Early years funding - 3 year olds - confused!

BristolExile

Hi

I am really confused by the EYFE scheme.

For a year our 3-year-old has been at a pre-school three days a week for 15 hours, 9am-3pm and all paid for. Fantastic.

We have now had to move her to a nursery for two days a week on "full days" (7am - 6pm).

Therefore I would expect her 9am-3pm element to be paid for by the government scheme but what we have been told they will be providing each month (Sep - Dec) is lower than I expected.

Is there a cap or something I have not considered?

notanewuser

Yes there is - the funding is usually less per hour than a private nursery charges.

Here in Wales we only get 10 hours per week for 2 terms, and in my local authority area that's only if there isn't a full time state pre/nursery place available for them.

BristolExile

Thanks! I've been trying to look at the govt. info but it's as clear as mud! I saw a cap for one authority at £4.15 an hour but I guess it varies. That gets me closer to what they are providing anyway!

jjj1980

It also depends on how the nursery have decided to split the 15 hours.

Some nurseries have decided that the 15 hours are split to give 3 hours per day allowance, so if you only use the nursery for three days, you would get 9 hours allowance, not the full 15. Other nurseries will let you take the 15 hours in full no matter how your sessions are set up.

It's best to ask the nursery how they allocate as this will help you check the calculation.

Were you definitely not paying anything to the previous nursery? It's just the sessions times you mentioned add up to 18 hours a week so there should have been a small amount owed each week.

BristolExile

jjj1980 wrote: »

It also depends on how the nursery have decided to split the 15 hours.

Were you definitely not paying anything to the previous nursery? It's just the sessions times you mentioned add up to 18 hours a week so there should have been a small amount owed each week.

Sorry, it was 2 1/2 days at the old nursery, not 3.