basic explanation of eyf please

[cupcakesandapples]

Hi

Im not an idiot i promise, but this 3 yr funding thing has me confused.

My dd is three in october and from what i understand shes entitled to 15 hours free from the following jan. But i keep reading on here that lots of nurseries and cms have stipulations, additional fees, mandatory extra hours etc as the funding payment is significantly less than their normal hourly rate?

Is this allowed and realistically what will i be looking at if i put her in nursery in jan?

Please can someone offer me some insight? Oh and im not knocking cms and nurseries here- if what i have read is right it is shocking that theyre expected to subsidise places as the government dont provide adequate funding!

[HSMMaCM]

You need to ask the nurseries you're considering. If you just send your dc for 15 hrs per week term time only, you should get a free place. If you are using meals, more hours, etc then you will be charged and need to find out how much.

[cupcakesandapples]

Thanks, but I've read on here that a lot of places resent you using just the 15 hours and may state other conditions?

[Fugacious]

Lots of places do resent you using the free hours only, it's not your fault, it's because many councils only pay the nursery just over £3 an hour for your funded place and that's just not enough money for it to work. The government claim that they provide you with a free place, but it's not really true.

[dannydyerismydad]

It's 15 hours a week, term time only. If you're not keen on paying top ups, then you're best off looking at state run nursery schools or local preschools, which tend to only open term time.

We use a state run nursery school, and pay just £4 a week to cover the day he stays for lunch (that covers the food and the lunch time staffing).

If you opt to use your hours at a private nursery, you will almost certainly have to pay for school holidays, as it's rare for a commercial setting to be able to hold your place when you're not using it.

[mandy214]

The difficulty is that most nurseries operate it differently. It also depends where you are. You need to ask how it works at the settings you are considering.

There are also (in my experience) nurseries (certainly private ones) which don't stick by the rules in term of top-ups etc simply because they can't afford to and most parents turn a blind eye because the nursery would have to opt out of the scheme if parents complained and then parents (who need to the additional hours of a private nursery) wouldn't get any benefit at all. Not ideal, just my experience.

[jojo1983]

In my nursery we offer the 15 hours as three half day sessions or one full day and one half day. We do not charge any more and this is offered term time only.