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Nursery Funding for 3 and 4 year olds When can my Child start free Nursery Education? Your child becomes eligible for a free Government Early Years Education Funded place from the start of the school term after their third birthday. This means that most three year olds will be able to start a free nursery place in the September, January or April following their third birthday. Your childs birthday must be before: 31 March will be eligible for free nursery education from the Summer Term (April) 31 August will be eligible for free nursery education from the Autumn Term (September) 31 December will be eligible for free nursery education from the Spring term (January) These are the cut off dates. If your childs birthday is for example on the 1st or 2nd January and the term starts on the 5th January I am afraid their funding will not start until the Summer Term after Easter because they have passed the cut off date of 31st December. How many funded hours can my Child have? Your Child is entitled to a maximum of 15 hours per week for 38 weeks of the year. To be included in the headcount allocation your child needs to be registered with an approved provider of early education on headcount day which falls within the first three weeks of term. Approved providers include childminders, playgroups, pre-schools and day nurseries that are registered and inspected by OFSTED. Parents can choose which provider they would like their child to go to, as long as they have places available. How do I get free Nursery Education? Parents do not need to apply for the funding. Each term the nursery provider claims on behalf of the parents for the number of sessions their child will be attending and the Local Authority will then pay the funding directly to the provider. The funding is not paid directly to parents. Your fees will be reduced to reflect the number of free hours you wish your child to receive. If your child has a place at a provision which is open all year, it is important to check how many weeks in the year they will be funded. The funding covers a minimum of 38 weeks a year and there may be periods not covered by the funding when you may be expected to pay full fees for example at Christmas, Easter and Summer Holidays. As different providers charge different fees the amount by which a parent’s fees are reduced in one setting may be different from the reduction in another setting. Remember you may also be entitled to the Working Families Tax Credit to help you with the cost of child care fees not covered by the Early Years Education Funding. How will I know that my child will receive good quality nursery education? Both schools and Nurseries who provide the Early Years Education Funding must follow the government’s Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum for 3 and 4 year olds. The quality of their provision is monitored by the Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED). Early years education should provide a combination of care, play and education, enthusiastic early years workers, good resources and equipment and an approach that will meet the needs of your child. How can I use my funded hours? The National Minimum Standards of Flexibility ensure that Parents are guarenteed to have the funding in the following models -
Local Authorities are encouraging providers to deliver the funding more flexibly. Some providers may be willing to deliver the funding as laid out below:
Over 4 days Over 5 days There is a National Framework for delivery which limits the flexibility of the funding. These limits are:
Do all my funded hours have to be with the same provider? No they do not have to be used with the same provider but you must inform both providers that you are splitting the hours. You cannot have more than 15 funded hours per week and you do not have to use all 15 hours if you do not want to. Can I move provider in the middle of a term? Yes, you should be able to. However, because the funding for your Childs place is paid to the nursery in one lump sum for the term, the nursery that you wish to move to will need to arrange with your current nursery the transfer of the funding for the remainder of that term. There seems to be no clear guidance for this, and it is has been left to the discretion of your local authority and nursery as to how funding is reorganised. Does my child have to take up an early education place? It is up to parents to decide what kind of early education, if any, is right for their child. By law, children are not required to attend any educational setting until the term after their fifth birthday. The grant is only available until your child starts school. If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact us on info@childcaredirectory.co.uk |
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