15 hours free child care help

gingergee

Got diagnosed last september and my kids are aged between 2 and 13.
SLE btw.
And i mose defo do have a reason to rest. If i dont rest, my condition gets worse.

joandkaz1

because free child places are hard to get and shouldnt go to parents who just need a rest!!! hell id love a rest but it doesnt work like that when we have kids. I chose to have them, i dont wor so i will look after them. The places should be for those that work or....like shes explained people who are in dire need of some help. Not just people who want a rest because their kids are a handfull!!!

joandkaz1

gingergee wrote: »

Got diagnosed last september and my kids are aged between 2 and 13.
SLE btw.

sorry my mistake

gingergee

Its ok. When i was working i paid for it. Still pay a top up. Dont expect a free place when kids are off school. Mine are defonot handfulls, id like to spend more time with them, not less. Dunno how long i will feel well enough to play with them at any one time.
The area im in has got more funding than there are places!! I know one woman who gets it just coz they needed to allocate it!! x

joandkaz1

its a shame they cant spread the money to more needed areas really isnt it.

mine are handfulls, im ill at the moment and its a !!!!!! lol x

kingfisherblue

My understanding is that all children age 3+ (and in some deprived areas age 2yrs, 6mths+) can acceess free nursery places, and post 11 confirms this. Free child places are not hard to get, Joeandkaz, they are available for anybody who has a child of the correct age. My daughter is 21 next week and we has 12.5 hours a week free nursery place when she was little.

Also, nursery can be beneficial for children, especially for those who do not mix well socially.

princessdon

There are 2 different issues here

1 - the state funded 2 year / 3 year money (which OP asked about) which has been clearly described in the fantastic post above and is term time only. 3 year is available to everyone, the 2 year has some additional restrictions.

2 - The entitlement that some parents are given to support either their Health or the Child's help is assessed. This doesn't have to be 15 hours a week, it can be more or less (according to need) and in the interests of the child/parent/family is accross the year. After all the reason for the request still exists in the school holidays. I beleive this is reviewed throughout the year to ensure that the original need is still in place and is ended if things improve. My sister required childcare for her 2 youngest when she was having her cancer treatment as she had no childcare and was too ill to have 2 children under 3 and take them to all hopsital appointments. Once she was fit the place was given to those in greater need.

johnsmiffy

princessdon wrote: »

2 year has some additional restrictions.

In the county where I am (but I am sure its the same for the rest), currently children of 2yrs old are only placed in some settings by the LEA/Early Years/Social Services either because of the circumstances of the child's parents, or the child's specific needs - which leads into princessdon's 2nd point.

I have heard recently that there are about 300 2yr olds placed in my county currently, but this is expected to increase ten-fold over the next three years or so.

kingfisherblue wrote: »

Free child places are not hard to get, Joeandkaz, they are available for anybody who has a child of the correct age

The only restriction to obtaining funded places is the level of provision of pre-schools/nurseries, and places they can provide, within the area.

Remember each setting is restricted to the capacity as per its Ofsted registration, and when settings reach their capacity for a specific session then some children may go without if there is not enough pre-school/nursery provision in the area.

Sad but true fact.

Thankfully some Early Years teams do look at local birth rates, and try to plan ahead by approaching setting to see if provision can be increased if needed.

kingfisherblue

johnsmiffy wrote: »

next three years or so.

The only restriction to obtaining funded places is the level of provision of pre-schools/nurseries, and places they can provide, within the area.

Remember each setting is restricted to the capacity as per its Ofsted registration, and when settings reach their capacity for a specific session then some children may go without if there is not enough pre-school/nursery provision in the area.

Sad but true fact.

Thankfully some Early Years teams do look at local birth rates, and try to plan ahead by approaching setting to see if provision can be increased if needed.

A fair point. I know that in my area, some nurseries cannot get the government funding for free places because there is so much current provision in our area. Our local community nursery has applied for the funding, but with several primary schools, a surestart, and a couple of private nurseries within a small geographical area already offering the free places, the community nursery was turned down.

joandkaz1

I was referring to the 2yr places. They are liked gold dust here and not everyone is eintitled