Nursery Education Grants

apples1

Hope its ok to join this thread with a question (not intending to hijack it but my query is on same subject!)

Our daughter who is 3 and a half goes to private preschool nursery four mornings a week Mon - Thurs, (they are closed Fridays and afternoons). They also have their holidays like the private schools so she always has longer holidays than me (I am a T.A at local primary school and work every morning.)

So I can work 5 mornings per week she goes to another preschool playgroup Friday mornings using the last one fifth of her funding grant. They run in line with state school holidays. My query is that as both are covered by her grant can I send her extra days (when her main nursery is on holiday) to the playgroup that is still running assuming they have space for her and it be covered by her grant or would I have to pay for these sessions?

At the moment I have a struggle every main school holiday as she breaks up so much earlier than me. It works out to an extra five weeks per year that one playgroup is open when the other is shut.

troll35

Apples1 - You may like to enquire whether your private nursery has any plans to open for extra weeks. Currently the nursery funding provides free places for 33 weeks of the year (usually 11 week terms unless Easter is really early). This is due to increase to 35 weeks very soon and then to 38 weeks in a year or so. This will mean that free nursery places will be on offer for the full school year.
Many preschools currently find it financially difficult to open for more than the minimum 33 weeks because they either have to start charging parents for extra weeks or somehow build in the running costs. Once parents get free sessions it can be extremely difficult to get any further money out of them (as our local prechool has found).
With respect ot your enquiry as the whether grant funding is transferable when the private nursery is closed, I would think it very unlikely, it sounds like the private nursery is open for the minimum 33 weeks. You will probably have to pay for the extra sessions. Once the 'headcount day' has passed preschools have forms to fill in if entitled children leave or start mid term and it's up to the local Early years whether they provide the funding or ask for it back. However if you don't ask.....

PIPPER_2

I have a similar question. Son is 3 since feb, getting funding after easter. he attends 8.30-1pm Tues and 1-5pm Wed, Thursday at home with my mum (i work these hours). When the funding is applied to the fees, am i maximising the cost cutting or would it be beneficial to put him in for another session? I am a bit confused, sorry!

Spendless

PIPPER wrote:

I have a similar question. Son is 3 since feb, getting funding after easter. he attends 8.30-1pm Tues and 1-5pm Wed, Thursday at home with my mum (i work these hours). When the funding is applied to the fees, am i maximising the cost cutting or would it be beneficial to put him in for another session? I am a bit confused, sorry!

So he just does the 2 sessions. You'd get those reduced. It's upto you if you want to keep to the same but pay less for them, or up his hours assuming there is space for him.

PIPPER_2

Yes, I was going to include another am session before but was not cost effective as I'm only on part time wages and have 19mth old just started there. Will speak to admin and see if there is a space, thanks

flea72

hi, dont know if its the same all over, but at my nursery this is how the funding works out for the coming 'summer term'

if you send you child for one session a week you get £105.30 funding, 2 sessions £210.78, 3 sessions £316.16, 4 sessions £421.54 and 5 sessions £526.94

so working on that, if i send my daughter for the maximum 5 sessions i am a few pence better off

Tracy

larissa156_2

Can I hijack this thread too? Although for a slightly different question....

My daughter already attends a private nursery two full days a week. She is not 2 yet, so the issue of grants is still quite a long way off. However, we live very close to the boundary of two local authorities, and the nursery is 'over the border' from where we live. I think I'm right in saying that the grants only apply in the same local authority - so does this mean that when the time comes we will miss out altogether? Or, to take advantage of the grant, we will have to move her to a different nursery (not really an option as the nursery is superb and she loves it!).

A quandary. Thanks for any advice...

troll35

Ask your nursery manager. If they don't know the answer they should be able to find out from the appropriate early years department.

Theoretically, as the grant is available coutrywide, it shouldn't make a difference however beaurocracy is beaurocracy (don't think I've spelt that right) so it's bound to be too complicated for words!