Childcare 15hrs free

glitter03

Hi there,

Sorry if this is the wrong place:

Can anyone explain to me about the 15hrs free childcare that is available for 3 year olds?

My little girl is not currently in nursery as my partner is a teacher and i work in the evenings so childcare has never really been an issue.

However, i would like her to go to nursery if only for these 15hrs a week so that she can get used to the environment ready for school.

Can anyone explain how you go about getting the free hours at nursery and any other useful information please?

Thanks for any help!!!

Emmamumof2

Go and visit some of the nurseries in your area and when looking around ask them about the free government funded places for children age 3 and above - basically they claim the cost of 15 hours care back from the Government and you can choose when to send your little one if its a private nursery. If its a nursery attached to the local primary school where your child will probably attend when he/she reaches 5 years old they nursery will likely have sessions that are either morning or afternoon daily - our school is 9am - 12.30 (and you pay for the childs lunch) or 12.30 - 3.30 (and you pay for the childs lunch). We get the option to fetch them 1/2 hour earlier on morning sessions or take the 1/2 hour later for afternoon sessions if we dont want them to eat at school but I liked that as it got them used to the routine of a school day.

If you go to a private nursery you will be able to pick the hours within their offering of 1/2 days or full days - you would have to pay for any hours over and above the grant funding from the government!

Hope that helps! Ive done it both ways - private nursery and primary school nursery - its very easier either way - you will just get a form to fill in from the nursery.

glitter03

Thanks for that!

I have been and looked round he one i wanted to send her too. How would i get the ball rolling with this? Do i have to phone the nursery first or do i phone someone official...not sure who!?

Thanks again!

Emmamumof2

The nursery do all the paperwork so just ring them to go in and make the arrangements and fill in the form!

glitter03

Great!! Thanks very much for your help

skibadee

Just to say these places/hrs are only available for 38 wks of the year.......the other 14 wks nursery fees will have to be paid by yourselves...in some cases you may be fortunate to find a nursery that will allow attendance for weeks only when Government Grant is i place.
Pre-schools etc., are obviously different as they only open term times.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Parents/Preschooldevelopmentandlearning/NurseriesPlaygroupsReceptionClasses/DG_10016103