curriculum. They prepare for entry to international and English- speaking schools in our care. Our weekly German sessions teach them some basic High German. Children who speak two or more languages at home must have English as a home language to qualify for entry to the pre-school at Englischviertelstrasse. Nursery age children must have lived in an English environment or had an English- speaking parent or carer to qualify for a place. We accept on average two children per year (one full-time equivalent place) without English as a home language. Parents are recommended to think about their future school language before applying for this place.
Siblings:
Siblings have priority for entry once they reach 2 years 8 months of age and provided they already speak English (or have English as a home language). Younger siblings including those learning other languages have priority for a full- time place until they are 2. As babies are extremely receptive to languages, we aim to contribute to their learning of English if a place is available at Children First while they are very young. As research shows that children learn second and third languages by reference to their first language, we encourage parents to continue to develop their child's home language, supplemented rather than replaced by English.