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National Childcare Scheme 2025/26

Explorers Afterschool has signed up for the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) for the 2025/26 school year.

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​Explorers' are administrators of this funding scheme. We do not make any decisions or have any input into how the scheme is managed.

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Any parent who wishes to participate in the scheme will need to contact Home  · Applicant Portal (ncs.gov.ie) and sign up. 


Once you have received your CHICK please forward it to us.  We need all the details provided on the CHICK so please screenshot the full award with the child's full name and date of birth visible. Please click the yellow 'view details' button before you take the screenshot.
 
Parents are responsible for all fees until the CHICK is activated. Parents' need to be aware of their CHICK end date and apply for a new one in a timely manner. It is their responsibility to give us the new CHICK, we do not automatically receive it.

In order to facilitate continuous funding, Explorers must receive the new CHICK at
least a week before our invoices are issued. This is to ensure the retrieval of the
new CHICK before issuing the invoice. Funding is not retrospective. We will not re-issue invoices.

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WE WILL NOT SEND REMINDERS ABOUT CHICK EXPIRY.

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If parents have any questions please contact the Parent Support Centre on 019068530

 

Fees for NCS have to be calculated 4 x weekly so during the school year you will receive 11 rather than 10 invoices as previously.

​​Fees are paid by direct debit. We are not in a position to re-issue invoices.

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Your fees will vary according to the school calendar, ie whether there are school holidays or camp (ie fewer or extra hours funded) etc.  

We will not know the amount of your fees any month until each new invoice is generated.

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Reminder: you will not receive NCS funding for when Explorers is closed, i.e. school closures.

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Invoice Dates

 

18th August 2025

8th September

6th October

3rd November  

1st December

29th December

26th January 2026

23rd February

23rd March

20th April

18th May

 

The dates of retrieval of the DD are as follows:

 

1st September 2025

22nd September 

20th October

17th November

15th December 

12th January 2026

9th February

9th March

6th April

4th May

1st June

 

If your direct debit fails, there will be an administration charge of €10.00 per incident.

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