3yr old funding (what's it worth?

plane_boy2000

My son does 8 sessions a week at pre school and I just have to pay them the difference between his allowance and the cost - think I paid £90 for this month.

ruthyjo

When my daughter was at day nursery the fees only went up by £5.50 a day during school holidays when she had no voucher so I assumed the voucher was only worth that.

My sons go a to a prep school and I've just had a quick look on their website for the kindergarten fees. They are £1502 a term for part time so after using your nursery vouchers you'd still have a substantial amount to pay there. However I know there are local prep schools where the fees are less than half that and that would be much more affordable.

One of my boys is going to a party on Sunday. About twenty boys are going and they are doing quasar AND bowling. We will have a party for him but there's no way it will be that grand. However that won't bother me or him. I wouldn't be put off by the thought that others might have more money than you in that environment. Lots of people make sacrifices to send their children to independent school and don't have much left over. Plus you're on this site - you'll know how to make what you've got go a long way!

Sazere

FAQ - nursery education for 3 & 4 year olds http://www.surestart.gov.uk/improvingquality/guidance/freenurseryeducation/faq/

With effect from 1 April 2006, in line with the commitments in the ten year strategy, the minimum free entitlement for three and four year olds of 12.5 hours a week will be extended from 33 to 38 weeks in all settings.

The Department recognizes that some providers are not open for 38 weeks and may not be able to offer the full entitlement, particularly in the first year. Local Authorities nevertheless secure that there are sufficient 38 week places to meet parental demand. There is nothing to prevent parents from taking up a lesser free entitlement at the provider of their choice and providers should be funded accordingly. In such cases, however the Local Authority and the provider concerned have a responsibility to inform parents about the implications of their decision. In particular, that the Local Authority would not be obliged to fund top-up provision at an alternative provider.

When will my child be eligible for a free early education place?
A child becomes eligible for a free place from 1 September, 1 January or 1 April following their third birthday.

Will parents be expected to make a financial contribution towards their child’s free early education place?
No. Parents cannot be required to contribute to the cost of the basic free entitlement but may be charged fees for any services which exceed the minimum entitlement. Parents should be made aware of the charges that will apply in advance of their child taking up a free place. Providers should not levy any fee in respect of the free entitlement nor should they charge parents fees in advance for the free entitlement to be refunded at a later date. Providers that normally charge fees should reduce the fees by the amount that they would normally charge for those sessions if the child was not accessing a free place.

Zziggi

I had an interesting chat with someone in the know about 3 year old funding yesterday afternoon. I am posting this incase it helps someone else.

OKay imagine the senario is that the free place has a monetary value of £7 per session and the nursery provider charges £10 for a session. A parent wishes to send their child for 5 sessions per week. If the nursery provider accepts the 3 year old funding then they are NOT allowed to claim the free nursery funding (£7 per session) AND then ask the parents to top it up with £3 per session despite their normal session costs being £10 per session. If the parent is entitled to send little johnny for 5 sessions a week and the provider accepts 3 year old funding then the place MUST be free for little johnny.

However private prep schools often do charge parents extra on top of the free nursery place. I rang the prep school back and quizzed them about how the nursery vouchers work at their school (didn't let on i actually knew) and they were very very vague and really didn;t want to tell me anything other than what their fees were and methods of payment. Of course they again re-iterated how most parents can't be bothered with all the paperwork for 3 year old funding so don;t bother. Obviously they like to spin this tale as it is easier for them and they clearly know they shouldn't be charging parents on top because of their deliberate vagueness. Also if it was widely known that you should be able to send your 3-4 year old to a prep school nursery free then the prep schools would be getting any old riff-raff into their establishments. Well this riff-raff is now debating whether to try this course of action.....

sare_2

Yes, it's correct that if the establishment offers the free funding they shouldn't be passing on any additional charge to make it up to their usual rate.Although I'm sure some get away with it.

At our pre-school our hourly rate is a several pounds less than the value of the funding, so we gain more from funded children.

plane_boy2000

Interesting stuff. I have asked around our friends and dont know anybody who is getting 5 sessions for free with no top up.

Spendless

No idea if it varies round the country, but my daughter was attending nursery for at least 5 sessions so I got the full 12.5 hours funding and it worked out at £465. Each nursery administers it differently but DD nursery divides the amount across the 4 months, so you have reduced fees each month rather than some weeks funded and others not (the way my sons nursery used to work). As I was attending college and my course was going to finish and my DD was not going to be there for the full 4 months as she was going onto a state nursery the manager allowed be to take the funding over 3 months instead so £155 knocked off my nursery bill each month.

apples1

The funding is only for 5 two & a half hour sessions. Most private nurseries or pre-prep have longer sessions than that. If the session is three hours then you have to pay for the extra half hour a day that your child attends. I pay about £70 per half term over and above my funding for my daughter to attend a private nursery. They only open four mornings and each session is 3 hours long.

BFJ

Zziggi wrote:

I had an interesting chat with someone in the know about 3 year old funding yesterday afternoon. I am posting this incase it helps someone else.

OKay imagine the senario is that the free place has a monetary value of £7 per session and the nursery provider charges £10 for a session. A parent wishes to send their child for 5 sessions per week. If the nursery provider accepts the 3 year old funding then they are NOT allowed to claim the free nursery funding (£7 per session) AND then ask the parents to top it up with £3 per session despite their normal session costs being £10 per session. If the parent is entitled to send little johnny for 5 sessions a week and the provider accepts 3 year old funding then the place MUST be free for little johnny.

The funding is for 2.5 hour sessions, so if a care provider provides 2.5 hour session than it would be free, even if they normally charged more than the funding rate for the session. Indeed, in my local primary school there is a nursery that only provides free funded care, and only opens for 2.5 hour sessions.

However, MOST care providers do not provide only 2.5 hour sessions, so you will have to pay the difference between the funding and care provider cost for each session. It's not that they are charging you when they shouldn't be, they are just charging you for the extra. E.g. charging you for 1.5 hours if session is 4 hours.

So, as far as I'm aware it is actually quite difficult to only use the 2.5. hour sessions themselves, and thus have no costs whatsoever.

Claudie

Zziggi at my DS's nursery (which he attended full time) they referred to the money as a grant and applied for it on the parent's behalf - we just had to fill out one form to give them authorisation.

We paid his Nursery fees in full as normal and then once a quarter the Nursery gave us a chq which amounted to roughly £45 a week - this was 2 years ago. If you check the web site for your local council there should be a page on funding which tells you how to apply yourself if you need to.

Good luck.