National Childcare Scheme 2024/25
Explorers Afterschool has signed up for the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) for the 2024/25 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.
This has to be given to us 6 weeks before the current CHICK expires to ensure continuity of funding. Funding is not retrospective.
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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.
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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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These are the invoice dates for the 2024/25 school year:
19th August 2024
9th September
7th October
4th November
2nd December
30th December
27th January 2025
24th February
24th March
21st April
19th May
The dates of retrieval of the DD are as follows:
2nd September 2024
23rd September
21st October
18th November
16th December
13th January 2025
10th February
10th March
7th April
5th May
2nd June