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hi im a newbie. i am filling out a pre-school form for my very soon to be 2 yrold boy. the sessions are from 8:45am -11:45am , each session is £10. is it really that much now days??? allready a struggleing family even though my boyfriend works full time. like everyone else belts are tightening. is there no help out there to pay for pre school sessions now? i remember when my other 2 where little come to 2 half yrs old they got help with costs off pre school sessions. cant believe the goverment has scrapped it. how selfish and stupid off the goverment to do that.

i think our local preschool is around £8, but they can't go till they're 2yrs 6 or 9 months. i'm keeping my 2yr old at home till he gets his 15hrs! my 3yr old gets 15hrs a week free.

Yes it really is that much. Until they are three years old the ratio is 1 adult to three children so most of the cost of the sessions will be in staff wages.

Your son will become eligible for free pre-school hours the term after his third birthday. This hasn't changed, and in fact has increased from 12.5 to 15 in the past few years.

Some areas are making sessions available from two, but here these are for vulnerable children in families who are known to the local authority team.

If you can't afford the £10 a session, you could wait until he gets funding. As far as I'm aware the government hasn't scrapped any help for the under threes.

Hope that helps.

I didnt send mine until they got funding at age 3. £10 for 3 hours isnt that bad really.

£10 is cheap - £12 here. But that is for 3 years+. As others have said, 15 hours free the term after he is 3, and in some areas from 2 if recommended by LA.

Many children don't go until their funding kicks in for this very reason.

I pay £9.90 for 3 hours (lunch club is an extra £2.75 for the extra hour)

i havent found any info on goverment giveing help for under 3, i reckon it has all been scrapped. but thanks to everyone so far who have replied to me.

It's about £14 for three hours here. Couldn't afford to send my son until he got his free sessions.

Sounds really good value. Mine is £5 an hour and I've got two there. My DH works full time and I work 2 part time jobs.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-15675494 They are rolling the free places for 2 year olds out countrywide but it is only for certain children.

Link

Thankyou camdancer xx

We pay £4.75 an hour and £2 for lunch.

Yep, £12 a session here. And if you don't get them a place at 2.5 then you won't get into that pre-school as places have gone by 3. So you've no option but to send them even if you wanted to wait for the funding.

Both mine didn't go until 3yrs when the free hours kicked in. My CM is £3.50 per hour so £10 for 3hrs sounds comparable. Cost of childcare is one of the reasons why I haven't returned to work just yet.

It's not that much when you work it out per hour. I am administrator for a pre-school (Charity run so not aiming to make a profit) and I can tell you that even though we are full we run at breakeven, so everything we get in is spent and spent as wisely as we can. Our sessions cost £11.50 for 3 hours.

Most people seem to send their child for 1 or 2 sessions until they get their funding and then they put them in for up to 5 sessions a week, normally building up to school starting.

Ours is £10.50 per session. I consider having DS taken care of and entertained for £3.50 an hour a bargain. The staff are brilliant and worth every penny.

£10 for three hours of looking after a small child seems fantastic value for money, i'm sure you spend £10 on lots of things which are nowhere near the same value for money.

As for "how selfish and stupid off the goverment to do that" - not a daft decision at all. You chose to have more children and cant expect the government to pay for everything for you as you fancy using preschool for a 2 year old.

£3.33 an hour for childcare? Complete bargain! He will be eligible for free preschool hours the term after he turns 3. Why on earth would you expect the govt pay for this for you anyway? You don't need to send him. If you are working and on a low wage, you can get help with childcare costs, but if you just fancy sending him, then that's up to you, surely?