Nursery Fees - is this normal?

supersaver2

Hi,

Quick background story. I have a nearly 3 year old daughter who has recently started nursery. We have just had the bill for December which I have queried. On the paperwork that they gave when she started it gave the cost per session which varies depending on age. It states that 3 year olds are cheaper than 2 year olds by £5.00 (adds up to a significant amount over the month! ) Anyway my December bill is the same as previous months and lists the session cost as the price of a 2 year old even though she is 3 at the end of this month.

The lady that deals with the invoices is now off for 2 weeks so I asked the room manager. She wasn't completely sure but thinks we are still being charged the higher rate as they don't think she is ready to be moved to the next room and won't for sometime. Now if this is normal we have no problems, but I can't see it on any of the paper work, just a different rate for the different ages.

Anybody had a similar situation?

Many thanks.

LilElvis

It probably has to do with the ratio of adults to children in the different rooms/age bands. Our daughter was born in August but didn't move up to the preschool room until the October so until then we were charged the toddler room rate. You will also soon get the 15 hours of funding per week which will help to cut your bill back further - though if it is a private nursery the council won't necessarily pay the full cost of those hours as they do not cover the cost of food or for care during school holidays and pay a maximum rate. Our daughter attended for 21 1/2 hours a week at a cost of £550 for the month but our local council only funded £180 per month (the nursery spread the funding over the year rather than creating significantly higher costs in the months which included school holidays).

sooty&sweep

Hi
Childcare for 3 year olds is cheaper than 2 year olds because the number of staff they need for two year olds is higher than 3 year olds.
The question you need to ask is are they keeping her with the two year olds because they think thats best for her or is it because they haven't got space for her with the 3 year olds.
When mine were at nursery & they were moving they'd usually slowly introduce them by moving them for an hour or so so they knew what to expect when they did move up properly.
Jen

shoe*diva79

3 year olds care is usually cheaper then 2 year olds because the 15 hours a week funding kicks in. However, the funding does not start until the term after their 3rd birthday so if your DD is about to turn 3 then the funding will start in January.

laineybird2000

My dd old nursery didn't lower the fees until the term following her third birthday.

freebiequennie

Our old nursery charged the same whatever age of child whether a baby or 4yr old and most nursery we looked at did the same.

supersaver2

Thanks all. I'm sure it will be to do with the staff ratio, the younger the child the higher staff to child ratio you require. I may just suggest they pop this in small print on the information they give out. Can imagine (like me) people thinking 'thank godness our nursery bill will reduce after their birthday!' when clearly this isn't always the case! I trust them though and they have been wonderful and I'll look forward to a slight reduction in my bill soon.

Make-it-3

The government funding kicks in the term after a child's 3rd birthday - so for a November baby it will be January 2015. However, the actual nursery fees may be lower, as others have said usual due to lower staff to child ratio required.

I would read the contract you have with the nursery carefully again before going back to them. Does it say the lower rate applies from the birthday, or when they move to the 3 year old class? I suspect probably the latter.

If its to do with her staying in the 2 year old class, do you think they are holding her back for good reason, or just to claw some extra fees?

If the contract is ambiguous or if they are only holding her back because the 3 year old class is full , it will be down to you to argue you should be paying less already.

onlyroz

Check the contract and then speak to the manager. If she's not yet three then the new rate might start in January, when she would also be eligible for the 15 free hours. You are lucky in a way because if she'd been born on Jan 1st the 15 free hours wouldn't kick in until after Easter.

MrsSippi

onlyroz wrote: »

Check the contract and then speak to the manager. If she's not yet three then the new rate might start in January, when she would also be eligible for the 15 free hours. You are lucky in a way because if she'd been born on Jan 1st the 15 free hours wouldn't kick in until after Easter.

I had this exact thing - our daughter was born on Jan 1st so missed out by one day! I know that the cut off has to be somewhere but it was soooooo frustrating. I did think about doctoring her birth certificate at one point . I think we had to wait until 1st May for the 15 hours allowance to kick in.

janninew

MrsSippi wrote: »

I had this exact thing - our daughter was born on Jan 1st so missed out by one day! I know that the cut off has to be somewhere but it was soooooo frustrating. I did think about doctoring her birth certificate at one point . I think we had to wait until 1st May for the 15 hours allowance to kick in.

Bet that was annoying! I have a November baby so will get the 15 hours from January which will be most welcome. I wonder why they can't kick in the next calendar month after the child turns 3?