15 hours 'free' nursery confusion

p34nut

hi im not sure if this is the right place so feel free to move if needs be, my ld is going to be 3 in nov and it was my understanding that she would be entitled to her 15 hours 'free nursery' from Jan 15 as this is the next term after her 3rd birthday, however yesterday I received a letter from my local authority saying her 15hrs for a school nursery starts SEPT 15, she currently is NOT going to any nursery, she is with relatives, as there is no way of private nursey/childminder due to circumstances and im not even getting any working tax credits due to a mess up at the tax office. I just want to clarify the way im reading it is that she could have 15hrs private from jan-sept then 15hrs school nursery from sept onwards. As you can probably tell im proper confused and hopefully i'm making sense!!!!!!!!!:eek:

notanewuser

p34nut wrote: »

hi im not sure if this is the right place so feel free to move if needs be, my ld is going to be 3 in nov and it was my understanding that she would be entitled to her 15 hours 'free nursery' from Jan 15 as this is the next term after her 3rd birthday, however yesterday I received a letter from my local authority saying her 15hrs for a school nursery starts SEPT 15, she currently is NOT going to any nursery, she is with relatives, as there is no way of private nursey/childminder due to circumstances and im not even getting any working tax credits due to a mess up at the tax office. I just want to clarify the way im reading it is that she could have 15hrs private from jan-sept then 15hrs school nursery from sept onwards. As you can probably tell im proper confused and hopefully i'm making sense!!!!!!!!!:eek:

It will be 15 hours at a private nursery from
January to July (term time only). It's worth noting that you sometimes have to top up the payments if the nursery charges more per hour than the council pays.

p34nut

thanks for reply:beer:

whitewing

I also believe that there is a limit on the number of free hours in any one day so you may need to check that too.

pmlindyloo

Some local authorities are providing funding for 2-3 year olds to have 15 hours free nursery.

Check on your local authority website.

My niece gets this for her son.

eg. http://www.bexley.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=17788

Auntie-Dolly

The school I work at has a nursery and we take children for 15 hours the term following their 3rd birthday.

Mrs_Soup

She is entitled to 15 free hours from January but possibly the school nursery so not take children at that stage (perhaps only for the final year before starting school?) She could go to a private nursery or pre school setting before that if you wish, you potentially wouldn't need to pay any top ups at a pre school as they often have lower charges but almost certainly won't offer full time care. What you may find is that it can be difficult to find a space part way through the year. My youngest was 3 in the march and therefore could have had 15 hours from April after easter but his pre school didn't have the spaces available to offer him the full 15.

lukieboy96

You could look at a playgroup, which tend to be cheaper than private Nurseries, and also have morning or afternoon sessions. This, she could do until she goes to the nursery in the September. Also, some school nurseries do not actually charge.

fresian_cow

My daughter will also be 3 in november, I contacted all the local schools in the area with nurseries who confirmed that they will take children the term after they are 3 (Jan 15 in our case) but the September 14 starters are the priority so if they all take up their places then she can't start then. There still isn't a guarantee she will get a place September 15, but we have applied already for 5 different ones. I contacted private nurseries but none would offer purely term time care which means financial top ups for the holidays (which I can't afford). I'm reluctant to put dd in a private nursery just to take her out and put her in a school nursery so if she doesn't get a place in January we will just carry on with our current arrangement of family help. Hope that helps.

BargainJunky

Its a while since my two had the 15 hours free but it works as follows:

The September AFTER the childs 3rd birthday they can attend a school nursery free which uses up the 15 hours of funding.

Prior to this you get the funding for the term following their 3rd birthday. For example my eldest was born in March so we got the funding for the Summer term and the youngest was born in November so we got the funding from January.

My eldest was already in a private nursery whilst I worked so the funding covered some of this. When he was eligible for school nursery I had the choice of continuing at the private nursery and having the funding deducted or letting him go to school nursery and pay the fees for the additional private part which is what I did - he went to the private nursery in the morning and then they took him to school nursery in the afternoon and I just paid for the morning sessions at private nursery.

With my youngest I stayed at home so I used the funding for sessions at our local play group but you can even use them at a childminder or even a private nursery if they have the available space.

Hope I have not confused you even more.

p34nut

thanks everyone its making more cense now I think, just got to do a bit more research on what's the best option for us. :mad:.