Nursery want £400 pm for "free" hours?

[5minutestobed]

Hi, I wonder if anyone can help me understand. My son has just turned three so I have been looking for a nursery so he can get his funded hours. I went to see one the other day and they sent me an email explaining the funding. They want £400 pm even though he would only be doing 15 hours a week?! Can someone explain how they can charge this much for free hours?! Is this a normal thing for private nurseries?
I thought free meant free!

[DrinkFeckArseGirls]

But your DC will be there for a session, nit just 3 hours. So that is probably the cost if the rest of the sessions.

[PotteringAlong]

No. They're not allowed to charge top up fees.

[Marmite27]

It's only funded term time, is it for all year and the cost an equal payment in all 12 months?

[PotteringAlong]

Also, are they having any meals there? They can charge extra for that.

[AndNowItsSeven]

How many hours is your ds actually going to be at nursery? They will be charging for any additional hours plus lunch and snacks.

[DrinkFeckArseGirls]

They can't dp top up fees on the hiurs themselves but they can refuse to let someone bring their child for just 3 hours (for example) a day when their shifts are 6 hours.

I feel your pain OP, but Im afraid it's like it or lump it with nurseries!

[TheGruffaloMother]

They want £100 a week out of you for 15 funded hours? That doesn't seem right at all.

After 10 hours funding per week, full time nursery costs £130 a week for DD.

[Sirzy]

What hours is he doing? Over how many days?

[DrinkFeckArseGirls]

And having gone through it myself (bleurgh), it's actually that they don't have to offer those free hours at all as private companies.

[5minutestobed]

No the hours are 9-12, or 1-4 mon-Fri. They are closed over Christmas/easter/october hols but they are only shut for two weeks over summer, that's the only difference I can see to it being term time.
He was going to be doing two and a half days so 5 x3 hour sessions. Maybe they charge for lunch but that still seems like a lot of money?

[LumpyMcBentface]

Some nurseries will only let you have the funded hours as every morning or afternoon. If you compress them they charge you full price for the rest of the day. So you're only getting three lots of free sessions and the rest is paid hours.

[DrinkFeckArseGirls]

That doesn't seem right them. Ask the for a cost breakdown in writing.

[TheGruffaloMother]

He wouldn't be getting lunch on those hours would he?

[DrinkFeckArseGirls]

Probably what lumpy said then. Still, I'd ask for a breakdown.

[AndNowItsSeven]

Two and a half days is not 5 X 3 hour sessions.

[Diddlydokey]

For 2.5 days they'll be charging you from 7.30 - 6pm and then 7.30 - 1, something like that.
So...

26.5 hours per week, less 15 is 11.5 hours a week for 38 weeks a year = 437 hours
plus maybe the 4 non funded weeks at summer = 106 hours

This totals 543 unfunded hours, plus maybe a fee for breakfast and lunch... it'll all add up, if given the opportunity! I always have to check my nursery fees.

[5minutestobed]

That's what its written as on the email AndNow. 5 sessions/2and a half days. The nursery is only open 9-4. I will ask for a breakdown of costs.

[AndNowItsSeven]

Ok I still don't understand what hours and days will your ds be doing?

[TheGruffaloMother]

It sounds like they're basing the charge on a full 2.5 days rather than 3hoursx5. Though I'd still wonder how on earth they're justifying 400 a month as the hours you'd be paying for based on their opening hours would be .5 of a day plus an hour each week.

[AndNowItsSeven]

our local nursery offers two " school days" 8-3.30 twice a week. That costs £6 a week £2 a day for lunch and £2 a week for snacks.
Also it's only 10.9 hours a week over a full 52 week year.

[PotteringAlong]

9-4 is 7 hours. 2 days = 14 hours. 2.5 days = 17.5 hours. That plus lunch is your extra. £400 a month for 10 hours plus lunch.

[5minutestobed]

He would be doing 9-4 for two days and then one 9-12. So on the full days 9-12 then lunch 12-1 (which I've just checked they charge £12 for) then an afternoon session 1-4. So 5x3 hour sessions plus 2 lunch hours.

[TheGruffaloMother]

That's a bit clearer in terms of hours.

So have they explained how 2 lunches is coming up to 400 a month?

[Thegiantofillinois]

My ds used nursery for 3 days a week, so they wouldn't give us the 15 hours. We had 3/5 of it, so paid the rest. The 15 hours was apparently only for the full 5 days.

[AyeAmarok]

I always think it's so ridiculous how these supposedly free hours work.

The Sturge needs to address this asap I think.